Review: Vodafone Smart Tab II 7 budget 3G tablet Tablets with 3G connectivity continue to command what I think is an unreasonable premium over their Wi-Fi only siblings. Granted, the 3G Google Nexus 7 is only 40 quid more than the equivalent Wi-Fi model but you can’t have 3G at all with the cheaper, 16GB tablet. The 3G iPad Mini, meanwhile, carries a £100 mark-up. Vodafone …
Android and iOS are now on smaller tablets, where fonts appear smaller, and yet neither have rejigged the UI to use a larger minimum-size font (even if only for the built-in apps at first), one that you can actually read easily, in mobile and sofa situations. This device, from the screenshot, appears to have the same issue.
I recall Psion doing this when they just shipped the Series5 software in the smaller-screen Revo - whoops, some fonts were really hard to read. At least Psion had the excuse of not having the people or the money to fix it. Not sure of the excuse for Apple and the Android firms.
Maybe Apple&Android don't want to sell to over-45's - a shame, as they're the people with more disposable cash, and they're clamouring for easy-to-use tech. But if they can't read the screen...
Don't blame Apple, they were the ones who said 7" tablets were DOA and not usable. In the end they caved in to demand and did release a smaller tablet, but not as small as a 7" tablet. The lower resolution means larger fonts too.
What seems to be happening in tablets is a race to the bottom. This Vodaphone tablet has a single core CPU running an OS that people seem to think needs a quad core to run well on a phone.
Well Android is available on those even smaller tablets known as smartphones :) Do you mean that Android smartphones also hard (or harder) to read? Or are the larger devices using a smaller font, which ends up being physically smaller on a 7" device than a 4-5" device?
Tablets would be considered secondary mobile devices after a mobile phone/smartphone, right? I you agree with that why would 3G be necessary on a tablet? Oh yes, 'cause the cellco's want to up their subs count.
A MiFi (unlocked, of course) or a tethering phone is a much better plan.
We need to get back to network operators operating networks and nothing else.
Probably because carrying two devices instead of one isn't convenient. A MiFi's battery life isn't great compared to a tablet, a tablet can be left on all the time unlike a MiFi.
A MiFi has both 3G and WIFI to power up, with a tablet it only needs to power up the 3G chipset (which is power efficient).
A 3G chipset typically features a proper GPS chip as well, WIFI only tablets don't.
There's so many reasons why you're wrong.
My Huawei E586 will fit comfortably in a trouser pocket, and the battery lasts at least 4 hours. It's removable so a spare would give up to nine hours.
It means that neither of my tablets need to be 3G. Or my Kindle e-reader. Quite a saving. I even reduced my phone tariff considerably last year as it can use the E586 for data.
Most 7" tablets offer 3G only as an option, not a baseline.
If you do have a 3G Tablet for internet and maps in your car or briefcase, you might find you don't require an expensive smartphone in your pocket, and will be perfectly happy with a clamshell 'dumbphone', with long long battery life.
This is a good option for older folk who identify themselves as having poorer eyesight and and less dexterity.
Why pay the extra for the 3G when most people have a 3G mobile in their pocket which can easily tether to the tablet via bluetooth and give you 'net access? I do that between my Nexus7 and my phone (a bottom of the bucket Nokia 2730) and it works a treat. Then there's really no risk of it chewing through your data allowance unless you're really careless.
Also for things like navigation - Google Maps Nav does it fine as long as you set it up on wifi first (it needs their servers to do the route calculation) and have the maps downloaded for offline use. Then as long as you don't exit the app it'll happily guide you. Or failing that spend the extra you would have put on 3G on a paid-for app like CoPilot or one of the Garmin, TomTom etc offerings
Not sure I'd agree, as for example the GPS in the wifi-only N7 is fine, at least in the couple of weeks experience I've had of it. I can't say I've ever heard anyone say it's not the best option to carry two devices before.
And as for 3G - I was researching whether to get a 3G-N7 or the wifi-one and asked the nice Google-girl in PC-World and her comment was to forget the 3G version and just tether. So if even their instore-embedded staff are routing people to the cheaper option then there must be something in it.
Seen this statement so many times. (shakes head), Sure you don't see the need, everybody is different though and thats why they offer 3G Tablets (and there is a market)
I only want to carry one item around with me and also have a better viewing experience at the same time for watching films, videos, and browsing etc so went for a 7' tablet. More than happy and it does voice calls as well if I need to..
