Skip to main content

Filed under:

The best tablets of CES 2013

Tablets have become increasingly common in the everyday life of the average consumer, and the sheer number of quality tablets being shown at this year's CES demonstrates that OEMs are ready to deliver. Vizio, Lenovo, and other big names in the business are here in Las Vegas, and they're ready to reveal their new slates and convertible laptops. To keep up with the flood of tablet news coming this week, make sure to keep checking back here.

  • Nathan Ingraham

    Jan 10, 2013

    Nathan Ingraham

    Viewsonic prepping 24-inch Android 4.1 display and 32-inch 4K monitor for later this year

    Viewsonic 24-inch Android display
    Viewsonic 24-inch Android display

    Viewsonic was behind one of the stranger products we saw at Computex last June: a 22-inch display that ran a clean version of Android 4.0. The company has unveiled an updated version of the product here at CES — a 24-inch, 1080p touchscreen that runs Android 4.1 and includes USB ports for hooking up a keyboard and mouse. The internals have been upgraded to a Tegra 3 processor, and it also has micro and mini HDMI ports for plugging in other machines. Viewsonic specifically noted that you could hook up a Windows 8 computer and take advantage of the operating system's built-in touch capabilities. The company even added a blank area to the screen that lets Windows 8 users activate the edge-swiping gestures that are so integral to the OS. The screen looks a bit better than the model we saw at Computex, but it's still not the most high-end screen out there — but if you need a touchscreen and want to play around with a giant Android 4.1 tablet on the side, this screen might be for you. It'll retail for $499 when it launches later this year.

    The company also showed off its 4K prototype monitor which will be shipping near the end of the year. While the housing itself doesn't look like a final version, the 3,840 x 2,160, 16:9 panel itself was as sharp and clear as you'd hope to see, with solid viewing angles. The massive resolution should be a boon to professionals, much like LG's 30-inch 4K panel that we checked out earlier today. There's no word on what it'll cost or when exactly it'll be available.

    Read Article >
  • Jan 8, 2013

    Vlad Savov

    Razer Edge: hands-on with Windows 8's most dockable tablet

    razer edge
    razer edge

    Nvidia's not the only company bringing unconventional gaming hardware to CES this year — PC peripheral maker Razer is out in force with its new Windows 8 tablet, dubbed the Razer Edge. Besides running a proper x86 Intel Ivy Bridge processor and the full, non-RT Windows 8 experience, this tablet differs from the legion of other Winslates thanks to Razer's trifecta of accompanying hardware docks. One is a pretty standard docking station, another is a thick and chunky detachable keyboard with integrated battery, and the third, most striking one, is a two-handed gamepad controller that wraps around the Edge. It too has an added battery cell to extend the device's endurance, and it too is thick and weighty.

    In fact, the entire Edge seems to have been named in an act of self-parody. There's nothing particularly edgy about this meaty, hefty tablet. It comes with two big vents at the top, which heat up quite appropriately once you fire up a demanding 3D game like Dishonored. Still, other than the generous proportions and weight, there are few complaints to levy at the Edge's physical construction: as I say, those vents do their job very efficiently, everything feels solidly put together, and the gamepad itself exhibits great ergonomics. Moreover, performance when playing Dishonored or Civilization V was extremely fluid and responsive. Though I didn't get to play them myself, Dirt and Rift were also being shown off and their frame rates were similarly silky.

    Read Article >
  • Tom Warren

    Jan 8, 2013

    Tom Warren

    Panasonic targets photographers with 20-inch 4K Windows 8 tablet

    Gallery Photo: Panasonic 4K Windows 8 tablet hands-on photos
    Gallery Photo: Panasonic 4K Windows 8 tablet hands-on photos

    Panasonic just unveiled a 4K Windows 8 tablet at CES 2013 and we've managed to get an early hands-on. The huge 20-inch tablet includes an optical stylus that allows you to navigate the Windows 8 tiled UI and touch up photos on the device. Panasonic isn't revealing exact specifications just yet, but running at at 4K resolution at its booth today it was stunning to see images on such a display.

