Our list of the best Android tablets in the world - regularly updated
If you're looking for a tablet and don't fancy an iPad, then Android is currently the way to go. (Don't know what an Android tablet is? Check out: what is an Android tablet?)
We saw the launch of Nvidia's next-generation Tegra 3 chip, which took 2012's quad-core Android tablets to new heights and with the likes of the Google Nexus 7 and Transformer Pad Infinity beckoning in the new era, the iPad is starting to feel the heat.
Are you wondering what the iPad rival to the Nexus 7 or Kindle Fire HD is like? Check our hands on: iPad mini review to find out!
Some
tablets have 10-inch screens, others seven, and there are big
differences in battery life, processing power and onboard RAM. So while
we wait for the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 and Sony Xperia Tablet Z, let's see what the current best tablets are...
1. Google Nexus 7
Manufactured by Asus to Google's specifications, the Nexus 7 ushers in a new era of affordable, quality Android tablets.
Packing
a Tegra 3 quad-core processor, 12 core GPU, 8GB and 16GB internal
storage and 7-inch 1280 x 800 screen, the Nexus 7 certainly has the
skills to pay the bills, but at a highly attractive price point.
Laughing in the face of its closest rival, the Amazon Kindle Fire, it looks like Google has got the budget end of the tablet market all wrapped up. Until the Kindle Fire 2 and iPad Mini come to the fore, at least.
It's
now been shoved up in capacity without a jump in price; this means you
can get 16GB of storage for £159 and £199 for the full 32GB version -
plus we're getting a 3G version too.
Quick verdict
A quad-core processor, beefy GPU and the first device to run Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, and now it's already been upgraded to Android 4.2 with raft of new fancy features.
The
Nexus 7 certainly packs a punch and while it may not tread a lot of new
ground, the Nexus 7 is a solid performer and easily the best tablet a
couple of hundred pounds can buy.
2. Google Nexus 10
The
10.1 display is one of the biggest talking points on the Google Nexus
10. At 300 pixels per inch it's the highest resolution tablet display on
the planet - take that, Apple and your Retina displays.
It's a
great performer too. Other than taking a while to process panoramic
photos we never felt like it was struggling to keep up. It's fast and
smooth whatever you throw at it.
Sure it may not be as stunning to
look at, or as well built as an iPad, and the lack of expandable memory
will irk some, but overall the Nexus 10 gives you a quality, big-screen
Android experience which is not to be sniffed at.
On top of that,
the tablet has already been updated to Android 4.2.1, which brings back
the month of December in some calendar apps (well done, Google) and
adds support for some security issues too, showing this is the tablet to
buy if you want a larger screen that Google won't give up on.
Quick verdict
The
Google Nexus 10 is easily one of the best Android tablets on the market
and while it's not quite as fantastic value for money as the Nexus 7, it certainly gives Apple's high-priced iPad 4 a run for its money. For the price you're paying, you won't be disappointed.
If
it wasn't for the higher price, the Infinity would be a real contender
for the top spot. It's got everything you could want in a tablet - and a
keyboard dock as standard too.
With the latest version of Android
on the way, a simple interface and more ports than you can poke with a
stick, the Infinity is the tablet that can handle anything you can throw
at it.
Add in the Super IPS panel with a tremendous resolution,
and you can see why this is a tablet to rate very highly - especially if
you're fond of typing on the go but crave the simplicity of a slate
too. New firmware updates in some territories have brought features like
Wi-Fi Direct to the Infinity, and Android 4.2 will be landing soon too.
Quick verdict
Everything we'd look for in a high-end tablet is present and accounted for with the Transformer Pad Infinity.
While
power is always welcomed, it was the improved screen that really caught
our attention. Given that we use our tablet mostly for browsing the web
and watching video, we couldn't help but marvel at the resolution,
either. if you're looking for a top Android tablet (and have the cash to
splash), then the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity should be at the top of
your list.
What's
better than a modern tablet with a quad core processor? One that costs
just £159. That's right: the power of the Kindle brand has mated with an
HD screen and won't charge you the earth to own it.
Coming in at
16GB and 32GB flavours, the Kindle Fire HD is sure to be a big hit,
bringing the simplicity of the e-book range to the tablet arena, with
dedicated space to access your movies, games, apps and music too. A
recent update has added a camera app for the front-facing camera and
Swype support, so there are even more (admittedly tiny) reasons to shell
out.
