Asus Fonepad 7 Review [year]

Asus Fonepad 7 Review 2025

December 10, 2018 Richard Gomez 0

In the past two years, Asus has released at least four different versions of the Fonepad 7. We saw a Fonepad 7 (3G) release last year, followed by the Fonepad 7 Dual SIM and the Fonepad 7 (FE375CG) in the first quarter of this year. On top of that, the Fonepad 7 (FE170CG) launched just recently, and we have it with us for review.
This Fonepad 7 is Asus's attempt at creating a low-cost tablet for the masses. While the spec sheet may not be impressive, Asus's intended target audience might approve of the Dual-SIM functionality and voice calling features.
Look and feel
The refreshed Fonepad 7 doesn't look too different from the Fonepad 7 we reviewed last year but it looks like Asus has tweaked the design slightly to make it better. Gone is the plain slippery back, which is now replaced by a nice textured finish. This aids in gripping the device. The entire body is made of good quality plastic and feels sturdy in everyday use. Moreover, Asus has shaved 28g from the previou..

Lenovo Tab A7-50 3G - [year] Review

Lenovo Tab A7-50 3G – 2025 Review

November 29, 2018 Richard Gomez 0

There definitely is a market for tablets which can be used as phones. They might not fit in a pocket or be comfortable to hold for very long, but you can browse the Web and enjoy movies on a large screen without having to carry multiple devices around. Lenovo's offering is budget-minded and competes with the likes of tablets from local as well as international brands. Its street price of Rs. 13,999 puts it roughly in the middle of the price range as far as this segment is concerned.
Lenovo's Tab A7 series is available in a variety of configurations. We have the A7-50 3G with us for review, which is also known as the A3500-HV. The HV suffix indicates that this model supports 3G data as well as voice calling – other variants listed online, which might or might not necessarily be available, do not support 3G voice. The front of the box only says Lenovo Tab A7, so make sure you check the labels on the back.
Look and feel
There isn't very much you can do to make a tablet stan..

Croma 1177 [year] Review: A Tablet With a Twist

Croma 1177 2025 Review: A Tablet With a Twist

September 12, 2018 Richard Gomez 0

Croma has been selling house-brand products for a while now, with varying degrees of success. There's definitely a risk involved when a company puts its brand on products sourced from outside; more so in categories that already have their fair share of cheap made-in-China OEM/ODM products.
The large-format retailer has now decided to put its stamp on tablets in addition to home appliances. Two models have been launched; the Croma 1179 with an 8-inch screen and the Croma 1177 with a 10.1-inch screen and a detachable keyboard case. We have the latter, which the company refers to as a “2-in-1”, with us for review today.
While the device is sold exclusively by Croma, it does not carry the Croma brand in the same way that its appliances do. The box and device itself clearly state that it is manufactured for and imported by Datamini. If you were following the branded PC market in the late 90s and early 2000s, that name might ring a bell – the company was well-known for its Festiva range..

Acer Iconia A1-713 [year]

Acer Iconia A1-713 2025

September 7, 2018 Richard Gomez 0

Acer's Iconia series of tablets has been in the market for some time and the Taiwanese manufacturer is not a stranger to this space. The latest to hit the retail shelves is the Iconia A1-713. The tablet costs around Rs. 13,000 and has a mediocre specifications list. However, its USP is its support for 3G data and voice calling. We try to find out if it is worthy as a tablet that can also make calls.
Look and feel
The Acer Iconia A1-713 looks like any other 7-inch Android tablet in the market today. The uninspired design doesn't attract too much attention.
The front is dominated by the 7-inch screen with thick borders on all sides. While the tablet is mostly made of plastic, Acer proudly advertises the metallic finish on the rear. It looks premium but the finish actually makes the rear slimy and we had to be extra careful not to drop the device. The Iconia A1-713 has dimensions of 193x116x8.95mm and weighs 305g.
Above the display are the front-facing camera, earpiece, a few ..

