2013 Holiday Gift Guide: The 5 Best Tablets

iPad Air

Price: $500
Everyone anticipated the Cupertino Clan to make a series of announcements regarding its iPad lineup. Needless to say, Apple left the crowd stunned with the unveiling of the iPad Air, which sports an amazingly thin and light profile that compliments the device’s smooth-running performance and unrivaled ecosystem. New wi-fi antennas boost wireless connectivity and the integrated 64-bit processor (from the iPhone 5S) provides snappier execution on the iOS 7 platform.

Microsoft Surface Pro 2

Price: $900
Granted the massive selection of Windows 8 slates available, Microsoft’s hybrid device stands as the clear frontrunner. The Surface 2 ups the ante by combining function with power across all areas. Its hardware triplicate of a 1.6 GHz Core i5-4200U processor with integrated Intel HD Graphics 4400, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB (or 128GB) of memory is enough to warrant premium benchmarks. Content viewing is far better this time around thanks to a new two-stage kickstand. Not to mention the machine promises 75 percent better battery life and that doesn’t even include the extra vitality being offered from the company’s upcoming Power Cover due out next year.