Thursday, March 28, 2024

REVIEW | HP Slate 7 tablet

Earlier this year, HP launched the Slate 7, a budget-friendly tablet running on (at the time it was launched) the latest iteration of Android. The 7-inch tablet comes in two back colors — red and silver.

Build

The HP Slate 7 looks like your typical 7-inch Android tablet. The tablet’s front sports a 7-inch screen HFFS LCD panel with very thick black bezels on all sides designed for thumb rest.

Located at the top center of the screen is the VGA front-facing camera. Flip the tablet over and you’ll see an eye candy.

The back of the tablet is made of matte-finished plastic with the shiny silver HP logo and Beats Audio logo embedded on it. It is also here where you can find the 3-megapixel camera sans LED flash.

A polished stainless steel strip runs along the side of the tablet. Creaking sounds can be heard if you try applying pressure on the back of the tablet.

At the top edge, one can find the 3.5mm audio port, the mic, a MicroSD slot, and the power button. The protruding and very tactile volume buttons are found on the right edge. Meanwhile, the bottom edge houses the USB port sandwiched by two narrow speaker grilles at each side.

Features

The tablet runs Android Jellybean 4.1.1 with little customizations from HP (with the exception of an app called HP e-print which allows you to print directly from the tablet).

Under the hood, the device features a 1.6 Ghz Cortex A9 dual-core combined with a gigabyte of RAM translating to a rather pleasant experience.

It has an 8GB built-in memory and can support MicroSD card upto 32GB. The capacitive screen supports multi-touch for rich interactions and the tablet supports both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Being a budget tablet, HP decided not to include GPS capabilities and proximity sensor though an accelerometer sensor was included so you can still play your tilt-action games like Temple Run and Minion Rush.

Performance

If you’re the type who takes pictures with tablets (which some may find weird), don’t expect much from the HPS Slate 7. The 3-megapixel camera does not come with auto-focus functionality and takes uninspiring photos lacking color.

The Slate 7 is impressive audio wise with full bass and excellent sound produced typical of Beats Audio-enabled devices. This audio experience only applies though when listening through headsets or ear buds as the loud speaker of the device has a rather low volume.

The display resolution is quite good but not great. The tablet produces vivid and sharp colors but performs poorly when rendering high resolution games, producing small jagged edges. The viewing angles are rather wide and outdoor legibility is above average.

The tablet can appease the gamer crowd as we tested it on games like Dungeon Hunter 4 and Minion Rush, performing quite well. Movies and series can be played without delays.

A fully charged battery will last you around 4 to 5 hours of intensive use.

Slay demons on Dungeon Hunter 4
Going bananas over Minion Rush

Standard benchmarking apps have the following scores for the HP Slate 7:

Antutu Benchmark: 15099 (higher score is better)
Geek Bench 3 (higher score is better)
Nena Mark 2: 55.53fps (higher score is better)
Quadrant Bench Mark: 3995 (higher score is better)

Conclusion

If you’re in the hunt for a budget yet reliable tablet and adhere to the saying “you get what you pay for”, then this tablet is for you. The performance of the tablet is good and the reaction time is snappy compared to other dual-core tablets we’ve encountered so far.

The display and the exclusion of GPS can be a downer to some, but bear in mind that HP designated this as an entry-level tablet and can’t be compared with high-end tablets like the Nexus 7 or Samsung Galaxy Tab 3.

We think the HP Slate 7 is especially ideal for first-time tablet owners who want to experience owning a tablet and the convenience and entertainment it brings without overspending much.

A computer shop prices the HP Slate 7 at P7,990.00.

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