Don’t forget Microsoft’s Surface range, although because they run Windows we test them like laptops. We test tablets under the following core categories:
Flagship tablets Budget tablets Android tablets Kids tablets
Natural testing
As with any gadget we get in for review at Tech Advisor, we will use a tablet as much as possible while we have it. We don’t just rely on a set of benchmarks, although we do run them (see below). We’ll test a tablet for a week or often longer, using it for all the things that it’s supposed to do: check emails, browse the web, play games, stream video etc. After all, there’s no better way to find out what something is like in the real world. This tells us what it’s like to hold, whether it’s well-made, how fluid the performance is, whether the display is high quality (things like brightness, colours, viewing angles) and how long the battery lasts. If a tablet has any special features, we’ll test those out too and having tested so many tablets over the years we know when something is missing – whether it’s a headphone jack or not enough memory to run things smoothly.
Benchmarks
As well as the above testing, we also run a series of benchmarks just like we do on devices like smartphones and laptops. The two main apps are Geekbench and GFXBench which respectively test assess the computational and graphical power of the device. They produce scores or framerates where a higher number is better but remember they are only synthetic and we will always let you know how we found them to perform, regardless of what the number suggests. Seeing how long the battery lasts with real world usage is informative, but we also test tablets under identical conditions with a battery benchmark. This puts them to work at the same screen brightness and times how long it can last. This way we can also compare in an objective way. Devices are provided to us either from the manufacturer or sometimes a retailer or phone network for a limited time. We are under no obligation to score them in a particular way or give an award. Tech Advisor’s Reviews Editor, Chris has been reviewing all kinds of tech for over 10 years and specialises in audio. He also covers a range of topics including home entertainment, phones, laptops, tablets and more.
