Xolo Play Tegra Note vs Google Nexus 7(2013) vs Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 (T211): Which Android Tablet to Buy?

Nvidia's co-branded tablet Xolo Play Tegra Note is set to hit stores in India next week.

Once released, the new Xolo tablet, boasting pure Android stock OS, is expected to provide competition to the recently launched Google-Asus Nexus 7 (2013) and Samsung's 2013 mini tablet Galaxy Tab 3 (T211).

With Christmas just 10 days away, and people pondering to get the best presents for their dear ones or planning to buy new gadgets for themselves, these tablet PCs -Xolo Play Tegra Note, Nexus 7 (2013) and Galaxy Tab 3 (T211) might find suitors.

Here is a brief description of the stand-out features of Nexus 7 (2013 edition), Play Tegra Note and Galaxy Tab 3 (T211)

Display:

As the name suggests, Nexus 7 sports a 7.0-inch IPS LCD screen boasting full HD (1920x1080p) resolution and pixel density of 323 ppi (pixels per inch).

On the other hand, the Xolo tablet too flaunts a 7.0-inch screen but fails to match up to the Google device in terms of pixel density. It features only 216 ppi.

Among the three, Galaxy Tab 3 loses points for featuring a lesser resolution display of 1024x600 pixels.

Processor, RAM and Storage:

In the previous model (Nexus 7 2012), Asus & Google had used Nvidia's Tegra 3 quad-core processor. But this year, the prolific tablet developers tied-up with the industry leader Qualcomm to use 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor in their Nexus 7 (2013).

Undeterred by the sudden closure of association with Google, Nvidia joined hands with Indian technology firm Xolo to bring Play Tegra Note to the subcontinent with the company's new chipset Tegra 4. With maximum CPU speed of 1.8GHz, Play Tegra Note is fastest tablet in the market.

Galaxy Tablet 3, on the other hand, is a few months old compared to the above two devices. It runs on 1.2GHz Dual-core CPU, making it the slowest among the trio.

Nexus 7 (2013) comes with 2GB RAM and is available in two storage variants: 16GB and 32GB, with no options of microSD card slot.

Play Tegra Note ships with 1GB RAM and 16GB inbuilt storage with microSD card slot (expandable up to 32GB).

Galaxy Tab 3 (T211) houses 1GB RAM and 8GB storage space with options of expansion up to 32GB.

Operating System:

Since all three tablets run on the Android platform, users will have enough apps and games to choose from - a huge collection (close to 900,000) at the Google Play store.

It is to be noted that Nexus 7 and Xolo Play Tegra Note run on pure Android stock OS, whereas Galaxy Tab 3 runs primarily on Android v4.1 Jelly bean with custom Samsung UI TouchWiz.

Camera:

Google Nexus 7 (2013) houses a 5.0-megapixel main camera with full HD 1080p recording ability and a pretty descent 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera.

Xolo tablet too houses a 5.0-megapixel primary camera with HDR and auto-focus feature and a VGA secondary camera.

Whereas, Galaxy Tab 3 features a 3.0-megapixel camera on the rear side and a 1.3-megapixel snapper on the front.

Price:

Depending on the variants, Google Nexus 7 (2013) price ranges between ₹20,999 and ₹27,999; Xolo Play Tegra Note, expected to get released next week, is available for pre-order at online stores for ₹17,999.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 (T211- SIM card variant) price is currently hovering around ₹15,000 at various online stores and brick-and-mortar retail shops in the local market.

Verdict:

Considering specifications, Nexus 7 (2013) is best among the three rivals. The only attribute which needs to be attended by the company for future iterations is a microSD card slot, to give extra room for storing huge data like films.

Despite giving neck-to-neck fight with Nexus 7 (2013), the Xolo tablet comes second against its rival for two reasons. One, like Indian vendors Xolo has to improve its after-sales service, in order to earn loyalty of its customers. Two, the tablet houses only 1GB RAM and VGA front-camera, which appears trivial before Nexus 7 (2013).  But, it has one enviable feature which neither rivals have is that Xolo Play Tegra Note comes with Stylus ( with Nvidia DirectStylus technology) feature to make navigation on the tablet less cumbersome.

Galaxy Tab 3 fails to match to up the two rivals in terms of specifications but it has one trump card up its sleeve: voice-calling feature, which neither Nexus 7 (2013) nor Xolo tablet can boast.

Key specifications of Nexus 7 (2013 Version), Xolo Play Tegra Note & Samsung Tab 3: