HP isn’t done with the tablet market, not just yet. Following Google’s announcement of the Nexus 7, a reasonably priced decent looking stock Android tablet, the market was wondering how the likes of Samsung and Apple would respond. There weren’t many betting on HP to make a tablet announcement, so the Slate 7 comes as a bit of a surprise, and ultimately, as a slight disappointment. It’s not new for the internet to react dismissively of a product launched by the likes of HP, but the Slate 7 does deserve some of the bashing that it’s getting.
HP Slate 7 : A Review
Instead of going with their regular choice of the webOS, HP decided to go with stock Android 4.1 this time, and for a sub $200 price tag, they’ve thrown in a mediocre processor, a solitary GB of RAM and a 1024×600 LCD display screen on a 7 inch tablet. A 3.1 megapixel camera, WiFi and Bluetooth don’t really give anyone much hope, but the microSD card slot did get a few nods.
The tablet market is getting interesting now, and the Slate 7 has emerged as a competitor for the Nexus 7 trying to undercut it on price. There’s a long shot of that happening however, as for the perceived discounted price, the product being delivered is extremely sub-par on quality and features. The device is average looking at best, the build quality is average and the entire device doesn’t give much of a “premium” feel and comes across as being a low cost alternative.
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While the Slate 7 has been marketed primarily as an entertainment device and as a gadget for someone who wants entertainment on the go, it’s surprising that it doesn’t have the kind of software customization you’d expect a media-centric tablet to have. Tablet manufacturers like Samsung who have been in the market for a while know the value of there being a slight software add-on, hence their TouchWiz interface for the freshly launched Galaxy Note 8. The HP Slate 7 however, does have a peculiar addition, the ePrint feature, which is essentially HP’s software that prints documents from a mobile device that’s been paired with an HP printer. Doesn’t really sound much like an entertainment device solution if you ask me.
HP Slate 7 or Nexus 7
The bottom line however, is that once a consumer heads out to purchase a tablet and thinks about comparing the Nexus 7 and the HP Slate 7, the obvious advantages of the Nexus will definitely be worthy of the slightly additional price. It’s not like the Slate 7 has undercut the price of the Nexus by half or 40% and the inclusion of ePrint and a microSD slot won’t be enough to sway a decision. Good luck HP, you’re going to need it.
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