Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S vs Dell XPS 11 vs HP Pavilion TouchSmart 11z:Which is better?

Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S                                                                                    

The Yoga 11S is one of the most anticipated laptops of the year, especially after the very warm welcome its predecessor received. That predecessor, the 13-inch IdeaPad Yoga 13, was one of the most talked-about Windows 8-launch laptops. The Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S is a great 11-inch ultraportable touch-screen laptop that also has a flip-around display for tablet and hybrid use.The 11.6-inch IPS display impresses with its vivid colors, and dark scenes greatly benefit from the Yoga 11S’s deep blacks. The 1366 by 768 resolution is a bit of a bummer in tablet mode, but it holds up well during laptop usage on account of the system’s small screen. An overactive ambient-light sensor proved annoying, though easy to disable.             Battery Life:                                                                                                                                               The battery life of the Ideapad Yoga 11S to be pretty good but not outstanding. The battery lasted five hours and 26 minutes in the Powermark, which mixes web browsing (50%), video (25%) and productivity (25%). That’s around 25 minutes less than the Samsung Series 7 Ultra mentioned above and nearly 50 minutes less than the Sony Vaio Pro 13.                                                                                                                        But,Recent 11-inch laptops from Apple and Sony have raised the bar for ultraportables, especially when it comes to battery life. The Yoga 11S needs an upgrade to Intel's latest processors.

The bottom line: Like the larger 13-inch model, the 11-inch Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S is a useful hybrid that doesn't forget it's a laptop first, but it's stuck with what feels like old hardware for now.                                                                                                                                                                                            Specifications

Processor Intel Core i5 i5-3339Y / 1.5 GHz ( 2 GHz ) ( Dual-Core )

 RAM installed size 8 GB

 Hard Drive 256 GB - Serial ATA-300

 Operating System Windows 8 64-bit Edition

  Display Type 11.6 in IPS

  Max Resolution 1366 x 768 ( HD )

  Graphics Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000

  Optical Drive None                                                                                                                                     Price;$949.99                                                                                                                                                                                                                            VS                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Dell XPS 11                                                                                                                                          The XPS 11, a “2-in-1″ convertible Ultrabook that turns into a tablet. You don’t get to tablet mode by separating the display and keyboard bits, you do it by turning the screen around 360 degrees.With the Dell XPS 11 2-in-1 you’ll be working with an 11.6-inch display with, again, Gorilla Glass to protect your innards. This display works with a 2560 x 1440 resolution and works on a hinge that allows you to fold it back 360-degrees. As you can imagine, this display is also touch-enabled and works as both a notebook and a tablet - when you fold it back, that is.The Dell XPS 11 is a slim, light hybrid that looks and feels great, and offers decent performance and battery life.

But, The touch-style keyboard, lacking actual keys, is an experiment that just doesn't pan out.

The bottom line: Attempting to out-Yoga the Yoga, Dell's flip-screen XPS 11 has a great design, but isn't as practical as other hybrids for actually getting work done thanks to a frustrating keyboard.                                                                                                                                                                                                     Specifications

ProcessorIntel Core i5

RAM installed size4 GB

Hard Drive80 GB

Operating SystemMicrosoft Windows 8

Graphics ProcessorIntel HD Graphics 4200                                                                                                Price:$999.99                                                                                                                                                                                                                     VS                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      HP Pavilion TouchSmart 11z

 The touch pad is a decent size for an ultraportable laptop.Instead of the more popular clickpad-style pad, this one has separate left and right mouse buttons. You lose some pad surface area, but it's probably easier to get definitive left and right mouse clicks when the multitouch response on the pad itself can be a little sluggish. The HP Pavilion TouchSmart 11z costs very little for a touch-screen Windows 8 laptop, and it has excellent battery life.HP Pavilion TouchSmart 11z has dimensions of 11.4 x 8.5 x 0.86 inch and weight 1.54 Kg making it easy to carry and lightweight. Graphic quality no doubt, because it has been equipped with AMD Radeon HD 8180 so the play gaming will be satisfied and more smoothly.

Battery life:                                                                                                                                                   Battery life tests, in which we disable power management, enable Wi-Fi, maximise screen brightness, and loop an Xvid-encoded video, the Pavilion 11 Touchsmart lasted 3hr 45min, which is a little longer than most mainstream (and more powerful) Ultrabooks that use third-generation Intel Core CPUs — the LG Z360 Ultrabook, for example, got 3hr 24min in the same test. You can prolong the battery life by lowering the brightness or by setting the screen to dim or switch off during idle times, but how long you get out of the battery will still depend on how you use the laptop and how much you work the processor (it fluctuated between 15 and 21 per cent for our rundown test).

But, Occasionally sluggish performance gets frustrating, and more-powerful PCs are available in this price range. The bottom line: HP revives an 11-inch favorite with the Pavilion TouchSmart 11z, but there are better performance-for-money deals to be had.                                                                         Specification:                                                                                                                                            Processor AMD A4 A4-1250 / 1 GHz ( Dual-Core )

RAM installed size 4 GB

Hard Drive 500 GB - 5400 rpm

Operating System Windows 8 64

 Display Type 11.6 in

 Max Resolution 1366 x 768                                                                                                                      Weight 3.08 lbs                                                                                                                                          Price;$393.87

Sony Xperia Z5 vs HTC One M9 :Winner is......................

