{"id":1245,"date":"2012-06-27T10:15:24","date_gmt":"2012-06-27T10:15:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gadgets.itwriting.com\/?p=1245"},"modified":"2012-06-27T10:15:24","modified_gmt":"2012-06-27T10:15:24","slug":"review-joytab-8-android-tablet-do-you-need-to-spend-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.itwriting.com\/blog\/1245-review-joytab-8-android-tablet-do-you-need-to-spend-more.html","title":{"rendered":"Review: JoyTAB 8″ Android tablet. Do you need to spend more?"},"content":{"rendered":"

How much Android tablet can you get for \u00a3150.00? Quite a lot, as this JoyTAB 8″ tablet<\/a> from Gemini Devices demonstrates. No complaint about the specs: ARM Cortex A8 1.2Ghz processor, Mali-400 GPU, 512MB RAM, 8GB storage, running Android 4.03 \u201cIce Cream Sandwich\u201d.<\/p>\n

There is also a Micro-SD slot (confusingly labelled \u201cTF Card\u201d), a front-facing camera, headphone jack, USB connector, mini HDMI port, and wi-fi. <\/p>\n

No Bluetooth, unfortunately, but you cannot have everything. Though given the choice, I would rather have Bluetooth than HDMI.<\/p>\n

Still, no real complaint about the specs. How is it in use?<\/p>\n

The unit is light though it feels a bit plastic, particularly the switches on the front and side, but they work fine. There is not much to see on the front: black screen, black surround, and two physical buttons, one for menu and one for back. On the side, there are buttons for power, volume and home. Personally I would rather have the home button on the front, but it is no big deal. <\/p>\n

On the bottom edge are the connectors for USB, power, HTML, SD card and sound. Not clear why the SD slot is labelled \u201cTF Card\u201d, but I stuck a 4GB SD card in there and it worked instantly.<\/p>\n

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I turned on, and was greeted with the JoyTAB wallpaper, its brightness perhaps compensating for the rather dim screen.<\/p>\n

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Wi-fi connected smoothly, and I had a quick look at the apps:<\/p>\n

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Nothing exceptional here. Documents To Go is a trial, Twitter and BBC iPlayer I added myself.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately BBC iPlayer was a letdown. The app bounces you to the browser, and the browser says my phone (?) is not supported.<\/p>\n

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I tried updating Flash Player to the latest version with no improvement. In fairness, this may be a BBC issue, though iPlayer works fine on other Android tablets I have tried.<\/p>\n

YouTube mostly works, but video is not too good. It looks dark and detail is lost.<\/p>\n

I got an even more entertaining error when I attempted to play my Google music in the browser.<\/p>\n

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Web browsing in general is a mixed experience. Mostly it is good enough, though searching Google is slow and jerky if you have incremental search enabled. <\/p>\n

Not only is the screen dim, it is unresponsive too. Pinching and zooming is an effort, and when it does work it is not smooth. <\/p>\n

Still, Angry Birds works well, email works with both Microsoft Exchange and Google Mail, and battery life seems not bad though charging is slow even with mains.<\/p>\n

I connected it to a PC and got an error. USB storage shows up if you enable it in settings, but it did not connect as an Android device. I fixed this by installing the (unsigned) driver from Gemini, which I found in a forum post here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While I have not seen any faults, the test device does make odd, quiet popping noises from time to time when charging, which is a concern.<\/p>\n

In the end I cannot give this a recommendation. It is good value in one sense, but if you can stretch to a Samsung Galaxy, which admittedly is twice the price, you do get a substantially better experience. An Apple iPad costs even more; but if you want silky-smooth touch control, a beautiful screen, and for everything to just work, then it is worth the money.<\/p>\n

What if you only have \u00a3149? My pick would be something like a nearly new HTC Flyer<\/a>, currently on offer at Amazon UK for around that price. Yes, it only runs Android 3.x \u201cHoneycomb\u201d, but it is a lovely device with a great screen and HTC\u2019s customised Sense UI. <\/p>\n

Update<\/strong>: It is worth adding that Google has now announced the 7″ Nexus Tablet<\/a> which is on offer in the UK for \u00a3159 for the 8GB version or \u00a3199 for 16GB. That changes the rules.<\/p>\n