Lets face it, there’s a lot of controversy over which
tablet are the best. There’s the Apple iPad crowd who insist that their tablet
is the greatest thing since sliced bread, and then there’s the Android crowd
who enjoy the freedom that Android brings them. As an owner of both kinds of
tablets, plus someone who has used various models, I will endeavour to clear up
a few points about which tablet are really the best for your needs.
The “Apps” – Applications really do matter.
The thing that you will hear people bang-on-about mostly
of course, in all the advertising blurb is the App stores. Apps are “applications”,
programs that run on your tablet and give you the freedom to do what you want,
when you want. They come in three different forms, the paid-for apps that you
pay a small fee for, the free apps that are usually supported by advertisements
and the demo-app that gives you limited functionality until you pay a small fee
to unlock its full potential.
Let me start by saying, both Android and Apple stores
have thousands of apps. Forget the “My app-store is bigger than yours”
argument, because at the end of the day both stores offer a mind-boggling
amount of apps. What is important though is the quality of the apps that are
available for download. On this score, Apple’s iPad apps win hands-down. Apple has
a thorough process that only allows the best apps onto its marketplace, Google’s
Android allow anyone to put an app on the store, and it really shows. For the
most part, iPad 2 apps are simply mind-blowing. They make use of the iPad’s
screen and precise touch capabilities and they just ooze quality. Apps on the
Android store can really be hit or miss, and quite often you’ll download an app
only to find it takes up a little corner of the tablet because it has not been
optimised for tablet use. Apps on Android tablets really are a mine-field of
trial and error; I’ve yet to experience a truly bad app on the iPad.
The “User Interface” – Getting around your tablet.
This is an area where opinions can be divided. Android
tablets run Google’s Android Operating System (versions anywhere between 2 and
4) and Apples iPad’s run Apples iOS 5.1. For ease of use, iPad wins with its
simple layout and press to use icon. For custom-ability and pretty widgets (eg.
A display to show the weather, without having to click on something to access
it), Androids tablets are the tablets to go for.
When it comes to speed though, even the fastest Android
tablet seems slow compared to an iPad. Swiping the screen and going from page 1
to page 2, or even simply opening an app is silky smooth on an iPad 2, the same
can’t always be said for an Android tablet. Little things such as opening and
closing animations, fade-ins and fade-outs etc are also for the most part
smoother on the iPad. This just makes the iPad 2 feel that bit sexier than any
Android pad I have used. That said, Android’s Operating System has come on
leaps and bounds in the last few months, and in every-day use the difference
really is minimal. It’s a close one to call with regards to the “User Interface”,
both are great to use depending on the experience you prefer.
Web Browsing
My one concern when buying an iPad 2 was the inability to
play Flash websites. Luckily for me, times have moved on, and with the advent
of HTML5 and a range of truly stunning apps for to replace certain websites,
the web experience on the Apple iPad 2 is quite simply stunning.
I also have an Android pad, which of course handles Flash
websites with no problem at all, and the same experience can be had with my pad
that can be had with a desk-top. This makes the decision on which tablet to get
an interesting one...
The one big difference is the speed at which the
different devices handle the internet. Remembering that Flash adverts and
content can be quite resource hungry, some websites on Android tablets seem to
be a lot slower loading that on the iPad 2. Once loaded, you can smoothly
scroll and zoom in or out on the iPad 2, but on an Android pad its not quite so
smooth. Again, the iPad 2 experience is made that little bit pleasurable due to
its silky smoothness.
Media – Video, Music, Pictures and more.
Both Apple iPad’s running iOS 5.1 and an Android tablet
running Android 2, 3 or 4 are capable of all the media functions you can think
of. With the correct apps they can all run downloaded films, music and of
course view pictures.
With an Android tablet its just plug-and-play, where you
plug in your tablet to your PC and usually you can just drag files onto the
pad. Although that sounds simple in theory, I know many people who are not too
tech-savvy who really struggle with that concept.
Apple of course have iTunes. Although I have been a
basher of the iTunes software for many years, I have realised lately how
efficient it is when plugging the iPad 2 into the PC. Everything is there in
one app, and it really is simple to add and remove media to the iPad.
As far as apps go for media content, Apple’s store offer
a fantastic range of software that I’ve yet to see on an Android tablet.
Streaming tv from Sky Go, awesome apps from BBC and Sky with regards to news
(making their Android cousins look mediocre and out-dated), photography apps,
weather apps, magazine apps that are just not available on Androids platform. A
best of app list is on the cards, but thats another blog, another day.
With the right software, both Android and Apple’s iPad
offer great media experiences. What makes these experiences different is the
next section, the screen quality.
Screen Quality – Where it really matters.
Tablet screens have come on a great deal over the last
few years. However, the screen quality was the reason I decided to also get an
iPad and use it now as may main tablet. That probably is the main reason for my
iPad 2 purchase. I studied all the available Android tablets, along with the
iPad 2 and iPad 3 and chose the iPad 2 because for its price I believe it
offers the best quality screen.
What makes it stand out from the crowd? The screen just
looks amazing! Its bright, vibrant and colours look “real” on it. Compared to
other tablets, the iPad screen just looks right. I didn’t get the iPad 3 because
for the extra £70 I don’t believe it’s a much greater display. I found it
difficult under normal conditions to really see a difference that mattered.
If you want to read books or graphic novels (like I do!)
then the iPad 2 screen just brings the pages to life. Yes, books and graphic
novels look cool on Android pads, but the iPad 2 screen is just so much
clearer. What’s more, the iPad screens are renowned for not picking up
finger-prints as much as other tablets and it does seem a lot more resilient to
your sticky fingers.
Battery Life
I’m going to keep this short and to the point. When I
first bought my iPad 2 it had 50% battery power in it. I used it for a solid 5
hours before charging it, browsing the internet and downloading apps. That’s
how good the battery life is on the iPad 2! A full charge really does give
around 10 hours battery life, I’ve yet to have a ‘quiet’ day, so I have no idea
the battery would last if just using as a book reader with wi-fi and blue-tooth
off.
My experience with Android tablets has had me charging up
the battery between 3 and 5 hours with minimal web browsing, game playing and
reading, so there is definitely a difference in battery life between different
tablets.
Overall
I like to think my opinions are not biased in anyway
towards either Apple’s iPad’s or any of Android’s tablets. I think they both
offer great value for money these days and whether you choose an Apple produce
or a tablet running Google’s Android you will be happy.
However, comparing the experience to what you pay, the
iPad 2 is £329 for the 16GB, wi-fi only model, most Android tablets are between
£149 for the Android 2.x tablets and £499 for the Android 4.x tablets. At the
price of £329 the iPad 2 tablet is the sexier, smoothest performing tablet and
is priced smack-bang in the middle of the price range.
