What is the best smartphone-tablet combo?

As we have mentioned in our past article, smartphones are getting bigger and tablets are getting smaller. While these gadgets try to meet half-way to become the ideal device, there’s still a good gap between them that convinces us to purchase them both. If that’s the case, what do you think is the best smartphone-tablet combo?

Another thing I would also like to consider is what OS is ideal for a smartphone-tablet combination. Is it Android for a smartphone and iOS for a tablet, or is it the other way around? To help start the discussion, I asked my fellow writers about what they think is the best combination based on their own experience.

Let’s start with Ron:

If I were to choose a smartphone and tablet combo, I’d go for the Nokia 808 and ASUS TF300T/TF700T. I still don’t have either of the tablet (I’m still saving up for that), but I already have the Nokia PureView 808. The reason why I picked this combo is because I have the best camera on my phone and I have a good mileage with my tablet (10hrs tablet + 16hrs with keyboard dock)

I think this setup will fit my needs especially when I’m out in the field because I can do my articles easier since the ASUS TF300T comes with a keyboard dock and my Nokia 808 can take very detailed pictures/video. But if you have extra money to spend, I suggest to go for the TF700T which has a better display and slightly faster processor.

To be honest, the question was pretty tough to answer because my needs may most likely be different from yours. In my opinion, knowing what you need out of your smartphone/tablet would help you determine the best possible
slate and handset combination.

For Bob:

If only I had so much cash to pick out two devices for a combo, I’d pick a Google Nexus 10 and a Nokia Lumia 920. I am making this decision based on what online reviewers said for the meantime as I haven’t got my hands on any of them yet. My reason is almost the same with Ron as I’d like my phone to carry a very capable camera.

The Nexus 10 would be my choice because I use my tablet all for my multimedia needs. A 2560 x 1600 display is more than enough along with a powerful processor. Whatever my phone cannot do with its ecosystem, the tablet can make up for. While its true that Windows Phone 8 won’t go well with an Android tablet, the cloud exists.

Another option I am currently thinking about is a Nexus 4 and a capable Windows 8 tablet. It depends actually. I didn’t invest much in iOS’ ecosystem as I’d prefer a more open OS, and I have yet to try new versions of Windows and Android. Mostly, it’s all about your needs and your personality.

As for my own experience, I currently use an iPhone 4S and a Kindle Fire running a custom Jellybean ROM. Aside from texting and calling, I use the iPhone primarily for taking photos, surfing the web, music and gaming, but due to its poor battery life, I’ve decided to delegate some of the tasks to the Kindle Fire such as Gmail, web browsing, eBook reading and some gaming – tasks that are better done on a tablet. To transfer photos and files across devices I just use apps like DropBox or Box. Aside from that, the iPhone’s iOS gives me access to tons of apps in the App Store while the Android tablet provides me with an optimized Google experience and the versatility of an open OS. Ideally, I’d go for an iPhone 5 and a WiFi-only Nexus 7 but if I’m going to reverse platforms I’d go for a HTC One X+ and an iPad Mini.

So how about you? What do you think is the best smartphone-tablet combo? Should it be of the same platform or different? Discuss it with us by hitting the comments below.