Tablets With The Most Unique Designs: Quick Review Roundup

Written by B Johnson January 20, 2015
Tablets With The Most Unique Designs: Quick Review RoundupHi guys, welcome back!

Every tablet manufacturer has an obligation to produce tablet that not only looks great and premium in front of public, but also a tablet that feels good and comfortable to use.

And this is really important because many tablet users out there mostly hold their tablets in such long long hours every single day – like for watching movies, playing games, reading books, browsing the web or simply checking emails.

Besides having those 2 elements – great premium design and comfortable feel –, i think tablet should also have unique design.

This is really important because on today’s tablet market, there is a lot of old and upcoming tablets inundating this market, making it really hard for consumers to choose which tablets that suit them perfectly.

So by having a unique design, not only does it give consumers an easier way to choose which tablet they really want, but it also differentiates one tablet with other competing tablets on the market.

Below you’ll find some the tablets that i consider as unique design tablets.

Okay then, without further long introduction, here you go, all of those unique design tablets that i have reviewed on this website. Read on!

Lenovo Yoga 10

Lenovo Yoga 10 TabletThe first tablet that i think is unique in terms of design is Lenovo Yoga 10 Tablet. Compared to other big names like iPad, Samsung GALAXY flagship tablets or Sony Xperia series, this Lenovo’s tablet is clearly behind its competition, especially when it comes to sales and popularity, even performance and hardware specs.

However, despite all that, i personally think that Lenovo Yoga 10 is still a decent and unique looking tablet.

In fact, compared to other competitors out there, this Lenovo’s tablet probably has the best tablet design – or at least, one of the best designs - i’ve ever seen around the tablet market.

It has its own characteristic and uniqueness that just can’t be found on other rivals.

This is really important because this will differentiate and make this tablet stand out from other competitors out there.

Lenovo Yoga 10 actually has no significant difference with other tablets out there. It deploys the same square touch screen, rounded corners, thick bezels, aluminum material and even some metal trim around the side of the bezels.

However, what makes it different and unique compared to its counterparts is actually the cool circle rounded shape on its bottom position (in landscape mode) – or shoulder if you would – which has the kickstand that you can use to keep this device steady on the desk.

Besides this Lenovo Yoga 10, there are actually other tablets that also have this kickstand – like Microsoft Surface series for example -.

But i think, the kickstand and that rounded shape on Lenovo Yoga 10 tablet look much cooler and more elegant compared to Microsoft’s tablet, especially as a pure media-consumption device.

However, the gorgeous design of this tablet is not followed by its performance.

Lenovo Yoga 10 is equipped with a quad-core 1.2GHz MediaTek MT8125 processor, PowerVR SGX 544 GPU and 1GB of RAM. Not to mention, this tablet only comes with a 720p resolution on its 10.1-inch display.

But unfortunately, despite having a “quad-core” processor, there are still some lags and stutters here and there on the software.

This is not quite surprising for me given that Asus MemoPad 7HD – which also comes with the same hardware specs (Mediatek 1.2GHz MT8125 processor, PowerVR SGX544 GPU and 1GB of RAM, plus 720p display) – proved also not capable to perform smoothly especially when playing games like NOVA 3, Modern Combat 4 or GTA Vice City.

This is probably due to its less-powerful “MediaTek” processor, which has been criticized for its low performance, despite having 4 set of CPU cores.

But apart from that, there are still some great things to appreciate from this device, like its 5MP rear-facing camera, its microSD card support for up to 64GB, of course it gorgeous design and the most importantly, its huge 9000mAh battery – which according to reviews on YouTube is able to last in 2 solid days even in heavy use.

Sony Xperia Tablet S

Sony Xperia Tablet SAnother tablet that i consider as great and unique looking tablet is coming from Sony. This tablet is actually the first-gen tablet from this Japanese-based manufacturer, released around 2 years ago in 2012.

This one is Sony Xperia Tablet S, a 9.4-inch tablet running on Android OS with Sony’s customized UI and skins.

Just like Lenovo Yoga 10 mentioned above, Sony Xperia Tablet S actually has no significant difference compared to other rivals out there. It has the same square-looking design, thick bezels and rounded corners - the standard design of regular tablets.

