The screen is one of the Huawei MediPad 7′s strongest features. It’s a 7” capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 1280×800 and is IPS. It’s bright and produces colors well and is perfect for photos and videos but is also great for reading text. E-books look fantastic and the text jumps off the “page”.
Build quality
Firstly I am impressed with the look and feel of the Mediapad 7 and it seems to be very well made. The materials are first rate and the fit and finish equal to any other high grade tablet I’ve used. The device feels solid in the hand and it’s ergonomically easy to hold. The MediaPad7 feels a bit heavier than the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 (380g vs. 391g) and this may have an impact if you intend to carry it around a lot or hold it for extended periods while reading or watching videos.
Personally I like the smaller form factor but with a high resolution screen and the 7″ size if you don’t have good eyesight you may struggle with the MediaPad 7.
The Cracked Screen
I found out the hard way that the MediaPad doesn’t have Gorilla Glass screen as unfortunately my Son dropped the tablet and it landed screen first and slid a bit. It scratched badly and has a crack running edge to edge across the top of the screen. And this from a drop onto a wood floor from a height of less than 2 feet! I’d highly recommend a screen protector and a case as the first accessories you buy. Personally I don’t like screen protectors and haven’t fitted any of my devices with one and the Eee Pad, for example, hasn’t got a scratch on it. I don’t know whether it was just bad luck or a soft screen but this scratching is the worst I’ve ever had on a tablet or phone screen and it didn’t take that much of a fall. YMMV as it could also have been a freaky perfect storm of impact and angle.
Cameras
Moving on to the device, I tested the cameras and I was pleasantly surprised by the rear facing camera. It’s a 5 megapixel camera and just using the standard Android camera interface it handles low light well and the image looked nice and crisp. This photo of a teddy Bear was taken in the middle of the loungeroom with filtered light from a window about 10 feet away and there’s little grain in the image. The front facing camera is 1.3 megapixels and also handled room-only lighting easily. Under low light the MediaPad 7 performed as well as any of the other Android cameras I’ve tested and so would be fine for video conferencing or VOIP calls.
Test image from Huawei Mediapad camera
Keyboards and Mice
Periperals like my portable Bluetooth keyboard and mice setup worked fine. I couldn’t connect any USB devices or drives because the MediaPad 7 doesn’t have a full-sized USB port, so this was untested.
Battery life
Huawei claims 6 hours for the battery and this feels right to me. I didn’t run any formal benchmarks on the battery but I could easily get through the day and night using it and have 25% left in the battery when I plugged it in at night. I had WiFi and Bluetoth on, auto brightness, and default screen time-out and sleep settings. My ‘all day’ is from 7 am to midnight usually. The MediaPad 7 will do well for active all-day use.
Overall
I liked the Huawei MediaPad 7. Cracked screen aside, the Medipad 7 is well made, fast, has a great screen, and is very portable. With the right accessories, like a good case and a keyboard, it could work OK in an enterprise environment (of course with the standard Android limitations) but the lack of a full size USB port hamstrings the MediaPad 7 for enterprise work. This may be the tradeoff you have to make to get a 7″ form-factor so you need to asses whether the ability to connect drives or peripherals via USB is a real need for you. I prefer the 10″ screen tablets for work but a 7″ is great for portability and as a quick around-the-house consumption device. I’d consider the Huawei MediPad 7 if it’s priced correctly — stay tuned for pricing announcements which should be coming soon from Huawei.
I managed to get a Huawei Mediapad for a few weeks to trial. I only managed to get a few hours in with the device today and snap off a couple of low res pictures from my phone but I’ll follow up with an in-depth overview and some high quality photos in a few days. In the meantime if you have any tests you want me to run on the Huawei Mediapad leave a comment and I’ll see what I can do.
I compared it to an iPad 2 and like the Galaxy Tab found it to be roughly half the size of the Apple unit. The unit is pocketable, just, but cargo pant-pocketable none the less.
The screen is great — sharp, bright, and very responsive. The device itself is nicely built and feels solid in the hand. The Huawei MediaPad is heavier than the Galaxy Tab but it feels like the same form factor so if you are happy with the size and feel of the Galaxy Tab you’ll likely be happy with the MediaPad too.
I don’t have a lot of apps installed yet and not a lot of media on it to slow it down but I was pleasantly surprised by how fast it is. Everything is snappy and very responsive. Apps open fast, media plays almost instantly and overall the processor doesn’t seem to struggle with anything.
If the pricing comes in at the right level, I think this device will sell very well.
Chippy is also looking forward to the Huawei MediaPad, and is actually considering trading up his much-used and loved Galaxy Tab for it. Though the tab has treated him well for over a year, Chippy says that he’s overdue for the benefits of Honeycomb in a 7″ form-factor. The upcoming dual-core Galaxy Tab Plus is likely to be a potent competitor to the Huawei MediaPad, especially when it comes to availability.