It's a little simplistic for some, but for others it's the
perfect mix of curated content and easy to use interface - and despite
the price, it's got a decent build quality too.
Quick verdict
For
casual tablet users or those already knee-deep in Amazon's digital
media abyss, the Kindle Fire HD is a fantastic option, especially at the
low entry price. It offers a simple and uncomplicated experience
through and through, and is built to support the digital media it aims
to sell you, with an excellent screen (for a seven-incher) and
surprisingly ample speakers.
What's
better than a tablet with a big screen? A tablet with a big screen, a
quad core processor and the might of the S Pen... known as a stylus to
me and you.
Well, not just a stylus - with many levels of pressure
sensitivity and the ability easily sketch and annotate on a wide range
of items, the Galaxy Note 10.1 offers so much more than your average
tablet.
We're huge fans of the alternative choice here, and it
even comes with a microSD slot to boot. Android 4.1 is landing at the
moment, and comes with a Premium Suite update, designed to make
multi-tasking and general use that much easier.
Quick verdict
Sure,
it's a mite expensive, the screen quality is lower than we've seen from
Samsung in the past and the build quality somewhat lower than the
competition, but this is still a fabulous tablet that many workers
constantly forced to use a paper and pen will love to try out.
In
at number four is the Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 - and it's a funny little
thing. It's essentially the same as its older brother, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1,
but with an 8.9-inch screen. It's slightly thinner and lighter, and
consequently more convenient for anyone wanting to stuff it in a bag.
Apart
from these physical attributes, the internal components are basically
the same. So you get the same slick performance and overall tablet
experience. We've put this above the 10.1 because of the increased
convenience owed to its slightly smaller size, but that shouldn't put
you off going for the 10.1 if you're after a bigger screen.
Quick verdict
It's
ideal for anyone who thinks 10.1 inches is just slightly too big for a
tablet, but also finds 7-inch options a tad too small. A great screen,
and premium features across the board make it a superb option.
However,
we're a bit disappointed that Samsung doesn't seem as bothered by this
device as other tablets in its stable, as it's only just getting Android
4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, when the next level of Android is landing on
other devices.
The
Transformer Pad 300 offers up the power of a quad-core Tegra 3
processor, a 10.1-inch display and 12 hour battery life in a device
that's cheaper than the Transformer Prime.
A big plus point for
the 300 is the fact that it comes running Android Ice Cream Sandwich out
of the box – keeping it bang up to date with the Android OS – and it's
even better news as Asus is keeping up with its reputation of being one
of the bset to support its older devices, with Jelly Bean landing soon.
However,
the price difference is noticeable when it comes to the materials used
to build the 300, with its plastic body not feeling as premium or solid
as the more expensive Prime – that said, the Transformer Pad 300 is
still a great tablet.
Quick verdict
Individual needs and
budget will determine if the Asus Transformer Pad TF300 is right for
you, but we applaud Asus for marrying value and performance, and the
TF300 comes highly recommended.
Asus wowed us when it launched its Eee Pad Transformer TF101, and with the Transformer Prime it managed to go one better.
The
Transformer Prime packs a mighty 1.3GHz quad-core processor into a
super-slim 8.6mm chassis and although it shipped with Android 3.2, the
Prime was the first Android tab to receive the upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich, and it's now been confirmed to be getting an update to Android 4.2 in the near future.
That
huge processor means using the Transformer Prime is a breeze, with it
able to process Full HD movies and multiple apps with ease.
You
also get a super-crisp 10.1-inch IPS display (1280 x 800), a
surprisingly good 8MP camera capable of recording 1080p video, and 32GB
of internal storage, with a microSD card slot available if you need more
space.
Quick verdict
It's a close run battle for the top
Android tablet accolade, but the Transformer Prime just pips the Samsung
Galaxy Tab 10.1 with its super fast Tegra 3 quad-core processor,
slender style and additional keyboard dock.
It's starting to age
compared to the newer versions, especially the Transformer Prime
Infinity, but it's still one of our favourite tablets around... here's
hoping the price drops soon to match that.
