Final year promised to be the year of the tablet, and at least for Apple, it was. The nearly ubiquitous iPad managed not only to outsell every other tablet on the market by a broad margin, it besides exceeded Mac sales in Q4 with a record 7.33 one thousand thousand units moved. Apple is non likely to lose its throne someday presently, just competition is now making itself present from every possible angle. If Android'due south smartphone gains serve any indication this should exist an interesting twelvemonth for tablets.

We've compiled a comparative table with what we consider are the hottest tablets either currently bachelor or announced and so far. Nosotros'll update this guide as new tablets that catch our attending are announced and budgeted their release, simply with more than than a dozen already in the market, this will serve equally a starting betoken for narrowing down your purchase.

Click on the arrow to the right to expand and view the total comparison chart (11 tablets)

Apple iPad 2 Samsung Galaxy Tab x.ane Asus Eee Pad Transformer HP TouchPad B&N Nook Color Motorola Xoom HTC Flyer BlackBerry PlayBook LG K-Slate Toshiba Thrive Acer Iconia Tab A500
Toll $500-$830 $500-$600 $400-$500 $500-$600 $250 $600-$800 $500-$890 $500-$700 $800 $430-$580 $450
Availability Now Now Now July ane At present Now Now Now Now July Now
Review/Info Review Review Review More info More than info Review Review Review Review More info Review
Processor 1GHz dual-core Apple tree A5 1GHz dual-cadre Nvidia Tegra 2 1GHz dual-core Nvidia Tegra ii 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8660 800MHz single-core Ti OMAP 1GHz dual-core Nvidia Tegra ii 1.5GHz single-core Qualcomm MSM8255 1GHz dual-core ARM Cortex A9 1GHz dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 1GHz dual-core Nvidia Tegra two 1GHz dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2
Display 9.7-inch 10.1-inch 10.1-inch nine.7-inch 7-inch ten.1-inch 7-inch 7-inch viii.nine-inch (3D capable) 10.one-inch 10.ane-inch
Resolution 1024 x 768 1280 x 800 1280 x 800 1024 10 768 1024 X 600 1280 x 800 1024 Ten 600 1024 10 600 1280 x 768 1280 10 800 1280 x 800
RAM 512MB 1GB 1GB 1GB 512MB 1GB 1GB 1GB 1GB 1GB 1GB
Front photographic camera VGA 2MP i.2MP 1.3MP none 2MP 1.3MP 3MP 2MP 2MP 2MP
Rear photographic camera 720p 3MP 5MP None none 5MP 5MP 5MP 5MP (3D capable) 5MP 5MP
Storage 16GB, 32GB, 64GB 16GB, 32GB 16GB, 32GB 16GB, 32GB 8GB 32GB 16GB, 32GB 16GB, 32GB, 64GB 32GB 8GB, 16GB, 32GB 16GB
USB No Yes (with $150 dock) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yep Yes Yes Yes
HDMI (with $40 cable) (with $40 cable) Yeah No No Aye No Yes Yes Yep Yeah
Wireless Connectivity Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G/4G Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G/4G Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G/4G Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
GPS (on 3G models) Yep Aye (on 3G models) No Yes Yes Yep Yes Aye Yes
Operating Organisation iOS 4.three Android 3.1 Honeycomb Android 3.1 Honeycomb webOS three.0 Android 2.two Froyo Android three.1 Honeycomb Android ii.3 Gingerbread BlackBerry Tablet OS Android three.0 Honeycomb Android 3.1 Honeycomb Android 3.0 Honeycomb
Flash Support No Yes Aye Yeah Yep Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yeah
App Marketplace iTunes Android Market Android Market webOS
App Store		 Nook Apps Android Market Android Marketplace App World Android Market Android Marketplace Android Market
Weight 603-608g 595g 680g 740g 448g 730g 420g 400g 590g 770g 770g

Apple's iPad remains one of the best options out there, largely due to its relatively mature ecosystem and overall polished operating system. The second-generation model striking store shelves in March, taking the same $500 starting toll as its predecessor while sporting a slimmer design, a faster dual-core A5 processor with up to 9 times faster graphics, and rear and front facing cameras. Furthermore, iOS 5 is set to arrive this fall packing more than 200 new features, including wireless sync, revamped notifications, a new BBM-like messaging awarding, and iCloud synchronization.

On the Android army camp, Motorola fabricated a splash before this year when it released the first tablet to run Google'due south tablet-optimized operating system (aka Honeycomb). Simply initial enthusiasm for the device didn't interpret into stellar sales, in function because of its high toll but too due to its thick design and the fact that some features were missing at launch.

Somewhen more than Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablets made it to the market and now nosotros take options similar Acer's Iconia Tab, offering features on par with the Motorola Xoom at iPad-chirapsia prices (but weighing in among the heftiest Android tablets), and the Asus Eee Pad Transformer, which has a tempting $400 starting price and an optional keyboard dock.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab x.1 was launched recently amid positive reviews, taking the title for slimmest tablet on the planet, and nosotros're curious to see how Toshiba'south Thrive fares when it launches next month for $430. Other noteworthy options include the 3D capable K-Slate (or Optimus Pad) from LG, though information technology's certainly priced at a premium, and the HTC Flyer that offers an optional stylus and has a 4G variant known as the EVO View ($400 with ii-year contract).

In our opinion Windows tablets simply cannot provide the same level of experience as their iOS and Android counterparts, so we're not including any model in this update -- and most don't fifty-fifty brand it to retail anyway.

Lastly, in that location'due south the BlackBerry PlayBook and HP TouchPad. The one-time hasn't been doing besides well, but diehard BlackBerry users will stand up behind the platform, while the latter is gear up to confront an uphill battle when it debuts on July 1. At least on the surface webOS seems similar a very polished Os but information technology hasn't had much luck on the adoption side and thus with third-party developers.

Changelog

June 2011
Added: Asus Eee Pad Transformer
Added: Barnes & Noble Nook Color
Added: HTC Flyer
Added: Toshiba Thrive
Added: Acer Iconia Tab A500
Removed: Apple iPad
Removed: Dell Streak 7
Removed: Notion Ink Adam
Removed: Asus Eee Slate EP121