iPad Mini 3 vs. Fire HD 7 vs. Galaxy Tab S vs. ThinkPad 8

By Michael A.

Apple’s iPad Air 2 may have stolen the show at the company’s Oct. 16 reveal event, but company made sure not to leave iPad mini fans in the dust. The new iPad mini 3 retains its predecessor’s sleek design and Retina display, while adding Apple’s Touch ID fingerprint reader and a new gold color option.
Though Apple’s allure as as strong as ever, the mini 3 has some serious competition in the 7- to 8-inch tablet space with rivals like the Amazon Fire HD 7, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 and the Lenovo ThinkPad 8. Here’s how the four slates stack up.
MORE: iOS 8.1 Brings Back Camera Roll


	Apple iPad Mini 3	Amazon Fire HD 7	Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4	Lenovo ThinkPad 8
Starting Price	Starting at $350	Starting at $139	Starting at $399	Starting at $399
CPU/GPU	64-bit Apple A7 processor/M7 motion co-processor	1.5-GHz quad-core CPU	1.9-GHz + 1.3-GHz Samsung Exynos 5 Octa	Intel Atom Z3770 Processor
OS	iOS 8	Fire 4.0	Android 4.4.2	Windows 8.1
Screen Size	7.9 inches	7 inches	8.4 inches	8.3-inches
Resolution	2048 x 1536 pixels, Retina HD	1280 x 800 pixels	2560 x 1600 pixels	1920 x 1200 pixels
RAM	N/A	N/A	3GB	2GB
Internal Storage	16GB, 64GB, 128GB	8GB, 16GB	8GB	32GB or 64GB
Expandable Storage	none	none	64GB	64GB, 128GB
Front Camera	1.2 MP	VGA	2.1 MP	2 MP
Rear Camera	5-MP iSight	2-MP	8-MP	5-MP
Battery Life	estimated 10 hours Wi-Fi web browsing	8 hours 25 minutes of continuous Web surfing	7 hours and 56 minutes of continuous Web surfing	7 hours and 4 minutes of continuous Web surfing
Size and Weight	7.87 x 5.3 x 0.29 inches, 11.68 ounces	7.5 x 5.0 x 0.4 inches, 11.9 ounces	8.37 x 4.84 x 0.26, 10.37 ounces	8.8 x 5.2 x 0.35 inches, 14.4 ounces
Connectivity	802.11ac	802.11b/g/n	802.11 a/b/g/n/ac	802.1a/b/g/n
Ports/Slots	Wi-Fi Calling, Digital Image Stablization, Touch ID Fingerprint scanner	microUSB, headphone	microUSB, microSD, headphone	mini-HDMI, headphone

Click the following links for Spec details and current prices in Amazon:

Design

The iPad is known for being sleeker than the rest of the pack, and the iPad mini 3 is no exception. The tablet packs Apple’s usual aluminum backside, and comes in silver, space gray and a brand new gold color (for those who want to feel extra fancy). The Galaxy Tab S 8.4 and ThinkPad 8 aren’t far behind in terms of style, with the former sporting a slick bronze chassis that makes plastic look premium, and the latter touting a minimalist aluminum body with a red camera ring on the rear panel. The Fire HD 7 is more durable than eye-poppingly stylish, with a thick, soft-touch design that brings Amazon’s bigger HDX tablet line to mind.

At 7.87 x 5.3 x 0.29 inches, the iPad mini 3 is thinner than all three competitors. Its feathery 11.68-ounce build makes it lighter than both the Fire HD 7 and the ThinkPad 8, but not quite as light as the 10.37-ounce Galaxy Tab S.

Display

The iPad mini 3 retains its predecessor’s 7.9-inch, 2048 x 1536 Retina HD display, making it one of the sharpest screens you can find on a small tablet. The Galaxy Tab S’s 8.4-inch 2560 x 1600 display is bigger and even sharper, though. Coming in third is the ThinkPad 8’s 8.3-inch, 1920 x 1080 display, while the more affordable Fire HD 7 nixes full-HD for a 1280 x 800 screen.

Features and Software

The iPad mini 3’s biggest new feature is Touch ID, which lets you unlock the tablet, authorize iTunes purchases and verify online Apple Pay transactions using your fingerprint. The Galaxy Tab S and Fire HD 7 are the best of the bunch for kids; the former’s Kids Mode offers a completely separate interface for little ones, while the latter’s FreeTime settings allow you to set precise limits on how and how often junior uses the device. The ThinkPad 8 is best for business users, with USB 3.0 support and an optional dock that turns the slate into a Windows PC.
Each of the four slates run a different operating system. The iPad mini 3 rocks Apple’s iOS 8.1, with access to more than 675,000 tablet-optimized apps on the App Store. The Galaxy Tab S packs a skinned version of Android 4.4.2 KitKat with a healthy (though less tablet-friendly) selection of apps via Google Play. The Fire HD 7 runs Fire OS 4 Sangria (also a variant of Android), which packs neat features like X-Ray for bookworms and movie addicts, while the ThinkPad 8 has the most productivity value with a full build of Windows 8.1.

