The year ahead is surely going to be an exciting one, but here are top six tablets that succeeded to create a buzz in the first three months of 2015.
The tablet market is as hot as it has ever been. In the last season while big guns like Samsung and Apple continued to dominate the top deck, firms like Lenovo, Asus and Acer have stepped up their game and garnered better results in the mid-tier section.
1. Xiaomi Mi Pad
This is a flagship tablet from the Chinese firm that comes with a 7.9-inch multi-touch display that offers full HD resolution with 2048 x 1536 pixels and a pixel density of 326ppi.
An MIUI interface layer sits over Android KitKat 4.4 operating system. It looks much better as far as appearance is concerned, compared to other tablets in the market and has a far more elegant and premium touch.
Processing power components include a 2.2GHz quad-core ARM cortex NVIDIA Tegra K1 processing engine coupled with NVIDIA Kepler GPU. 2GB LPDDR3 RAM, 16GB internal flash storage and microSD slot for expanding the storage by up to 128GB look for the storage need.
At the rear side, there is an 8MP backlit sensor camera and at the front there is a 5MP camera.
Video can be recorded in Full HD resolution. A powerful 6,700mAh capacity Li-ion polymer battery energises the device.
Mi Pad is currently priced at Rs 12,999.
2. Asus Fonepad 8
Tablets by Asus have not received similar critical reviews as we have seen from the likes of Samsung and Apple but its products have been quite sturdy. Asus Fonepad 8 has an 8-inch LED IPS backlit WXGA display that delivers a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels.
The tablet runs on a 1.33GHz quad-core processor along with 2GB RAM. The software platform used is Android KitKat 4.4 and we might see an upgrade for Android Lollipop 5 too.
Asus Fonepad tablet offers a 5MP rear camera along with Autofocus and HD video recording and a 2MP secondary camera for video calling. This is another tablet that has upped-the-ante in terms of power backup with 15.2Wh Lithium-Polymer battery to churn out a standby time of up to 12 hours and talktime of 21 hours on 3G.
Asus Fonepad 8 tablet costs nearly Rs 13,999.
3. LG G Pad 8
LG G Pad 8 comes with Android KitKat operating system that might see an upgrade in the future. The tablet weighs 342 grams only and measures 210.8mm x 124.2mm x 9.95mm.
A whopping 4,200mAh battery empowers the tablet which holds an IPS display sized at 8-inch with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. As far as cameras are concerned, there is a 5MP camera with autofocus and a 1.3MP snapper at the front for video calling.
Internal storage is 16GB eMMC type and external storage can be expanded up to 32GB via microSD card.
For connectivity, options available are Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n and Bluetooth. A quad-core Qualcomm processor clocking in at 1.2GHz energises the tablet. Some of the exciting features offered by this device are smart keyboard, touch-and-shoot, gesture movement for catching selfie, knock code for better security, dual window for multi-tasking and Q-pair for easy pairing of smart devices with LG G Pad 8.
The tablet costs Rs 17,999.
4. Lenovo MIIX 3
Lenovo MIIX 3 tablet runs on Intel Atom Z3700 BayTrail processor coupled with 2GB DDR3L RAM and Intel HD 4000 GPU. Operating system employed here is Windows 8.1.
Coming to display, MIIX 3 holds a 7.85-inch wide XGA IPS type display. The tablet measures 136.9mm x 200.3mm x 9.2mm and weighs 375 grams.
In the camera department, both rear and front cameras bear the same pixel power, that is, 2MP.
For connectivity options, MIIX 3 offers audio combo jack, microSD, microUSB 2.0, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth combo card.
Some of the notable features offered by this device are one-year subscription of Office 365, multi-touch provision on-screen by up to 10 fingers and folio keyboard bundle that protects the tablet when it is closed but when open acts as keyboard and an upright stand.
MIIX 3 costs Rs 21,999.
5. HTC Nexus 9
HTC Nexus 9 delivers an 8.9-inch IPS LCD display with an aspect ratio of 4:3, resolution of 1536 x 2048 pixels and a Gorilla Glass 3 coating for protection.
Processor is 2.3GHz 64-bit NVIDIA Tegra K1 Dual Denver coupled with 2GB RAM. Sensors housed inside this tablet are Accelerometer, Magnetometer, Gyro and Ambient Light Sensor.
Connectivity options include 3.5mm stereo audio jack, NFC, Bluetooth 4.1, microUSB 2.0 and Wi-Fi.
An 8MP snapper with a backlit sensor and autofocus capability sits at the back of the device. With an aperture of f/2.4 the rear camera can record full HD videos.
The front camera is 1.6MP with backlit sensor and it records HD videos with an aperture of f/2.4.
Battery capacity of HTC Nexus 9 is 6,700mAh and the powerhouse is an embedded Li-Polymer rechargeable type giving a standby time of up to 30 days. The best part is the audio, handled by dual-front facing speakers and dual-mic with HTC Boom sound technology.
The tablet costs Rs 43,073.
6. Panasonic Toughpad FZ-M1
This tablet comes with IP65 certification for all weather, water and dust and 5-foot drop resistance, hence provided with the name 'toughpad'.
Operating system to the device is Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit and processing engine is Intel Core i5-4302Y vProp processor. There is another version that can be availed too which offers Windows 8.1 with Bing 64-bit operating system and Intel Celeron N2807 processor.
Display is 7-inch wide with multi-touch and glove-touch technology and it features a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels.
Connectivity options available are Wi-Fi, NFC, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS for navigation.
Panasonic claims that the tablet offers 3,120mAh 'bridge battery' that enables battery replacement for uninterrupted use. From the date of purchase, this tablet comes with 3-years of manufacturer's warranty.
For storage, Intel Core i5 model houses 8GB SDRAM and its external storage can be expanded up to 64GB via microSDXC card whereas Intel Celeron model houses 4GB SDRAM with external memory expandable up to 64GB.
At the rear, there is an 8MP camera with LED flash and autofocus that can record HD videos. The device is priced at Rs 1,30,500.
That makes up for the most popular tablets of 2015 yet.
Sony Xperia Z4, Samsung Galaxy Tab Active, Nokia N1 and Blackberry SecuTablet (based on Samsung's Galaxy Tab S 10.5) are some of the tablets that too belong to the same class but their release is awaited in India.
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