The Huawei MediaPad has already been made available for sale in a number of other countries and is one of only a few 7″ Honeycomb tablets yet available or announced. Others include Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 7.7 (and Galaxy Tab 7 Plus), the Toshiba Thrive 7, Acer’s Iconia Tab A100, and a few lesser known tablets.
Nicole Scott of Netbook News tells me she isn’t too impressed. She has a point. Its hardly the most attractive device in the Tablet space. The thing is, this will come in at a very nice price. Ben has already highlighted a $300 price which means you have a better option than the Viewpad 7. You’re getting an arm v7 more which means significant performance implements with Android 2.2 and the ability to run apps like flash 10.1. I have a video which I’m going to upload as soon as I buy a new charger for my netbook bit at least I can give you some images from the showfloor here at MWC.
One of the images includes the specs and we’ll get this in the database for you as soon as possible.
Update: Chippy managed to get a hold of the device at MWC (you knew he’d come through, right?). Have a look at his photos here, and he promises a video once he finds a new AC adapter for his netbook!
Fresh out of MWC – Huawei has announced the IDEOS S7 Slim which is a 7” Slate running Android 2.2. It looks to be a revised version of the S7 that we saw at Computex last year. Huawei claims that it’ll be priced “below 300 USD”, which likely means that it’ll crop up for $299. Still, that’s even better than the relatively cheap Enspert Identity Tab that’ll set you back $350.
For the time being, we’re lacking some of the spec info, but hopefully Chippy can check it out while he’s at MWC. Here’s what we’ve got for now:
Android 2.2 OS (possibly with legit Android Market access)
7” Screen
720p video playback
3G
WiFi b/g/n
Available in April for $300 or below
And it seems that when they say slim, they actually mean it. The S7 Slim is an impressive 12.5 mm thin. That’s nearly as slim as the iPhone 4! We’ll keep you updated as this develops, check back for full spec info.
I’ve just posted a two-part article over at UMPCPortal that looks at some recent news, looks forward to some expected products, highlights some events in September and provides a general update of where we are today in the mobile handheld world. Much of it focuses on consumer products that you readers of Carrypad are interested in.
In the article I talk about the Huawei S7, RIMs Blackpad, Samsungs tablet, the Smartbook Surfer, Interpad (new in the database,) Eking, the Huawei E583C hotspot, ICD, Notion Ink and a bunch of devices that are on our ‘watchlist.’ We’re also going to IDF and IFA events in September so you’ll see some information about that too.
In our experience, Expansys delivery dates have never been the most reliable indicators of when a device is actually going to turn up so we’re not surprised that the Huawei S7 [specs, info] is now available at the end of July. At least it gives us time to assess the device through the reviews that are starting to come in from around the world. We’re looking for showstoppers at this stage and apart from the disappointment that the S7 has a resistive touchscreen like the Archos 5, we haven’t found much to worry about just yet.
UI not optimised for 7” screen. (E.g. swipe to accept a call requires a full-screen swipe on the resistive screen)
In general, voice quality good.
Battery life in unused, connected state – about 12 hours [onliner.by]
Battery life in used state – approx 1% per minute. [onliner.by] Sounds poor. Am expecting more
Strong, good build quality
Speakers good in landscape mode. Perfect podcatcher! Shame there’s no FM receiver.
Stylus included. Confirms resistive screen.
Video calling should be possible on final retail versions
720p playback possible. I suspect H.264 only.
The two review’s aren’t what we would call in-depth and are probably based on samples so it goes without saying that we’re going to have to wait for retail-package reviews before making a final assessment. We’re still looking forward to it but as time slips by, we’ve got one eye on Archos and their promised summer collection.
Because this device impressed me at Computex. It’s the first 7” Android tablet to ship with a complete Google-certified Android build on it. That means Marketplace and Google-app-goodness unlike the disappointing experiences I’ve seen with the Archos 5 and 7, the SmartQ7, the Compaq Airlife and the tens of others tested at various trade expos over the last year. I’m not 100% sure that what I saw in Taipei is what I’m going to see after the unboxing (the ultimate shock will be come if it doesn’t have the Marketplace) but I’m fairly confident that I’m getting a capacitive 7” 3G/voice-enabled Google-approved Android device. It’s the finer points that I’m not sure about like GPS, upgrade to 2.2, battery life etc. Still, on a business purchase I’ve just paid about 270 pounds which I think is great value for this hardware.
