All the best slates of 2015 in one place
Here are our favourite tablets of 2015.
iPad Pro
The iPad Pro is the newest tablet of 2015–and it’s a monster. It’s got a massive 12.9-inch 2732 x 2048 resolution at 264 ppi. But beneath that gorgeous display is a powerhouse of productivity. Inside you’ll find and INSANELY fast A9X chip–it’s actually faster than the Intel chips found in some MacBooks. Add to that the 4GB of RAM and four speaker audio and it’s no wonder this thing was labeled “Pro”. You can actually edit 4K video on it without any lag. That’s not even to mention the optional Apple Pencil, dubbed by many as the best stylus ever made. The Pencil and the Pro work so well together, some artists are even saying it's the first tablet that's as good as a real pencil and paper.
iPad Air 2
While the iPad Pro is probably too much for most people, the iPad Air 2 is designed for everyone. Surprisingly, the Air 2 didn’t receive an update in 2015–it’s the exact same model as the year before. Given that it's still one of the best tablets on the market it goes to show how ahead of its time it was for its 2014 release. The iPad Air 2 features a 9.7-inch display with a 2048 x 1536 pixel resolution at 264 ppi. Though its A8X chip can’t compete with the A9X found in the iPad Pro, it’s no slouch either. The iPad Air 2 is not only great for browsing the web and sending email, but for getting major productivity tasks–such as video and photo editing–done.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8
The Galaxy Tab S2 8 doesn’t have the best design. It’s got a rubber body, which makes it look rather clunky. But what it lacks in sex appeal it makes up in specs. It features an 8-inch 2048 x 1536 resolution AMOLED display at 320 ppi. Inside you’ll find a powerful Exynos 7 Octa Core processor and 3GB of RAM. Combine all that with Samsung’s excellent craftsmanship and a built-in fingerprint scanner and the Galaxy Tab S2 8 is one of the best all-around Android tablets on the market.
Sony Xperia Z4
Sony makes some good tablets and the Xperia Z4 is their best. It features a 10.1-inch 2560x1600 IPS display. Inside you’ll find the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 CPU with an Adreno 430 GPU. It also packs in 3GB of RAM. Though it only comes in a 32GB model it features a microSD card so you can add an additional 128GB of storage. It also features Sony’s custom launcher and apps but also comes pre-loaded with all the goodies from Google. And fittingly, since Sony is a major movie studio, the Xperia Z4 offers stunning playback of video.
Microsoft Surface Pro 4
It’s almost hard thinking about the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 as a true tablet. That’s because it does an amazing job doubling as a laptop (that’s good, considering Microsoft bills the Surface as a hybrid). The Surface Pro 4 packs a 12.3-inch 2736 x 1824 pixel display at 267 pixels per inch and comes in 128GB, 256GB, or 512GB storage options–far more than any other tablet on this list. It also features Intel Skylake Core M3, Core i5, or Core i7 processors and 4GB, 8GB, or 16GB of RAM. Oh, and it runs the full version of Windows 10 so it can run any desktop app you own. And as with the Apple Pencil and the iPad Pro, the Surface Pro 4 has gotten high marks for its stylus, which is included (unlike with the iPad Pro).
Google Pixel C
The Pixel C was designed and developed by Google and makes this list just barely because it hasn’t been released yet. However, Google says it will ship “in time for the holidays”. The Pixel C will run Android 6.0 Marshmallow and features a 10.2-inch 2560×1800 pixel display at 308 pixels per inch. Inside it’ll have the Tegra X1 chip which features a high power ARMv8 ARM Cortex-A57 quad-core processor along with a lower powered but more battery efficient ARM Cortex-A53 quad-core (64-bit) processor. You’ll also have the option of 32 or 64GB of storage. The Pixel C is a great tablet for Android purists as Google designs both the software and hardware.
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