Sony Xperia Z5                                                                                                                                           The Xperia Z5 has a very reliable battery and the addition of Quick Charge 2.0 will allow you to top off the battery quickly for those days when you need a bit more oomph to make it through your day.The Sony Xperia Z5 looks good, has plenty of power, its camera can take some great snaps and it won't die when you spill your drink on it.5.2 inches, 1080 x 1920 pixels, IPS LCD... Color balance and accuracy, on the other hand, are areas where Sony should have tried a bit harder. The screen has a significant blue tint, taking some of the life away from images. It's not too bad, though, plus Sony is kind enough to let us adjust display color balance from the settings, meaning there's a way to get a more natural-toned image. Sony has to be congratulated for not playing the specs game and sticking with this resolution, because in no way is the Xperia Z5's screen harder to read, in comparison to the 1440 x 2560 screens out there. Sony needed to fix up the design of its Xperia Z series and there have been some big changes this time. It's still angular and glass-backed, but this time it's a frosted material instead of the clear glass we've seen on every iteration since the Xperia Z1.                                                                                                                                             A lot of the problems that plagued the Xperia Z3+ stemmed from Sony's choice of components. It was powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810, a chip that notoriously ran hot. So, it might seem odd to layman that, on the surface, the Xperia Z5 looks to be using the exact same chip.

But the 810 in the Xperia Z5 is a slightly upgraded version that supposedly solves the overheating problems. From my time with the Xperia Z5 I'm not convinced this is the case.

During bouts of gaming, even with titles that I don’t class as graphically intense, the phone gets hot below the camera. The heating issue gets worse when I fire up Asphalt 8 or Lara Croft Go. I wouldn’t be as fussed if it was only a minor temperature hike, but the Z5 got hot to the point I hat to move by fingers on several occsaions. The phone even gets hot when playing Spotify, which is odd.

The other major problem with the Xperia Z3+ was that its 4K recording was basically unusable. Capturing footage for longer than a few minutes caused the device to spew up a worrying overheating message and then crash. Thankfully, this problem seems to have been fixed on the Z5.

As a test, I left the camera recording a 4K video for half an hour. Aside from eating though almost half of my available storage, it didn’t crash or make the phone hot. Discounting the gaming bits I mentioned earlier, performance and stability on the Z5 are great. Switching through apps is fast, Chrome never feels sluggish and lag is non-existent. It’s a great performer.

But, for a flagship device costing £539, packing a high-power processor and 3GB RAM, I expect this.

The powerful chip produces impressive benchmarking scores too. With a 4,720 result on the multi-core GeekBench 3 test it outmuscles the LG G4 (3,260) and HTC One M9 (3,952), but just falls short of toppling Samsung’s Galaxy S6 Edge+ (5,014). On AnTuTu, it scores 53,155, putting it above the Nexus 6 (51,855) and Moto X Style (51,350), but below the iPhone 6S (59,069).

To be completely honest, I’d still have preferred Sony to go with the Snapdragon 808. The small losses in performance are easily made up for by the better heat control.

You get 32GB of onboard storage, though this can be supplemented by a microSD card. These cards are about to get a whole lot more useful in Marshmallow, as the OS will let you use them for proper system storage.

The dual front-facing speakers are well positioned, but they fall into many of the same traps as other phones. Volume is loud enough, but audio is tinny and lacks any sort of oomph. It’s fine for YouTube, but not really for music.

but,The Xperia Z5 Premium hype seems to have done that to some degree, but 4K is still an issue when you realise the battery life isn't perfected, and you will need to shell out quite a bit of extra money to get it.Only minor updates from its predecessor means it lacks the excitement of its rivals. Its waterproofing no longer allows for full submersion, meaning it can't be used for underwater photography.

THE BOTTOM LINE The Z5 isn't as perfect as it should be, but it does have all the right parts.Even with strong specs befitting a high-end phone, the Sony Xperia Z5 adds little over its predecessor to make it an exciting option over rivals like the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge.

 VS                                                                                                                                                             HTC One M9                                                                                                                                              The HTC One M9 feels smaller than the M8, but not by much at all. It measures 144.6 x 69.7 x 9.61mm and weighs 157g, so it's only a minor difference between the two devices - 2mm shaved off the height, 1mm from the width, and 0.2mm added in thickness.The HTC One M9 inherits its predecessor's stunning metal design and strong speakers, and has a bright, sharp display. It runs the latest version of Android, and the new Sense 7 software is simple, responsive and highly customisable. It's one of the few flagship phones to still feature expandable storage, and it offers a unique one-year replacement program in the US.                      Performance

Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 octa-core; 3GB RAM

Qualcomm’s 800-series processors dominated 2014 flagships, and with good reason. The Galaxy S5, HTC One M8 and Sony Xperia Z3 all packed a serious wallop and made mincemeat of intense 3D games and processor-hungry HD video conversion.

The 64-bit octa-core Snapdragon 810 the One M9 totes is Qualcomm’s latest and greatest and provides twice the number of cores of the M8's 801. Twice the power, then? It doesn’t quite work that way, I’m afraid.

The Snapdragon 810 uses ARM’s big.LITTLE architecture. This let’s a low-powered 1.55GHz quad-core processor be paired with another, more powerful, 1.96GHz quad-core processor on the same chipset. The benefits of this aren’t just about increasing power – last-gen quad-core processors are already powerful – it’s about energy efficiency.                                                                                                                           Most of the common tasks your smartphone does – make calls, send texts, collect sensor data, listen to music and browse the web – don’t need much power. Using a mighty processor for these is overkill, and uses more of the battery than it should. That’s where the LITTLE quad-core comes into play. It takes care of all those smaller, daily, tasks in a more energy efficient way, thereby conserving power. It also means that HTC no longer needs the co-processor that handled all the sensor data on the M9’s predecessor.