However, the thing from this tablet that makes it look unique and stand out than other tablets is definitely its thick shoulder on the rear side.

This thick shoulder - in my opinion - really sets it apart from the competition, even from the iPad.

It’s really obvious that Sony has put a lot of thoughts when designing this tablet. It looks nothing like iPad – which is important – and even looks nothing like other Android tablets - which makes it even better.

In terms of hardware and performance, Sony Xperia Tablet S is blazing fast definitely, mostly thanks to its Tegra 3 quad-core processor, 12-core GeForce ULP GPU and 1GB of RAM.

So when it comes to gaming performance, there’s no doubt that this tablet will excel on that sector perfectly.

However, compared to other Tegra 3 tablets with stock Android, Sony Xperia Tablet S may not be as fast as its counterparts given that this Sony’s tablet comes pre-installed with some heavy custom skins and features from Sony - which usually inundates its memory/RAM and only leaves a small free portion of it to the user.

Sony Tablet P

Sony Tablet PAnother unique looking tablet is also coming from Sony and this one is Sony Tablet P. This device was actually released in the same year as Sony Tablet S.

However, unlike Sony Tablet S that looks and works as a tablet, Sony Tablet P - on the other hand – falls in the different category of its sibling – a smart device category.

In terms of design, Sony Tablet P looks nothing like a tablet. In fact, it looks nothing like a smartphone as well.

So it’s kind of confusing to classify what kind of device Sony Tablet P really is.

But for me personally, Sony Tablet P probably should be classified as a smartphone, instead of a tablet because – first of all -, it doesn’t look like a tablet.

And second of all, when the screens are closed, this device kind of reminds me with Nokia’s old Navigator phone (if i’m not mistaken), although they both bear 2 different design concepts.

Sony Tablet P has these dual-screens that are flippable on the inside of the device. And there are also some huge bezels in the middle of the dual-screens.

And that’s when the screens are opened. But when the dual-screens are closed, this device looks like a smartphone.

It also looks and feels really premium with its metal finish all over the side of the device.

Unfortunately, based on what i’ve seen on some YouTube reviews, the experience of enjoying contents on this device is not really satisfying.

And the one to blame for that is its thick bezel in the middle of the dual-screens, which does nothing but creating some huge gap between the screens – making it uncomfortable for user especially when reading books or browsing the web.

And this is probably the reason why it didn’t gain any ground either on smartphone or tablet market.

The good thing is, it terms of performance, this tablet is still superior on that sector, especially when it hit the market in 2012. It’s equipped with a dual-core Tegra 2 processor, 1GB of RAM and 8-core GeForce ULP GPU.

Meanwhile, its flippable screens are both 5.5-inches, both carrying the same 1024x480 pixel resolution.

So when it comes to gaming performance, this tablet is no doubt capable to handle games like Modern Combat 2, ShadowGun, PES 2012, Dungeon Defender, Dungeon Hunter or Samurai Showdown even in full graphics.

The great thing about this device is - thanks to its dual-screens -, the experience of playing games on Sony Tablet P is really awesome.

So the dual-screens, each has its own functionality when deployed with games – the top screen is for the regular gameplay screen, while the bottom screen is for the virtual buttons of the game.

So it’s kind of similar with Nintendo DS.

In fact, these 2 devices work pretty similarly and even both also use touch screen. So if you’re looking for a great alternative for Nintendo DS, then Sony Tablet P might be your best shot here.

Not to mention, thanks to Android huge game catalog, there will be so many Android games - from casual to hardcore games - that you’re able to play on this Sony Tablet P, as opposed to the limited choices of games on Nintendo DS which mostly are dominated by casual games.

Nvidia Shield Tablet

Nvidia Shield TabletCompared to previous tablets aforementioned above, Nvidia Shield may not look as unique as those rivals.

However, the reason why i decide to include this NVIDIA’s homemade device on this list is because there is a lot of things to write home about especially on the design of Nvidia Shield Tablet.

Besides, compared to other tablets out there, Nvidia Shield Tablet looks really unique and has its own characteristic than most of its rivals on the market.

Nvidia Shield Tablet is actually the successor of its previous-gen NVIDIA Tegra Note – which was used as a reference device for many manufacturers to create the same identical tablet but with different branding - like HP Slate 7 Extreme or WVGA Tegra Note (if i’m not mistaken).

