Tech City

Mercury mTab Neo2

2012-05-29T06:45:00.003-07:00

Mercury mTab Neo2 Review

MRP: 14999

PROS

Good Build
1.2GHz dual-core processor
1080p MP4 playback
Good Capacitive touchscreen
Keyboard is really good in portrait mode
SIM card slot

CONS

Bad viewing angles
No volume rocker
Menu, Home and Power buttons could have been more ergonomic

Summary

The Mercury mTab Neo2 is a well-built tablet that offers some good specifications under the hood, especially the dual-core processor and a nice build.The absence of a volume rocker is missed but the addition of the SIM card slot makes the device capable of making calls as well as accessing data without a dongle sticking out of the device. For Rs. 15,000 it is a little difficult to recommend the Neo2, especially when you can get the iBerry Auxus AX02 for around Rs. 10,000 running ICS straight out of the box.

REVIEW

Budget tablets are all the rage these days especially if they run the latest OS. We have seen a slew of budget tablets launch that not only pack in decent hardware under the hood but run Google’s latest OS, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The older generation budget tablets launched with Android 2.3 Gingerbread felt a little incomplete. But today we have with us a device that falls right in the middle of the above two mentioned OS’.

The Mercury mTab Neo2 has a dual-core processor and runs on Google’s originally unveiled tablet specific OS, Android 3.0 Honeycomb. We haven’t seen Honeycomb budget tablet hit store shelves in India and this is a first. Thankfully, Mercury says that the device will be upgradable to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.
Another factor that needs to be considered is that besides being dual core, the tablet is also priced at the higher spectrum of the budget tablet price range, i.e., at Rs. 14,999. Is it enough bang for your buck?

Look and feel
At first glance, the tablet looks like the 100 other homogenous 7-inchers out there. There is nothing on the surface that distinguishes the device from its brethren in terms of its look and design. Pick the device in your hands however, and you do get a premium feel from the device. It has quite a solid build but the finish is glossy making the device a fingerprint magnet.

The front of the device houses the 7-inch display that boasts of a resolution of 480x800. The front also has the 0.3MP camera and a back button. The rear-facing snapper is 2MP. In terms of connectivity, all the ports are at the bottom of the device (when held in portrait mode). The device has a headphones jack, two Mini USB port, HDMI out, DC IN and Micro SD card slot.

On the right, the device has the home menu and power button. These 3 buttons feel really small and at times inconvenient to use. It would have been nice if the home button were on the face of the device along with the back button. The absence of a physical volume rocker too is dearly missed.

Features and performance
Snappy is the first thing that comes to mind when you start using the device. Straight out of the box, the device runs Android 3.0 Honeycomb and the tablet will be upgradable to Android 4.0 ICS in the near future. Under the hood, the device runs a dual core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor, Imagination Technologies PowerVR SGX 540 GPU and 512 MB of RAM, which may seem a little less but is sufficient to get the job done. The device also has 8GB internal storage straight out of the box. The touchscreen of the device too its pretty good. It’s well responsive and comfortable to use.

The keyboard on the other hand is fantastic in the portrait mode and slightly frustrating in landscape. Its easy and fast to type in portrait and the errors were next to 0. In landscape however, the keyboard feels squished and inconvenient. Games ran pretty smoothly on the device. We played some Angry Birds Space and flinging birds into zero gravity was satisfying.Browsing the web on the device was a good experience. The pages rendered fairly quickly and zooming in and out was smooth.

The 1080p video playback on the device was very smooth. The display got the job done ok, although the viewing angles of the display are very bad.
The camera on the device isn’t one to boast. The rear houses a 2MP camera where as the front of the device has a 0.3MP camera. The cameras aren’t the best in its class and the output generally depends on the surrounding lighting conditions.

One advantage of the device is that it has a SIM card slot that not only lets you use 3G to access the internet but also lets you makes calls. Sure you’d look really silly holding the device near your face but the addition of the option is nice.

The device has a 4000 mAh battery and you can expect to touch the 5 to 6 hours battery life on the device with average use. The device does run the Android OS but with a skin layered over it. The skin is fairly basic and doesn’t possess any bloatware that will be problematic for the system. Once change is that instead of swiping down from the top of the screen to see the notifications, you swipe the bottom of the screen – down to up. For those of you that aren’t happy with the skin can always use one downloaded from the Google Play Store.

