The MediaPad S7: Seven Inches Of Pleasure, Fun

Right off the bat, this much we can say: the MediaPad S7 from Huawei is one sturdy tablet computer. 

Time, perhaps, to ditch that “all things made in China are a quality joke” mentality that we, the local consumers, cannot be blamed for having and holding on to, due to what we have experienced for almost as far back as I can remember.

From Christmas lights that have innate pyromaniac tendencies to toy cars that lose a wheel or two in as many minutes of being played with, China-made products and quality are not usually mentioned together in one paragraph, much less in a sentence.

But the MediaPad S7 comes with enough bravado and toughness, a couple of minutes spent with it would certainly change how we look at products manufactured in the world’s second-largest economy.

This Android 3.2- (Honeycomb) running tablet computer comes powered by a dual-core 1.2GHz processor, which enables the MediaPad S7 to briskly, if not easily, run apps, even more than one of them at a time. I tried firing off its browser while listening to a Shoutcast.com radio station. The built-in browser loaded Web sites and pages loaded without any noticeable delay or stuttering, with at least a couple of tabs open and waiting for my attention.

This 190 x 124 x 10.5mm, 390-gram tablet comes with 7-inch high-definition screen (LCD WXGA, 1280 x 800 IPS). After turning the unit on, a user needs to employ the screen’s multi-touch activation function to really wake the Huawei tablet up. Default settings are designed to satisfy most users’ requirements right out of the box; however, adjustments can be made easily, depending on users’ personal taste or preferences.

Enough essential apps come preloaded, including productivity tools and games (Angry Birds, Asphalt, YouTube, etc.). Adding more is easy with the integrated Market tool, which offers easy access to the online Android apps mall.

For example, I downloaded and installed the Skype application, and did not encounter any glitch during the process. I also installed a free edition of the Fruit Ninja, and what followed were days of fruit-slicing pleasure that came too close at times to bordering regions of addiction.

The MediaPad S7 comes with a pair of cameras, a 1.3-megapixel CMOS fixed focus camera and a 5-megapixel auto-focus HD camera at the back.

The MediaPad S7 comes with enough features and capabilities that make the Huawei gadget one of the better tablets in the market. Ice Cream Sandwich could have made this unit into a more capable device. We can take pleasure from knowing that coming copies of this tablet come preloaded with ICS. Hopefully, consumers who had already bought their MediaPad S7 will have their ICS upgrade soon.

Its touchscreen boasts of a fast reaction time, which makes slicing fruits with a virtual katana one pleasing experience. Opening and closing apps is easy, although there are times when the screen seems to be too sensitive to touch. After an hour or two of use, however, the tablet becomes a joy to play with.

By ALLAN D. FRANCISCO

mb.com.ph

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