They share the same dual-speaker grilles on the front side, stock Android UI, stylus, Tegra 4 and even the same internals.

It goes the same with Nvidia Shield Tablet. Despite having a larger 8-inch screen and a more powerful beast Tegra K1 processor (along with its 192-core GPU), this tablet is actually still the same looking device just like its predecessor.

It still inherits the same dual-speaker grilles on the front, the same 2 layer colors (darker gray and black) around the side of the screen and even the same but much improved stylus.

These are actually the things that make this tablet look unique and stand out than most of its rivals out there.

There’s no doubt that Nvidia Shield screams in performance. And that’s mostly thanks to its quad-core Tegra K1 processor, coupled with a staggering 192-core Kepler GPU and bigger 2GB of RAM, promising the same graphical performance as PC or today’s desktops, and 3 times graphical performance as Apple’s A7 chipset.

So when it comes to playing games, it’s just easy to guess that this tablet will excel on this sector perfectly. As a matter of fact, Nvidia Shield Tablet is probably the best gaming tablet you’ll ever find on the market to date – alongside other Tegra K1 tablets like Xiaomi Mi Pad or HTC Nexus 9.

Not only is this tablet capable to play games like Modern Combat 5 or GTA San Andreas smoothly in full highest graphics, but it’s also more than adequate to handle PS3's Trine 2, PC's Half Life 2, Unreal Engine 4 demos and any graphics demanding games on Google Play Store.

Besides having the best gaming performance than other tablets, Nvidia Shield Tablet is also really amazing with its stylus.

Thanks to the advanced stylus technology developed by a company named N-Trig, not to mention, Tegra K1 power inside, the stylus of this tablet can be really great for taking simple notes and even drawing some professional paintings.

The more impressively about this stylus is, we can control its thickness according to our pressure on the screen – all in real time on the fly -.

And thanks to a powerful Tegra K1 processor and DirectSylus 2 developed by N-Trig, every result of the stylus on the screen is now far more realistic than the stylus of the predecessor – Tegra Note, especially when used to draw pictures/paintings.

Barnes & Noble Nook Tablets

Despite not having the similar success just like Amazon with its Kindle Fire series, the tablets from Barnes & Noble actually can be considered as unique in terms of design.

And that’s true because if you compare the tablets from Barnes & Noble with other regular tablets out there, we can certainly see that Barnes & Noble series has its own uniqueness and characteristic compared to other tablets.

The most noticeable uniqueness found on Barnes & Noble Nook series is on the hole found on the left bottom side, which probably is intended as the dedicated hole maybe to protect it by using chain so when it slips away from our hands, it will not drop to the solid ground (if i’m not mistaken).

The other thing that makes this tablet also look quite unique is actually its entire design and its UI, which gives it a better reading experience to the user.

Barnes & Noble Nook series consists in varied different models, carrying different class of hardware specs.

The most advanced and probably powerful is Barnes & Noble Nook HD+, followed by Barnes & Noble Nook HD, Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet and Barnes & Noble Nook Color.

I’m not sure if there are some other tablets from this company. But those 4 tablets are the ones that i have reviewed already on this site.

Huawei Ideos S7

This tablet i’m about to show you right now may not have some impressive high-grade specs nor super fast performance, however, there is still one thing about its design that makes it unique.

This tablet is Huawei IDEOS S7.

But i think its low-grade specs are still acceptable given that this tablet was released back then in 2010, you know, when Apple debuted its first-gen iPad to the world.

What makes this Huawei’s tablet unique is actually the kickstand on its rear cover.

As many of you know, most kickstand-equipped tablets usually have their kickstand on the bottom position on their rear covers, like Microsoft Surface or Lenovo Yoga 10 aforementioned above.

However, Huawei interestingly decides to put the kickstand of Huawei IDEOS S7 on middle position on the rear side.

And unlike its counterparts, this Huawei’s tablet has such a long kickstand on the back, which kind of looks weird – or ugly, if you would.

Huawei IDEOS S7 is definitely not the kind of tablet you would want to buy right now.

In fact, i strongly recommend you to stay away from this tablet because it’s just way too mediocre at best, in terms of specs and performance.

And i don’t think you can play some latest 3D games with this tablet.