Milagrow M2 Pro 3G [year] Review

Milagrow M2 Pro 3G 2025 Review

September 17, 2018 Richard Gomez 0

Milagrow rose to prominence a few years ago for selling tablets it called “TabTops” with crossover features such as USB host connectivity, but has since then been better known for its pioneering line of domestic and commercial robots. The company currently sells an impressive variety of vacuum cleaners (including one that doubles as a cloud-connected home security device), window washers, massagers, air purifiers and much more.
The tablet vision is still alive alongside, and we have with us today the Milagrow M2Pro, a compact 7.9-inch tablet with features that the company hopes will give it an advantage over bigger brands including Apple, Dell and Samsung. It isn't aimed at the very lowest end of the market, which makes it all the more interesting.
Domestic brands haven't made inroads into the tablet market in the way that they've taken over the low-end and mid-range smartphone space, so it will be interesting to see whether Milagrow can counter its competition with abun..

Asus PadFone X [year]

Asus PadFone X 2025

August 12, 2018 Richard Gomez 2

Companies often blend old products to give you something new.
This summer, AsusTek Computer Inc. claims you don't need both a phone and a tablet – as long as you get its new PadFone X. The PadFone works like any other phone and has a screen that measures 5 inches diagonally. When you want a tablet experience, you simply slip the phone into a slot on the back of the tablet display, which is included. All the apps on the phone now work on the 9-inch tablet. The phone is what runs the tablet. Asus is bringing this concept to the U.S. for the first time.
In some cases, apps switch to the tablet screen automatically, so you don't have to restart the video or reopen the mail app. In other cases, you'll have to close the app and reopen it after attaching the phone to the tablet screen.
For apps that have been optimized for tablets, the layout on the PadFone rearranges automatically to use the extra space. Yet it's fundamentally a phone. You can make calls in tablet mode, u..

Samsung Galaxy [year] Tab

Samsung Galaxy 2025 Tab

February 15, 2019 Richard Gomez 0

We have no idea what's going on inside Samsung, but for some reason the company seems to think we all want to buy new tablets every three months. That's how often it introduces new models, and frankly, it's becoming very difficult to keep track of all of them.
As it stands, there's the main Galaxy Tab line (with suffix numbers going up to 4 by generation and/or additional numbering to denote screen size). There are also the Galaxy Notes (not to be confused with the outsized smartphones of the same name), Note Pros and Tab Pros. That's not to mention a few Lite and Neo variants, amongst others. Some of them make calls, some are Wi-Fi only, some come with a stylus, and some seem to have no specific purpose for existing. In the midst of all this confusion, Samsung has dropped yet another series: the Galaxy Tab S.
The company clearly has quite a few models that sell well because of low prices – The Tab S line is meant to represent what's possible when cost isn..

Samsung Galaxy Tab S [year]

Samsung Galaxy Tab S 2025

August 30, 2018 Richard Gomez 0

Samsung, the market leader in Android smartphones, on Tuesday launched a new range of tablets, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S, in India. Two models with different screen sizes are available – the Galaxy Tab S 8.4 and the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 – with prices starting at Rs. 37,800 and Rs. 44,800 respectively. Both tablets mark Samsung's re-entry into the OLED space. The last tablet by the company with an OLED screen was the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7, in 2011.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 and Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 were first launched by the South Korean giant at its Samsung Galaxy Premiere 2014 'Tab in to colour' event in New York City on June 12. Now, at the launch in India, Samsung has revealed that it will be selling the 3G Exynos-based versions of the tablets here in the second week of July. LTE versions with Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoCs will follow shortly.
We at NDTV Gadgets got a chance to play with the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 at its India launch event, and these are our fir..