The processor is restricted in Power Saver mode. This means that the HTC One M9 performs differently depending on how much juice you’re willing to sacrifice.

Let’s leave the benefits to the HTC One M9’s battery life to one side for a moment and focus on its performance. As you can expect the Snapdragon 810 and 3GB RAM helps the One M9 fly through common tasks like flicking through menus, opening apps and browsing the web, regardless of which quad is being used.

Battery life                                                                                                                                               Battery life on the HTC One M9 should be brilliant in comparison to what's been before. The Snapdragon 801 chipset finally made an HTC phone decent at lasting throughout a day last year, and with a larger power pack and an improvement from Qualcomm things should be awesome.

Sadly, they're not. I'm not saying that it's a problem and this phone won't last long enough to tap out a couple of tweets, but the performance hasn't been moved on much from last year.

The issue is that the phone heats up really easily doing the most mundane of tasks. Anything that takes a little bit of wireless connection is a quick way to watch it drop, be it mobile data or listening to music over headphones.

Where most phones these days won't have much of an issue losing no more than 10% on my morning commute, even with a bit of video action, the One M9 has dropped as much as 17% through Bluetooth music streaming and emails, which is odd as this doesn't usually munch too much power.

The good news is Google's new Android 5.0 gives you a good way of checking the problems, letting you shut down (or get rid of) the apps which are misbehaving.                                                                           However, in this case it's 'Google Services' which is the issue, elements fundamental to the running of the phone, which means there's not a lot to be done about it.

I usually see this in the first few days of reviewing, but the issue has pervaded. Hardcore testing - be it standby, heavy apps, web browsing and YouTube videos, for instance - has proven the HTC to be a poorer choice than the rest of the competition, with poorer background battery management.

This means you can't lean on the One M9 too heavily for playing games or watching videos, which is irritating if you want to have a little bit of battery left at the end of the day.

Gaming is really heavy on the battery, with a quick 15 minute game sometimes sucking 10% juice - although the issue is often that mobile games these days are constantly communicating with servers for online play or in app purchases, which hurts the battery.

Running TechRadar's standard battery test on the One M9, where we looped a 90 min full HD video at maximum brightness showed that the new HTC phone was one of the worst performers of recent times, with 31% of the battery disappearing.

If you consider that the LG G Flex 2, another big phone on the market with the Snapdragon 810 chipset, only lost 13% in the same test, then you'll see that there's something going on with the software here.

I also ran the same test on the newly-Lollipopped HTC One M8 and HTC One M7, and they managed 24% and 30% respectively - and the phone from 2013 had barely enough battery to make it through the day too. This shows that for some reason HTC has managed to go backwards in battery life, even with the larger capacity and theoretically more efficient processor.

I'm confident battery life will improve, but it's actually a small step back from the One M8, which can be had for nearly half the price of the new version, and that's just not good enough.                                                                                                                                                                                                                       The other big thing here is QuickCharge 2.0 – although this offers a pretty amazing 60% charge in just 30 mins, the charger in the box isn't QuickCharge enabled to get the maximum speeds on offer.

This is just ludicrous – I thought by this point that they'd be standard as the tech began appearing in phones last year. It's really frustrating that you'll need to spend so much more given this is an already expensive phone.

But, The M9's camera quality and battery life don't measure up to its competitors. For better or worse, the phone feels like a rerun of last year's HTC One.

THE BOTTOM LINE The updated HTC One M9 packs speed and software improvements into a handset that remains lustworthy in middle age, but it doesn't exceed the competition where it counts.

Key Features: 20-megapixel rear camera ; 4-megapixel Ultrapixel front-facing camera; 5-inch 1080p LCD screen; BoomSound speakers with Dolby Surround; Qualcomm Snapdragon 810, 3GB RAM; 32GB onboard storage with microSD slot; HTC Sense 7 on Android 5.0 Lollipop

Manufacturer: HTC

Lenovo IdeaPad K1 vs Apple iPad 2 vs Sony Xperia Tablet S:Best is..........................

Lenovo IdeaPad K1                                                                                                                               The IdeaPad K1 is one of two tablets from Lenovo, each with the same processing guts and the same size of displays, but with very different physical designs.Lenovo's IdeaPad K1 packs in all of the best features found in today's modern Honeycomb tablets (upgradeable to Android 4.0) and offers some unique Android optimizations and preloaded apps.The Lenovo IdeaPad K1 does have good specs. Tegra 2 should provide plenty of power, the 32GB of on-board storage is great and it's got a big, high-res screen. For under $500, that's not bad value for money.

But, The design is thick and heavy compared with the latest from Apple and Samsung, not all of the Android tweaks pay off, and the screen isn't as bright as it could be.

