EE updates its £130 Robin tablet for kids ahead of Christmas
The improvements are pretty minor, though.
It was a year ago to this very day that EE began offering the first Robin tablet: a bumper-bound slate designed with kids in mind. And with Christmas fast approaching, the carrier has today launched an updated, second-gen Robin to fill those empty stockings. It brings a few welcome, albeit relatively minor improvements on the hardware front. You're still looking at a 7-inch (1,024 x 600) display, quad-core 1.1GHz processor and 2-megapixel camera, but both RAM and storage have doubled to 2GB and 16GB, respectively.
The new Robin also comes with a different bumper that includes a carry handle/kickstand, and apparently, of the device's 40 preloaded e-books and apps, some of the games now feature gesture controls, responding to what the front-facing VGA camera sees. The 4G tablet still runs EE's kid-friendly Kurio OS (based on Android 5.1 Lollipop) and comes with Hopster preinstalled, which offers kids shows, songs and a variety of other educational content. Depending on the contract you choose, you get either a three-month free trial of Hopster, or two years of unlimited access.
All the parental controls are still part of the package, and improved it's said. These include app permissions, internet filters and time limits, with support for multiple profiles. It kinda feels like EE has done the bare minimum here though, plugging some pretty minor improvements to keep the Robin's price tag at £130 on pay-as-you-go. Amazon's Fire Kids Edition tablet might be a better option, starting at £95 with a two-year guarantee and free access to plenty of appropriate content.
If your sprog requires 4G data and/or you'd rather spread the cost, however, then EE's Robin can be picked up on 24-month contracts from £16 per month (with a £30 upfront payment).
