After years of waiting, Nokia has finally unveiled its first ever tablet, and of course, it’s powered by the Windows operating system.  But does it have what it takes to blow the other best-in-class tablets away?  Or will it just find itself overwhelmed by the iPads and Samsung tablets out there?

How Do The Best Tablets Stack Up?

Design:

Nokia 2520: Colorful glossy shell casings, available in black, white, red and cyan. With dedicated keys for volume and power/lock.

Kindle Fire HDX: To achieve the lightweight design, the device capacitive touch layer is directly integrated into the glass display, with a unique magnesium unibody from a single piece of machined magnesium and a blend of glass and nylon.

Surface Pro 2: VaporMg casing, Dark Titanium color, with volume and power buttons

iPad 4: Has an aluminum unibody which makes the device light, with external buttons and controls for power/sleep, volume and Home button

Galaxy Note 10.1(2014):  Premium leather-like back cover with detailed stitch that appears hand-crafted enhances the superior feeling of the notepad and provides high usability, such as an extra protection against scratches and cracks. Extra space from the bezel was removed

 

Dimensions:

 

Nokia 2520: Length 168 mm x Width 267 mm x Depth 8.9 mm, Weight 615 g

Kindle Fire HDX: 158 x 231 x 7.8mm; WiFi 374 grams, 4G 384 grams

Surface Pro: 6.81” x 10.81” x 0.53”, Weight 2 lbs

iPad 4: 7.31” x 9.5” x 0.37”, 1.44 lbs for the WiFi only version and 1.46 lbs for the WiFi + Cellular version.

Galaxy Note 10.1(2014):  171.4 x 243.1 x 7.9mm, weighing 535g for the WiFi Version.

 

Display:

Nokia 2520: 10.1” Full HD (1920 x 1080), 218 ppi, TrueColor, ClearBlack, IPS LCD, Corning Gorilla Glass 2, Wide viewing angle, Enhanced outdoor readability

Kindle Fire HDX: 8.9″ display with 2560×1600 resolution and the best pixel density at 339 ppi, 100 percent sRGB for perfect color display

Surface Pro 2: 10.6″ ClearType Full HD display, 1920 x 1080p, 16:9 (widescreen), 10-point multitouch

iPad 4: 9.7‑inch (diagonal) LED-backlit Multi‑Touch display with IPS technology, 2048 x1536 resolution at 264 pixels per inch (ppi), Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating

Galaxy Note 10.1(2014): 10.1-inch WQXGA (2560 X 1600) Super clear LCD

 

Processor:

Nokia 2520: Quad-core 2.2 GHz, Qualcomm Snapdragon 800

Kindle Fire HDX: Quad-Core 2.2 GHz

Surface Pro 2: Fourth generation Intel Core i5 processor that delivers faster performance and 75 percent more battery life

iPad 4: Dual-core A6X with quad-core graphics

Galaxy Note 10.1(2014): 1.9GHz Octa-core processor for the 3G /WiFi version and 2.3GHz Quad-core processor for the LTE version

 

Operating System:

Nokia 2520: Windows RT 8.1

Kindle Fire HDX: Fire OS 3.0 “Mojito” on top of Android

Surface Pro 2: Windows 8.1

iPad 4: iOS 6 upgradable to iOS 7

Galaxy Note 10.1(2014): Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, Magazine Style UX

 

Storage Options:

Nokia 2520: 32GB, can be expanded with up to 32GB microSD, 2GB RAM,

Kindle Fire HDX: 16/32/64GB, 2GB of RAM

Surface Pro 2: 64GB and 128GB with 4GB of RAM, 256GB and 512GB with 8GB RAM

iPad 4: 16/32/64/128GB

Galaxy Note 10.1(2014): A choice of 16/32/64GB Internal Memory that can be upgraded with a microSD to up to 64GB; 3GB RAM

Battery:

Nokia 2520: 8000 mAh, maximum standby time of 25 days, can be hooked to a Nokia Power Keyboard which gives the device an additional 5 hours battery life, fast charging, charges to 80 percent in just one hour

