1:08 AM
Lecor Martineau
The development of new chips that deliver zippier performance, smoother gaming, faster Web surfing, and longer-lasting battery life will soon make their way into new Android tablets. While the chips themselves -- and the high-end tablets that will house them -- have yet to be released, we have it on good authority that they'll deliver on their promise.
Gaming is an increasingly popular way tablet owners are spending time with their devices, and chip makers are paying attention. The gaming experience on Android tablets has improved in just the last year, and it's bound to only get faster, smoother, and prettier (and hopefully even more fun).
As of yet, however, the new chips don't have confirmed release dates, but if you're looking for an Android tablet that can deliver impressive graphics now, we've got you covered. We gathered every high-performance tablet we could find in the CNET Labs and put them to the test. Below are our top seven.
We've listed each tablet with as much pertinent-to-gaming-performance information as we could think of and have listed them here in order, from weakest to strongest based on benchmark scores derived from 3DMark.
3DMark runs a canned demo of a simulated sci-fi game called Ice Storm. The 3DMark scores are determined by three tests: two focusing on GPU speed and another on CPU performance. The tests were run on each tablet a few times, and the chart below represents the highest score for each tablet, with higher scores indicating faster performance.
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1
The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1's overall sensible design and great performance make it one of the best Samsung tablets to date. The scores represent overall gaming performance, and is heavily GPU-biased, so despite the Note 10.1's faster CPU, its underwhelming GPU performance lands it last on the list.
CPU: 1.4GHz quad-core Exynos 4 Quad (4412)
GPU: Mali T400MP4 (quad-core)
RAM: 2GB
OS tested: Android 4.1.2
Samsung Galaxy Note 8
As one of the smaller members of the Samsung Galaxy, the Note 8 has one of the best-looking screens on a small tablets. It shares a few similarities with the Note 10.1, including the S Pen and unimpressive GPU performance matched with a well-performing CPU, but the Note 10.1's smaller counterpart edges out its competition with faster gaming scores.
CPU: 1.6GHz quad-core Exynos Dual (4410)
GPU: Mali T400MP4 (quad-core)
RAM: 2GB
OS tested: Android 4.1.2
Google Nexus 7
The Google Nexus 7 is still the best 7-inch tablet with its combination of comfortable design, good overall performance, at a low price. Games run smoothly, but never impressively so.
CPU: 1.2GHz quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3
GPU: ULP GeForce (12-core)
RAM: 1GB
OS tested: Android 4.2.2
Kobo Arc
The Kobo Arc may be an unexpected contender, but its powerful GPU earns it a spot on this list. The PowerVR SGX544 delivers high frame rates in games, but from a design and features standpoint, there are better 7-inch tablet choices on the market.
CPU: 1.5GHz Texas Instruments OMAP 4470
GPU: PowerVR SGX544 (single-core)
RAM: 1GB
OS tested: Android 4.1.1
Sony Xperia Tablet S
The Sony Xperia Tablet S's Tegra 3 chip delivers gaming performance near the top of the heap, but a few show-stopping software and hardware bugs prevent it from being a truly great tablet.
CPU: 1.3GHz NVidia Tegra 3
GPU: ULP GeForce (12-core)
RAM: 1GB
OS tested: Android 4.1.1
Asus Transformer Infinity Pad TF700
The Asus Transformer Pad Infinity TF700 is one of our favorite Android tablets thanks to its sharp screen, thin and light design, and impressive gaming performance. Tegra 3 is beginning to show its age when dealing with the high 1,920x1,200-pixel resolution, but it's still fast enough to place at No. 2 on our list.
CPU: 1.6GHz NVIDIA Tegra 3
GPU: ULP GeForce (12-core)
RAM: 1GB
OS tested: Android 4.1.1
Google Nexus 10
The Google Nexus 10 tablet takes home the gold with its superior gaming performance. It's the fastest Android tablet we've ever tested and it's the first to house Samsung's Exynos 5250, a Cortex A-15 System-on-Chip with a Mali T-604 GPU. Overall, the tablet is great for all uses, but for gaming, it's the best Android tablet out there.
CPU: 1.7GHz Dual-core Samsung Exynos 5 Dual (5250)
GPU: Mali-T604 (quad-core)
RAM: 2GB
OS tested: Android 4.2.2
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