A wide array of dual- and quad-core tablets debuted at this year's CES. Many are "me too" Android devices, offering nice displays, good connectivity options, and hours of battery life--so let the pricing wars begin in that group. But we also saw a few that pushed the state of the art. The three biggest shifts from last year are the announcement of many systems with quad core ARM CPUs, 4G connectivity, and Android 4 operating systems. These enhancements are important, but have little to do with designs of the device makers.
Sizes have settled in at roughly 5 inches for tiny tablets; about 7.5 to 8.5 inches for the mid size versions; and 10 inches for the full sized tablets. Stunning AMOLED displays are making their way to the smaller tablets--which makes them brilliantly clear and bright. They're easy on the eyes for reading, even at the smaller size, and perfect for watching personal video.
Polymer batteries and the low power consumption of those power-sipping AMOLED displays make 8 or more hours of run time routine. In many cases, the differences are measured in a few ounces or a few millimeters. But some device makers are making strides in usability, including more options for attached and detached keyboards, and ruggedized designs that will work in environments where shocks and moisture might otherwise bring a quick end to handheld's life.
We also saw a lot of voice interactivity attempts. It may have just been the noise of the show floor, but these didn't seem to be on par with Siri. One innovation that we're not sure we like: Some tablets offer a no-glasses 3-D viewing experience. We tried a few of these gadgets, and for the most part, they reminded us of the plastic lens holograms we've seen (you know the ones where if you look at it one way, you see the Empire State building, and if you hold it another you see the Statue of Liberty). The technology will have to go through a few iterations before it has the wow factor of 3-D produced with the aid of glasses.
Finally, we saw some nice looking tablets from brands we'd never heard of before. It looks like there may be as many "whitebox" tablet makers as there are whitebox PC makers.
Lenovo had a number of tablets to show, but the one that impressed us most was the IdeaTab S210. The CPU is a 1.5 GHz Qualcomm "Krait", similar to the A15 we're told, and a successor to Qualcomm's Scorpion architecture. The tablet runs Android 4.0, and has a battery life of 20 hours in its clamshell configuration.
With the push of a button, the S220 releases from its keyboard and becomes a very nice 1.28 pound, standalone tablet. As a standalone tablet, it has a battery life of 10 hours. The Asus transformer was the first Android tablet we saw that could do this trick, but Lenovo adds its own design aesthetic. The docking system couples tightly and gives a solid feel.
If you're looking for a smaller tablet, Lenovo has those too--in fact Lenovo has a lot of variations on the theme, including (not shown here) 10.1-inch tablets built on Atom and NVidia Tegra 3 quad-core chips. Just a bit bigger than a phone, the IdeaTab S2 5" is about 7 ounces or 198 grams, measures .4 inches thick, and has a 9 hour run time. Lenovo says the tiny tablet ships with two extra batteries. It has an 800 x 480 diplay and uses a dual core Qualcomm chip.
Motorola's Droid XYBoard has been out for a few months now, but we wanted to take a look just to make sure that it wasn't a repackaged Xoom. It's not. At 1.33 lbs, with Verizon LTE connectivity and a dual- core 1.2 GHz chip, it's a good Android tablet. Pricing for the 64 GB version is about $700.
If you're looking for a smaller tablet, the Toshiba Thrive 7 may be the answer. Released just before Christmas, the Thrive has a sharp 1280 x 800 display and case that's easier to hold than the brushed aluminum versions. It weighs in at .8 pounds and runs a dual-core chip.
For some applications, you just can't get a big enough tablet. For those occasions, Toshiba was showing a prototype of a 13-inch tablet; the company also had a 7.7-inch tablet in prototype not shown here. Because the 13-inch tablet was sitting in its protective case, we couldn't get a feel for it, but it seems as thin its smaller cousins. That said, we can't imagine holding it in one hand for long. We're guessing the weight is about 3 pounds.
Sony's Tablet P is unique in that it has two 5.5" displays and a clamshell folding design. The two screens can be used independently on the Android 3.2 tablet, and the device design makes it easy to fold it up and pop it your pocket. You can also use the two screens as one large screen, for applications better suited to a larger screen. Compared to other tablets, the display looks fairly small compared to the bezel, but the P does offer a nice portability option.
Never heard of Sanc or the Gotech G707SW? Neither had we. The tablet is nothing special in terms of its hardware, with a 7-inch, 800 x 480 display, Cortex A-8 processor, and Android 2.3 operating system. It was probably at the show last year. The reason it caught our attention: It looks like an oversized Nokia Lumia 800. The rounded edges made for a nice look. With a quick web search, we were able to find a price in the United States--$145 if you order in quantities of 50 or more. Not too bad for rebranding applications.
The Gadmei E8-3D was another tablet we'd never heard of, but its 3D performance, sans glasses, looked pretty impressive. With a 1280x800 display, the 8" Android 4 tablet was impressive in its own right. The CPU is a bit old (Cortex 9). The front- and rear-facing cameras are optional. The product is intended to be rebranded, with a price between $149 and $199 depending on the configuration.