The bottom line: Lenovo plays it safe with the IdeaPad K1, delivering a solid tablet that does little to stand out from the Honeycomb herd.                                                                                         Specifications

Release date08/4/11

Display type10.1 in TFT active matrix - LED backlight - Yes

OSAndroid 3.1 (Honeycomb)

RAM1 GB - DDR2 SDRAM

ProcessorNVIDIA Tegra 2 1 GHz

Wireless connectivityIEEE 802.11nIEEE 802.11bBluetooth 2.1 EDRIEEE 802.11g

Dimensions (WxDxH)7.4 in x 0.5 in x 10.4 in

Weight1.6 lbs                                                                                                                                           Price;$499.99                                                                                                                                           VS                                                                                                                                                       Apple iPad 2                                                                                                                                             The iPad 2 is a well-balanced combination of sleek, inspiring design and a high-end collection of premium specs that are tied together through an unrivalled user interface and ease of use that ensures the product is open up to tablet novices and gadget aficionados alike.Apple's iPad 2 is dramatically thinner and boasts front and rear cameras, FaceTime video chat, a faster processor, and 3G options for both AT&T and Verizon.The iPad 2 managed an astonishing 10 hours and 26 minutes of non-stop playback. That beats Apple's own claims, and bests its nearest competitor -- the Xoom -- by about 2 hours.

But, The iPad's screen resolution hasn't budged, photo quality is mediocre, there's still no Adobe Flash support, and ports for HDMI, USB, and SD all require adapters.

The bottom line: The iPad 2 refines an already excellent product. Its easy-to-use interface, vast app catalog, and marathon battery life bolster Apple's claim to being the king of tablets.                                                                                                                                                                                   Specifications

Release date03/11/11

Display type9.7 in TFT active matrix - LED backlight - Yes

OSApple iOS 5

ProcessorApple A5 1 GHz

Wireless connectivityIEEE 802.11nBluetooth 2.1 EDRIEEE 802.11bIEEE 802.11aIEEE 802.11g

Dimensions (WxDxH)7.3 in x 0.4 in x 9.5 in

Weight21.2 oz                                                                                                                                         Price;$399.00                                                                                                                                         VS                                                                                                                                                             Sony Xperia Tablet S                                                                                                                               The Sony Xperia Tablet S has a comfortable, high-quality design, a sharp-looking screen, storage expansion, and potential as a universal remote alternative.Nvidia's Tegra 3 processor is inside most of the tablets I've tested in the last six months, and they pretty much all work the same. The Xperia Tablet S is fast and responsive, and is particularly adept for playing games — I'm getting really good at Shadowgun as I test more and more tablets, and it's as smooth and impressive on the Xperia Tablet's display as any I've tried.With a 6,000mAh battery, the Sony Xperia Tablet S doesn’t have a huge battery. However, as its screen is so relatively low-tech, it doesn’t really need much more. Set to play video, the tablet’s battery will last in excess of eight hours, which is decent enough for a tablet of this size.

But, Unfortunately Wi-Fi currently shuts off whenever the tablet sleeps, waking the tablet from sleep takes way too long, and its screen flickers intermittently. Price is a bit high for what's offered.

The bottom line: The Xperia Tablet S has an excellent design, but there are cheaper alternatives that provide similar and better tablet experiences.                                                       Specifications

Display type9.4 inTFT active matrix - Yes

OSAndroid 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

RAM1 GB

ProcessorNVIDIA Tegra 3 1.4 GHz

Wireless connectivityIEEE 802.11nIEEE 802.11bBluetooth 3.0IEEE 802.11aIEEE 802.11g

Dimensions (WxDxH)6.9 in x 0.5 in x 9.5 in

Weight1.22 lbs                                                                                                                                       Pricr;$327.84 to $410.99

iPad Air 2 vs Samsung Galaxy Tab S vs Apple iPad Air:Which is better?

iPad Air 2

It's even thinner and lighter than last time around and to a noticeable extent. The screen is better, with more vibrant colours, it's more powerful thanks to its A8X processor and the battery life holds up just as well. It even benefits from Touch ID and Apple Pay and while these features aren't as exciting here as they are on phones they're still nice to have. Performance

The 64-bit A7 processor introduced on the iPhone 5S was altered to provide a power boost to last year’s iPad Air. Called the A7X this chip was similar in performance to the A7 – up 5-10% in our benchmark tests.

This year Apple has gone further and designed a processor specifically for the iPad Air 2. The A8X has a tri-core CPU running at 1.5GHz and a quad-core graphics processing unit coupled, for the first time, to 2GB of RAM.

If we play Specs Top Trumps the iPad Air 2 looks a shadow of top-end Android tablets such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 and its 2.3GHz quad-core processor. Don’t let that fool you, though. The iPad Air 2 is the most powerful tablet we’ve ever tested – and that’s including Nvidia’s Shield Tablet that packs the great new Tegra K1.

And while the processor is key to that performance, Apple has also ensured that iOS 8 can make the most of it. Metal lets developers take full advantage of the quad-core GPU, while the new iOS programming language, Swift, means apps can hook into certain features such as Touch ID.

Some observers have even compared the iPad Air 2's performance to a desktop PC. In some respects they’re right. The A8X processor performs a few tasks faster than PCs just a few years old, but the question is: do you need all that power? If you intend to use your iPad as a productivity device then you’ll appreciate it. Even if you don’t, you may find yourself using it more as a laptop replacement than you anticipated.

During the launch of the Air 2, Apple showed off a video-editing app called Replay that lets you create slick-looking videos with ease. The iPad Air 2 powered through the edits.

There are clear benefits to be had from the extra performance, but let’s see how it stacks up against the competition.

The iPad Air 2 scores an excellent 4,509 on Geekbench 3. To put that in some context, the next fastest tablet we’ve reviewed, the Nvidia Shield, scored 3220 – that’s 40% faster. That also makes the iPad Air 2 almost 70% faster than the iPad Air. That’s some impressive work in just a year.