Value

The iPad mini 3 starts at $400 with 16GB of storage, meaning you’re paying $100 more than the iPad mini 2 mainly for just Touch ID. The Galaxy Tab S and ThinkPad 8 have the same starting price, though the ThinkPad 8 has more storage at 64GB while the 16GB Tab S can be cheaply expanded to 64GB via microSD. The Fire HD 7 is the best tablet for those on a tight budget, with a much lower starting price of $140 for 8GB of storage.

Bottom Line

If you don’t already own an iPad mini 2 and want access to Apple’s rich app marketplace, the sleek iPad mini 3 just might be worth the $400 premium. However, if you can live without iOS, the Galaxy S Tab 8.4 offers a sharper display and expandable storage, while the ThinkPad 8 has more starting storage and can double as a miniature Windows PC. And if you don’t have $400 to blow on a tablet, the $140 Fire HD 7 remains a great choice, especially if you have kids.

Tesco Hudl 2 vs Fire HD 7 vs Fire HD 6 comparison review: Android KitKat Hudl 2 wins hands-down

By Chris Martin
How much you're willing to spend on a tablet is going to have a big impact on which model you buy. If you're reading this then you probably want a budget tablet as the most expensive here is £129. That's the very affordable, in the grand scheme, Tesco Hudl 2 which is only £10 more expensive than its predecessor and can be purchased with double value vouchers using ClubCard Boost so if you spend £65 worth of vouchers on the Hudl 2 then it's effectively free. Read: Tesco Hudl vs Hudl 2 comparison review.
If you're trying to save as much as possible, then Amazon's Fire HD 6 looks like a bargain and the HD 7 is cheaper if you opt for less storage. In fact, only the HD 7 with 32 GB of storage is more expensive.
There is one caveat though which is that the prices in the table below are for Amazon's tablets with 'special offers' meaning you'll be served advertising as a screensaver and on the lockscreen. You can have these removed if you pay an extra £10.
Price isn't everything so see below to find out what you get for your money in each case.

	Tesco Hudl 2	Fire HD 6	Fire HD 7
8 GB	-	£79	£119
16 GB	£129	£99	£139

Tesco Hudl 2 vs Fire HD 7 vs Fire HD 6: Design and build

If you like colourful devices then you're in luck here. The Fire HD tablets are available in five colours (black, yellow, blue, pink and white) and the Hudl 2 is available in a whopping eight (black, white, blue, orange, purple, pink, red and turquoise).
In terms of design, the Hudl 2 looks and feels a lot more premium with its stylish curves and soft matt rubber finish. The tablet is relatively thin at 9 mm but fairly heavy at just over 400 g. It's understandably heavier than the Amazon tablets, which are 337 g and 290 g respectively, due to its size.
We're not a big fan of the chunky bezels on the Fire HD tablets and the fact they are nearly 11 mm thick.

Tesco Hudl 2 vs Fire HD 7 vs Fire HD 6: Hardware specs and features

Although the Hudl 2 is more expensive than its rivals here (ignoring paying for it with vouchers), it comes with a decent set of specifications. You get an excellent 8.3in IPS screen with a Full HD resolution (1920 x 1200).
You also get an Intel Atom quad-core processor clocked at 1.8 GHz and 2 GB of RAM. There's only a 16 GB storage option but the Hudl 2 does come with a microSD card slot so you can add up to 32 GB more.
The main difference between the HD 6 and HD 7 is the screen size and you can guess from their names how big they are. At 6in, the HD 6 is very smaller for a tablet but since they use the same 1280 x 800 resolution, it is slightly higher in pixel density than its bigger brother.

Beyond the screen, both Fire HD tablets use a quad-core 1.5 GHz processor and 1 GB of RAM. You do get the choice of storage amounts but pick carefully as neither offers expandable storage and the amount available is, as with any tablet, less than the headline value.
Here are the benchmark results:

	Tesco Hudl 2	Fire HD 6/7
GeekBench 3	2165	1366
GFXBench T-Rex	17fps	20fps
SunSpider	768ms	674ms

Since these are budget tablets, you're not going to find fancy things like a fingerprint scanner or IR blaster. On the things that you would expect, the Hudl 2 wins with dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and a micro-HDMI port. The Fire HD tablets are limited to single-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and no GPS or HDMI port.

Both the Fire HD tablets have rear facing speakers but a small difference is that the larger model has stereo speakers as opposed to a single mono speaker. The Hudl 2 has rear facing stereo speakers.
Moving onto cameras and the Hudl 2 outperforms again with a 5 Mp rear camera and a 1.2 Mp front camera. Amazon has only fitted the Fire HD 6 and 7 with a 2 Mp main camera and VGA front camera.

Tesco Hudl 2 vs Fire HD 7 vs Fire HD 6: Software

There's a huge difference in software as the Amazon Fire HD tablets runs the firm's own Fire OS 4 which is based on Android but vastly different. Meanwhile, the Hudl 2 runs on an almost stock Android 4.4 KitKat with a few Tesco related bits and pieces.
Both have decent parental control features if children are going to be using the device but a key difference is that the Fire HD tablets don't allow access to the Google Play store to download apps, games and other content – you must essentially get everything from Amazon.
It's worth noting that the HD 6 and HD 7 don't come with Amazon's MayDay feature which is only found on HDX models.

modem comparison

Rabu, 29 April 2015