6 Best Android Tablets of 2011

1. Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1: It’s time to Tab with the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (not 8.9) which costs upwards from $499.99. The company may have been placing its bets on the 7” version initially, because those were times of uncertainty. It was when no one was sure whether they wanted a large Android phone or a netbook without the keyboard from a slate. Well, they could have taken a cue from the iPad and just given us the Galaxy Tab 10.1. At any rate, we’re not complaining considering its 1,280 x 800p WXGA display, Honeycomb 3.1-readiness, 1GHz dual core Tegra 2 processor, 8MP rear camera and more.

2. Motorola Xoom: The second in our queue is the Motorola Xoom which comes powered by a 1GHz dual core Nvidia Tegra 2 chip and Honeycomb 3.1. A 10.1” 1280 x 800p WXGA touchscreen display stretches across the front and there’s 3G, Wi-Fi and 4G connectivity. The tablet renders around 10 hours of browsing over Wi-Fi and embeds a 5MP rear snapper with 720p recording capabilities as well as a 2MP webcam on the bezel. It can be ordered from the Motorola website starting at $499 for the plain Wi-Fi flavor.

3. Asus Eee Pad Transformer: Depending on whether you’re shopping for the 16GB or 32GB Asus Eee Pad Transformer on Amazon, you’ll be shelling out approximately $394 or $469, for the respective variants. A 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 processor supplies all the steam for multi-tasking and HD video playback. The screen happens to be a 10.1” LED backlit WXGA one with 10-finger multi-touch accommodation. We need hardly mention that it works with Honeycomb, Android 3.2 in this case, and provides Adobe Flash 10.2 support.

4. Acer Iconia Tab A500: For those who’re totally into sleek aluminum back panels, the Acer Iconia Tab A500 has just this to proffer. It flaunts a 10.1” 1280 x 800p multi-touch screen and dual core Nvidia Tegra 2 CPU as also HD-optimized graphics from the Nvidia GeForce GPU with Flash 10.2 support. Among the many terminals decorating its edges is a microUSB 2.0 port, a USB 2.0 port and a micro HDMI out. Priced below $400 on Amazon, the tablet runs Honeycomb 3.0 and integrates a pair of cameras, one with a 5MP sensor and the other with a 2MP sensor.

5. Archos 80 G9: Because it takes all kinds to make a list of Android tablets feel complete, the Archos 80 G9 is here for everyone who wants to hook up this slate to the web through a microUSB port. The $299.99 device won’t cajole you into choosing between 3G or Wi-Fi since Archos has developed a separately purchasable 3G dongle for their G9s. On the spec front, it sports Android 3.2, a 1GHz ARM Cortex A9 dual core processor, a 720p front facing webcam, 8GB storage (definitely on the lighter side) and an 8” 1,024 x 768p resolution capacitive touchscreen.

6. Sony Tablet S: Sporting a rather unusual form factor for a slate, the Sony Tablet S is on our list of the 6 best Android tablets of 2011 owing mainly to its appearance. You may want to tread cautiously around the idea of a touchscreen device without Gorilla Glass, but it’s got its highs too. These involve a 1.2GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 dual core processor, Honeycomb, a 9.4” LED backlit TruBlack Display, DLNA, Wi-Fi and PlayStation certification for $499.99, if you pick up the 16GB version and $599.99 for the 32GB model.