Huawei Ideos S7 Slim Tablet

What it Does

The Huawei Ideos S7 Slim Tablet is a 7-inch tablet that is 12.5 mm thick and weighs a mere 15.5 ounces. While the majority of tablets come in at 10", there is something to be said about a smaller tablet which is still big enough to not be considered a cell phone. Some people find the 10" of the XOOM and iPad 2 too big for their needs. They want something bigger than their cell phone, but they don't want to haul around anything too large. If you find yourself in between the two categories of cell phone and full-blown tablet, consider the Huawei as a legitimate option.

The screen is 800x480 WVGA HD. This is another aspect which falls below some of the specifications of other tablets, but isn't a deal breaker depending on what you want to do with it. If you want to watch movies on it then this might not be the best for you, but if you're buying a tablet for simple Internet browsing then this shouldn't be a big deal. It is multi-touch which means you don't have to touch only one thing at a time. This is something all tablets feature because if it didn't it wouldn't sell at all.

It has a 1 GHz Qualcomm processor which is powerful enough to handle browsing the Internet and crisp gaming, while being efficient enough not to hinder the 8 hours of battery life which makes it competitive with all the tablets on the market. It runs the Android 2.2 Froyo operating system which means it doesn't have as new an operating system as the XOOM and other Honeycomb operating system tablets. That doesn't mean it's worse, however. Flipping through the different desktops works differently, and it may not look as smooth, but it still works very efficiently. Froyo is an excellent operating system for multi-tasking, using widgets, accessing your photo gallery, and switching between multiple windows. Being an Android tablet also means you get access to the 200,000+ apps in the Android Market. When thinking about the types of apps available to you, it's better to try and think of apps that they don't have.

Use the Integrated Social Network Status program to get in touch with contacts from all the popular social networking sites via a single interface. This can greatly reduce the amount of time you spend updating your Facebook, Twitter, etc. Whether or not that is a good thing is up to you. Use Microsoft Outlook-Exchange to access your e-mails. Since Android 2.2 is Flash supported, you will get PC-like web browsing. You can browse your browsing history by day and/or date so you can always find that site you went to but forgot to bookmark. If you want, you can sync your computers bookmarks to the Huawei Ideos S7 Slim Tablet and make it an extension of your home computer.

Play games with the Huawei Ideos S7 Slim Tablet, or use it as an e-reader. Use the 3.5mm headphone jack to plug in your favorite pair of headphones. There is a microSD slot which lets you expand the memory of the tablet by up to 16 GB. Use the 3.2 MP rear camera or the .3 MP front camera to take pictures or shoot video and send it to your friends. The rear camera is adequate but the front camera has pretty poor resolution. If you plan on taking a lot of pictures or video I'd try to use the rear camera as often as possible.Other ports include a USB and HDMI, so you can easily connect with a computer or HDTV. It has Bluetooth 2.1 technology so you can connect any Bluetooth device, such as a wireless headset. Some more advanced features include a gravity and light sensor. These help it adjust the screen brightness based on the lighting in the room, and aid in the gameplay of certain games. The last thing I'll mention is that the Huawei Ideos S7 Slim Tablet has a detachable battery. While this doesn't sound particularly useful it is something almost no other tablet can offer.

Cost - $299.99. The tablet only comes in a Wi-Fi version so you don't have to worry about another price point for a version with 3G or 4G technology.

Sources:

http://phandroid.com/2011/02/14/huawei-ideos-s7-slim-wont-hold-a-candle-to-honeycomb-tablets-mwchands-on/

http://mycellphonereviews.com/huawei-ideos-s7-slim-price-review-specs.html

http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/16/huawei-ideos-s7-pro-tablet-sneaks-out-coming-this-spring/