V3 got its hands on the forthcoming HTC Jetstream Android Honeycomb tablet that aims to take on the iPad 2 and Samsung Galaxy 10.1.

The Jetstream has already been released in the US and looks to be the fastest Android tablet on the market in terms of raw processing power. The 10in device is powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm processor making it twice as fast as the 7in HTC Flyer, which was the Taiwanese firm's first tablet.

We found the Jetstream very responsive and we don't envisage the radical decline in performance over time that happened with the Flyer.

The Jetstream looks and feels remarkably similar to the Motorola Xoom in terms of design. The HTC tablet is not as svelte as the Apple and Samsung devices, but this isn't a bad thing. Build-quality also seems to have been improved, HTC going for the metallic look and solid back cover.

Hardware highlights on the Jetstream include an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera and support for the superfast 4G LTE network. Sadly, the latter will be cut out from the UK device, as the infrastructure is not yet in place.

The Jetstream will be the first HTC tablet to ship with Android Honeycomb in the UK. We are glad to see that HTC customised its Sense interface for Honeycomb, something that has taken some time.

The Sense overlay is generally deemed one of the best features of HTC devices. The Jetstream comes with familiar customisations, including an interactive lockscreen, carousel and widgets, and is unlikely to break the trend.

A potential stumbling block could be the battery life. HTC devices can struggle to last a full day as they need to power the resource-hungry Sense overlay. It will be interesting to see whether the manufacturer has managed to fix this problem, considering the 10in display.

Pricing could be another barrier to purchase. The 7in Flyer was initially set at around £600 and, although this has been reduced, ii's still one of the most expensive on the market despite not having the best performance.

15 Sep 2011