Best 5 Android, iOS Tablets To Buy in India in 2014

Even a few years ago, tablet devices were not the most regular thing among users since most of them were not even aware about the existence of such a technology. However, with more and more big names such as Apple and Samsung finally coming to the front, tablets have started flowing in with more and more people adopting the same.

As of now, while the Apple-made iPads are the most popular of all, providing the best app selection, there are still plenty of great Android alternatives that effectively look to bump up the competition.

But then, making a choice is one of the most difficult things ever to do, and especially when you are spoilt for choices in the smartphone market. Do you join the rest of the world and get yourself a new Apple iPad? Or do you jump on the Android bandwagon where the choice diversifies even more?

We take a look at the top 5 tablet devices that you could look to invest on this year.

Apple iPad Mini Retina


As expected, Apple will surely be a highlight of this list for its iPad range of tablets that have been subjected to so much popularity all over the planet in the past few years.

The iPad Mini Retina could be considered one of the best tablets to buy for anyone looking for a compact and a lighter version of the iPad Air without taking away much from the screen quality, performance and battery-life.

Google Nexus 7 (Second Generation)


The new Nexus 7 tablet takes command over the the original 7-inch offering from Google back in 2012. The device comes packing a 1.5Ghz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM and comes with either 16GB or 32GB of storage.

The 2nd gen Nexus 7 is easily one of the best choices if you are looking to buy a great 7-inch Android tablet in India. The pure Android the device runs offers a smooth UI, alongside a high resolution screen that offers a great experience for browsing and gaming alike.

Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 7


Amazon may have entered the tablet race much later compared to its more illustrious rivals, but that doesn't take away anything from the fact that the company makes few of the amazing pieces of tablet hardware that currently graces the planet.

While we are guessing that a regular Amazon-made tablet will not catch that much attention among fans, especially with the likes of Apple and Samsung around. But if you are all too interested in Amazon's ecosystem, the Kindle Fire HDX 7 is a great purchase.

Sony Xperia Tablet Z


Speaking about good looking devices that not only offer a great experience, but also are objects of beauty, the Sony Xperia Tablet Z is a perfect example from Sony as to what happens when you combine the phone with a tablet.

The Sony Xperia Tablet Z is one of the best built Android tablets to be around in India. The device is quite slim, although powerful and even weatherproof. The device also offers crisp, high-resolution display.

Apple iPad Air


There's hardly any surprise that two of Apple's tablet offerings have made it to the list. While the previously discussed iPad Mini with Retina is already a great purchase, the more celebrated iPad Air, for many, is the kind of stuff dreams are all about.

The iPad Air, which Could be easily tagged as one of the best tablet offerings to be available in India, arrives with a host of improvements made to almost everything that's inside the tablet device.

Low prices to sway buyers Toshiba's new Windows tablets bet

By all accounts, Windows tablets have yet to catch on in the mainstream market in the way the iPad or smaller Android tablets have, despite efforts from numerous manufacturers including Microsoft itself. But that isn't stopping tablet makers from pressing on, and today Toshiba released the Encore 2, its latest Windows 8 tablet effort. The Encore 2 comes in two sizes — 8-inch and 10-inch — and runs the full version of Windows 8.1, complete with support for legacy desktop apps. Toshiba is taking the same strategy that made customers first take notice of Android tablets: it's pricing the Encore 2 at $199 to start, a drop of $130 from last year's model and lower than similar efforts from Lenovo and Dell.

Android tablets didn't get much traction with customers until the Nexus 7 came along in 2012 at a starting price of $199. The Nexus 7 offered a "good enough" tablet experience at a price far enough below the iPad that it was able to easily become the most popular alternative to Apple's tablet. Similarly, Toshiba's Encore 2 promises to be a fast and responsive tablet that doesn't break the bank.

The base Encore 2 comes with an 8-inch, 1280 x 800 pixel display, quad-core Intel Atom processor, 1GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and support for microSD cards. Toshiba says that its battery should last 8 to 10 hours before needing to be recharged, which is right in line with an iPad or Nexus 7. For $70 more, the larger, 10-inch model comes with the same 1280 x 800 pixel resolution and internal components as the 8-inch model. Toshiba will also sell options with more RAM and internal storage for $50 to $80 more than the base prices. All of the tablets come with one year of Office 365 personal for free and support Toshiba's Wireless Display technology for mirroring the tablet's display to a larger screen.


With a relatively low resolution display and basic specifications, the Encore 2 likely won't ever be a powerhouse tablet. But that doesn't seem to be the point — its hardware is good enough to make Windows 8 and most of the apps available run smoothly and the price is low enough to not be an instant deterrent to tablet shoppers. (For those that still find $199 too much to spend on a tablet, Toshiba has also announced the Excite Go, a 7-inch Android tablet priced at $109.)

