The GSMArena tablet buyer's guide: February 2015

Mid-sized tablets

We come to the broadest chapter in our Tablet buyer's guide. While compact tablets are 7" exclusively, larger slates are anything above 9" but mostly hover around 10.1", the mid-sized tablet category runs through 8" all the way up to 9" with plenty of devices in the middle.

This is also the hottest slate category this year with the most desired tablets, like Apple's iPad mini and Google's Nexus 9. It's also where we'll have more offerings due to the large scope of the mid-sized tablet market.

Starting from the lowest prices we have the Lenovo A8-50 A5500 which has an 8" 800 x 1280px display, quad-core Cortex-A7 processor, 5MP camera and optional 3G model with stereo speakers. It's the cheapest 8-incher around at the moment and while it doesn't shine with immaculate specs or design it will do couch duty with ease and won't affect your financial stability too much.

In addition it has either 8GB or 16GB of on-board storage with the higher 16GB model not adding much to the price and you get a microSD card slot to expand that storage even more.

What comes as a possible catch is the firmware update support the Lenovo A8-50 will get - we don't reckon it will see Lollipop any time soon if at all.

The Huawei Honor T1 is next on the list. Unlike its MediaPad X1 sibling it isn't as spectacular on the specs sheet but like it the Honor Tablet comes with 3G connectivity and the ability to make and receive calls as standard.

In addition to the cellular abilities the Huawei Honor T1 has an 8" IPS 800 x 1280px display, 5MP camera, 16GB of storage, expandable through a microSD card slot and a front-facing camera for calls. The only weak spot here is the Snapdragon 200 chipset that doesn't really match the more powerful offerings on the other devices in the group, even if it will get the job done for most tasks. Heavy gamers and general power users will need to spend more as usual, though.

Next is the Asus Memo Pad 8 ME181C. It's very similar to the 7" Memo Pad 7 we mentioned in the previous page but has a bigger 8" IPS display on tap of the same 800 x 1280 resolution. The chipset is the same - an Intel Atom Z3745 - although its processor is clocked lower at 1.33GHz.

The Asus Memo Pad 8 ME181C lacks a cellular option, though but the Wi-Fi model is well worth a look.

Next up we have one of the best bargains you can find on the mid-sized market. This is also the cheapest 8" 1200 x 1920px tablet - the Acer Iconia Tab 8 A1-840FHD. It uses the Intel Atom Z3745 with the higher-clocked 1.86GHz quad-core CPU. The display is IPS, there's a 5MP camera on board to cover imaging on the back, while on the front there's a 2MP one.

The Acer Iconia Tab 8 A1-840FHD has a lot of connectivity options but lacks an FM Radio and Wi-Fi ac. There's also no cellular variant on the tablet to be found. But if you're looking for a tablet to use indoors where you'll get good wireless connection the Iconia Tab 8 A1-840FHD is a great option to have, especially for the great price that's just 40% higher than the cheapest 8-incher in this guide.

For a bit more money you could get a stylish Lenovo Tab S8. It's very light at a hair below 300g and also thin at 7.9mm. The Lenovo Tab S8 uses the same, capable Intel Atom Z3745 chipset with the higher-clocked CPU (1.86GHz), 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage that can be expanded via a microSD card and an 8MP camera on the back, complimented by a 1.6MP front-facing one.

The Tab S8 is not the cheapest one here at €200, or around 40% more expensive than the Acer Iconia Tab 8 A1-840FHD (€149) but has a sleeker design and also an LTE option (although that one costs even more).

The Lenovo Tab S8 is among the better mid-sized slates in this guide and we'd wholeheartedly recommend it to buyers. Keep in mind that it's not as widespread as the Iconia Tab 8 and its price hasn't changed at all in the last three months.

Moving up we find a familiar tablet awaiting us. The Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 is among the best tablets on the market ever since Samsung unveiled it back in January of 2014. It packs an 8.4" LCD of an insane 1600 x 2560px resolution and is jam-packed with all the features you'd need - an 8MP camera, Snapdragon 800 chipset, 2GB of RAM, 2MP front-facing camera, stereo speakers and a svelte body of just 7.2mm thickness.

The price of the Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 has gone up lately but it's still a better buy compared to the newer Super AMOLED Galaxy Tab S 8.4. If you're in need of LTE on the go the Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 easily obliges but don't expect to make any calls on it.

Finally Samsung's TouchWiz software allows for great productivity on the Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 thanks to Multi Window - it allows you to use more than one app on screen - or two instances of the same app (only supported apps.

You can't make a reputable tablet shopping guide without mentioning an Apple iPad. In this particular case we're going with the Apple iPad mini 2. It's not the latest mid-sized slab to come out of Cupertino but it is the best one to buy. The iPad mini 2 has come down in price slightly and is now close to €100 cheaper at retailers than its successor iPad mini 3. Our opinion of the latter is known - it brings a finger-sensing TouchID home button and golden paintjob for €100 more and that just doesn't make sense to recommend.

The Apple iPad mini 2 has the same, beautiful 7.9" 1536 x 2048px display (Apple calls it Retina) as its successor, the same excellent 64-bit A7 chipset with great CPU and GPU performance, the same streamlined body of 331g weight and 7.5mm thickness, same great battery life and the same superb Apple iOS 8 with loads of tablet-optimized apps that are purely gorgeous.

The Apple iPad mini 2 isn't the best tablet for the power user, demanding great connectivity and use with other gadgets but has a character of its own which has helped Apple carve its tablet market dominance from day one.

Keep in mind that the UI of iOS cannot be customized, storage is fixed and can only be upgraded for a hefty price increase but if you don't care about leaving Apple's ecosystem, the iPad mini 2 is great and it comes with an LTE option too.

Sony has a great mid-sized tablet in the face of the Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact. It's packed with "the best from Sony" with an 8" 1200 x 1920px display, 6.4mm featherweight body (270g), Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chipset, 3GB of RAM, 8.1MP camera, microSD card slot and classic Sony battery life that's excellent.

To add more to what is already a superb package the Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact is waterproof so you can take it into the tub (or pool) without worrying over it and enjoy stereo sound through front-facing speakers.

Price hasn't changed at all for the Wi-Fi only version which is a bit steep but you can find the LTE model for less now. Finally we're still waiting to see Android Lollipop on the Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact but Sony has promised to upgrade it sooner rather than later.

Finally it's time to look at Google's finest in the HTC Nexus 9. This is the true powerhouse with a 64-bit Tegra K1 chipset, 8.9" 1536 x 2048px IPS display, front-facing stereo speakers and the best of Android on a tablet with Lollipop on board and the promise of timely updates for the foreseeable future.

The Nexus 9 has everything covered from high-end gaming to connectivity with an LTE Cat4-ready platform. We loved the speakers on the front and also the display and found Android Lollipop a step up from KitKat for tablet functionality.

The HTC-made Nexus 9 is the best tablet you can buy if you want Android as your operating system. It's also arguably the best tablet you can buy, period. Its price hasn't changed at all and is the highest in the mid-sized section but Google's own justifies it with impeccable performance.