Back in the day the Galaxy Tab 10.1 offered a direct alternative to Apple's iPad 2 - however times have moved on since then and this Samsung slate can longer compete at the top.
Sporting
the Tegra 2 dual-core CPU, it's both marginally thinner and lighter
than the iPad. This was some achievement, especially when you consider
the fuss Apple made about how thin and light the iPad 2 was on launch.
It's
also had a tasty price drop to less than £300 in some stores, which
means that while it might not have the specs of the top-table lot, it's
still got a decent amount of grunt and a quality screen, making a strong
proposition as a present for someone that 'just wants a tablet'.
Quick verdict
As
an out-and-out tablet, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is still great tablet with
decent performance and good portability. This tablet is lighter and
thinner than the iPad, so unless that keyboard dock of Asus'
Transformers is a serious draw for you, this is one to consider.
The
Apple iPad is the daddy. It doesn't matter what the arguments for
Android are, the fact is that the iPad is still just about the best
out-and-out tablet out there.
And that's why the Slider is such a
compelling option - it's not a straight iPad competitor, it offers
something different. The slide-out keyboard offers flexibility and
functionality not on offer elsewhere.
It's a different prospect to the Transformer Pad Infinity, in that it cannot be disconnected from its keyboard, nor does it pack the Tegra 3 innards.
But
what it does do is make it easier to work on the train, type emails and
documents with the convenience of not needing a dock or peripheral.
What's more, the screen is the best we've seen on a 10-inch Android
tablet, and it's also the most responsive.
As
a veritable mega-giant in the consumer tech universe, Sony's landing on
Planet Tablet was always going to be interesting. Blasting off
alongside the fold-in-half Sony Tablet P, the Sony Tablet S has a unique wedge-shaped design and top-end specs.
It's no longer top-dog in Sony's stable though with the Xperia Tablet Z about to break onto the market, but it's still worth looking at.
Quick verdict
It's
a very decent and refined tablet, and has the unique feature of having
access to original PlayStation games. The only issue is that it's not as
tidy as the Galaxy Note 10.1 and not as versatile as the Transformer Pad Infinity. Apart from that, it's one of the best Android tablets out there.
The Acer Iconia A210 is a Jelly Bean-toting 10.1-inch tablet with a great set of specs - and a USB 2.0 slot.
We found the A210 solid and much more rugged than most, and with a mottled back that's soft and easy to grip.
Its
design is somewhat uninspiring, but the A210 stacks up pretty well
against the competition: it's got enough processing power, touchscreen
sensitivity and even built-in audio to compete with higher-priced
10-inch tablets.
Quick verdict
The Iconia A210 is a great
value 10-inch tablet which will provide you be a great user experience
and a decent set of features without costing you an arm and a leg.
The
AT200 is extremely thin, clocking in at a super slender 7.7mm thin,
which means you can slide it into your bag without issue - and at 535g,
you probably won't notice it's in there.
You get a 10.1-inch 1280 x
800 TFT display, 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 5MP rear
camera, 2MP front camera and a decent array of ports including microSD,
USB and HDMI.
Toshiba also dropped the price of the AT200 just a
few months after launch to keep it competitive in the market, but it's
exclusively at Carphone Warehouse in the UK for the time being.
Quick verdict
The
Toshiba AT200 is a good, solid and portable device, delivering
everything you'd expect from an unfussy Android slate. If you're looking
for a standard tablet experience, the AT200 is certainly worth a look.
For
your financial outlay, the Acer Iconia Tab A510 represents a shrewd
investment, especially for people willing to accept a few minor flaws.
Quick verdict
There
are cheaper tablets out there, but these budget offerings do not offer
the sheer power of the Tegra 3 platform, and the lightning-fast Android
experience.
Seven-inch
tablets are a much better fit for the human hand than bigger ones.
Huawei's MediaPad 7, unlike the iPad, is so small that you can
comfortably stick it in your inside jacket pocket, making it a fully
portable no-brainer.
Huawei made much of this being the first
Android 3.2 Honeycomb tablet, but that's not much of a big deal now that
we've seen Android Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean arrive.
