SHOOTOUT Splurging on the Right High-End Tablet Even in a budget centric market like India, there are numerous takers for high-end tablets - S. Aadeetya and Jayanta Ghosh What are my options? Well, luckily there is dearth of option in this segment, with biggies like Samsung, Asus (Nexus), Lenovo and Apple among others doing their bit with devices that epitomise the need of a high-end tablet. Typically, we are talking about tablets ranging from 7 inch to 10.1 inch and 12.2 inch in some cases as well that starts from a price point of around Rs 20,000 and go as high as they can. These tablets are available in varied platforms; Android, iOS and Windows 8. What do I get for the money I spent? One should always consider their requirements and make their choices strictly keeping those in mind, as you wouldn’t want to face the unfortunate case of buying the wrong one which The Right way to splurge on a might force you to look for others and end up being a costly high-end tablet affair. If content consumption is your need, then you can look India is a market for the price-conscious; this statement has been at tablets ranging between 7 to 10.1 inch with top quality repeatedly highlighted over the years. The technology industry display, powerful hardware and long battery life. Same is the follows the same ideology but even then one has to consider that case with content generation purposes as well but these are the country constitutes of uber rich consumer base as well. Which less hardware-hungry which can alter your choices. Gaming is is why the likes of Apple iPhone 5S, Samsung Galaxy S4, HTC One another aspect that one has to consider. Most of the top-end have takers in the smartphone space. tablets are conducive for gaming but one is better off looking at Coming over to the tablet segment, you will find similar the build quality, design and handling of the device as well. buyers looking for products that imbibe class, premiumness and not averse to spending deep. This month, we help out the tech- Can they replace my bulging laptop? fanatics in the upper rung, who are not only well versed about A lot of discussion is happening around the globe to determine technology but also carry a certain taste along. whether tablets will ultimately replace the bulky laptops and perform in same capacity? We’ve seen instances where tablets What are we talking about? (big-sized ones) are being used for work purposes as well The average price of a smartphone/tablet bought in the country but more like a secondary device, complimenting your laptop remains around the Rs 13,000 mark. Anything above that spent or sleek Ultrabook. There is a case for hybrid devices like to buy a tablet is considered entering the risk-zone. The tablet detachable laptops as well but for the time being, tablets have market comprises of devices powered by Android (Indian market not evolved to such an extent that they can be substituted for leader), iOS and Windows 8/8.1 platform and from an Indian your notebook. That said, a lot of convergence is taking place in consumer point of view, a tablet which costs upwards of Rs 17,000 the world, so who knows tablet might actually evolve to become undergoes intense scrutiny to determine its value. the notebook-killers. 44 PCQUEST APRIL 2014 pcquest.com twitter.com/pcquest facebook.com/pcquest linkd.in/pcquest [email protected] Scan this code for more info. To download a barcode app, SMS <f2k> to 56677 from a mobile phone with Internet access and camera. Which one to buy? to have more problems getting high-quality apps for larger If you are going for Android tablet then watching movies, listening Android tablets. Windows 8, meanwhile, offers an impressive to music, reading books, surfing web or primary phone (via SIM) array of more than 100,000 touch-screen-friendly tablet apps, are the obvious activities attached to a 7 or 8 inch device. Move but you can also run all of your standard Windows-compatible to anything bigger than that, your horizons widen with the likes of programs. creating content becoming possible. Apple iPad has been adopted in quite a few countries with successful results. What about the storage options in Tablet? Which OS provides you more Apps? If you want to store HD movies Games music in your tablet For productivity or fun you really have to look for good Apps for for your