Smartphones can only deliver so much when it comes to digital entertainment. Following a steady stream of new arrivals on the tablet front, here’s our pick of the best
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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. £129
MICROSOFT SURFACE 3 (128GB)
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. £849
SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB S 10.5 16GB
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. £399
LENOVO YOGA 2 TABLET
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. £249.99
APPLE iPAD AIR 2
This 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. From £399