The GSMArena tablet buyer's guide: August 2014

Full-size tablets

If you must have the best, full-size tablets is where it's at. With 10-inch and higher display sizes, you'll have plenty of screen estate for enjoying multimedia content. If you're going this big, then display fidelity plays a much bigger part, so we'll only be listing tablets with eye-popping pixel density in our full-size recommendations.

We'll also be sure to mention models that include 3G/LTE connectivity, as large or not, sometimes you just want to take your tablet out without having to constantly bounce from one Wi-Fi network to the other.

Lenovo's Yoga Tablet 10 comes first as both the most affordable decent 10-inch Wi-Fi-only tablet currently available, and the cheapest tablet that offers 3G connectivity (with the 3G model).

Although its 1280 x 800 pixel resolution stretches seriously thin on such a large display, at least it's an IPS LCD unit that offers great viewing angles. Otherwise, the quad-core 1.2GHz processor of the Tablet 10 has little trouble pumping out all the pixels to the screen and it feels snappy (though not lightning fast).

There's also the trademark built-in 3-stage kickstand, a 9,000mAh battery and dual front stereo speakers with Dolby Digital Plus for multimedia viewing. Lenovo also announced a Android 4.4 KitKat update for the entire lineup.

The Yoga Tablet 10 does have fairly limited 3G network connectivity (it supports only HSDPA bands 900/2100), so be sure it has the right coverage for your area if you decide to get one.

The Archos 97b Platinum HD again makes our list thanks to its a very respectable 2048 x 1536px screen, which is the same diagonal and aspect ratio of the latest Apple iPad Air. It also has a premium all-metal back, alongside a quad-core processor.

Inside, you'll find a decent 1.6GHz quad-core Rockchip RK3188 (Cortex-A9) processor and 2GB of RAM. Performance-wise, this chipset puts out 17251 at AnTuTu, so it's in roughly the same ballpark as the Samsung Galaxy S3 and the Google Nexus 4, both of which however have to cater for less than a third of the Archos 97b Platinum HD number of screen pixels. Performance is not amazing, but it gets the job done.

As with other Archos tablets, you'll still have to pay for a microSD card to build on the very limited 8GB of internal memory. But you'll have more than enough money left over, as the 97b Platinum is still more affordable than most competitors' 8-inch offerings.

The Archos 97b Platinum HD has a few identical twins by more marginal manufacturers. Some of those tablets may appeal to people who are looking for a decent tablet at bargain basement prices. For instance, the QiLive 97r is a commissioned Archos 97b Platinum HD rebrand for certain sellers.

Then, there are the German only brands Odys (their Odys Iron tablet), Captiva (their Captiva Pad 9.7 Super FHD and Captiva Pad 10.1 Quad FHD tablets), Xoro and Blaupunkt (their Endeavour 1010 tablet). There is also the Chinese Onda V972 tablet, which is an identical twin of the Blaupunkt Endeavour 1010. These have pretty close specs to the Archos tablet with slightly different external design. Unfortunately, none of these tablet makers (or rather sellers) can be considered major per se, so getting into details about these variants is beyond the scope of this guide.

The recent release of Samsung's Pro range of tablets marked the first time when Samsung released tablets that are priced as high as or even higher than the iPad range. Since then prices of the tablets have come down considerably, and the robust devices are that much more recommendable.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 offers a beautiful screen that has higher resolution than the iPad Air, alongside a micro SD slot, 8MP camera, and a capable octa-core chipset.

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

Lenovo have updated their long-standing Tablet 10 offering with a Yoga Tablet 10 HD+ model. Besides upping the resolution to 1920 x 1200px, the 10 HD+ also doubles up the RAM to 2GB, has a more robust 8MP camera.

Powering it all is a quad-core 1.6GHz Snapdragon 400 chip (APQ8028 on the WiFi-only model), which should be enough to power the higher-resolution display, but won't give you the performance of more premium offerings.

Like the Yoga Tablet 10, there's also the trademark built-in 3-stage kickstand, a 9,000mAh battery and dual front stereo speakers with Dolby Digital Plus for multimedia viewing. Lenovo also announced a Android 4.4 KitKat update for the entire lineup.