Quick verdict
Admittedly,
tablets aren't quite there yet as a full-blown work tool, but the
Huawei MediaPad 7 takes a big step forward towards convincing us this is
the form factor of the future. If it has a challenger it would be the
easier to hold and even smaller - but no less capable and considerably
more costly - 5.5-inch Samsung Galaxy Note 2.
Update:We've improved the review based on more
time with the Galaxy S4 after the event, as well as more information on
the handset that's dropped in the days following the phone's launch.
The
Samsung Galaxy S4 brings a huge Full HD screen, an improved camera and
faster innards, and fits it all in a chassis the same size as the Galaxy S3.
However,
many will struggle to tell the difference between the S4 and its
predecessor, as the polycarbonate chassis is still in use; although the
metallic banding around the side, while still plastic, is much sturdier
and feels more premium.
We've already seen a lot of the Samsung
Galaxy S4 features, as it's been snapped multiple times in leaks – some
more accurate than others, it has to be said – and the specs mooted have
turned out to be pretty bang on.
But
that doesn't matter – megapixels and gigabytes don't mean anything if
they're not wrapped up in a decent package, so how much of an
improvement is the Samsung Galaxy S4 spec list and design over the S3,
and more importantly, the competition?
Design
The
Samsung Galaxy S4 launch saw the Korean brand claiming the phone is
built on four foundations: an improved camera, better connections with
others, health and wellbeing improvements and simply making life easier.
While
this is all a little hyperbolic, the S4 at least brings an integrated
feel to things while improving nearly every spec on offer. The outside
is still plastic, but harks back to the mesh design, if not feel of the Galaxy S2.
Colour
wise you've got a choice of 'White Frost' and 'Black Mist', which adorn
the large device, which runs in with dimensions of 136.6 x 69.8 x
7.9mm, despite still having to pack in a 5-inch Full HD Super AMOLED
screen.
That means it will have a larger screen, but smaller
chassis than the Galaxy S3, which is a superbly impressive feat of
engineering, especially when you consider the specs.
But
like its predecessor, the plastic feeling of the Galaxy S3 won't appeal
to all. It feels very lightweight (tipping the scales at 130g) in the
hand, and while people have been conditioned against this feeling cheap,
compare it to the HTC One and you'll see that it's a long way from premium feeling.
However,
it's exactly the same sensation as we found on the Galaxy S3, and given
the record numbers of sales that had Samsung is sticking with a winning
formula, plus there's more than a market for a phone that you'll barely
notice in your pocket most of the time.
Compared to rest of the Galaxy line, the S4 continues in the same vein as the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and the S3, (as well as myriad other devices) showing the Koreans are keen on creating a design heritage here.
The home button is roughly the same size and the same menu and back buttons remain from the prequel.
Overall,
the effect is a much more well put together Galaxy S3 – so this means
that when you take it out down the pub people won't notice you've got
the latest phone, which is a bit of a shame.
The Samsung Galaxy S4
feels like much more of an iterative update than new design, and while
it will probably sell well there's very little to wow you when it comes
to the overall shape. Specs are important, but if there was such as
thing as a Samsung Galaxy S3S, this would be it.
But
away from all that negativity! We have a new phone to check over, so
let's take a minute and talk about the screen: it's even more beautiful
than before.
Display
We almost feel sad that this isn't
the first Full HD screen we've seen on a mobile phone, as it's kind of
lost its lustre since the likes of the HTC One and Sony Xperia Z
have all managed the same trick – but it improves the sharpness a lot,
even though you're not getting that much different from the S3.
Side
by side you can see the difference close up, and the brightness and
efficiency have been tweaked to make this a more compelling screen in a
phone. Talk all you want about the benefits and colour saturation of LCD
– the Samsung Galaxy S4 is leagues ahead when it comes to jaw-dropping
screens.
The 441ppi pixel density doesn't match the HTC One, but is more than good enough for the average user.
We'll
be mightily surprised if the combined popularity of the HTC One and
Samsung Galaxy S4 don't prompt Apple into a re-tooling of the screen
with the iPhone 5S or iPhone 6, as the sharpness will definitely wow users on the shelves.
Aside
from the initial impression of the design, in the hand the Samsung
Galaxy S3 feels just dandy. The design contours well against the palm,
and while the screen size may be a little big for some (you'll need a
bit of shuffling to reach the upper section of the screen) it's
definitely useable in the hand.