    Normally reserved for TVs, this tablet is targeted at photographers, designers, and architects according to Panasonic. A built-in Windows 8-style application imports images from a digital camera and Panasonic supplied a number of 4K images to sample the delights of the display at its booth. This is a huge tablet though, if you can call it that, so it's not exactly portable. During my early look at the device I noticed that the back of the device heats up a lot, so if this device ever makes it to the market there's still some work to be done to make this fully usable. Either way, it's a crazy 4K Windows 8 tablet, and we'll probably see a lot more of them at CES this week.

    Read Article >
  • Aaron Souppouris

    Jan 8, 2013

    Aaron Souppouris

    OLPC's 7-inch Android XO tablet is coming to Walmart this year (hands-on)

    We've just had our first look at OLPC's XO tablet, the company's first Android device. Like the OLPC laptops, the tablet can either be charged regularly or via a hand crank. When charging manually, you'll get ten minutes of use for every one minute you spend cranking. It's got a 7-inch multi-touch display running at 1024 x 600 and is powered by a dual-core 1GHz Marvell Armada chip paired with 512MB of RAM and 4GB of storage.

    Read Article >
  • David Pierce

    Jan 8, 2013

    David Pierce

    Panasonic shows off 20-inch Windows 8 tablet with insane 4K resolution

    4K's unquestionably the buzzword of CES 2013, but it's typically used in conjunction with "TV." Panasonic's taking it a different direction, though, using its keynote at the show to introduce a 20-inch Windows 8 tablet with 4K resolution. There aren't many details about the tablet just yet, save for stylus input support and a sort of real-time cloud-based collaboration tool. We've seen these display specs from Panasonic before, of course, but this is the first time we've seen it on a real product. With such a pixel-dense display, you'd get incredibly detailed control using a stylus, and most of the company's on-stage demos showed how much you can do with so many pixels. It's very much a business-focused tool, and very much not yet a consumer-ready product, but we're intrigued — finally, a display that outstrips the Retinas and 1080ps of the world.

    Read Article >
  • Sean Hollister

    Jan 8, 2013

    Sean Hollister

    AMD Temash hands-on: basic Windows gaming on a 1080p tablet

    Gallery Photo: AMD Temash reference tablet hands-on pictures
    Gallery Photo: AMD Temash reference tablet hands-on pictures

    AMD has a lot of confusing codenames in the stable, but here's one you might actually want to know: Temash is AMD's next tablet processor, and it looks like it could make for a solid Windows 8 experience even with PC games as part of the bargain. Near the tail-end of AMD's not-so-action-packed press conference, the company revealed that the tiny chip will have double the graphics performance of the current Hondo APU we saw in Vizio's new tablet earlier today, and proved it to us too, letting us try a Wistron-built reference tablet running DiRT Showdown at full 1080p resolution on the quad-core Temash APU. Admittedly that's far from the most demanding game out there, and it wasn't running at a particularly high framerate either, but it seems like AMD's low-power silicon has made a sizable jump in performance.

    Read Article >
  • David Pierce

    Jan 7, 2013

    David Pierce

    Vizio's first Windows 8 tablet: hands-on with the AMD-powered, 1080p slate

    Vizio 11.6-inch Tablet with Windows 8
    Vizio 11.6-inch Tablet with Windows 8

    Vizio's only been a PC manufacturer for a few months, and it's already diversifying its product lines. Today we got our first look at the new 11.6-inch Tablet with Windows 8 — now the smallest member of Vizio's PC lineup — and it's a bit of an oddity. The most striking feature is its gorgeous 1920 x 1080 display, which looks even sharper than normal on the smaller device — it's a really good screen, but it creates some consequences. Intel's processors simply couldn't power such a dense, high-res screen, Vizio CTO Matt McRae told us, so the company used AMD chips instead. The Tablet is powered by a dual-core, 1GHz Z-60 processor, which based on our time with the device does a pretty good job powering Windows 8.