The 3G-enabled Yoga Tablet 10 HD+ does have fairly limited 3G network connectivity (it supports only HSDPA bands 900/2100), so be sure it has the right coverage for your area if you decide to get one.

Sony's Xperia Tablet Z is still one of the most stylish tablet offerings you'll see at this or any other size, with is dual-glass panel design and ultra-slim 6.9mm waistline. The lifecycle of the Tablet Z has gotten to the point where the price has stopped dropping, so if you've been thinking of getting Sony's first tablet, now's the time.

Under the hood there's a 1.5GHz Snapdragon processor with 2GB of RAM and Adreno 320 GPU and the latest Android 4.4 KitKat update. Despite being more than a year old, the Tablet Z is still a great performer, and offers a similar package as the Xperia Z2 tablet without the price premium.

The relatively small 6,000mAh battery is the only real downside, as you may not get much time between charges, but battery life is still passable.

The latest Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 has dropped into the sub-€400 price range for the 16GB model, making it even more competitive than before. It brings an incredibly sharp 2560 x 1600px display, 3GB of RAM, and a quad-core Snapdragon 800 chipset to the table.

Samsung's great pressure-sensitive S-Pen offers something other tablets simply can't match, and the pleasant leather-like textured plastic back from the Note 3 has also made its way to its elder sibling and it works great visually.

The LTE version also bumps up the performance by upping the clock speed to 2.3GHz, and also features Adreno 330 graphics and 1080p@60fps video recording.

Still uncharacteristic of Apple, its Apple iPad Air tablet is not the most expensive device in this section. Recent competitive offerings from Samsung have forced the iPad Air to come down slightly in price, and you'll also find the iPad Air (16GB WiFi-only) in the sub-€400 price range for the first time (the non-expandable storage makes this option hard to recommend, however).

Otherwise, you still get an ultra-sharp display alongside Apple's proprietary A7 chipset. The iPad Air features a 4:3 aspect ratio, which is arguably the more user-friendly aspect for web browsing or reading and also offers more screen real estate for the same diagonal. Thanks to Apple's extensive app store, there's no shortage of functional and innovative apps and games.

The iPad Air does not come with a microSD card slot, so we 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 having 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. 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 Air as it will no longer be the current model.

If you're big on typing, then Asus has you covered with its Transformer Pad TF701T. Basically a MeMo Pad on steroids, the TF701T comes with an ultra-crisp 2560 x 1600 pixel screen, a hefty quad-core 1.9 GHz Tegra 4 processor, and 32GB of expandable storage.

More importantly, the Transformer earns its moniker by being the only tablet that also comes with a keyboard dock as part of the retail package, making it a great deal.

It's not too long ago that Sony announced their next gen tablet, dubbed the Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet. It has a faster Snapdragon 801 chipset and an 8MP back camera with improved Exmor RS sensor, but also does away with the stylish dual-glass panel design that made its predecessor so attractive.

Otherwise, Sony have improved on the Tablet Z in almost every regard, including improved water resistance - this time it would gladly take a dip in the kiddie pool for up to 30 minutes. There is also the latest Android 4.4 KitKat on board right out of the box.

We were a bit anxious about the lower battery rating, but our own review tests proved that the Xperia Z2 Tablet provides up to 80% longer web browsing and video playback times on a single charge than the original Xperia Tablet Z.

Somewhat less cost cost-prohibitive than upon launch, the Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 offers the best that Samsung has to offer alongside its superior Note stylus integration and a large 12.2-inch screen size.

It comes with 2560 x 1600px resolution, a minimum of 32GB of built-in storage plus a card slot, octa-core chipset and 8MP camera with 1080p video recording. The Note should run you about €20 more than the identical Galaxy Tab Pro 12.2, so we figure it's worth the extra cost for the added stylus functionality.

It also comes with the latest Android OS v4.4 (KitKat) coupled with Samsung's home-baked goodies that bring a huge boost to productivity. The split-screen multi-tasking view is well overdue on high-res screen tablets and it's brilliantly implemented here, allowing to run up to four apps side by side plus even more in the form of floating windows.