Samsung Galaxy Tab S Series [year]

Samsung Galaxy Tab S Series 2025

January 10, 2019 Richard Gomez 0

Samsung's new Galaxy Tab S tablet looks different.
As soon as I turned on the screen, I noticed that the colors are stunning and vivid. Red looks redder, and greens are greener. The lawn and the trees in “Ghostbusters” look alive, as does a purple-tinted apparition.
The Tab S is also thinner than other leading tablets, at a quarter of an inch (6.6 millimeters). The model with the smaller screen is lighter, too.
Samsung Electronics Co. achieves all this by using a display technology previously limited to smartphones. It's called AMOLED, for active-matrix organic light-emitting diodes. Samsung released an AMOLED tablet in 2012, but it was expensive and didn't sell well. The new ones are priced more competitively – the same as iPads of comparable size.
The Galaxy Tab S 8.4 with an 8.4-inch screen, measured diagonally, costs $400, while the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 with a 10.5-inch screen costs $500.

AMOLED screens are more expensive than conventional LCD screens, but they produce..

Microsoft Surface Pro 3 [year]

Microsoft Surface Pro 3 2025

August 28, 2018 Richard Gomez 0

To appreciate Microsoft's latest tablet computer, you need to accept the notion that one device can do it all.
The Surface Pro 3 works as a tablet when you want to watch video or read e-books. It works as a laptop when you need to get serious work done. The Surface delivers on both, though it falls short of meeting Microsoft's claim to do so without compromising on either.
(Also see: Microsoft Unveils Surface Pro 3 With 12-Inch 2160×1440 Pixel Display)
The Pro 3 runs a full version of Microsoft's Windows 8 system, the same as you get on a traditional desktop or laptop computer. That means that, unlike other tablets, it can run just about any program designed for Windows: Microsoft Office, Photoshop and more.
The Surface has a touch screen like other tablets, but it also has an optional cover that opens to reveal a physical keyboard and touchpad. It has a USB port and one for external displays, both of which are rare on tablets.
It also matches laptops in price. Although ..

Smartlink Digitab SS1078W - [year] Review

Smartlink Digitab SS1078W – 2025 Review

November 30, 2018 Richard Gomez 0

Smartlink might not be a well-known brand in the tablet market, but the company has been around for quite a long time. Formerly the Indian avatar of D-Link, Smartlink became an independent company in 2008 and has since then dealt in products ranging from networking infrastructure to motherboards, with multiple brands including Digilink (now sold to Schneider Electric), Digisol, Digicare, and Digilite.
Now, it has also branched out into the consumer tablet market with a range called – what else – Digitab. Three products have been launched, with features and specifications tailored for the Indian market. Two of these are 7-inch tablets, while the most expensive one has a 10.1-inch screen.
We have the unintuitively named Digitab SS1078W, the largest of the three, in for review today. Let's see if Smartlink has what it takes to compete with existing local and international companies.
Look and feel
First impressions are important, and unfortunately the SS1078W did nothing to impress u..

Asus Fonepad 7 Dual SIM tablet [year]

Asus Fonepad 7 Dual SIM tablet 2025

December 5, 2018 Richard Gomez 0

The voice-calling tablet segment is growing with a number of launches from both Indian and international manufacturers such as Samsung, Micromax, Lenovo, and Karbonn.
Asus, following suit, has now launched a refreshed version of its popular Fonepad 7 tablet in a dual-SIM avatar dubbed Fonepad 7 Dual SIM for the Indian market. The Taiwanese tablet maker clearly seems determined to get some market share in India.
Following the strategy, Asus Fonepad 7 Dual SIM has been launched at a price of Rs. 12,999, similar to Samsung's new Galaxy Tab3 Neo tablet which is currently retailing at Rs. 12,740 and is a single SIM device.
It's worth pointing out that the Asus Fonepad tablet line-up now has three generations: the first iteration of the Fonepad tablet with voice-calling support was announced at MWC last year, while the second generation was announced at IFA in 2013, featuring 3G support and lastly, the third generation unveiled at MWC this year.
As the name suggests, the Fonepad 7 ..