And the wins keep coming with a 3D Mark Ice Storm Unlimited score of 21,797. That’s 33% higher than the Shield and almost 50% better than the first-generation iPad Air.

The iPad Air 2 is astonishingly fast – so fast, in fact, that you might not know what to do with all that power. Not that we’re complaining, of course. The extra grunt means that this is a tablet you can use for more than just checking out the latest memes and Facebook. It future-proofs the Air 2 to some degree.

There’s also been an upgrade to the co-processor, now called the M8. This handles all the sensor data from the iPad Air 2, such as the accelerometer and the new barometer. The reason that Apple favours a co-processor is that it uses much less power than the main processor, helping the battery to last longer.

In short the iPad Air 2 really is the complete package and while you can always find things to niggle about there are no significant flaws.                                                                                       In the time since the original iPad Air launched everything else is still struggling to match it and yet Apple has managed to raise the benchmark higher still. Everyone else really has their work cut out if the iPad Air 2 is going to be unseated from the number one spot. The new iPad Air gets an improved A8X processor, better rear and front-facing cameras, an even thinner and lighter design, an anti-reflective screen, a Touch ID fingerprint sensor, and more built-in storage at higher configurations than last year.                                                                                 But The Air 2 isn't a big change from last year's iPad in terms of overall function; battery life remains the same, although its battery life is already pretty good. Audio playback via speakers makes the thin metal body resonate more than before.                                            The Bottom Line The iPad Air 2 is a nice refinement and finesse of last year's model, with a bevy of tweaks, enhancements, a much faster processor, and the welcome addition of Touch ID. Simply put: it's still the gold standard for tablets.

Weight: 437g | Dimensions: 240 x 169.5 x 6.1mm | OS: iOS 8.1 | Screen size: 9.7-inch | Resolution: 1536 x 2048 | CPU: Triple-core 1.5 GHz | RAM: 2GB | Storage: 16/64/128GB | Battery: 7340mAh | Rear camera: 8MP | Front camera: 1.2MP                                                                                                                 $349.95                                                                                                                                                       vs                                                                                                                                                                 Samsung Galaxy Tab S

Samsung has been pouring a lot of effort into making a really decent iPad rival, and that strategy has seen some hare-brained decisions (such as launching the Tab Pro in January 2014, and then replacing it a few months later with the Galaxy Tab S).

But, apart from annoying anyone that's already bought into the Tab Pro range, this strategy has finally yielded a brilliant tablet in the shape of this Super AMOLED-shod Tab S duo. Available in both 8.4- and 10.5-inch screen sizes, Samsung has taken the best of its OS and technology ability, fused them with the best display on a tablet and created something pretty special.                                                                               Performance

The Galaxy Tab S 8.4 is, generally speaking, very smooth and slick. The kinks and jerkiness we detected in the Tab Pro 8.4 are mostly absent, though the Tab S 8.4 doesn’t zip along quite as smoothly as the Snapdragon powered Galaxy S5.

The processor behind this is Samsung’s Exynos 5 Octa (5420), which is in eight core chip with four ARM Cortex A15 CPUs clocked at 1.9GHz, and four lower-power ARM A7 cores at 1.3GHz. It’s right up there with the most powerful processors on any Android phone or tablet, scoring 904 in Geekbench’s single-core test, and 2,669 in the multi-core. Even accounting for Samsung’s reputation to boosting benchmarks with high performance modes, it’s clear this is a very powerful device — it’s only slightly slower than Galaxy S5, HTC One M8 and OnePlus One.

It’s a slightly less impressive performer in the graphics department, though it’s still more than powerful enough to run even demanding games smoothly. It scored 13,518 in the 3D Mark Ice Storm Unlimited test, whereas the latest phones are getting close to 20,000 these days. It’s only a few thousand points less than the iPad mini 2, though, and you’re unlikely to find any games that won’t work on it. As with most phones and tablets at present, the Tab S has more processing power than it really needs.

.

The battery life is great, the screen has to be seen to be believed (and is excellent for media and internet viewing, which is really the point of a tablet) and the price is on a par with the rest of the industry. Well done, Samsung.

$349.99                                                                                                                                                    VS                                                                                                                                                             Apple iPad Air                                                                                                                                             The Air is a tangible upgrade over the previous, fourth-generation iPad, no longer in production and so banished to the annals of history. The new iPad slots right in where its predecessor left off, priced at $499 for a lowly 16GB, $599 for 32GB, $699 for 64GB, and $799 for the maximum 128GB configuration. The iPad Air delivers more performance and comparable battery life in an attractive and impossibly thin-and-light package. An improved front-facing camera makes FaceTiming look better, and the Retina Display still looks great.

But, The Touch ID fingerprint scanner, introduced on the iPhone 5S, is sadly absent here, meaning you’ll still have to type in a passcode with every unlock and a password with every purchase. Starting at $499 for 16GB, it’s still expensive compared with the competition.                                                                             Performance:                                                                                                                                               The iPad Air shares the same processor with Apple’s flagship phone, albeit with a slight bump in clock speed. While the 5S runs at 1.3GHz the Air runs at 1.39GHz. It can achieve this because of the increased space and improved heat dissipation of the Air compared to the much smaller iPhone 5S.

