The GSMArena tablet buyer's guide: August 2014

Midsize tablets

It's hard to determine where exactly compact ends, midrange begins, and full-size takes over, which is why the screen diagonal margin in this chapter will be fairly large. But, if you're the Goldilocks of tablets and find compact too small and full-size too big, then it's a safe bet that at least one of the tablets mentioned in this section should feel just right.

If you want to take your tablet on the go, then being able to rely on a 3G and/or LTE connection is almost a must, so we'll be specifying which of the below models come with a telephony support as well. As before, the tablets in this section are listed by price in ascending order.

Archos continues to build a reputation for affordable yet competitive Wi-Fi-only tablets and its most capable 8-inch offering is exactly that. The Archos 80b Platinum comes with a quad-core 1.6GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. Its screen resolution is a paltry 1024 x 768px, but it's an IPS LCD with excellent viewing angles. The 4:3 aspect ratio provides more effective screen estate for reading and web browsing than 16:9 tablets of the same diagonal.

True, it has only 8GB of internal memory (which you'll need to expand via the microSD card slot), but it does come with all-metal body a la iPad mini and it has a microHDMI port, and is the only offering in the midsize lot that can be had for under €120, as its price continues to drop.

The Lenovo Yoga Tablet 8 is one of the most affordable 8-inch tablets to offer 3G connectivity. Its quad-core 1.2GHz Mediatek processor isn't the best around, but it does have a decent 1280 x 800px screen resolution. Plus, its built-in 3-stage kickstand, 6,000 mAh battery and the stereo speakers make it a great media player. It also has a GPS chip on-board. Lenovo also announced a Android 4.4 KitKat update for their lineup.

Contrary to the current trend, the Yoga Tablet 8's telephony-capable model has gone up in price compared to the Wi-Fi-only variant. It does also have fairly limited 3G network connectivity (it supports only two HSDPA bands - 900/2100Mhz), so be sure it has the right coverage for your area if you decide to get one. That said, those bands should be enough to get you connected to just about any 3G carrier in Europe.

But it's the WiFi-only model that has kept it in our list, as it currently hovers at around the €160 range, making it still worthy of serious consideration.

Acer has updated its Iconia tablet line since our last guide, and the latest Iconia Tab 8 A1-840FHD is an improvement over its Icona A1-830 predecessor in almost every conceivable way. Not only does the Tab 8 have a much sharper 1920 x 1200px screen, but the Intel Atom processor inside has been boosted to a quad-core 1.86GHz one. There's also double to RAM, and the Android version is the latest version 4.4.2 KitKat.

One thing that the new Iconia Tab doesn't have is the 4:3 aspect of its predecessor, but that's not necessarily a deal-breaker.

Although you won't find it as cheap as the 830, the Tab 8 can be had for right around €200, which is a great deal.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 makes our list here thanks in large part to its extensive LTE support. The 8-inch tablet otherwise has low screen resolution of 800 x 1280 and gets beat out by the likes of the LG G Pad 8.3 in terms of performance, but Note 8.0 offers 3G connectivity at a lower price than many competing offerings.

The Note 8.0 also has a wide array of connectivity extras, including an IR-port and USB Host support.

Plus, Samsung's excellent pressure-sensitive S-Pen is perfect for jotting things down or doodling away and there's still hardly a tablet out there that can match it.

Samsung outed its new line of premium midsize tablets earlier this year, one of them being the Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4. Thanks to a healthy price drop of around €100 in certain markets, it now beats out similarly priced devices like the LG G Pad 8.3, and the more expensive Kindle Fire HDX 8.9.

It offers a 2560 x 1600px screen resolution and a Snapdragon 800 processor, the combination of which puts it and the other new Samsung tablets in a class of their own. The 8MP camera with 1080p video recording complete the landmark features.

It not only comes with the latest Android OS v4.4 (KitKat), but Samsung has also baked in a spanking new tablet interface which truly elevates the tablet user experience to a whole new level (the split-screen multi-tasking view is well overdue on high-res screen tablets).

Xiaomi finds itself onto our list for the first time thanks to its competitive new Mi Pad 7.9 tablet offering. The Mi Pad takes many of its design cues from the Apple iPad mini 2 (with Retina display), including the 2048 x 1536px resolution on its 7.9-inch display.

There are several things that the Mi Pad delivers above Apple's offering, most notably the inclusion of expandable storage via microSD card slot, Gorilla Glass 3 for the display, and computing (and graphics!) powered by nVidia's capable Tegra K1 chipset.

The Mi Pad's Android software package also takes after Apple's offering, with many design cues and interface features being reminiscent of iOS. It's basically the closes you can get to having an iPad without actually having an iPad. But the software does have its fair share of bugs that need to be ironed out, and there is no telephony version available either. Obviously, you don't get access to Apple's capable app catalogue either, but you're also paying considerably less.

The nVidia SHIELD tablet is another first-timer onto our list thanks to its Tegra K1 chipset. With a larger, higher resolution screen, double the RAM, and higher clocked processor, it's a more advanced version of the Tegra Note 7, and comes complete with Android 4.4 KitKat and a stylus to boot.

The SHIELD tablet also comes with a 32GB LTE version, which comes in at under €400 to boot, making a very strong contender in the 8-inch tablet category.

When it comes to tablets, no self-respecting tablet guide can go without mentioning Apple's. The latest Apple iPad mini 2 (with Retina screen) in Apple's popular iPad lineup boasts a 1536 x 2048 7.9-inch display with a 4:3 aspect ratio. The 4:3 aspect ratio provides more effective screen estate for reading and web browsing than 16:9 tablets. Thanks to Apple's extensive app store, there's no shortage of very functional and polished apps and games for even the most demanding of users.

The iPad mini 2 does not come with a microSD card slot, so we'd recommend you get at least the 32GB version despite its exorbitant markup. The LTE-enabled version offers an immensely wide LTE band support, and also has the benefit of a built-in GPS chip - something which the Wi-Fi only version lacks.

In this August edition of our Tablet buyer's guide we would advise against buying an iPad as the next generation is just around the corner (expected in November). As Apple usually goes about it, they will release the updated version soon after the November announcement at the same price tag you would pay right now for the current gen. Even if you don't get the new iPad, the mere fact of its release will allow you to snatch a better deal on the Apple iPad mini 2 as it will no longer be the current model.

To follow up its robust Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 offering, Samsung released an even more robust variant of tablet powerhouse in the Galaxy Tab S 8.4. The Tab S features an even more impressive screen, sporting the same size and resolution but being of the Super AMOLED variety. In our own testing it's proven to have impressive contrast and colors.

Also, the Tab S comes with Samsung's Exynos 5 Octa chipset, featuring quad-core 1.9GHz Cortex-A15 and quad-core 1.3GHz Cortex-A7 CPUs, which should provide more horsepower than the quad-core 2.3GHz Krait 400 found in the Tab Pro. There's also several additional color combinations, 3GB of RAM, and the Tab S is also lighter while featuring a larger 4,900mAh battery.