This tablet may have a 1GHz Snapdragon processor and Adreno 200 GPU – which are more than adequate to handle some older-released games in 2010, however, with its low 256MB of RAM, this tablet is gonna suffer a lot especially when multitasking many apps at once.

Asus Padfone Series

I think from all of those tablets aforementioned above, Asus Padfone series has probably the most unique and even original design. If you haven’t known about this device already, Asus Padfone is actually a smartphone – a normal regular 4.5-inch Android smartphone.

But what makes this tablet series unique is actually its design that can be transformed from a normal Android smartphone into a larger 7-inch tablet.

By using a tablet device called “Padfone Station”, that smartphone can be docked into this tablet device (through the holes on its rear cover, similar just like inserting removable battery into a tablet) and then, voila.. that normal smartphone has turned into a tablet.

All the UI and apps you’ve downloaded on that smartphone can be smoothly operated on the larger screen of the tablet (Padfone Station).

This Padfone Station is actually not the real device here, it’s only a vessel. The real device that carries all the Android system and its apps is the smartphone.

So if you lost the smartphone, the Padfone Station is no longer usable anymore. It’s like an empty vessel.

If fact, you’ll probably have a hard time finding people who are interested to buy this Padfone Station.

Asus Padfone series consists in 4 different generations: from a Asus Padfone, Asus Padfone 2, Asus Padfone Infinity and Asus Padfone Infinity 2.

Each of these models carries some different class of hardware specs, with the latest-gen Asus Padfone Infinity 2 having the best highest-grade specs compared to its older-gen siblings.

Not only that, in terms of design, Asus Padfone Infinity also comes with more premium and brushed aluminum material all over its rear-cover, compared to the glossy plastic on the regular Asus Padfone series.

Asus actually also has other next-gen models in this same tablet series – Asus Padfone X and Asus Padfone S.

However, they all still use the same exact concept – a normal regular Android smartphone that can be docked and turned into a tablet by using Padfone Station.

So i believe Asus still has a long way to go with this tablet series even in the next few years ahead.

I think what Asus brought to the tablet market through this device is really ground breaking.

In fact, there is no other tablet on the market that use this unique design concept just like what has been had on Asus Padfone series since the first-gen model.

So it’s really easy to include this tablet series into this list because not only does this tablet series have unique design, but it also has the originality that probably is really hard and rare to find around the tablet market until today.

Archos Gamepad 2

The last tablet that i consider as a unique design tablet is Archos Gamepad. This tablet series has now already stepped to the second-gen model, Archos Gamepad 2.

However, just like the predecessor, this sequel still inherits the same design concept of the previous-gen model.

So if you haven’t already seen this tablet series, Archos Gamepad is actually a normal Android tablet just like any other regular Android tablets out there.

However, what makes this tablet special is its physical gamepad buttons and analog sticks.

This tablet actually kind of reminds me with PlayStation Vita, which also has the physical gamepad buttons and analog sticks on the left and right, while the screen also uses touch screen technology. It goes the same with Archos Gamepad.

It has the 7-inch touch screen on the front, the physical gaming buttons, analog sticks and even trigger and shoulder buttons.

As a gaming tablet, Archos Gamepad, especially Archos Gamepad 2 can be considered as a good performer here.

Based on what i’ve seen on some reviews on YouTube, this tablet surprisingly is capable to handle games like Modern Combat 4, Asphalt 8: Airborne, Need for Speed Most Wanted and even NOVA 3 – all in smooth performance and in full highest graphics setting.

So if you’re looking for a good gaming tablet with great physical gaming controller, Archos Gamepad 2 can be a decent choice for you.

In fact, it’s probably one of the best gaming tablets out there. It has the performance and it also has the experience of a real gaming tablet, thanks to its physical gaming controllers.

Conclusion

Well, there you go, all of the tablets that i consider as unique designed tablets. There are probably many other unique tablets that i haven’t shared on this list.

So if you know any of them, even just one, don’t be shy, just shoot your recommendation on the comment section below.

I’ll probably make some new updates on this list with more models from your recommendations.

Anyway, if you feel that this article is helpful and informative to you (hopefully entertaining as well), don’t forget to share it guys.

I would really appreciate your contribution here.

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