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Hisense Sero 7 Pro review: a newcomer tries its hand at Android tablets
Hisense, a company best known for its home theater equipment, isn't exactly a name synonymous with mobile devices. But with its new, Walmart-exclusive line of Android tablets -- the Sero 7 LT and Sero 7 Pro -- the Chinese manufacturer is dipping its toe into an increasingly crowded pool. Both tablets occupy the budget end of the spectrum, with the higher-end of the two, the Sero 7 Pro, going for a reasonable $150. For the price, the specs are decent: the Sero comes with a 1,280 x 800 display, a quad-core Tegra 3 processor and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. We dove headfirst into this bargain buy to see how it fares against similarly priced 7-inch tablets. Want to find out if Hisense has the chops to compete? Read on, friends.
HP Slate 7 review: HP's budget Android tablet is less of a hit, more of a miss
It's no secret that HP has struggled when it comes to tablets. The company has faced (and crashed into) its share of mobile device hurdles in recent years -- most notably, with the ill-fated and expensive TouchPad. With its latest foray into the tablet world, HP is hoping to hit one out of the park with the Slate 7, a budget tablet that retails for $170 in the US ($140 with instant savings). We set out to discover how the Slate 7 would fare in the competitive Android tablet market, especially compared to its current rival, the Nexus 7, and the forthcoming ASUS MeMo Pad HD 7. So, is the Slate 7 HP's little tablet that could? Read on to find out.
Velocity Micro Cruz T408 review
It's no secret that the market for Android tablets is crowded – and getting more so every day. Just ask Samsung, Acer, HTC, Huawei, Lenovo, Pandigital and, oh yes, Verticool. We could keep going, but you get the point: it's a big market out there, one with wildly varying prices and features. And just recently a little company called Amazon made its move in a big way with the Kindle Fire, an Android-powered $199 portal to its corner of the cloud. The world's largest online retailer clearly thinks competing on price is a way to stand out from the pack. Velocity Micro, maker of the 8-inch Cruz T408, wholeheartedly agrees. It's coming to market with a $199 slate, hoping to capture some attention of its own. Can it succeed? Read on to find out. %Gallery-135786%
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Limited Edition review
It may be a bit difficult to pay attention to the spate of Honeycomb tablets that seem to be popping up left, right and center -- you know, now that Ice Cream Sandwich has been officially promised -- but what's not easy to overlook is an 8.6mm slate. Checking in at a sliver of a pinch thinner than the illustrious iPad 2, Samsung's rethought-out, redesigned and definitely-not-renamed Galaxy Tab 10.1 is the first Android tablet to date that seriously goes toe-to-toe with Apple in both specifications and design. Granted, the consumer models aren't slated to ship out until June 8th, but given that Google handed us one last week during its annual I/O conference, we figured we'd spend the following weekend wisely. You know, photographing, benchmarking and testing this thing to the hilt. (Of note, the unit tested here was the Limited Edition model, devoid of TouchWiz, 3G and a microSD card slot, but is otherwise identical to shipping units aside from the design on the rear.) The Tab 10.1 -- not to be confused with the older, since-relabeled Tab 10.1v -- weighs just 1.31 pounds (marginally besting the iPad 2's 1.33 pound chassis), and if looks could kill, few people would've made it out of Moscone West with all organs functional. But as you well know, style only gets you in the door -- it's the guts, the software, and the marriage of it all that makes or breaks the tablet experience. Hop on past the jump to find out why we think Samsung truly delivered on the promise of a Google-powered tablet, and why you should all seriously consider socking away funds as early June approaches. %Gallery-123636%
