Six of the best: Tablets
There’s a fair few to choose from in the tablet stable from Samsung, but this one slightly outshines the rest and is one of the hottest Android tablets out there. The AMOLED display offers an ideal on-the-move entertainment device for delivering films, and gaming is greatly enhanced with the in-house Exynos 5 processor. Their labs have also enhanced the Android 4.4 operating system, so you can work on multiple windows at once with no reduction in performance. Also available in 8.4-inch screen size.
Well connected: Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet - £369 from johnlewis.com
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Hide AdThe key feature here is it’s waterproof, so you can use it in the kitchen or on the beach with peace of mind. There are plenty of other nifty features, including an IR remote control for all your home entertainment kit and NFC (near field communication) for one-touch connection to a multitude of devices. It has a superb display too — a great all-round device.
Shape shifter: Lenovo Yoga 2 Tablet - £249.99 from pcworld.co.uk
The position of the side chamber on this unit means it can boast a better battery life, up to 18 hours of usage, which is not bad at all. A slick-looking machine with a decent 10.1-inch display, the integrated stand allows it to be held book-like, tilted at two angles and even hung with the built-in hook.
Weight reduction: Apple iPad Air 2 - from £399 from currys.co.uk
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Hide AdThis is the slimmest iPad yet at just 6.1-inches. A new processor also makes it the quickest one from the dominant tablet player to date. The all-round updates, together with amazing retina screen, fingerprint ID scanner to keep all your information safe, improved graphics offering and claimed 10-day battery life lead to this certainly being the iOS device of choice but could well tempt some die-hard Android users over too.
Touch type: Microsoft Surface 3 (128GB) - £849 from currys.co.uk
Blurring the lines between laptops and tablets is the latest Surface model from Microsoft, boasting a 12-inch HD touchscreen, Windows 8 OS and Intel i5 processor and 4GB of RAM, all combining to offer quite the powerhouse in a highly portable device. It’s certainly a premium device in terms of pricing, especially if you add in the £100-plus cost of the keyboard attachments, but the extra investment is worth consideration.
Family unit: hudl.2 - £129 from tesco.com
The supermarket giant had the right idea with its first foray into the tablets, but the unit’s under-performance left it outcast from the rest of the market — it was simply too slow. This latest machine, while not at the premium end, as reflected in the price, offers a superb experience and, for a growing tech-hungry family, it most certainly earns a place as the number two tablet, the one that stays indoors and does chores around the home. Decent screen, decent performance, great value.
App of the week - Mix Off
Free on iTunes and Google Play
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Hide AdThis new Mix Off app from TalkTalk gives X Factor fans the chance to create their own music videos with friends with loads of Instagram-style filters and effects to make you look all rock star. When you’re done, upload your creations to the TalkTalk video gallery, where the best track will feature on The X Factor’s ad breaks.
Top 10 Paid Apps
1 Minecraft - Pocket Edition
2 Cut The Rope: Time Travel HD
3 Five Nights At Freddy’s
4 The Chase
5 Tipping Point
6 Nav for Google Maps
7 Terraria
8 Can You Escape 3
9 Blek
10 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Top 10 Free Apps
1 Angry Birds Transformers
2 Star Wars TM: Galactic Defense
3 Prime Instant Video
4 BBC iPlayer
5 Solitaire TriPeaks
6 The Secret Society - Hidden Mystery
7 Facebook Messenger
8 Spotify Music
9 Paperama
10 Frozen Free Fall
(Both charts courtesy of amazon.co.uk)