travel need then you have to look for tablets with your tablet, and iPad has half-a-million programs and games good amount of storage space. So you need to decide how designed specifically forA pple tablets it includes every popular much you need before you buy as many vendors offer no way app you can think of. On the other hand Android has made some to increase the onboard capacity. So to take care this you’ll strides on app selection, offering more high-quality tablet apps. need to get the tablet at least of 16 GB of storage , or go for There are also Android phone apps, which look decent on a tablets with Micro SD slots, as these do give you the option of 7-inch tablet, but less so on a 9- or 10-inch one, so you’re likely additional storage, sometimes up to 64GB or more. Antutu Quadrant 20000 20000 3DMark Ice Storm Quadrant 16016 16171 15143 15000 15000 14382 10000 9429 10000 8057 7630 5971 5162 5286 5000 5000 3974 2431 2327 1557 0 0 Samsung Xolo Samsung Lenovo Apple Nexus 7 Samsung Samsung Xolo Samsung Lenovo Nexus Samsung Amazon Galaxy Tegra Galaxy S6000 iPad Air 2013 Galaxy Galaxy Tegra Galaxy S6000 7 2013 Galaxy Kindle Fire Note 10.1 Note Note Pro Tab 3 8.0 Note 10.1 Note Note Pro Tab 3 8.0 HD 8.9 3DMark Ice Storm Vellamo HTML5 20000 3000 Vellamo HTML5 3DMark2721 Ice Storm Vellamo HTML5 16016 15143 2500 15000 2000 1862 1534 1433 10000 9429 1500 1338 8057 1322 7630 1000 5000 2431 500 1557 0 0 Samsung Xolo Samsung Lenovo Apple Nexus 7 Samsung Samsung Xolo Samsung Lenovo Nexus 7 Samsung Galaxy Tegra Galaxy S6000 iPad Air 2013 Galaxy Galaxy Tegra Galaxy S6000 2013 Galaxy Note 10.1 Note Note Pro Tab 3 8.0 Note 10.1 Note Note Pro Tab 3 8.0 pcquest.com twitter.com/pcquest facebook.com/pcquest linkd.in/pcquest [email protected] APRIL 2014 PCQUEST 45 SHOOTOUT 10 HIGH-END TABLETS that SHOULD FIT YoUR SHOPPING LIST If you have the fetish and deep pockets to splurge on top quality tablets, then have a look at these SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 10.1 NEXUS 7 32 GB 3G Price: `27,999 Price: `49,990 or this price tag, Note 10.1 cannot really compromise on any feature and by the looks of it Samsung has covered every he tablet comes in a matte body which makes it prone to aspect that needs to be there. Starting up with the body, you F finger smudges.T here is a Nexus branding right at the middle have a supremely built Note 10.1 which echoes the build nature of embossed on the back panel. The 32 GB SIM model and the Note-3 with its leather textured faux-pas coated body at the back T SIM slot has been neatly built into the device on the right side top and a big display covering every inch of space at the front with very of the tablet which can be plucked out with the SIM key that comes thin bezel. The display offers quality which is crisp, bright and offer in-the-box. color reproduction of the highest quality with good viewing angles. The most common thing about having upgraded device models is The tablet is on the heavier side starting at 540 grams which goes up the obvious urge to compare the two and figure out if the upgrade is further with varied options 3G/LTE to be precise. worth the buy. Firstly, the display becomes extremely effective with The bundled stylus comes in handy for getting quite a lot of work 1920x1080 pixels display offering chance to watch movies, play games done and for a tablet of this size we like its inclusion. Unlike many big at its optimum, which was not possible with the 1280x800 display on display tablets, Note 10.1 is meant for content generation as well as the first Nexus 7 tablet. We’ve already talked about the hardware part consumption and making it near-perfect alternative for an iPad. That above but the 2013 model comes with a 5 MP rear camera which was said, the size and weight makes it easy to carry in your backpack but missing on the first variant but the front camera remains the same. not that comfortable to use in hand. The cameras on iPads have been Not much to talk about either of the cameras and simply put good, the ones on iPad Air are even better and with Note 10.1, Samsung they offer images on the both the fronts without being exceptional. is offering phone-like cameras i.e. 8 MP rear and 2 MP front. They are The 32 GB model offers close to 26 GB usage storage space which good but could have been better especially for this price.