Oct 10, 2014 09:26 AM
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With the tablet-o-mania slowing spreading its tentacles and gripping me from inside, I set out to buy my first tablet. It had to be a budget tablet – no high end gizmo would do, since I won’t be playing many games. All I needed was a handy companion wherein I can read the morning newspaper(read as epaper) and stream videos from Youtube and watch movies. The primary yardsticks were laid it:
Budget tablet: Under 15K.
Branded ones preferably: After Sales Service should be good.
Display/Resolution: Since watching movies was my primary motive, the display had to be decent.
Video Format Compatibility: Tablet should be able to play AVI and DivX movies without much hiccups.
Initially I had settled in(read as decided to purchase) for an Apple iPad Mini. The contour and sleek design of the Ipad Mini took me by surprise. The volume rocker and the power button were neatly tucked inside the body frame. The tablet had an up market feel to it – nobody can match the design and UI of an Apple. The display was elegant – you cannot compare this with the Retina ones, but it does the job pretty well. The iOS was easy to use and felt a welcome change from the monotonous Andriod that we use. The item was retailing roughly around 16K-18K on various e-commerce websites like Flipkart, Amazon, Snapdeal and Ebay.
The reason that led me not to invest in an iPad is because of the complexity of iTunes software that was needed to transfer movies to the tablet. I already have an iPod and transferring songs and videos through iTunes is a heck of a task and is tad difficult as compared to our normal androids. This led me to shift my focus to Android tablets and I got myself a Samsung Tab 3 Neo for 10K.
Design:
The 7 inch tab is easy to hold in hand and carry around. Ergonomics is not top notch but on the contrary it ticks all boxes when you compare this with other tabs in this segment. Black Charcoal color looks premium on this tab. The White color somehow does not stand out and feels a little low(completely my own opinion). The glossy finish on the front is a fingerprint magnet – a matte screen cover may substantiate for this. The camera and speaker is located at the rear of the tablet. The Home button studded in the middle is surrounded by a silver bezel which adds to the stark look of the otherwise monotonous front. The rear is garnished with matte texture and improves the gripping ability.
Performance:
After 3 months of usage, I can safely comment about the performance and functioning of the tab. Given the price bracket in which the tab is placed, it will be foolish to expect some high end pro performance from it. I have downloaded and played some games on this tablet and it worked like bliss. Games like Temple Run, Candy Crush, Fruit Ninja is sheer fun to play given the big screen but the tablet tends to heat up with time – something that I do not recommend. But I am pretty sure that this heating thing is common to all droid platforms.
The tablet has a typical Samsung Droid interface with no bells and whistles. The UI lacks customization and looks bland. Yet the drag and drop features are simple and you can play around with it. No major lags that I have noticed but yes, the tablet gets worked up when multi tasking. Guess, the processor isn’t strong enough to handle too many multi tasking.
The display could have been better but there is no point to complain. Ipad Mini’s display was light years ahead. The segment topper in display and resolution should undoubtedly go to Nexus tab. I use my tab mostly for watching movies. Downloading movies directly to your tablet saves the man effort of transferring the same from your PC/laptop to local devices. Playing Xvid/AVI formats is smooth and creates zero fuss. The tab can also play 720p as well as BR Rip x264 videos but you may have to install additional codecs for this.
Streaming YouTube videos is easy but I found it a bit sluggish as compared to my Sony Androids. The keypad is well spaced out and it is easy to type occasional emails and stuff. The tablet supports Micro SD card up to 32GB. It also has 3g sim card facility to handle calls and mobile internet. The battery is decent and gives backup of 1-2 days with moderate usage.
Some downsides:
Camera: The 2MP camera is poor and lacks resolution. You can easily spot grains in the pictures you take. Hence camera is a total let down. And there is no front camera as well - so no video calls. But in this price bracket, Samsung should have included at least a 5MP primary camera.
Sound Output: External Speakers are dead weak. A third party sound enhancer can do the trick howsoever.
No Auto Adjust of Brightness
I would surely recommend this tablet to prospective buyers who are willing to get their first budget tab under 10k.
~Somjeet~
