Ever since Google released its tablet-specific operating system, Android 3.1 (Honeycomb) earlier this year, we’ve finally seen a steady flow of high-quality Android tablets. (Pre-Honeycomb Android tablets were another story.) This is a good thing, since they provide viable alternatives to the Apple iPad, which has dominated the tablet market since its first release in early 2010. One of the major benefits of Android over the iPad, the HP TouchPad, or the BlackBerry PlayBook, is that instead of a single hardware choice, you can access the OS on a number of different tablets.
Overall, the Android 3.1 tablet experience is a very good one. But not all is perfect in the land of Honeycomb: The biggest problem with the platform is a serious lack of third-party apps. Several months out of the gate, there are still less than 250 tablet-specific Android apps. To compare, the Apple App Store offers more than 90,000 apps designed specifically for the iPad. Even the HP TouchPad, which was released earlier this month has more apps than Honeycomb tablets do. Still, the OS itself is very solid. Given its Google roots, it’s the most configurable tablet operating system you’ll find. It's a master multitasker with an excellent notification system, and top-notch integration with Google services like Gmail, Google Chat, and Google Maps. Plus, you get Flash video support.
In tablet time, it’s still very early. If you can, it might make sense to hold out for a couple of months to see how things shape up on the Android apps front, and to find out what Amazon has up its sleeve. But if you’re not willing to wait, and you want an Android tablet now, you have some choices to make. We’ve tested and rated each Honeycomb tablet that’s been released thus far. They all offer similar hardware specs and perform similarly, but each of the six tablets here has a feature that sets it apart from the others. Check out the slideshow for a look at the top-rated Honeycomb tablets or compare tablets side by side.
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