    Like all of Vizio's Windows devices, the 11.6-inch Tablet runs a completely clean version of the operating system — it's called the Windows Signature installation, and it's one of the best things Vizio does. The slate comes with 64GB of solid-state storage, 2GB of RAM, Micro HDMI and mMicro USB ports, and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. We weren't overwhelmingly impressed with the build quality; the lipped bezel around the display makes the device feel like two pieces were fused together rather than like a single unibody device. The whole thing is surprisingly heavy, too, but its metallic and industrial design is pretty handsome.

    Read Article >
  • Nilay Patel

    Jan 7, 2013

    Nilay Patel

    Vizio goes after the Nexus 7 with a Kindle-sized stock Android tablet (hands-on)

    Gallery Photo: Vizio 7-inch Tablet hands-on pictures
    Gallery Photo: Vizio 7-inch Tablet hands-on pictures

    Vizio's 10-inch Android tablet might be one of the first Tegra 4 devices to be announced, but the California company also has a 7-inch tablet here at CES that's equally interesting: it's essentially a Nexus 7 in a package the size of a Kindle e-reader. That's a Tegra 3 processor, a 1280 x 800 IPS display, 16GB of storage, a 1.2 megapixel front-facing camera, and stock Android Jelly Bean. The prototype was fairly quick to flip around the OS, and the display looked slightly better than the typically washed-out Nexus 7 display, although it's not laminated like the 10-inch tablet.

    Vizio head of design Scott McManigal told me that most people use 7-inch devices for reading, so the company designed the device primarily to be held in portrait orientation with one hand. It sounds silly, but the reduction in size was quite dramatic compared to the Nexus 7 when I held the prototype — we don't have final specs because the design isn't final yet. McManigal told that jumbophones like the 6.1-inch Huawei that'll debut at CES don't worry him; he thinks small tablets need to be designed differently than phones regardless of the overall size similarity.

    Read Article >
  • David Pierce

    Jan 7, 2013

    David Pierce

    Vizio's 10-inch tablet combines Tegra 4, stock Android, and an ultra-light body (hands-on)

    Vizio 10-inch Tablet
    Vizio 10-inch Tablet

    But the most noticeable feature of the new tablet? It's really, really light. The kind of light where we picked the tablet up and wondered immediately whether or not there was a battery inside, or anything for that matter. The rounded slate with the soft-touch back is fairly thin, too, and it adds up to a 10-inch tablet that feels considerably smaller than the iPad or a Nexus 10.

    Read Article >
  • Sean Hollister

    Jan 7, 2013

    Sean Hollister

    Lenovo ThinkPad Helix tablet / laptop hybrid gets a power-up when it docks

    Gallery Photo: Lenovo ThinkPad Helix hands-on pictures
    Gallery Photo: Lenovo ThinkPad Helix hands-on pictures

    What's the catch, you ask? Well, there's Lenovo's $1,499 starting price, an unusual glass touchpad with five buttons underneath the surface rather than readily visible, and the knowledge that you'll need to wait until February even if you have ready cash.

    Read Article >
  • Sean Hollister

    Jan 6, 2013

    Sean Hollister

    Lenovo revamps 11-inch IdeaPad Yoga with Intel processors, full Windows 8 operating system (video)

    Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S
    Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S

    We've only had a few minutes to spend with the 11S, but it looks and feels just like its 13-inch sibling. Its 360-degree-rotating hinge is sturdy at any position or angle, the touchscreen felt fast and responsive (a nice improvement over the Yoga 13, actually), and the small three-pound device doesn't skimp on either trackpad or keyboard size. It's, well... it's an 11.6-inch model of the Yoga 13, a machine we liked a lot in our review.

    Read Article >