Since the device has a dual-core processor, we thought it would surpass the sub Rs. 15,000 tablets by a mile in benchmark performances. We were however proven wrong. The Intex iTab (Scored 198) and the iBerry Auxus AX02 (scored 197) surpassed the Neo2 (scored 163) in the Peacekeeper benchmark that tests the browser on the tablet.

On the Quadrant benchmark, the Mercury mTab Neo2 scored a 1468 whereas the Micromax funbook scored 1675 and the iBerry Auxus AX02 scored 1733.
The overall benchmark performances of the device may not bring out the fact that it is a dual core processor powered device but its real world performance was acceptable nonetheless. The fact still remains that you can get a tablet that has slightly better raw performance for a much lesser price.

Galaxy Tab 2 310

2012-05-29T06:39:00.002-07:00

Samsung launches Galaxy Tab 2 310 in India at Rs. 23,250.

Samsung has officially launched its Android 4.0 ICS-based tablet, the Galaxy Tab 2 310, in India. Priced at Rs. 23,250, the new Samsung tablet features a 1GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM. Tata Docomo is offering 3GB of free data for three months with the new Galalaxy Tab 2 310.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 310 a.k.a Galaxy Tab 2 GT-P3100, which recently went up for pre-order on Samsung's official online store, features a 7-inch capacitive touchscreen with 1024 x 600 pixel resolution, a 3MP rear camera and a VGA front camera. For connectivity, the device supports 3G, Wi-Fi and HSPA. It comes with a 4,000 mAh battery, which is rated to deliver up to 30 hours (2G)/up to 20 hours (3G) back up.

The Galaxy Tab 2 310 comes pre-installed with the Touchwiz UI, AllShare play app, as well as the Hub apps - Reader and Game. Google’s app store, Google Play, is also pre-loaded on the device. TheSamsung Reader's Hub gives users access to over 2 million e-books, 3,500 magazines in 25 languages and more than 2,000 newspapers in 51 languages, whereas the Game Hub instantly connects users to the latest game titles. The ‘My Movies’ app gives consumers access to more than 500 full movies and more than 2500 music videos. To check out the full specifications of the Galaxy Tab 2, click here.

“Tablets are increasingly finding adoption amongst consumers because of their richer more converged experience. Users are able to surf the internet, enjoy multimedia and manage their work and life while being on the move. The new GALAXY Tab 2 310, with its powerful processor, Android 4.0 and its seven inch screen, make it extremely powerful and convenient device to carry”, stated Mr. Ranjit Yadav, Country Head, Mobile and IT, Samsung India.

HTC One S

2012-05-29T06:39:00.001-07:00

HTC One S due to arrive on June 8th, with Rs. 33,000 MRP

HTC had release the One X and One V in India back in April, however, it had withheld the release of the HTC One S, which falls half way between the two in terms of specifications.

Last we'd heard, the One S was due to hit India in May. Now however, the One S has been spotted online, and is up for pre-order on The Mobile Store, for Rs. 33,000. It will be available from June 8, which we can assume as the date of off-the-shelf retail availability as well, along with the same MRP.

For details of the specifications and features of the HTC One S, refer to our previous coverage. In brief however, the device has a 4-inch Super AMOLED display, 1.5GHz dual-core processor with Adreno 225 GPU, 1GB of RAM, 16GB built-in story, 8MP camera, VGA front camera, and Android 4.0 ICSwith Sense UI, out of the box.

The phone’s Rs. 33,000 pricing is keeping in line with HTC’s usual premium tag, though the 16GB storage and 8MP 1080p HD camera do give it some more value for money. Street prices will hopefully be far lower.

In the meantime, check out our review of the HTC One X.

2012-05-29T06:27:00.005-07:00

TOP BUDGET TABLETS IN INDIA

Tech City

Mercury mTab Neo2

Mercury mTab Neo2 Review

PROS

CONS

Summary

Galaxy Tab 2 310

Samsung launches Galaxy Tab 2 310 in India at Rs. 23,250.

HTC One S

HTC One S due to arrive on June 8th, with Rs. 33,000 MRP

Here is a list of the best budget tablets in India....

1iberry Auxus AX02

2Mercury mTab Neo2

3Micromax Funbook

4Zync Z990

5Blackberry Playbook 16GB

6iBall Slide

7HCL Me U1 Tablet

8Reliance 3G Tab

9Beetel Magiq Glide

10HCL ME X1 Tablet