Indeed, before we go into the detail about performance it’s worth noting that the iPad Air manages to keep its cool with consummate ease. Even when running intensive 3D games and apps for hours it barely breaks a sweat and, therefore, neither do your hands.

In practice, the iPad Air is blisteringly fast. Apps open instantly and games like Infinity Blade 3 look sumptuous and run smoothly. The benefits of having a SoC means that the GPU can be used to tackle compute tasks, which makes video editing and compute intensive apps, like AutoCAD, show no hint of slowdown.

The iPad Air performs 59% faster than the iPad 4 in the 3D Mark Ice Storm Unlimited CPU and GPU test and 91% faster in Geekbench 3 tests. The Peacekeeper browser test, which assesses web browsing performance, shows that the Air trounces its predecessor by being more than twice as fast. It's also faster than the stonking Snapdragon 800 processor on the likes of the Sony Xperia Z Ultra and Google Nexus 5. We're talking matter of degrees here, but the difference is there all the same.

Battery life:                                                                                                                                                   Battery life on the iPad Air is quoted at "Up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video, or listening to music". We would say that's actually not a bad estimate, although the drain was closer to 2% every 10 minutes in general use, which equates to around nine hours' use.

Standby time is much, much better though. We found that we could stick the iPad Air in a bag, taking it out for the commute and messing about with on the sofa at home, for at least three days before it began to get low on battery.

In fact, the only real task that killed it was connecting to our amplifier via Wi-Fi while simultaneously streaming music to the same device through Bluetooth. It's doing things like this that make you realise that this is the kind of thing that we envisaged at the turn of the century, a tablet that has the brains and connectivity to do all the tasks we could want.In terms of connectivity, we've already mentioned the excellent Wi-Fi performance (in terms of distance from router, rather than improved speed) through the Multiple In, Multiple Out (MIMO) technology.

4G bands are now covered throughout the globe, and low power Bluetooth is also on board as well, making it an incredibly well-connected device.

The bottom line: Functionally, the iPad Air is nearly identical to last year’s model, offering only faster performance and better video chatting. But factor in design and aesthetics, and the iPad Air is on another planet. It’s the best full-size consumer tablet on the market.                                                                       Specifications

Release date11/1/13

Display type9.7 in

OSApple iOS

ProcessorApple

Wireless connectivityWi-Fi

Dimensions (WxDxH)6.6 in x 0.29 in x 9.4 in

Weight1 lbs                                                                                                                                                Price:$479.00 

Lenovo Yoga Tablet 8 vs Asus VivoTab Note 8 vs LG G Pad 8.3 Google Play Edition:Best performer is.....................

Lenovo Yoga Tablet 8                                                                                                                             The Lenovo Yoga Tablet 8's super-slim, unique design makes it easy to hold.Sporting a 1.2-GHz quad-core MediaTek ARMv7 chip with 1GB of RAM, the Yoga Tablet 8's performance was hit or miss. We were able to snap successive pictures without delay as apps like Chrome, Gallery, Flipboard and "N.O.V.A. 3" ran in the background.The Yoga’s 8-inch screen is a good size for gaming and reading books, but magazines, comics, and videos feel a tad cramped. Not that you’ll want to read much on the tablet anyways, as its 1280 by 800 resolution makes all content look fuzzy. Going to the Yoga after using the Nexus 7 or any of the retina display iPads made me feel like I needed glasses. It’s also only $250.

But, The tablet’s low-resolution screen is dull and the heavily modified operating system is downright ugly.

The bottom line: Though it feels well-built and has a handy kickstand, the Lenovo Yoga Tablet’s poor performance makes it hard to justify even at its low cost.                                                               Specifications

Release date10/30/13

Display type8 in

OSAndroid 4.2 Jelly Bean

RAM1 GB

Processor1.2 GHz

Wireless connectivityWi-Fi 802.11 b/g/nBluetooth 4.0

Dimensions (WxDxH)8.4 in x 0.3 in x 5.7 in

Weight0.88 lbs                                                                                                                                              VS                                                                                                                                                           Asus VivoTab Note 8                                                                                                                               The first 8-inch version of the Asus VivoTab, the VivoTab Note 8 is designed for working on the go with Microsoft Office Home and Student offered as standard as well as the handy stylus.The Asus VivoTab Note 8 main features include an 8-inch 1280×800 pixel IPS display, 1.33 GHz quad-core Intel Atom Z3740 processor, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0+HS, a 5-megapixel rear camera, HD front facing camera, 2GB of LPDDR3 RAM, 64GB SSD, microSD card slot for up to 64GB cards, as well as 15.5Whr battery, eight hours on a single charge max, and it will be running Windows 8.1.The tablet will also comes with Student software, Microsoft Office Home, which includes PowerPoint, Excel, Microsoft Word and OneNote, as well as SonicMaster audio technology and much more.There's no price or firm release date just yet, so whether it undercuts the $399 regular price of Samsung's Galaxy Note 8 remains to be seen.

VS                                                                                                                                                             LG G Pad 8.3 Google Play Edition                                                                                                           The LG G Pad 8.3 Google Play Edition features pure Android with a deeper Google Now integration, and receives the latest updates.It's the fastest Android tablet out there to date. It runs pure Android straight from Google and will likely be among the first to get future OS updates. The screen size is a nice compromise between portability and luxurious viewing space. The hardware is very solidly built. And in a refreshing change of pace, the speaker placement means they don't easily get blocked by your hands. Battery life is very good. It also has a sharp display, expandable memory, and runs a tad faster than its original LG counterpart.

