Amazon Kindle Fire HD
Price: $3,296 (16GB)
Price: tradus.com
Amazon’s put media consumption front and
center on its HD slate, giving it a gloriously clear and vibrant 1280x800
screen, speedy Wi-Fi and plenty of Amazon offers.
This is no e-reader that’s been given a
splash of color. It’s well built, with a reassuring weight to it, if a little
wide for a 7in tab due to its huge bezel. That HD screen is magnificent, its
stereo speakers are way better than we’re used to on a tablet, it’s got plenty
of ports and dual-band Wi-Fi makes for super-fast downloads. So hardware-wise,
there’s little to complain about.
Amazon
Kindle Fire HD
Buying media is the matter of a couple of
taps, and while you can’t yet download movies to your slate (unlike in the US),
it’ll stream them flawlessly. So, it’s perfect then? Not quite. The Fire HD may
run Android, but it’s been so heavily skinned you’d never know it. Amazon’s own
Appstore lacks Google Maps, Dropbox and about half of the games on Google Play,
and even email and web browsing have been sidelined to make way for apps that
help you buy things from Amazon.
That said, the Kindle is easy to use and
great for newbies. It’s also as cheap as the Nexus, so which you get boils down
to what you want it for. If it’s media consumption, you’ll be happy with the
Fire HD.
Jiggle it about and very few recognizable
Android bits will fall out. Amazon has cloaked the OS in a series of sparkly
shop fronts and a 3D carousel of recently viewed media.
Amazon helpfully provides suggestions for
games, movies or eBooks. Well, helpful if you’ve got the funds. A free Amazon
Prime trial acts like a gateway drug.
You’ll also get a free Lovefilm trial. The
streaming service only has 5000 titles on the Fire HD so far– we hope more
streaming apps are on the way.
Tech Specs
·
Display 7in HD LCD,
·
1280x800(216PPI)
·
OS Android 4.0 ICS
·
CPU Dual-core OMAP
·
4460 @ 1.2GHz
·
Camera1.3MP (front)
·
Connectivity Wi-Fi,
·
3.5mm, mini HDMI,
·
microUSB, Bluetooth
·
Battery11 hours
Google Nexus 7
Price: $3,600 (16GB)
Website: tradus.com
With a killer combo of performance, price
and portability, the Nexus 7 comes out punching. Its quad-core Tegra 3 chip
eats Android apps for breakfast, and its 1280x800 screen will munch down on an
HD blockbuster for brunch.
Google
Nexus 7
Thanks to Asus’ manufacturing smarts this
slate is solidly made. It’s taller and skinnier than the Fire HD, but next to
the iPad Mini it looks a bit chunky and retro, with its big bezels and smaller
7in screen. It’s also slightly heavier than the Mini, but that solid finish and
rubberized back means you can chuck it in your bag without worrying about
scratches.
With 216PPI of detail, the screen is a
cracker for high-res images and text. That makes it our favorite tab for typing
and emailing, but the Fire HD and Samsung beat it for movies, with the Nexus
sometimes looking a little washed out.
Software-wise it’s all good news. It runs
the latest version of Jelly Bean, with updates certain to arrive swiftly, and
has full access to Google Play. That’s great news for gamers, who’ll find some
gems in the TegraZone, and good for tech tinkerers too.
Then there’s the price: $3600, with none of
the Fire’s restrictions. So while the iPad Mini is a better tab overall, it’s
the Nexus that we’d buy. The Nexus 7 has skimped on a rear camera to keep costs
down but the 1.2MP front-facer is a touch better than the Fire HD’s for video
calls. Skype away.
While most tabs are still running Android
Ice Cream Sandwich, the Nexus 7 is already on Jelly Bean. And as Google’s
flagship, it’ll always be first to new updates.
If a need for 3G was pushing you towards
the iPad Mini, note that the Nexus 7 now comes in a $5,378 HSPA+ flavor. We
haven’t had a chance to test it yet, though.
Tech Specs
·
Display 7in IPS LCD,
·
1280x800(216PPI)
·
OSAndroid 4.2 Jelly Bean
·
CPU Quad-core Tegra 3
·
@ 1.3GHz
·
Camera1.2MP, 720p (front)
·
Connectivity Wi-Fi,
·
3.5mm, NFC, microUSB
·
Battery 10 hours
Versus Touchpad 7
Price: $1,589
Website: versusuk.com
Make no mistake: the Versus Touchpad 7’s
real selling point is its killer cost. But there’s no such thing as a free
lunch in this life, and so it goes with this sub-$2,000 tab.
The disappointment starts with its shiny
plastic back – a cheap and nasty thing next to the lovely matte finish of its
rivals. Then there’s the poor construction. Oh, and did we mention the
blue-tinged, low-res 800x480 screen? Well, it’s a headache-inducing letdown
that seems to lack a single good viewing angle.
It’ll
stream an HD movie from sites problem-free, download and play most games, and
browse the web over Wi-Fi at a slow but steady pace.
But surprisingly, despite these
(considerable) setbacks, the Versus Touchpad 7 didn’t actually do too badly at
all in our tests. It’ll stream an HD movie from sites problem free, download
and play most games, and browse the web over Wi-Fi at a slow but steady pace.
It’s also light and easy to hold – not always the case with budget slates and
has useful mini HDMI, microSD and USB ports.
With its low-res screen and ropey build, we
can’t recommend the Touchpad 7 over Google’s tab, which costs $1,700 more.
Still, if you’re feeling really strapped for cash, you will have to wait till
it’s launched in India. It’ll do a decent enough job for a rookie.
A stock build of Android ICS helps keep
hiccups to a minimum, without the interference you’d get from flourishes or
bloat ware.
It won’t handle TegraZone games, but
Kindle, iPlayer and Angry Birds apps are all pre-installed. You’ll probably
have access to more apps on this than on the Fire HD.
The touchscreen isn’t the best we’ve felt –
it can be unresponsive, which is a total pain when gaming. Scrolling can
sometimes send you the wrong way.
Tech Specs
·
Display 7in TFT, 800x480
·
(133PPI)
·
OS Android 4.0 ICS
·
CPU Cortex A8 @ 1GHz
·
Camera VGA (front)
·
Connectivity Wi-Fi,
·
3.5mm, microUSB, mini
·
HDMI, microSD
·
Battery4 hours
