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Polaroid has announced a new pair of Android tablets at CES. Their most obvious selling point is super-low pricing — but will their performance be able to stand up to the competition?
There are two new tablets — predictably, a 7-incher (M7) and a 10-incher (M10) — and when we say price is a big draw here, we really mean it. The little ‘un is set to retail for £85 and the large one just £150 in the US. Super cheap, then, so if specs can match the price Polaroid could really be on to something.
The M10 packs a 10.1-inch 1,280 x 800 resolution screen, quad-core Cortex A7 CPU, 1GB of RAM, 16GB or storage, 5-MP rear camera, 2-MP front-facer, and HDMI-out. Running Jelly Bean it does, sadly, have a light Polaroid skin laid over the top, but at least that looks fairly crisp and clean — reminiscent of Windows 8, in fact.
Meanwhile the M7 offers a 7-inch 1,280 x 800 display, 1.6GHz dual-core A9 processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB or storage, and a 2-megapixel front camera that sits to the left of the display. Once again, it’s running Jelly Bean with Polaroid’s skin over the top.
None of this is setting the world on fire, of course, but for the price the specs seem really solid. Engadget explains that it found the smaller tablet “very responsive when swiping through home screens and jumping in and out of apps”, so it will be interesting to see how they stack up during real-world use. They might not quite pack all of the punch of Google’s Nexus range — but they could well give it a run for its money. [Polaroid via Engadget and Engadget]
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Sounds good, but given that Polaroid are better known for things other than Tablets I’m not going to make a snap decision, I’ll see how things develop.
Seriously though these can’t compete with the Nexus tablets for one reason. Nexus tablets get updates direct from Google.
I’d still go for the nexus for the pure android UI and regular updates, however I’m pretty jaded on 3rd party ROMs seeing as I still don’t have JellyBean on my S3 (thanks Orange).
That price point is pretty incredible, almost throwaway money seeing as I can easy spend £85 on a night out. That is if the price doesn’t suffer the dreaded USD>GBP conversion that tech companies seem to pull out of their arseholes.
A quad core A7 for the 10 inch is going be very underpowered…. thats 2 generations behind the nexus 10 A15 so we are looking at a good quarter of the speed at least on a big screen… sounds very budget not to mention half the ram. but it is half the price so what can u expect
but the 7 inch should be ok. would still take a proper nexus over it tho.
Depends on the build quality – the Nexus 7 is a great tablet but it is not well made and after a few days of use begins to show major structural and manufacturing problems. If Polaroid can make a tablet that doesn’t have creaking and screen lifting for £85, then kudos to them.
What? It has major structural problems after a few days? Does it bollocks.
Are we taking the phrase “Does it bollocks” to insinuate that agreement is being expressed with respect to a truthful statement? The screen lift, flexing and shell creaking of the Nexus 7 is rather well documented.
http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2012/07/is-your-nexus-7s-screen-loose/
In case you would like a more astute explanation, see the second image here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1813225
From reading about the issue (I like my Nexus 7 and would prefer the device to feel sturdy when in use) it appears that the device does not tolerate internal heat well with blame ranging from the case expanding, too much foam (the second image I pointed towards) and a loose connection cable.
Given that this screen rising and device flex started for me on Christmas day after receiving it on the 22nd of December, I would hazard that constitutes a few days.
Return it and have it replaced.
Extrapolating that all Nexus 7′s “after a few days of use begins to show major structural and manufacturing problems” based on what’s happened to you is a stretch. Linking to a gizmodo article that ‘some users’ are having this issue doesn’t tell us anything without knowing how many people are having this issue in total among how many were sold.
All we can know is that you and a limited number of people on the XDA forums are having an issue, and I can see that people are RMAing their device to have it rectified.
That sounds like some defective units, not a bad product.
(I’ve had no issues)
There was never any insinuation on my part that all of the tablets are defective – in fact it was you who refused to believe that even one device could be exhibiting issues.
RMAing seems to be an option though, according to a number of articles, is a bit of a hassle in the UK. It is something I will certainly be doing though I don’t have the greatest hope of it being fixed. Going by user accounts having the issue solved by returning the device to Asus is hit and miss and the Nexus 7 I own is a 32 GB model, part of the “second batch” that apparently had the screen lift fixed.
Its good that you haven’t had any issues though, it is a fantastic little device and mine will be getting complimented by the dock given a much more reasonable £25 asking price.
You did sort of insinuate that it was the wider product:
“the Nexus 7 is a great tablet but it is not well made and after a few days of use begins to show major structural and manufacturing problems”
Pretty all encompassing
at £85 and £150 they are ridiculously priced. £85 for a 7inch dual core tab with 1gig of ram. VERY nice.
of course its not a nexus 7, of course its not an ipad 4. but they arnt trying to be, they are very very well specced and very very well priced tabs meant to hoover up the budget market. and you must admit, compared to the dross you normally find at those price points. its a massive win.
They’ve both got little built-in printers, though, yeah?
I’ll take eight!
http://goo.gl/SeGjf
Am I the only person who wants a more powerful 7 inch tablet?
A more powerful one would be good. I’d rather have a slightly higher resolution screen and a longer battery life.
And they could not have chosen an uglier wallpaper for the promo shot.