So
in short: if you don't mind plastic and you like cutting-edge HD
screens in your pocket, this is a phone definitely worth checking out.
Interface
Samsung
hasn't really re-tooled the Touchwiz overlay for the Galaxy S4, but has
added some clever upgrades that will have some users talking about
innovation.
For
instance, the lock screen doesn't have the water rippling any more, but
does register your finger from up to two centimetres away, so a little
beam of light will follow your digit as you unlock. It's something
you'll definitely play with for ages.
It's clear with the Galaxy
S4 that Samsung has worked out there's only so much it can do on the
hardware side these days – not to say that we're pretty impressed with
the spec list - and as such has tried to bring the unique flavour
through the interface instead.
As before with Touchwiz, there's a
definite sense the whole process has been simplified, as the phone has
got a much easier feel to it when swiping around. That's not to say
there aren't loads of widgets to be played with, but there is less
clutter on the larger screen.
The dock at the bottom of the display pervades, and there are more widgets to play with. Thanks to the Galaxy S4 running Android Jelly Bean
4.2.2 you've now got an addition in the notifications bar of a toggle
in the top-right hand corner where you can turn on and off pretty much
anything, from NFC to Group Cast to eye-tracking.
Swiping
around the display was easy as pie – it's not exactly taxing on the
processor, but we did note that there was a slight pause as we swiped
through the menu screen on this pre-production model.
However,
there is a worry that the octa-core (yes, you read that right) 1.6 GHz
Exynos 5 CPU, with 2GB of RAM as well, could suck power a little too
dramatically – but we've yet to hear the full details of how the CPU
will work before we can pass any judgement on that.
Smart Stay,
which tracks your eyes to tell if you're looking at the screen, has
stablemates now. Smart Pause will note if your gaze leaves the screen
and will pause the video, and Smart Scroll will check when you're
reading a web page and scroll up and down as you tilt the device.
It's
a novel idea for replacing things you do already but in practice we
didn't find either that useful. Smart Pause takes a second to register
your gaze has gone, which means you'll still miss part of the video, and
Smart Scroll (again, pre-production model) was far from accurate when
we tilted the phone.
That
said, the internet browsing as a whole was sublimely fast (when our
conference room Wi-Fi played nicely with the phone) and we were
impressed with the clarity of web pages as we zoomed through them.
If
Smart Scrolling was the way we'd always used our phones, and then
someone invented scrolling with the finger, that would be amazing. It
just seems that this is a way of doing things for the sake of it - we
can't see the likes of Apple or HTC ever doing the same thing.
Smart
Voice hasn't been upgraded beyond improving the accuracy of the voice
recognition and Driving Mode, which will give you more voice-related
feedback when you're in your motor.
Smart Alert has been upgraded:
now it's joined by Air Gestures, which allow you to swipe the phone
without touching the screen. So this means you can flip through pictures
or music tracks ("good if you have messy fingers" says Samsung) flick
to the top of a list by wiping upwards on the screen and Air Call Accept
starts the camera… no, we're joking. It accepts a call without touching
the screen.
On
top of that there's Hover mode, which is the same as Air View on the
Note 2 which used the S Pen and tracked when it was near the screen to
give previews of emails, video scrolling without disturbing the action,
and seeing who is on speed dial.
A quick test with this saw the
preview being activated a little too easily, but it's definitely a neat
feature and something we could get used to.
Any Android phone fans
will be a little perplexed by some areas of the phone, unless of course
you've spent some time working with Android 4.2 at any point. The first
big change is the fact the notifications bar packs not just the
standard icons for turning off Wi-Fi and the like, but a tile to tap
that takes you to a whole host of other toggles, from things like
AllShare Cast to NFC and more.
The settings menu has also been
changed to split into four sections, making it easier to play around
with connections, your device settings, accounts for social networks or
syncing accounts and more, for the likes of device information.
It
might confuse those used to the original way of TouchWiz working, but
we think Samsung has worked out a decent way to stop things looking so
disjointed.
But overall the good news is the large screen looks
great, the improved CPU might not be needed but is welcomed and the
little touches like the shining lock screen do actually feel like a real
step forward.
NFC
There's a lot riding on NFC this year -
what's it going to do in terms of making the beepy technology worth
using in the day to day lives of many?
