Finding The Perfect 7-inch Tablet

To say that there are many 7 inch tablets in the market would be an understatement. This is because the 7 inch category of the tablet market is burgeoning with many different and diverse models. This is understandable considering that the main advantages of a 7 incher are its small size and ease of portability. There is something for everyone from the ultra-budget end of the price spectrum to the premium and top-end models. So when I was asked to suggest a good 7 inch tablet a few weeks ago, I had just one requirement: a tablet hat strikes the right balance between price, performance and features. And of course, it has to run Android. How hard could it be?

Many OEMs have tried to design the best equipped 7 incher. The most important factor in this quest is the retail price that the manufacturer is working toward. And I think the best so far is the Google Nexus 7. Its winning features are its 720p HD screen, quad-core processor and of course, the price: $200. The only complaint I have against it is the lack of a memory card slot. So I was interested in something that offered a decent mix. Most of the decent spec’d tabs at this price point usually forego the 720p HD screen in favour of a screen with a less- sharp 1024x600 resolution. 

Now I honestly wouldn’t mind too much if the screen resolution is 1024x600, but then the price must reflect it. The Barnes & Noble Nook HD actually has the perfect mix but it doesn’t run the normal Android. It runs a customized version just like Amazon’s Kindle Fire.

Archos 70 Titanium

The Archos 70 Titanium comes extremely close to having the perfect mix of hardware components with its 1.6GHz dual-core processor, 720p HD IPS screen and expandable memory and ultra-low price of $120 but sadly, it lacks Bluetooth. To be honest, I really don’t understand why Archos did this. If adding Bluetooth meant even price increase as high as $10, it would still have been a sweet deal. Another sore point is that it doesn’t support USB charging but I could forgive that considering the price. It came so close.

Archos 70 Titanium: a very sad case indeed

Acer Iconia B1

The Acer Iconia B1is a bit of a mixed bag. First, I have not been able to find any retailer (online stores included) that are selling it for the $130 as advertised by Acer. Acer’s press release stated that it could in fact sell for as low as $100 in some regions. I have scoured many of Acer’s regional sites and I haven’t been able to find it at those low prices ($100-$130). I found it for the equivalent of $160 on several of Amazon’s sites. The B1 too almost hit the sweet spot but it has only 512MB of RAM. If it could be found for the advertised $130, then this wouldn’t be much of an issue but I’ve only found at $160 and considering that for just $10 more, you can get a better alternative: the soon to be released HP Slate 7.

Acer  Iconia B1: a bit too expensive.

HP Slate 7

The Slate 7 seems to have struck the right balance between price, performance and features. It has a dual-core 1.6GHz processor, 1GB RAM, Memory card slot, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, all for $170. But then there’s a problem. The screen is only 1024x600. Don’t get me wrong, this is cool at this price point. But considering the other tablets on the horizon, I think HP should have gone with a 720p screen. I envisage that for this to happen, some sacrifices would have to be made and I can think of no better sacrifice than the rear 3MP camera. Rear-facing cameras in tablets are a very bad idea. For video recording and photography purposes, you are better off using a handier phone-sized device. I suspect the Slate 7’s reign at the top would be short-lived. Why? There is much speculation that there is a new Nexus 7 on the horizon. Seeing as the current flagship phones have Full HD 1080p screens, it’s a safe bet to assume that the new Nexus 7 will have one as well. Now this is where it gets interesting. As of now, the biggest competitors against the Slate 7 are the original Nexus 7and the soon to be unveiled full HD Nexus 7. When the Full HD Nexus 7 arrives, the original will probably enjoy a price drop. What this reduction will be is anybody’s guess but I’m willing to bet that it will be at least $20. And what this would mean is that for just an extra $10 over the price of the Slate 7, you would get superior hardware such as a quad-core processor, better graphics, 720p HD screen, NFC and GPS. The only advantage the Slate 7 will have over either Nexus 7 will be its memory card slot. Because of this, I also envisage an inevitable price drop for the Slate 7 very soon after the new Nexus 7 is released. But HP shouldn’t feel too bad. I don’t think they would need to resort to a fire-sale like they did with the TouchPad but by pricing the Slate 7 at $170, it seems they are setting themselves up to fail yet again.

HP Slate 7: too late to the party.

 

So it really is hard to find the perfect 7 inch tablet that strikes the right balance between price, performance and features. Manufacturers should note that if they are charging over $150, then a 720p HD IPS screen is a must. This might seem harsh but Archos was able to do it with the 70 Titanium for $120. Too bad about the lack of Bluetooth.

Also, it appears that 1GB of RAM might be the new minimum for Android tablets and phones so 512MB should be reserved for tablets that cost well below $150. 

If all you want to do is watch movies and browse the web, and play simple games like Angry Birds, then tablets like the Acer Iconia B1 and the Slate 7 would suffice. And with the envisaged price reduction of the Nexus 7, it would also make an excellent choice. That being said, I think Google needs to reconsider their decision not to include expandable storage on their Nexus devices. To be honest, it's a pointless idiosyncrasy. The lack of expandable storage is what prevents the Nexus 7 from being the ultimate 7 inch tablet.

The table below shows what I think should be the hardware configuration of budget tablets and premium tablets. However, regardless of price point, there are some features which I consider as essential and necessary. They are Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, minimum of VGA resolution for the front camera, expandable storage and USB charging.

Below $150	Above $150
Dual-core Cortex A7 Processor or its equivalent	Improved Dual-core or Quad-core processor
1GB RAM	1GB/2GB RAM
Screen resolution of at least 1024x600	Screen resolution of at least 720p (1280x720), IPS
Wi-Fi & Bluetooth	Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, GPS, Micro HDMI out
VGA Front Camera	HD Front Camera
Expandable Storage	Expandable Storage
USB Charging	USB Charging (with Wireless charging if possible)