The battle of the budget tablets just got sweeter with the launch of budget tablets powered by Google’s latest Android OS, Ice Cream Sandwich.
Overall, we have seen quite a few Ice Cream Sandwich running budget tablets hit the streets such as the HCL Me Tablet U1, Zync Z990, the iberry Auxus AX02 and the Micromax Funbook to name a few. All these tablets are priced below the Rs. 10,000 price tag.
Today we have with us the tablet that not only boasts to be the cheapest of the lot but the slimmest as well. The device also carries the “Made in India” tag, adding to some sentimental value.
So, here’s a quick look at our first impressions of the Micromax Funbook
- The Micromax Funbook runs on a 1.2GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor and a Mali 400 Graphics processor. The specifications may look good on paper, but the reality is a slightly disappointing. The device does have a capacitive touchscreen but the interface lags especially during heavy multitasking.
- The device has a 7-inch capacitive touchscreen that is relatively smooth and sports the same resolution as the competition – 480×800. Its brightness of the device is OK if there is no direct light hitting the screen, but the screen is susceptible to glare.
- The tablet is made up primarily of plastic and as a very slim design. In fact, it is the slimmest budget tablet we’ve seen.
- The device has a back, home and menu physical buttons on the face of the device. With ICS, there is no need for physical face buttons but there addition is welcome.
- The ICS experience on the tablet is stock Android and Micromax hasn’t added a skin to the UI, which is nice.
- A volume rocker and the on/off button rest on the top of the device (when held in landscape mode).
- In terms of connectivity, the device has the DC in, Mini USB, Mini HDMI, MicroSD card slot and the headphones jack neatly laid out on the right on the device (when held in landscape mode).
- In terms of storage, the device has 4GB internal expandable upto 32GB via the MicroSD card.
- The device boasts of 1080p playback (you can connect it to a HD TV). We ran a few 1080p MP4 videos on the device and they ran without a hiccup. The only problem was that the touch experience felt below par when compared to the competition.
- The device has a front facing 0.3MP camera but no rear snapper. The front facing camera is at par with the competition. Amongst the budget ICS tablets, the iberry Auxus AX02 is the only one that has a 2MP rear shooter.
- Apart from the Google Play Store, the device comes with its own Micromax apps. These apps offer a variety of content ranging from Educational, Games, Movies, Apps, Entertainment, and Live TV. Majority of these apps are free but the live TV is a paid app and users will need to pay a subscription fee. The channels on the live TV range from Movies, news and entertainment. There are 50 channels to choose from in the live TV app.
- The Micromax Funbook is priced at Rs. 6,499, making it the cheapest of the budget ICS tablets currently in India, a point weighing heavily in its favour
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