Monthly Archives: October 2010

Available from Clove for £287.88 from 12th November

Highlights-

Android 2.1 (Eclair) Operating Sytem
Mobile network technology: GSM/WCDMA/Wi-Fi
7 inch touchscreen
2 Megapixel Camera
WiFi & Bluetooth
MicroSD expansion (up to 32GB)
Gravity Sensor
HD Video Playback
3.5 mm Audio jack

The world of Android tablets is about to expand at an exponential rate. We will soon be able to buy tablets powered by Google for between £180 and £600 and choosing which to buy will be somewhat tricky. The market is following the same pricing path as Android smartphones which now range from £79 upwards of £500 so we can’t really criticise Android for a lack of choice. The Huawei S7 is price right at the bottom of the market, just about the dreadful Next Tablet, and so it would be easy to presume that this is another budget product that does not merit consideration. Well, I can start off by saying that my first 30 minutes with the S7 were immeasurably better than with the Next Tablet and that I was pleasantly surprised by the look and feel of the device.

The debate continues to rage concerning tablet sizes and there are two camps arguing the point; those who have an iPad and cannot see anything wrong with it and who thus presume a 7” tablet to be too small. On the other side are those who feel that a 7” tablet is a better, more portable, fit and in my experience these seem to be high in number. After using an iPad for some time I was in the camp that felt that the iPad size is much more practical and offers a better all round experience, but a day with the S7 has made me question that view.

In the box

I received what is supposed to be the retail version of the S7 and the box suggests that this is the case. Beside a 2-pin charger (plus a 3 pin UK charger) there is a USB sync cable in the box and that is it. To be fair this is understandable because of the price and what more could you need? Headphones are the obvious answer, but who doesn’t already own a pair, a pair that is probably much better than the sets that are bundled with smartphones and tablets.

Build Quality / Design

I was initially very surprised by the build quality of the S7. It feels sturdy and has a reassuring weight about it that brings a sense of some care taken with the design. It is slightly quirky for a tablet, but on the whole succeeds in providing a natural enough experience for most people to get up and running straight away.

It does look like a very big iPhone 3GS and even has the silver surround with a home button at the bottom, or the right depending on how you hold it. The inclusion of call start and end buttons caused some amusement in the office and you could technically use this as a normal phone, as our office clown demonstrates below-

Including voice capability in a device this size may seem odd, but think about it. You get 3G (HSDPA actually) and quad band voice with no contract and the ability to use your existing SIM card which just happens to be accessible by opening the metal backing. This also holds the replaceable 2,200mAh battery which gives you options for flexibility in the future.

On the front are the standard home, return and menu buttons which are flush to the housing. They do, however, require a proper press to activate and are not lit up when you are not touching them. This makes sense, but will require a small amount of time to get used to their positioning. They are placed well though and feel right to click with your thumb when holding the S7 in landscape position.

There is a 2 Megapixel camera in the top right which also acts as a camcorder. You will not be using it for taking serious photos, but as a web cam it has some potential and is a worthy inclusion. You can capture video and stills, but this would mean having to face the screen away from you which gives you no perception of what you are aiming at. Having said that, the claim is of 720p video capture at 30 fps.

The power key is also on the top right (logical to me) and the 3.5mm headphone jack is top left which again makes perfect sense. The volume keys are small (on the left side) but do crank up the noise when you are not using headphones. Indeed I was pleasantly surprised by the loudness and quality of the external speakers. The microUSB and power ports are placed on the right hand side with the microSD and another port (trying to work out what that one is) on the bottom.

Finally, there is a kickstand on the back for viewing the device at a more practical angle. This may feel like a gimmick, but the uses are plentiful. Sit it on a coffee table to show the time or a slideshow of photos or even on your lap to do some web browsing. I was surprised at how well it worked on my chubby thighs and allowed me to browse in much more comfort than I expected.

First Impressions

The S7 is an important product, at least for me it is.

The iPad showed me what is possible on a tablet in 2010, but I didn’t keep it past a few weeks. The price point and my potential usage didn’t quite work for me, but I would be lying if I didn’t judge it as a complete and seriously capable piece of technology.

The Next Tablet was a pile of junk that, at £180, was just so poor that no budget price tag could retrieve it from its fate of a mere replica of what a tablet should be. Products like that damage the reputation of Android and potentially the tablet market as a whole.

The S7 is £100 more expensive than the Next Tablet. It is £250 cheaper than the 16GB 3G iPad. If we consign the Next Tablet to the bucket of ‘sh*t products that should never have been made’ we are left with a direct comparison to the iPad. That may sound illogical because the iPad is bigger and is running a completely different operating system, but until the Galaxy Tab and others reach the public I have to judge it against what is already on the market.

Curiously, colleagues at work were less than positive about the S7. The die was cast for some before they even held it with comments like “Who the hell are Huawei?” and “It’s too big to be a phone” still ringing in my ears. When I took my iPad into work shortly after it was released there was much excitement, and a small queue at my desk, waiting to play with it. This tells me a lot about how people judge products like this- Apple has done a remarkable job of defining what its products do and it will probably take more time for Android tablets to do the same, if they are given the chance at all. I could put it down to ignorance when I witness people view a product like this and dismiss it, yet when they see the Apple logo they will give it every opportunity to prove itself. This is how the world works though, but it doesn’t mean that the S7 isn’t a product worthy of attention, lots of attention.

The Dell Streak was, in my opinion, not credible at only 5” and was nearer a large smartphone than a small tablet, but the addition of 2” makes the experience so much better. As I said at the start I didn’t believe that 7” tablets would offer a good enough experience, but I was wrong. In part two I will cover the various features of the device such as battery, screen etc., but for now I can sum up by saying that the S7 has shown me that the Android tablet idea is not a bad thing at all and that Apple will not have the market to itself long term. My first thought is that the iPhone feels more complete and cultured than most of the Android phones on the market. The iPad is not as far ahead of the S7 in the tablet world, and it costs less than £300.