...if you've got an Android phone that's got 2.3 or better, you can set up a local wi-fi hotspot for your luvverly Nexus 7 instead. Job done!
Never forget, that slight discount against the Nexus's price is far offset by the fact you're going to have to get a contract or PAYG for the extra 3G service, and pay, and pay, and pay. At which point, the Vodafone phablet starts to look painfully expensive for what it delivers.
You don't need 2.3.
".2 Froyo will let you use the, phone as a wifi hotspot. I do myself occasionally on my Orange San Francisco that's rooted with 2.2. Trouble is it whomps through the battery doing that.
Now,if I could tether using Bluetooth instead I would try that, but 2.2 doesn't have that feature.
This post has been deleted by its author
I've seen people use it for sat nav - that is an actual good use, as you can do something hands-free when you're driving. But you're right, despite all the fuss that owners of a certain type of phone make (when they got the feature years after Android), I've never seen them use it (the 4S didn't even have sat nav, unless you got a 3rd party application).
On a related note, I'm still flabberghasted at some "science" radio programme I overheard around xmas 2011, which in its review of the year said how Apple had invented voice recognition, and thanks to them we'd soon all be talking to our PCs. I can't count just how many ways that was so wrong...
I use it occasionally, in a limited way, for doing Google searches on Andriod. I do sort of second-guess what phrases it will understand immediately, and which I should just type in.
For example, "Cinema listings near Cardiff" I would expect it understand on its first try... something more obscure less so, so I would just type it.
I first tried speech recognition back in 2000 (and remember forecasts of it being the next big thing, even then) and it was entertaining but rubbish, but what is different now is the huge amount of data Google have to refine their system.
It should be noted it's a cheap tablet that has both Google Play access (i.e., not locked down like Kindle Fire and Nook), and SD card (unlike Nexus 7). A shame the spec isn't so good, and with only 4GB internal memory, the 32GB Nexus 7 is probably a better option.
Are there cheaper/better Android tablets available in the UK with both of these? The other options seem to be an old Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 (also has poorer spec), a new one (much more expensive), or mail order from China. Why can't someone just give some decent UK distribution to say the Ainol tablets (which have Nexus 7-level spec, with SD card, and manage it at a lower price - though I'd happily pay a bit more than a Nexus 7 to get an SD card option). One of the main uses for me for a 7" tablet would be as a portable video player, so adding an extra 32GB for a tenner is a good feature, plus it's upgradable as SD card prices fall. I would be more sympathetic of Google's no-SD-card stance if they (a) provided a 64GB Nexus 7, and (b) didn't charge way more than SD card prices for the memory.
Another option is a Nexus 7, a USB on the go cable and the Nexus Media Importer app, plus either a USB stick or an SD card and USB adapter. The app is similar to StickMount, but doesn't need the device to be rooted.
Sum total for the cable and app - about a fiver or so (got mine last week) and you can then play music and movies from the stick on the Nexus.
Admittedly not quite as convenient as a built-in SD card slot, but it's do-able as a portable media player.
If you do as AC suggests, do check this thread first:
"The USB OTG that Do and DO NOT work with Nexus 7 Thread"
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1812609
I'm in the process of making one right now, just as soon as I find where I put my solder. Most male microUSB plugs are a bugger for this as the pins are so small, but I've found one that helpfully has a small PCB attached to it. Instructions are online, but you'd probably be better off just buying one.
There are lots of tablets like
http://www.pointofview-online.com/showroom.php?shop_mode=product_detail&product_id=357
This one also uses a MediaTek SoC afaik its the MTK6575 dual core A9 variant.
I think the above is one of many devices like these
http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/7-inch-mtk6575-tablet-pc.html
Anyway, has anyone tested one of these? They are made by the bucketload and seem reasonable for a dual core A9 phablet. I'm myself am a bit worried about the overclocked but ancient SGX531 gpu.
Cheers
Archos 80 Cobalt, sold by Tescos over Christmas for £49.
Dual core, 8gb Ram etc etc..... Deal of the year it was.
Check it out. http://www.archos.com/products/elements/archos_80cobalt/specs.html?country=gb&lang=en&#a
This one shouldnt cost more than £50 ! Period. Typical Vodafone.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2025