Did I buy it for me? Not really although this could seriously become the coffee-table PC that the iPad was for a week when I had it. With SD cards that you can write to it will be the perfect image viewer. It’s no retina screen but will do a great job of showing a web page without having to zoom. It doesn’t have the book content that the iPad has yet but when Amazon’s Kindle application comes along, this will make a better reader than the iPad. How about that one-handedness? Only 500gm too! I really want to see if there’s a docking port/cable/accessory and if it has an electronic compass and GPS, Google Sky Map will be incredible. The main reason I bought it is to continue my testing with mobile operating systems on larger form factor devices. We’ve been through the Airlife 100 and the Dell Streak so now it’s time for something in the middle.
Do you remember Origami? The 7” Slate devices were initially marketed at the young social user and were said to have a price of $500. When they appeared on the market they were $1000 and lasted for 3 hrs maximum before needing a charge. The UI was productivity and pen focused and there was no such thing as Twitter. The Huawei S7 is the Origami device done right….i think!
Delivery is due in just over a week but don’t hold your breath. Expansys have a habit of slipping dates so it could be a few weeks! Whatever happens, when it turns up you’ll find an unboxing here within hours. We’ll also run a live Q&A session for you too so you can come and see the device and ask questions.
Expansys UK order page is here [This is not an affiliate link and this article/purchase is unrelated to any Expansys advertising that you might see on UMPCPortal or Carrypad.]
Not one, not two and not even three items of internet device news to update you on today. I’ve got no less than five news items here!
Lets start with Dell who’s leader, Mr. Dell, has provided an update on the Mini 5. According to reports, he’s let it be know that the Dell Mini 5 is coming to Telefonica O2 in June and to AT&T in the summer. The source article from EWeek is littered with incorrect information but the important info is that it is very close. Telefonica O2 operate in Spain (where they are launching the Android-powered Compaq Airlife 100 and have a big presence in Germany and UK amongst other countries where they have proven to be quite the progressive carrier in terms of advanced internet devices. Low data prices and multi-SIM options should really help the Dell Mini 5 to get off the ground. I’m expecting a 500 Euro SIM-free price but as yet, we have no real pricing indication.
While the Dell looks to provide the complete Google and voice experience, that’s not the case with the Archos 7 Home Tablet that has just been reviewed by Engadget’s Joanna Stern. At under 200 Euro it’s not quite targeted at the same usage model too. I’m encouraged to hear Joanna talk about a useful form factor but it seems to have been wasted somewhat because there’s no auto, or even manual rotation into portrait mode. Battery life looks good but as we’d expect with an ARM9-powered device, performance is not stunning. Here’s an educated guess – you’ll be waiting three times as long for a web page to load compared to the iPad. Casual mobile web browsing, Google Reader and eBooks, video payback, photo viewing, podcast-catching and maybe even a little bit of casual gaming will be possible though and if you can add a portable keyboard, it would make a perfect emergency or travel device. Engadget Review
Lets turn to a device that might be a little more difficult to get hold of now. It’s the very interesting Sharp IS01 clamshell-style, 5” Android device. Like the Archos 7 above, it doesn’t have the Google Marketplace so Sharp are trying to seed some applications through their own SDK and a preview version of the device. The final version of the IS01 was due later in the year.
Pocketables have news today that not only is the SDK version ready but the final product will ship much sooner than expected. As soon as next month. While the device is targeted at the Japanese KDDI network, it is possible that some unlocked versions get through as imports and if that happens it will be great to be able to try a high-powered clamshell design using Android.
A device that has completely slipped us by here at Carrypad is something I’m imagining the Archos Gen 8 devices (due summer 2010) will look like. Clearly focused on home media and having a very interesting docking station, 3G and what looks like a capacitive screen, the Huawei Smakit s7 could be competition for the Dell Looking Glass. I’m assuming that Huawei are looking for customers for this though so it’s unlikely that we’ll see it soon but we’ll keep it high on the list as we cruise Computex in June.
BT have announced that they are getting into the home tablet game. The UK-based company broke the news at their strategy day. Apparently the device will be able to take calls, sms’ and will show weather and perform other functions. It will be smaller than the iPad and bigger than an iPhone. To us, it sounds like BT might have lined up to take the Intel Moorestown-powered Open Peek OpenTablet. Watch and wait.
Finally today, I want to highlight that the SmartQ V7, a slightly more powerful version of the Smart Q7 I reviewed, is about to be launched in Android 2.1 form. Android has been running on the device via firmware updates for a while now but a new Android 2.1 release is due soon. The device, an ARM11-based tablet with a 7” resistive touchscreen, should be available in the next few weeks from Eletroworld priced at $230. Expect a similar experience to the Archos 7 Home Tablet although there’s potential for some nice hacks from the busy Smart Q7 community. We should be getting one for review soon after they become available.
That’s it for now. Hope it gives you something to think about at the weekend. Let us know if you have any thoughts on the above.
