Toshiba Excite 13 Review

Last Updated on March 29, 2020

Toshiba is continuing to push out its new line of Excite tablets. They started with the 10-inch, then the 7.7 and now they are introducing the Excite 13.

The Look and Feel

Toshiba Excite 13 is large. At 13.5-by-8.5-inches it is one of the largest tablets available. At .40-inches deep and 2.2-pounds, it is not the thinnest and certainly not the lightest of tablets, but at over a foot in width, the extra weight is understandable.

Its textured aluminum frame allows for easy gripping and the included stand helps hold it up for easy hands-free viewing.

The screen itself is a Gorilla Glass covered 1600-by-900 resolution LCD display. Around the tablet, you will find the usual array of buttons and ports. There is the power button, the volume rocker and, like the other Excites, a multi-function button.

There is a full-sized SD card slot, a microUSB port, micro-HDMI port, and the charging dock. On the front is a 2-megapixel camera and a 5-megapixel one on the back with an LED flash. Two speakers round out the physical specs for stereo sound.

What’s Inside

First off, this excite comes as 32 and 64GB models. Inside there is the now familiar Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor with 1GB of RAM. Out of the box, it comes with Android 4.0.3 ICS. Together that should be enough to give you a good Android experience without any issues.

The larger size allows for a larger battery which makes sense because the larger screen would need more power. The battery life rated between 9 and 10 hours based on some independent stress tests. Toshiba says that it is possible to get up to 13 hours with normal use.

Compared to the Excite 10 and 7

With a few differences, specifications for all the Excite models are similar. So in the end, it really comes down to how big a screen you want. Each model has a different resolution, but those resolutions work for their particular size.

Although the 7.7 version has a lower resolution, it also has an AMOLED screen that makes it look much better on the smaller display.

Compared to Other 10-inch Models

This tablet is the only one of its size, however, it compares most closely to the 10-inch tablets on the market. For instance, the 10-inch Transformer Pad TF300 also makes use of the Tegra 3 quad-core and both come with Android ICS out of the box.

The Excite 13 edges out the TF300 in screen resolution with that particular Transformer being 1280×800, however, the TF300 has a higher pixel density compared to the Excite and an IPS display as well. It also uses an 8-megapixel camera compared with the Excite’s 5.

The Iconia A700 also has a higher resolution compared to the Excite at 1920×1200 and a higher pixel density as well at 224 ppi. It also has a greater battery life by about an hour.

Pros and Cons

The Excite 13 is quick, and as far as tablets go, functions on par with many others. Its size does not take away from its performance. Also, depending on what you want to use it for, the size of the screen is suited to many purposes where you would desire a larger display.

Unfortunately, that large display may also be a hindrance to many. Holding a tablet of this size may seem a little cumbersome to some. It makes the tablet unsuitable for travel, especially if you consider that you will probably travel with its very large charger.

A tablet of this size might be just what you are looking for, at the same time, it might turn others away. Like with most things, it depends on your specific needs.