Whether or not Toshiba will be successful in replicating the success of Android tablets with its low-cost Windows tablet remains to be seen, but buyers will be able to make their decisions this July, when the Encore 2 is available in stores.

Unsupported Android Tablets Installing Microsoft Office Mobile

Microsoft released mobile versions of Office 365, which includes their suite of Mobile Office apps, like Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel, for iPads and iPhones recently. Users can also get that same suite on most Android smartphones in the form of Microsoft Office Mobile, an all-in-one Office app. But that only runs on smartphones. Until Microsoft makes apps for Android tablets, like they did for iPads, users have to install the suite using a workaround.

Notice that Office Mobile isn’t compatible with the Nexus 7 or Galaxy Note 10 tablets.

We found a way to sideload the Microsoft Office Mobile Android app designed for a smartphone onto a tablet, like the Nexus 7, LG G Pad or Samsung Galaxy Tab and Galaxy Note tablets. We’ll show users how to do this using a couple of free apps. There’s no rooting the phone or hacking the operating system involved.

Grab Office Mobile APK Installer from Supported Device

Before installing Office Mobile, users should know that the Office Mobile app doesn’t cost anything to install for viewing files, but a user must subscribe to Office 365 from Microsoft in order to create and edit files on their Android device. The subscription costs $9.99/month for use on up to five computers and up to 5 mobile devices. People with only one computer and one mobile device can get it for only $6.99/month. Users will get a few other perks, like online OneDrive storage and some monthly Skype calling time. Subscribe at the Office365.com page.

Start out by installing the free Office Mobile app on a smartphone, like the HTC One or a Samsung Galaxy device. When Google installs the app through the Google Play Store it leaves the APK installer file on the device hidden in the system files. To get at the file, users must usually root their device, which involves a complicated and advanced process. However, there’s an app that will do this even on a phone without root access.

MyAppSharer for Android helps us move the Office APK installer to the unsupported tablet.

Next get an app called MyAppSharer, a free app that finds the APK installation file on the phone and shares it using a number of methods, including:

• Dropbox, if it’s already installed
• Text message
• Android beam
• Bluetooth
• Drive
• Email/Gmail
• Evernote, if it’s already installed
• OneDrive, if it’s already installed
• SugarSync, if it’s already installed
• Wi-Fi direct
• Others depending on the phone and which apps the user installed

I used Dropbox to share the Office Mobile APK installation file to install it on a Nexus 7 and a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition.

Please do not use MyAppSharer to pirate paid apps and give them to others. App developers work hard to make great apps and we need to support them. If an app is good enough to share with someone, then it’s good enough to pay the developer a few bucks to help them add all those features we’d like to see in the next version.

Installing Office Mobile APK on the Tablet

Turn on Unknown sources from the Security section of the Settings app in Android.

The user must tell the Android operating system to allow the installation of apps that come from somewhere other than the Google Play Store. Do this by opening Settings. On most Android tablets, open Settings by swiping down from the top of the screen and tap on the Settings icon, which looks like a gear. Find Security and tap on it along the left side of the Settings app on most Android devices. On some devices the user will need to find the right tab across the top of the Settings screen. In the Security section, look for Unknown sources and tap to put a check mark in the box. This tells Android to allow the installation of the Office APK, even though it didn’t come from the Google Play Store.

Open Dropbox, if that’s what you used to move the Office Mobile APK installer to the unsupported tablet. Find the APK file in Dropbox. I saved it to the main folder so I could find it easily, but some people will want to put an Apps folder in Dropbox.

The Office APK installer will have a long complicated name we share it using MyAppShare.

In Dropbox, tap on the APK file name. It will look something like the name in the image above which reads “com.microsoft.office.officehub.apk” instead of a descriptive name like Microsoft Office Mobile. Dropbox will download the APK file and the operating system will start the installation process. Android will ask for permission to install the app. Tap on Install.

Android will ask for permission to install the app.

When Android finishes installing the app, tap on Open to run it. Enter the registered email address and password to begin using the app.

Other Uses for MyAppShare

Users can follow the above steps to move other apps from one Android device to another. For example, I did this with Samsung’s SideSync app, which lets a user view the screen of one Samsung device on another. It comes preinstalled on the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, but doesn’t come on the Galaxy Note 10. Sidesync lets me view the screen of my Note 3 on the Note 10. This way I can plug the Note 3 into the projector at my church and show a PowerPoint presentation on it. Connect the two devices using Sidesync and control the presentation from the Galaxy Note 10 from across the room.

MyAppShare also lets me backup my apps to Dropbox. When I plan to erase the phone and start over from factory default settings, I can easily backup the apps and then reinstall them. Put the micro-SD card in the computer and copy the APK files from Dropbox to the card and put the card in the device after erasing.

Finally, this keeps all of a person’s apps backed up. Sometimes Google or a developer will pull a useful app from their Google Play Store. This happened with Angry Birds. Now users can keep the file and even install it on other devices or other Play Store accounts.

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