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Ankit
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The small form factor tablet market is very crowded, with pretty much every manufacturer seeking to claim a slice of the pie through Android, Windows 8 and iOS offerings. Budget models are especially abundant, headed by the supremely popular and generally fantastic Google Nexus 7, which retails for around $215 a year on from its release.
If you want something even cheaper than the Nexus 7, it’s tricky to find a product that’s actually worth using. Cost-cutting is the name of the game in the sub-$200 market, and a typical 7-inch tablet in this price bracket comes with several compromises. Today, I’m checking out Asus' attempt at a low-cost Android tablet and whether it’s worth a small amount of your cash.
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The small form factor tablet market is very crowded, with pretty much every manufacturer seeking to claim a slice of the pie through Android, Windows 8 and iOS offerings. Budget models are especially abundant, headed by the supremely popular and generally fantastic Google Nexus 7, which retails for around $215 a year on from its release.
If you want something even cheaper than the Nexus 7, it’s tricky to find a product that’s actually worth using. Cost-cutting is the name of the game in the sub-$200 market, and a typical 7-inch tablet in this price bracket comes with several compromises. Today, I’m checking out Asus' attempt at a low-cost Android tablet and whether it’s worth a small amount of your cash.
I first had some hands-on time with the MeMO Pad 7 at Computex 2014 in Taipei, where the company announced it with little fanfare. The 7-inch tablet packs a WXGA IPS display, Intel Atom SoC and a version of Android 4.4 with Asus’ customizations, all for just $150. That puts it squarely in competition with Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD 7 and the 2012 model of the Nexus 7.
Design
The design of the MeMO Pad 7 is uninspiring, but functional. There’s a screen on the front with a bezel around the edges, and on the back there’s not much save for a camera and a few logos: nothing we haven’t seen before. At just under 300 grams, the Pad 7 is pretty light as far as small tablets go, but its thickness of 10.0mm (11.3mm at the protruding camera) is average at best.
Design
The design of the MeMO Pad 7 is uninspiring, but functional. There’s a screen on the front with a bezel around the edges, and on the back there’s not much save for a camera and a few logos: nothing we haven’t seen before. At just under 300 grams, the Pad 7 is pretty light as far as small tablets go, but its thickness of 10.0mm (11.3mm at the protruding camera) is average at best.
The curved back makes the MeMO Pad 7 fit comfortably in your hands, and the soft-touch rubberized plastic feels surprisingly pleasing. The plastic wraps around the sides before meeting a metallic-plastic rim, which gives a visual highlight, while the front is entirely protected by glass.
The size of the bezels around the edge of the 7-inch display is nearly perfect for this device; 9mm of buffer on either side is enough to make it easy to hold without touching the display during operation. At the same time, it’s not so large that it looks ridiculous or becomes cumbersome.
The size of the bezels around the edge of the 7-inch display is nearly perfect for this device; 9mm of buffer on either side is enough to make it easy to hold without touching the display during operation. At the same time, it’s not so large that it looks ridiculous or becomes cumbersome.
Disappointingly, the main speaker on the MeMO Pad 7 is found on the bottom portion of the back panel, poking through the plastic as an indented line. There’s two speakers in the MeMO Pad 7, which are adequate in quality and volume for occasional use, but you really miss out on a stereo effect when watching videos or playing games in a landscape orientation.
It’s understandable, though, that a budget model wouldn’t include front-facing speakers: if you want this feature, you’ll have to spend a bit more money.
It’s understandable, though, that a budget model wouldn’t include front-facing speakers: if you want this feature, you’ll have to spend a bit more money.
On the right-hand edge is both the volume rocker and the power button. Somewhat confusingly, the power button is located below the volume rocker, so often when I’ve gone to pick up the tablet I’ve been pressing one of the volume buttons in an attempt to power it on. Once you get used to it the power button is actually in a great position for one-handed use, although as it’s placed on the back panel’s curve, it can be hard to hit at other times.
Along the top is both the 3.5mm headphone jack and the micro-USB charging port. There’s no full-sized USB port on this device, so if you want to connect external drives – which is possible – you’ll need a micro to full-sized USB adapter.
The bottom panel is bare, while the top left contains an exposed microSD card slot.
Display
The Asus MeMO Pad 7 includes a 7.0-inch TFT IPS LCD panel with a resolution of 1280 x 800, which is typical for an entry-level product released in 2014. We’re starting to see 1080p panels migrate to lower and lower price points, but the production processes aren’t quite ready to push them down to sub-$200 products.
In some cases I do miss having the quality of a 1080p or higher resolution panel, though Asus’ choice of display on the Pad 7 is quite good. Especially for the price of the tablet, there is nothing wrong.
The bottom panel is bare, while the top left contains an exposed microSD card slot.
Display
The Asus MeMO Pad 7 includes a 7.0-inch TFT IPS LCD panel with a resolution of 1280 x 800, which is typical for an entry-level product released in 2014. We’re starting to see 1080p panels migrate to lower and lower price points, but the production processes aren’t quite ready to push them down to sub-$200 products.
In some cases I do miss having the quality of a 1080p or higher resolution panel, though Asus’ choice of display on the Pad 7 is quite good. Especially for the price of the tablet, there is nothing wrong.
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