But, The G Pad doesn't have the same elegant build-quality as Google's Nexus tablets, and this stock model lacks a few useful apps compared to the LG-skinned original.

The bottom line: Android purists will find Google's mid-sized LG G Pad 8.3 more compelling, but it's pricier than the model that's overlaid with LG's skin.                                                                                   Specifications

Release date12/10/13

Display type8.3 in

OSAndroid 4.4 (KitKat)

RAM2 GB

ProcessorQualcomm 1.7 GHz

Wireless connectivityBluetooth 4.0Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n

Dimensions (WxDxH)8.5 in x 0.33 in x 5 in

Weight0.74 lbs                                                                                                                                              Price: $350

Samsung Galaxy Tab S vs Lenovo Miix vs Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet:Best fit for use is..............

Samsung Galaxy Tab S

Samsung has been pouring a lot of effort into making a really decent iPad rival, and that strategy has seen some hare-brained decisions (such as launching the Tab Pro in January 2014, and then replacing it a few months later with the Galaxy Tab S).

But, apart from annoying anyone that's already bought into the Tab Pro range, this strategy has finally yielded a brilliant tablet in the shape of this Super AMOLED-shod Tab S duo. Available in both 8.4- and 10.5-inch screen sizes, Samsung has taken the best of its OS and technology ability, fused them with the best display on a tablet and created something pretty special.                                                                               Performance

The Galaxy Tab S 8.4 is, generally speaking, very smooth and slick. The kinks and jerkiness we detected in the Tab Pro 8.4 are mostly absent, though the Tab S 8.4 doesn’t zip along quite as smoothly as the Snapdragon powered Galaxy S5.

The processor behind this is Samsung’s Exynos 5 Octa (5420), which is in eight core chip with four ARM Cortex A15 CPUs clocked at 1.9GHz, and four lower-power ARM A7 cores at 1.3GHz. It’s right up there with the most powerful processors on any Android phone or tablet, scoring 904 in Geekbench’s single-core test, and 2,669 in the multi-core. Even accounting for Samsung’s reputation to boosting benchmarks with high performance modes, it’s clear this is a very powerful device — it’s only slightly slower than Galaxy S5, HTC One M8 and OnePlus One.

It’s a slightly less impressive performer in the graphics department, though it’s still more than powerful enough to run even demanding games smoothly. It scored 13,518 in the 3D Mark Ice Storm Unlimited test, whereas the latest phones are getting close to 20,000 these days. It’s only a few thousand points less than the iPad mini 2, though, and you’re unlikely to find any games that won’t work on it. As with most phones and tablets at present, the Tab S has more processing power than it really needs.

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The battery life is great, the screen has to be seen to be believed (and is excellent for media and internet viewing, which is really the point of a tablet) and the price is on a par with the rest of the industry. Well done, Samsung.

$349.99                                                                                                                                                          vs                                                                                                                                                              Lenovo Miix                                                                                                                                             The Lenovo Miix, a 10-inch Windows 8 tablet with its own keyboard case, is like the consumer version of the ThinkPad Tablet 2, with slightly different accessory hardware.The Lenovo Miix is smart, light, reasonably well-made and comes with an excellent keyboard to help you to use it like a laptop. The potential is here for it to be a great mobile work machine, provided you don't need to run anything too intensive.The 10.1-inch, 1,366x768-pixel-resolution, 16:9 IPS display supports five-finger multitouch, and the 10.1-millimeter-thin, 1.27-pound design resembles that of other thin and lower-power Windows 8 tablets.The Lenovo Miix uses the Intel Atom Z2760 processor, which is a 1.8GHz dual-core chip, though it does feature Hyper-Threading, so can act as four virtual cores..This is all backed up with 2GB of RAM, which is very favourable compared to other tablets.64GB of eMMC storage, a microSD card slot that can support an additional 32GB of memory, a front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera, a Micro-USB 2.0 connector, a Micro-HDMI port, and Bluetooth 4.0 plus 802.11n Wi-Fi. The front-facing camera's only 1 megapixel, suitable for Web chat but not much else. There's an optional 3G micro-SIM port, too.Battery life is respectable, but not outstanding.  We got just over 6.5 hours (400mins) of streaming video out of the Miix, and you could probably stretch that closer to eight hours for lighter work, but that’s not particularly impressive when larger Haswell laptops can now offer 10 or more hours between charges.

Price:$550

 VS                                                                                                                                                           Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet                                                                                                                               Sony's previous Xperia Tablet Z was an incredibly slender piece of kit, measuring only 6.9mm thick, but the new model has managed to slice off even more, coming in at only 6.4mm. Its slimness is immediately noticeable when you pick the slate up as it feels like a thin pamphlet. At 426g it's very light as well, which should help make it comfortable to use for longer periods.Design-wise, not much has changed since the previous model. The front is a button-free, all glass design, while the back panel is a wide expanse of matte black plastic, with the minimal Sony branding in the middle. Like its predecessor, the Z2 Tablet is completely waterproof, allowing it to shrug off an errant spilled drink or let you dunk it in the sink to rinse off smeary fingerprint marks.The 10.1-inch display boasts a Full HD resolution, making it well equipped to tackle glossy, high definition shows on Netflix. It's not quite matching the iPad Air's whopping 2048x1536-pixel resolution, although side-by-side, I doubt you'd notice much difference.On the back of the tablet is an 8-megapixel camera which should be at least good enough for some Instagram shots of whatever you've cooked that evening.Stuffed into that skinny frame is a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor, clocked at an impressive 2.3GHz, backed up by 3GB of RAM.                                                      Specifications

Display type10.1 in

RAM3 GB

ProcessorQualcomm Snapdragon 2.3 GHz

Dimensions (WxDxH)0.25 in

Weight15.03 oz

HP Split x2 vs Microsoft Surface Pro 2 vs Asus Taichi 21:Which is better?

