Chinese manufacturer Huawei has been building up a head of mobile steam in the last year or so and the MediaPad (also known as the Tahiti if you get it with an Orange contract) is its first Android 3.2 Honeycomb tablet, sporting a dual-core processor and five-megapixel camera.
Design and features
The casing is hewn from a single block of aluminium and very classy it looks too -- très iPad. It's not especially lightweight at 390g but not something you'll need to work out in preparation for.
It has Wi-Fi, of course, but also 3G connectivity, making it a well-connected portable device. You can even make voice calls with a headset, and send texts -- very handy. If you're on the move though you'll need to bring the power lead with you, since it doesn't charge via the USB socket.
The seven-inch capacitive touchscreen offers a really rather fine pixel resolution of 1280x800, which equates to a pixel density of 216ppi. So much for the numbers, and while it won't cause any new iPad owners to gnash their teeth, it certainly looks clear, sharp and detailed enough to render web pages well and play back HD video. Sensitivity wasn't always of the top notch however, and there were a few occasions when we had to invoke multiple finger stabs to scare it into action.
Performance
The 1.2GHz Snapdragon processor backed by 1GB RAM is a nippy affair, and showed no obvious sign of lag when flicking through menus or opening apps. AnTuTu benchmarking put it ahead of our old Galaxy Tab performance-wise (we're still waiting for the new one, mind) but behind the Asus Transformer Prime.
The Android 3.2 Honeycomb OS is fine as far as it goes, but it's starting to look a little behind-the-times now that we have the tablet-and-phone-straddling 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Huawei has promised an upgrade later this quarter though, as well as a choice of casing colours.
Cameras
Though it's arguable whether there's really much call for a quality camera on a tablet, the MediaPad comes with a five-megapixel number rocking autofocus and 4x digital zoom. There's no flash, nor much else in the way of extra features, and picture quality is so-so, with noise creeping in a little too quickly in less than ideal light conditions.
It can record video in HD 720p at 30fps, which is a decently high standard. You can then stream it directly to your HD TV via the mini HDMI connection though you'll have to supply your own cable, since there's none in the box.
It comes with Huawei Office, which emulates Microsoft's business offering and allows you to view and create Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents. There's 8GB of memory on board, of which 5.8GB can be used for storage, but you can add another 32GB to that via microSD card which, like the SIM card, is hidden beneath a clip-on plastic panel on the back.
The 1,400mAh battery put up a bit of a fight, but in the end couldn't deliver more than a full day of steady use. No shame in that, but then, no cigar either.
Conclusion
This Huawei MediaPad sets itself up against the compact charms of the littlest Samsung Galaxy Tab and the Motorola Xoom 2 and if it was a little cheaper, it would probably win. As it stands, it's a good quality device, but aside from it's lovely casing, doesn't really distinguish itself.
Specifications
Software : Android 3.2 HoneycombProcessor : 1.2GHz dual core Qualcomm Snapdragon
Memory slot : microSD
Display : 7in, 1280x800
Connectivity : GSM/HSDPA, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1
Ports : Micro USB, 3.5mm headphones, mini HDMI, 2mm powerport
Camera : 5 megapixel with autofocus and front-facing 1.3 megapixelfixed focus
Video playback : MPEG-4, H.264, H.263, WMV
Audio playback : MP3, AAC, eAAC+, WAV, WMA, FLAC
Radio : Yes
Battery : Li-ion 1400 mAh
Size : 190x124x10.5mm
Weight : 390g
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