Kindle Fire HDX: 12 hours mixed use, 18 hours when reading

Surface Pro 2: 42 W-h

iPad 4: Built-in 42.5-watt-hour rechargeable lithium-polymer battery, up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi‑Fi, watching video, or listening to music, charging via power adapter or USB to computer system, Up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi‑Fi, watching video, or listening to music, up to 9 hours of surfing the web using cellular data network

Galaxy Note 10.1(2014): Standard Li-ion 8,220mAh battery

 

Wireless and Connectivity:

Nokia 2520: 2.5 mm Charging Connector, 3.5 mm audio connector, HDMI-D (micro), Micro-USB-AB, USB 3.0, Bluetooth 4.0, WLAN IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n, WPA2-Personal, WPA2-Enterprise, NFC sharing and pairing

Kindle Fire HDX: Dual band, dual antenna, (MIMO) Wi-Fi, optional 4G

Surface Pro 2: Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n), Bluetooth 4.0 low energy technology, Full-size USB 3.0, MicroSDXC card slot, Headset jack, Mini DisplayPort, Cover port

iPad 4: 802.11a/b/g/n Wi‑Fi (802.11n 2.4GHz and 5GHz), Bluetooth 4.0 wireless technology; cellular version also features GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz), UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz), LTE (Bands 2, 4, 5, 17), or CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B (800, 1900, 2100 MHz), GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz), UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz), LTE (Bands 1, 3, 5, 13, 25), 3.5-mm stereo headphone minijack, microSIM tray

Galaxy Note 10.1(2014): Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 & 5 GHz), Wi-Fi Direct, AllShareCast, BT4.0, USB2.0, GPS ＋ GLONASS, microUSB, microSIM tray, microSD, 3.5mm audio jack, S Pen slot

 

Camera:

Nokia 2520: 6.7 MP rear camera with Zeiss Optics; front cam HD 2 MP wide angle, still image capture, video call

Kindle Fire HDX: 720p HD front-facing camera + 8MP rear-facing camera

Surface Pro 2: Rear and front 720p cameras

iPad 4: 1.2MP FaceTime, 5MP iSight

Galaxy Note 10.1(2014):  8MP rear camera with BSI sensor, Auto Focus Camera with LED Flash, Zero Shutter lag, plus a 2MP front camera with BSI sensor

 

Sensors:

Nokia 2520: Ambient Light Sensor, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Proximity Sensor, Magnetometer

Kindle Fire HDX: No information yet

Surface Pro 2: Ambient light sensor, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Magnetometer

iPad 4: Three-axis gyro, Accelerometer, Ambient light sensor

Galaxy Note 10.1(2014): Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Geo-magnetic, RGB

 

Price and Availability:

Nokia 2520: Will initially be available for sale in the US, UK and Finland at an estimated price of $499

Kindle Fire HDX: Starts at $379, available in November 7, 2013

Surface Pro 2: Starts at $899, Available in retail stores on October 22, 2013

iPad 4: Starts at $499, Available in Apple Stores, online, on Carriers networks and some partner retail stores.

Galaxy Note 10.1(2014): Available in October on AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon and US Cellular, no price yet.

How Does The Nokia 2520 Compare?

 

The Nokia Lumia 2520 is heavier compared to the other tablets in our list, so if you can use it for a few hours it could get quite uncomfortable, especially if you like to do things one-handed.

On the plus side though, because it comes pre-installed with Window RT 8.1 (and henceforth Office and Outlook as well) at no additional cost, it fosters more productivity, such as editing  Office documents on the go.  Plus, because of its fast-charging feature (you can get 80 percent charge in just an hour of being plugged), you won’t be tied to one spot for long.  The Lumia 2520 also has security features such as Mobile VPN, remote wipe of user data via Internet, device lock, device passcode, and user data encryption that would make the device suitable for office use.  You can also purchase a Nokia Power Keyboard for $150 that snuggly wraps around the device for added protection, plus it gives you 5 more hours of battery life, and more flexibility with its keyboard and gesture trackpad.

If you are looking for a Windows RT tablet at a more affordable price than the Surface tablets, the Nokia 2520 may well be the device for you.

Checkout more roundups and stories over on our Smart+Connected Devices collection on Springpad.