HP Split x2                                                                                                                                             The HP Split x2 allows it to be used both as a tablet that as laptop, thanks to the base detachable.HP's latest version, called the Split x2, is a bold reworking, moving more firmly into the laptop category, with a thin, 13-inch body and hardware closer to what you'd find in a full-time laptop,this HP convertible computer combines the best of both worlds for an extraordinary touch-screen experience. With a bright LED display and lightweight portability, it is a great choice for an on-the-go student or business professional.Unlike the Envy X2, the Split X2 runs the full 64-bit version of Windows 8. The Split X2 also has a neat party trick in the form of its dual storage solution. Inside the main display, which detaches to become a tablet, is a 64GB SSD; inside the keyboard part is a 500GB hard disk. This means you've got plenty of storage space, although you need to make sure you've copied files to the SSD if you want them available in tablet mode.HP has equipped the Split x2 with a capable specification. The Core i3-4010Y is the first Haswell- generation Core i3 CPU we’ve encountered, and while it lacks the Turbo Boost of more upmarket CPUs, it’s powerful  enough for most purposes.The HP ships with a compact 45 watt laptop style charger. The tablet and dock have 3 cell batteries and HP claims up to 10 hours of use time for the Haswell models.                                                                                                                                                                                                Specifications                                                                                                                                           Dual-core processor fourth-generation Intel Core i3-4010Y 1.3 GHz with 3 MB L3 cache.

4 GB of DDR3 RAM (1 x 4 GB).

Touchscreen Display (1366 x 768) HD anti-glare UWVA by 33.8 cm by 13.3 inches.

Intel HD graphics 4200.

HP TrueVision FHD front camera (2.0 MP) with two digital microphones with integrated software (1080p).

Beats Audio speakers with SRS 3D.

Price:$799                                                                                                                                                   VS                                                                                                                                                             Microsoft Surface Pro 2                                                                                                                           The Surface Pro 2's display may not have received an upgrade, but then it didn't need one. It's still a fine IPS panel that helps bring Windows 8.1's colorful and vibrant nature to life. The tablet itself is easier to use thanks to improved keyboard covers - even the Touch Cover 2 will prove more than adequate for most this time around.The Microsoft Surface Pro 2 is a faster, longer-battery-life version of the original model, upgraded with a current-gen Haswell processor. The keyboard cover is also improved with backlit keys, and is among the best tablet accessories ever devised.The Surface Pro 2 is a very tough product to judge, which is what makes it interesting. The good news is Microsoft has sorted out the most serious issue with the  first version: the battery life. At around eight hours, the Surface Pro 2 mixes it with the Ultrabooks like the Samsung Ativ Book 9 Plus and Sony VAIO Pro 13, even if it still falls a little short of 'tablet class' battery life.

But, The Surface Pro 2 remains stubbornly thick and heavy compared with some sleeker competitors. The base 64GB version may leave you starved for storage, and the keyboard cover, practically required, should be included instead of sold separately.

The bottom line: Microsoft's subtly updated Windows 8.1 tablet feels more like Surface Pro 1.5 -- improved battery life and better accessories make it a worthwhile (albeit pricey) laptop replacement, but it's still not an iPad-level category killer.                                                                                                                             Specifications

Display type10.6 nm

RAM4 GB

ProcessorIntel 4th Gen Core i5

Dimensions (WxDxH)10.8 in x 0.53 in x 6.8 in

Weight2 lbs                                                                                                                                                 Price $899                                                                                                                                               VS                                                                                                                                                         Asus Taichi 21                                                                                                                                             The Asus Taichi 21 offers a clever implementation of a dual-screen design in a slim Core i7 chassis.It features dual 11.6" IPS displays with 16:9 aspect ratios and Full HD 1920 x 1080 native resolutions, thanks to the integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000. The main screen inside the lid is a normal laptop display while the outer lid features a secondary touchscreen display. Both screens can be used independently of each other so two people can use them at the same time.

But, Only one of the screens is touch-enabled, which feels like a major oversight. There are probably only a handful of situations where you'd need an outward-facing display.Tablet Mode is on par with this, lasting for 2 hours and 27 minutes. The Taichi is greedier in Dual-Screen Mode, lasting 1 hour and 48 minutes. That last score isn’t too bad considering both displays are on, and screens are one of the biggest battery hogs on a laptop.

The bottom line: More of a clever proof-of-concept than a practical product, the Asus Taichi still delivers on its basic promise, combining two displays for a unique take on the laptop/tablet/hybrid genre.                                                                                                                                                                                        Specifications

ProcessorIntel 3rd Gen Core i7 3517U / 1.9 GHz( Dual-Core )

Memory4 GB

Hard Drive256 GB- Serial ATA-600

Operating SystemMicrosoft Windows 8

Display Type11.6 inIPS

Max Resolution1920 x 1080 ( Full HD )

Graphics ProcessorIntel HD Graphics 4000

Optical DriveNone                                                                                                                                   Price;$1,489.00 to $1,599.00