Well, with a tie-in with
Visa looks like you'll be able to use your phone to pay for bits and
pieces more easily by including the PayWave app within the Galaxy S4,
meaning you won't have to get validation from the networks for the
payment mechanism.
We're also waiting for Samsung's range of
NFC-enabled docks to appear, in the same vein as Sony and it's NFC
message, so we can get tapping our phones and make music appear in other
places. Or you could just use something from another manufacturer and
it will work as well, as it's all just Bluetooth connection really. It's
your call.
Messaging
There's some good news for those
that loathed the stock keyboard on the Galaxy S3, as it's now been
replaced with Android's best keyboard around: Swiftkey.
We didn't
get the chance to test out this new implementation on our pre-production
unit, but it will be using Swiftkey 4, which brings Flow for swiping
out your words on top of the frankly impossibly good prediction engine -
the same algorithm that's been partly used for the all new BlackBerry
10 keyboard in the BB Z10.
Media
The
Samsung Galaxy S4 follows in the footsteps of its predecessors in that
it's designed for media – which is what you'd expect from a phone that's
the sequel to the phone we dubbed the best out there for media on the
go.
The
video player is obviously taking centre stage here on the Galaxy S4,
and combined with the improved Full HD Super AMOLED screen is just
magnificent for watching movies.
The video hub now contains both
personal and downloaded content in one place, and it looks really,
really nice when viewing it on the 5-inch screen.
It's an
understandably excellent experience, with the screen veritably shining
with quality contrast ratios and decent colour reproduction.
The navigation experience is easy as well, and slipping up and down the timeline to move through a video seems very intuitive.
AllShare
Cast is included as well, powering up the ability to stream to and from
other devices. In addition to being able to send content from the phone
to a TV and receive from a PC in your home network, you can also do
this remotely now, as long as the device is turned on obviously.
Another
feature is mirroring, where you can send whatever is on the screen of
your Galaxy S4 and have it show on a larger display, either through
connecting your phone using a MHL lead or an AllShare Cast dongle /
compatible Samsung TV.
We've seen this on a number of devices,
and while it's not going to allow big screen gaming on the go, as we've
often noted that there's a lag between input and its realisation on the
screen, it could be good for movies if it's less jumpy than found on the
S3.
Samsung has managed to stay ahead of the pack when it comes
to internal storage too – it will be available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB
flavours plus up to 64GB through a microSD card as well. That's more
storage than most will ever need on it's own, right?
This will be a
killer feature for a lot of smartphone users, as while the internal
storage is generally good enough for most things, many love the idea of
having the choice to expand if they so wish – so combining this with an
expandable battery is a great idea from Samsung once again.
Camera
The
Samsung Galaxy S4 camera is a step up from its predecessor, with a 13MP
sensor on the back, which now has to bulge slightly from the chassis.
Samsung
promises excellent low-light snaps from the S4 as well, but we doubt it
can take on the might of the HTC One when it comes to low light
conditions, as the Galaxy S3 was decimated by the might of HTC's Ultrapixels - and that's before we even get onto the Nokia Lumia 920.
From
a blindingly bright flash to a backside illuminated sensor, our quick
snaps came out crisply and clearly – and when we say quick, we mean it.
The UI has changed a bit to mimic that found on the Samsung Galaxy Camera,
with a special mode wheel to move between items like the Macro, Beauty
shot and smile setting, and while it's a little slow it's definitely an
easier to use interface.
Burst
mode is predictably back, but it now comes with a 'Drama' setting, so
you can take one shot and see all the pictures merge into one. It works
really well as long as you don't have something that's just too close to
the camera or too large – in our tests it showed you need a lot of
space between each movement.
Eraser mode and Cinema mode also come
straight from the Nokia Lumia phones we've seen recently – the former
works extremely well though, noting an unwanted object moving in the
background and erasing it by drawing a pink outline around the thing and
letting you delete.
However, you have to have the mode enabled,
which takes multiple pics, rather than the standard shot, so you
probably won't be able to make good use of it most of the time.
Cinema
mode lets you shoot a short video and choose the part to keep static –
this means you can have a background moving while the person stays the
same, and is created in a GIF to make things properly early noughties.
