Gadgetory

it's Josh McArthur Mantor Authority happy holidays everybody if you have been watching our videos recently you saw that we did the best phones of 2013 while now it's time to take a look at the best tablets of 2013 now I have donned my Christmas colors and are next to our Christmas tree and of course a nice cold Southern California night is not complete without some hot cocoa now the reason why I Don all of this is because it occurred to me that a tablet would look pretty damn good at the bottom of a Christmas tree and I'm certain that with the ones we have in mind it would certainly cause a lot of excitement for whoever you are going to buy this tablet for now since the tablet space is quite a lot smaller than the phone space we're going to actually do a top 3 list and we're cutting it up into two categories large tablets and small tablets essentially large tablets are 10-inch behemoths and smaller tablets are more in the 7 or 8 inch range one thing I do want to mention before I get started however is that we have left the fourth versions of Android tablets aside in this particular best of list the reason why is because while there are some great offerings in say the Kindle Fire HDX or even a couple of nooks out there if they do not use Google services we have decided to leave them out of the list don't get us wrong however there are some good offerings out there so you can check them out as well as I have reviewed a couple of them coming in in third place in the small tablets category is the Asus memo pad 7 HD now the budget end of the Android tablet space is very competitive and there are a lot of cheap tablets out there but the Asus memo pad 7 HD definitely heads the pack clinching our 3rd spot in the small category one of the most affordable Android devices ever the memo pad 7 HD comes in at the launch price of one hundred and fifty dollars and it comes with the reliable 1.2 gigahertz quad-core cortex a7 that powers are very good-looking 1280 by 800 resolution display overall the performance in this tablet while not necessarily up to the high-end standards will definitely still get the job done and overall the memo pad will provide perhaps the easiest entry point into the Android tablet space and it is not too good to be true if you have some extra money why not upgrade to LG's return tablets the LG G pad which clinches the second spot in our small category $350 is the price tag here and it is more along norm of the tablet prices but it does come with matching specs an 8 point 3 inch display is actually pretty easy to hold in just one hand and gets just below the point of discomfort and it also brings great LG's screen quality at 1920 by 1200 resolution so all media looks wonderful no matter what you're looking at on this wonderful display a Snapdragon 600 processor keeps the Optimus cui very snappy and a 4600 milliamp hour battery unit keeps everything long-lasting and of course expandable storage is always a plus over the 16 gigabytes that is already included perhaps the main pleasing factor about this LG G pad is its solid build quality if there is a mix of plastic here but an aluminium slab on the back really adds to the style and also really gives it more sturdiness and a better feel in the hand so it might have been a little while for LG in terms of the tablet space but their return tablet really is a thing of beauty well it should probably come as no surprise that the Nexus 7 gets the top spot in the small tablet category because after all it fully represents the best of Android as a middle-of-the-road device in terms of its price the $229 7-inch offering by asus and google provides a lot of value and understated but very solid design affords the Nexus 7 a soft touch backing that feels really nice and is really stylish it is actually one of the best-looking devices one of our favorites of the entire year a 1920 by 1200 resolution screen shines right through back to by a still good performing Snapdragon s4 pro and stereo speakers make this an even better value because of its audio performance and as Nexus devices often benefit from this following aspect stock Android is really the icing on top of the cake and provides the real quintessential experience ultimately the Nexus 7 takes the crown for providing a wonderful experience at a price that is just right and now we move on into the large tablet space now in this category we're looking at tablets that have 10 inch screens typically actually all three of the tablets in this category are 10-inch behemoths and they all provide great resolution and a wonderful media consumption experience so with all of the different choices that we have had this year a few in particular really caught our eye in at third place is the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 edition now Samsung took quite a few forward steps with the Galaxy Note 3 and we absolutely loved how they also appeared in the tablet offering a textured plastic backing mimics leather and gives this tablet an executive look and feel especially when you look at the black version the new s-pen functions are also available here further enhanced by a monstrous 10 inch display at 2560 by 1600 resolution indeed the s-pen benefits greatly from this much larger canvas as do all of the multitasking functions really having a 10 inch display with a stylus as versatile as the s-pen is just a joy it is powered by either the Snapdragon 800 or the exitos 50 420 octa so performance is really no question when it comes to the Note 10.1 however the other story was three gigabytes of RAM that was included for all of the new s-pen functions and for further multitasking all in all this is just a beast however it comes with a beastly price and it is the main reason why this one is a little bit harder to recommend than the other two in this list 599 dollars at the base price is just a hard pill to swallow making the Note 10.1 a little tough to recommend right away even though we would definitely recommend it for anyone who can afford that price in our second place for the large tablet category is the Sony Xperia tablet Z now in 2013 Sony really tried to put their best foot forward out there and the Xperia tablet Z is a wonderful example of that the Snapdragon s4 pro is what they went with in terms of the processing package but for a 10-inch screen they also got 1920 by 1200 resolution in there now both of these choices do still hold up and provide great experiences but you can consider them to be somewhat outdated aside from that however what really makes the tablet stand out is its build and its style very rigid sides and an incredibly thin profile make this tablet quite the looker perhaps maybe the best one in the bunch and since it is very thin this is a true black slate device now IP certification is yet another trump card for the tablet Z as the Xperia tablet Z can take a spill or a splash and that all helps keep the beauty absolutely safe we give the Xperia tablet Z a lot of credit for probably being one of the best looking devices of the year and because of its form factor it really exudes that tablet motif better than probably any other ones out there now I know I know the Nexus 10 came out in 2012 so why is it at the top of the list for tablets of 2013 well simply it is because no other tablet in 2013 could match its bang for buck value its bargain and its ability to be a very accessible device because of all of that because of those reasons the Nexus 10 will likely stay atop the mountain especially after its refresh we're expecting a lot from the updated Nexus 10 however the one that we have right now still holds up against the competition which gives it a lot of credit its main innovation was having an early 2560 by 1600 display with wonderful clarity and quality proving that tablets and media consumption go together beautifully and with its stock Android build it provided that quintessential experience that many of us Android peers really go for now although most of the other hardware might be aging its processor still gets the job done well and the dual front-facing speakers get a very honorable mention they perform very well and make this quite the media consumption tablet quite simply no large tablet in 2013 was able to match the Nexus 10 in the sheer banker bug that it achieved when users constantly still ask us to compare the latest 10-inch tablets to the older Nexus 10 well that's a clear sign that it should still be in the running and for us the Nexus 10 is still really hard to beat and so there you have it for the best tablets of 2013 if you're looking to buy that special someone in your life an Android tablet then you have to look no further than the ones that we have listed here not only did we cover tablets for the budget-minded but we also covered even the huge behemoths that do come with high price points but come with matching experiences so in the end this Christmas maybe you'll be able to give the gift of Android as always thank you guys very much for watching and I hope you enjoyed this presentation of the best Android tablets of 2013 we hope that you can buy that special someone in your life something great in the world of Android and you can start here with these tablets however if you want to know what the best Android phones of 2013 were you can see them in a link the video is over on the side we figure out what the best devices are out there for particular users like you so make sure you go check it out stay tuned to our channel for all of the best coverage from reviews to our vs. videos to weekly coverage to even our event coverage as CES is right around the corner and also we recently crossed the 500 thousand subscriber mark so that's the other video over there with the entire YouTube team just showing you our things happy Holidays to all of you out there I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas stay safe enjoy whatever Android devices you might get this year and remember Android authority is your source for all things Android