Computer Shopper - UK (2020-07)

ISSUE389|COMPUTER SHOPPER|JULY2020 89

TABLETSANDE-READERS

pixels per inch (ppi) rather than horizontal and

vertical pixel counts as tablet screens are.

More pixels per inch means greater density

and thus asharper screen, so text will look

crisper on a300ppi displaythan a167ppi one.

MAKE SOME SPACE

Contemporary tablets can be almost

unbelievably thin. The Samsung Galaxy TabS6,

forexample,isamere 5.7mm from front to

back. That’s great forportability,but it has the

drawback of limiting physical connectivity,

usually to one small data port, aheadphone

jack and sometimes amicroSD slot.

You’ll therefore be mainly relying on Wi-Fi

and Bluetooth, though expandable storage is

particularly useful if you’re likely to be making

very heavy use of your tablet. With e-readers,

you can’t typically expand on the internal

storage,which you might notice sounds low:

4GB to 8GB, most likely.However,ifyou’re

only saving ebooks, that’s not necessarily

anything to worry about, as these are

essentially text files and as such don’t take up

nearly as much space as videos and images.

If,however,you choose an e-reader that can

store and playback audiobooks, you’ll

find that 4GB models fill up much quicker.

One tactic used by tablet manufacturers

to avoid them being cannibalised by 2-in-1s

is to modify the (conventionally mobile-

focused) operating system to be abit more

desktop-like; so even if it’s generally going

to be used as astandard tablet, it at least

has adash of 2-in-1 capability should you

ever want to add akeyboard.

Apple’s iPadOS and Samsung’s DeX

platforms both demonstratethis approach,

expanding on aspects such as keyboard

support, multitasking and file management. If

you’re not interested in using your tablet for

productivity,the good news is that these

tweaks can be ignored, though you shouldn’t

expect asimilar enthusiasm forimproving the

classic tablet touchscreen experience from the

base iOS or Android experience.

That said, if you’re open to the notion

of using your tablet as alaptop, it’s worth

noting that iPadOS has abetter selection of

‘serious’ apps than Android.

READ SPEED

Youcan expect smartphone-like performance

from most tablets, forthe simple reason that

theyoftenuse the same system-on-a-chip

(SoC) designs. Apple,for instance,recycles

the chips used in its iPhones forits iPads,

while Samsung uses common Qualcomm

Snapdragon SoCs.

We’ve tested tablet performance using

benchmarks, and although the same tools

won’tworkone-readers, the principles are the

same: responsiveness is key, andsluggishness

when navigating an ebook store is just as

irritating as it is viewing awebsiteonatablet.

Then again, it’s easier to forgive low

performance on e-readers, as they’re (usually)

cheap and simple by design, your primary

interaction with them being to turn pages; not

something that would massively benefit from

additional computing power.With tablets, it’s

more vital that the hardware is up to scratch,

as you’ll be switching through multiple apps

and maybe even playing 3D games.

THE DRAIN GAME

Battery lifeisn’t something you should worry

about toomuch when it comes to e-readers.

Even the shortest-lasting models will keep

going fordaysoreven weeks of regular use,

thanks in part to their use of low-power

processors and economical E-Ink displays.

Tablets are another story.These will have

much larger batteries, but with bigger,

higher-resolution colour displays and

multicore processors, you’ll burn through

them much faster than with an e-reader.

Our battery benchmark test involves

looping afull-screen video file from full

charge to empty, keeping flight mode on and

brightness at amodest 170cd/m^2 to measure

heavy usage without employing worst-case

conditions. Anything that lasts under 10

hours won’t necessarily require daily

recharging, but anything higher is ideal.

While backlighting has been standard on

most screens –tablets, smartphones laptops,

even handheld games consoles –for years, it’s

only recently become acommon feature on

e-readers. Also known as areading light, aset

of backlighting LEDs makes it possible to read

in darkness and low light; amajor benefit.

Luckily,all four of the e-readers in this

round-up include areading light.

Less common is alow blue-light mode.

The problem with screens lit with whiteorblue

LEDsisthat the light theyemitcan cause eye

strain when viewed forlongperiods, and can

even prevent some people from sleeping.

Some e-readers therefore come with orange

LEDs as well, which illuminatethe screen while

cutting down or eliminating the blue light.

This can help prevent discomfort when you’re

glued to the pages of agoodebook, though

unlike whitebacklighting it hasn’t quite

become astandard feature yet. You’ll have to

paymore to get an e-reader with alow

blue-light mode,sothink about whether

you’ve had problems with smartphone and

monitor screens, and decide foryourself if it’s

worth the expense.

NOWLISTEN HERE

Lastly,beonthe lookout forany little extras

you can get with your tablet or e-reader

purchase.Astylus, forexample,would let you

take quick notes on atablet without needing

the on-screen keyboard. The Amazon Kindle

Kids Edition also comes with arobust case and

content subscription, though it could be

argued these aren’t ‘extras’ per se,asthe

whole thing costs more than the otherwise

identical standard Kindle.

Audiobook support, on the other hand, is a

bonus that spans the Kindle range regardless

of price.You’ll need to make sure you have a

pair of Bluetooth headphones, however,as

e-readers don’t tend to feature 3.5mm jacks.

and their use of wider aspect ratios more
closely resembles the format of real books.
In other words, both tablets and e-readers
are still worth picking up today. In the
following pages you’ll find tests of some of
the best (and worst) devices you can buy,as
well as this guide to choosing one with the
right specs and features.

INK IN MODERATION
One of the unique qualities of tablets is their
displaysize, which tends to range from about
7in to 11in –more spacious than asmartphone,
but smaller than laptops and most 2-in-1s. This
provides anice balance forwatchingvideosor
reading long web pages without needing to
squint or hold the screen tooclose to yourface,
while also keeping the tablet small enough for
easy portability and one-handed use.
Tablet screens usually employthe same
IPS or AMOLED panel technology as
smartphones, so expect wide viewing angles
and colours with plenty of pop.AMOLED
screens have better contrast, but IPS screens
can go brighter; we’ve conducted our usual
calibrator-aided displaytests to measure each
model’s strengths and weaknesses.
E-reader screens favour smaller (6in to 7in)
E-Ink panels, which are designed to achieve
two things: use aminimal amount of power,
and to more accurately replicatethe
appearance of inkonreal paper.These are
always black and white, so mainly differ in
resolution, which is typically measured in