You
also get a 2MP camera on the front of the phone for some decent
personal snaps – plus you can also get HD video recording too.
This
has been updated to allow you to record video and pictures with the
front and back cameras simultaneously, which doesn't really make much
sense in the grand scheme of things, but at least you can put some
clever frames around your face to make it more relevant.
Battery
Samsung
has managed to lower the thickness of the Galaxy S4 compared to the S3
but upgraded the battery from 2,100mAh to 2,600mAh, promising a much
larger capacity and therefore longer life.
However,
with all those extra pixels (1080 x 1920) to drive and more cores –
we're not sure whether this will actually translate to better battery
life or not. Samsung has promised that the power management will be more
intelligent than ever before, but we're yet to play a good half hour of
HD gaming and then watch a monster movie marathon on the S4 to really
test it out.
It was excellent on the S3 for the most part, so here's hoping that that octa-core will inspire even better battery life.
Features and apps
There's
a whole glut of new features on offer with the Samsung Galaxy S4, with
elements like a more refined method of buying media to a dedicated S
Health application.
The
former of these two is pretty expansive, and a clear sign that Samsung
is looking to take over even more of Google's efforts into monetising
Android - Play Store is one of the big ways Google looks to cash in on
Android use, and Samsung's ploy to create a unified hub that offers
music, books, games and movies is going to get right in the way of that.
Irrespective
of that, it's a much better of way of getting content onto your device,
and the line up looks very strong. We haven't had a good root around
yet to see the full limits, but here's hoping it's well connected with
Samsung's Music Hub and the like to provide a fully-integrated system.
S
Health is an interesting proposition too - it's clearly taking the idea
of wearable technology from Nike+ and FitBit and rolling it into its
own ecosystem.
The application is large and wide-ranging though -
from a large database of food and drink you can tap into and note what
kind of calorie intake you're rocking, to a an app that lets you note
how many steps you've taken that day (using the phone's accelerometer /
gyroscope as a pedometer) - and it can even tell when you're running and
walking separately.
Anyone
that's ever used Nike+ Fuelband and the iPhone app will think this
seems very similar to that - add to that the fact Samsung is also
releasing S Health accessories in the shape of an S Band and a set of
wireless scales, and you can see why some people might see this as
copying innovation.
In reality, it's just Samsung taking some
popular ideas around fitness technology and embedding them more deeply
within the phone - copyright aside - and presenting it in a way that's
easy to digest and schedule.
It would be brilliant if this could
interact with something like Adidas MiCoach to come up with tailored
running and exercise plans, but as it stands it's a more fully-formed
idea than anything we've seen from Samsung in the past.
Accessories
The Samsung Galaxy S4 launch was characterised by many things -
confusing Broadway ideas being a main theme - but that doesn't mean that
the phone was the only thing worth noting.
From S Health to the
ability to turn your new phone into a gaming console, the Galaxy S4
announcement also showed off some nifty new accessories for you to play
with and buy from Samsung (a kind gesture, right?) when you spend all
that cash on phone.
We went behind the scenes at the launch to get
the inside scoop on what was happening with these new ideas, and more
importantly, whether you should add them to your wishlist when the S4
launches at the end of April.
S Health
There was a lot on
offer for the fitness-inclined smartphone buyer with the Galaxy S4
launch, with S Health being the new name that pulls together a number of
different ideas for keeping your heart and body in check, such as the
Running Mate app which apes a lot of functionality from the likes of
Runkeeper, Endomondo, Nike+ and Adidas MiCoach.
The inbuilt app
uses the phone accelerometer and gyroscope to track your movements for
the most part, but Samsung has spotted a trick or two when it comes to
accessories you can buy to make things that much easier.
Body Scale
These
bathroom scales connect to the phone using Bluetooth and allow you to,
you know, see how heavy you (and six others, with multiple profiles
supported) are day to day without having to worry about all the palaver
of weighing yourself on another set of scales and transferring the
numbers across manually.
Which would also save you heaps of cash, in all likelihood, as we can't see these being that cheap to buy.
Then
again, they look styling and the display is superbly easy to read out -
and if you're something of a gadget-fiend, there's no denying it's cool
to watch the weight pop up on the smartphone. Just make sure you take
off 139g from your end weight if you're holding the Galaxy S4 while
weighing yourself.
