Hasta La Gadget!

It’s true that cheap affordable Android tablets are a dime a dozen at most trade shows these days, but here at CTIA 2013 we stumbled upon something that caught our eye — a 7-inch dual-core tablet running Jelly Bean that costs just $65. The Maxwest TAB-7155DC aka. Ippo Y88 measures 182 x 122 x 10mm (7.16 x 4.8 x 0.39inch), weighs 187g (6.6oz) and comes in several hues (black, white, silver, red, blue and pink).

It features a 7-inch 1024 x 600-pixel capacitive multitouch LCD, an Infotmic IMAPx820 SoC (1GHz dual-core Cortex A5 CPU with Mali 400 GPU), 512MB of RAM, 4GB of built-in storage, dual VGA cameras (front and back), WiFi b/g/n and a 2800mAh battery. The screen isn’t covered in glass and there’s no sign of any Bluetooth or GPS radios, but then again, what do you expect for $65? You”ll find a power / lock key, DC socket, micro-USB port (with on-the-go support) and mini-HDMI output on the top edge, plus a 3.5mm headphone jack, volume rocker and microSD card slot on the right side. A microphone and speaker round things up in back.

The tablet runs a mostly stock version of Jelly Bean (Android 4.1.1, to be specific) and includes the usual assortment of Google apps along with access to the Play Store. Performance is adequate — not buttery smooth but perfectly usable. Build quality and materials are surprisingly decent for the price (the plastic is color-through), but the display leaves a lot to be desired (viewing angle are poor and the acrylic covering the screen is scratch-prone). Then again, it’s only $65, right? Check out the gallery below for our rose-colored hands-on with this inexpensive tablet.

Filed under: Tablets, Google

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There are a lot of 7-inch tablets on the market, but few can be had at a US-based retailer for less than 100 bucks. Chinese manufacturer Hisense is set to undercut that saturated market with a pair of budget Jelly Bean tablets: the Sero 7 LT, priced at $99, and the Sero 7 Pro with a $149 MSRP. While both devices include similar housings, the internals differ significantly, as you might expect.

The cheaper model includes a 1.6GHz dual-core CPU, 1GB of RAM, 4 gigs of internal storage (plus a microSD slot with support for 32GB cards), a 1,024 x 600-pixel 7-inch display, 0.3-megapixel front-facing camera, a four-hour battery and Android 4.1. The Pro model boasts a 1.3GHz quad-core Tegra 3 processor, 1GB RAM, 8 gigs of storage, an upgraded 1,280 x 800 display, a 2MP camera up front with a 5MP cam on the rear, up to 10 hours of battery life and Android 4.2. You should be able to snag both tablets at your local Walmart store or through the retailer’s website beginning tomorrow.

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Source: Walmart

When Huawei revealed the Ascend Mate at CES this year, it felt like smartphones had reached an end point — they surely couldn’t get any larger. We’ve since been proven wrong by Samsung’s Galaxy Mega 6.3, but the 6.1-inch Ascend Mate has gone on sale first, and it’s every bit as intimidating as it was in January. The question is whether or not Huawei has more than just size on its side. Is this nearly tablet-sized device worth putting in our pockets, and can it fend off the suddenly tiny-looking Galaxy Note II and Optimus G Pro? Read on past the break, and you’ll find out.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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The buy local movement has plenty of appeal, but the philosophy often extends more readily to tomatoes than tablets. Not so in Romania, where Evolio has served up its share of slates and laptops for the home crowd. Now, the company is back with its first quad-core tablet offering, the 10.1-inch Evolio Quadra. The slab of aluminum and glass weighs in at 1.18 pounds (535 grams), and is outfitted with a 1.2GHz quad-core Cortex A9 CPU and the Vivante GC1000 GPU, which sits on the lower end of Vivante’s offerings. Other specs are largely standard fare, such as a 1,280 x 800 IPS LCD, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable storage and Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean). The Quadra’s 5,000mAh battery is on the weaker side, and its connectivity is limited to WiFi (outside of an external 3G adapter), but that’s what you’ll get for 999 Romanian leu (roughly $296). This slab of Eastern European engineering is available for pre-order now on Evolio’s website, and it’s said to hit store shelves in mid-June.

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Source: Evolio

Just in case that recently announced ChefPad wasn’t suited to your tastes, Archos is now introducing a smaller, not-so-kitchen-friendly Android tablet, the Xenon 80. Naturally, the main highlight of this 8-inch slate is that it boasts 3G capabilities, and the company’s quick to point out it’s SIM-unlocked. Archos also endowed the Xenon 80 with some decent specs, including a vanilla flavor of Google’s Jelly Bean, an unnamed Qualcomm quad-core CPU, a 1,024 x 768 IPS display and 4GB of internal storage (expandable to 64GB by way of a microSD slot). And as with other recent Archos tablets, the Xenon 80 carries the proper Google Play credentials, making it easy for you to have access to all your favorite apps. It’ll cost a mere $200 when it hits shelves in June, which is on par with competing offerings. Now, whether it’s worth taking the plunge, well, you’ll have to make that call for yourself.

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Source: Archos