S Band
Wait, haven't we seen something like this before? Nike what? Plus what? Fuelband eh?
Yes,
let's be honest here, this S Band is just the Korean firm getting
behind the craze for new wearable tech. The band is designed for those
moments when you don't want to take your phone out with you on a run,
and will sync with the Galaxy S4 via Bluetooth when you come back in.
While
we like the idea muchly - Nike+ isn't really that well bedded-in with
Android at the moment - there's no notion over whether this will know
when you've run with the phone and the band together, so you could end
up with two sets of data for the same run. First world problems, eh?
Heart Rate Monitor
This
is pretty much exactly as it sounds – it works with the Running Mate
app, connects via Bluetooth to record said heart rate and then uses that
to let you know how you're getting on intensity-wise during the run,
although this won't give you prompts to raise or lower your pace as some
other apps do.
S View cover
This
nifty little device is, well, not really a device, more a flip cover
from the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 with a small hole cut in the front so you
can see notifications on your phone without having to open the case.
The
idea seems a strange one, as the whole point of the cover is surely to
preserve the condition of the screen – it would have been so much cooler
if that front display was an e-ink display on the front of the S View
cover.
At
least it has some tricks of its own: you can see the time, any messages
or what music is playing when the cover is closed and you hit the power
button, thanks to the internal magnets that can detect when the cover
is closed.
With a range of colours, we can see this being a
popular choice for those that want to make their phone seem more next
generation.
On
top of this flip cover, you've also got the non-holey ones, more rugged
cases that can stop your phone from instantly smashing the second it
lands on a radiator, or a lovely pouch that will probably cost three
times as much as one you can buy online. But it's OFFICIAL.
Wireless Charging Pad
Samsung
has been a good little manufacturer with the Galaxy S4, and made it all
wireless compatible using the Qi standard, which is being used by the
likes of Nokia and LG in their phones too.
Obviously
this gives Samsung the chance to pop out an official accessory as well,
and with that we've got the Wireless Charging Pad.
While we were
impressed with the size of the charging point – there are some out
there, such as for the Nokia Lumia 920, that don't really allow the
phone to sit on them properly thanks to being too small – we don't know
how fast this will be able to charge the phone, which is a key
consideration.
That
said, it looks inoffensive enough sitting there on your bedside table,
providing you have the space, and the connector cord is nicely out of
the way.
Samsung Game Pad
This nifty little controller,
which is coming in May just after the Samsung Galaxy S4 itself launches,
is a neat idea that features an adjustable port for Samsung games that
can be controlled by Bluetooth.
The
pad features all manner of buttons to use, be it directional D-Pad or
analogue stick, and all are made of high-quality plastic and easy to
hit. The holder, which slides up and down and locks the phone in using a
spring, feels a little fragile but certainly gets a tight grip on the
Galaxy S4 (or Note 3, it seems…).
Playing a spot of Sonic the Hedgehog 4
on the device was awesome, as not only did the whole thing flow nicely
and the graphics stay nice and fluid, but having been sad at the
controller interface on a touchscreen before, we were so happy to have a
fully-fledged console in our hands that simply worked.
The
next trick for the Game Pad was the ability to slot your Galaxy S4 into
a Samsung Smart Dock, which is wired up to the TV via HDMI, and play
your games on the big screen using the controller wirelessly.
However,
this is the big let down: like all smartphones that try this trick, the
Samsung Galaxy S4 lags terribly between receiving the Bluetooth button
commands and pushing them onscreen, which means reaction times have to
almost enter another dimension to play the game properly.
Until
this is fixed the awesome power of the internal GPU of the S4 isn't
going to be realised, and we're a little worried it never might be –
which would be a huge shame as this could be a killer feature.
Samsung
says this will launch with eight games on its App Store, but will
support around 80 other titles, making it a decent choice for use
officially – more if you get togther with an emulator for some old-skool
action.
Other bits and bobs
It wouldn't be a Samsung
launch without a myriad other things being offered up to supplement your
Galaxy S4 experience, and thankfully you've got that with things like a
dedicated Mini HDMI Lead to connect your phone directly to the TV and a
separate portable battery charger to keep your S4 juiced up when the
main power pack has given up the ghost.
