Flipkart Digiflip Pro ET701 Hands-on And First Look: A Decent Android Tablet For Mass Consumption

Rating:

4.0/5

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PROS

• Simple and Elegant Design
• Affordable Price
• Fast and zippy processor

CONS

• Dated Android Jelly Bean
• Poor camera

The term "affordable device" is often used by lead manufacturers and analysts. The demand for cost effective devices will likely to increase, especially in developing countries like India. Analysts also claim that the entry-level devices with above average specifications and features could work well on the targeted consumers. There's still a huge potential (in contest to tablet devices) penetration in India, with more vendors likely to increase their presence in this very segment.

To harness the growth of tablet consumption in the country, Flipkart - India's largest e-commerce retailer and Intel have come together to challenge leading players in the tablet business. Interestingly, this is Intel's second collaboration with a domestic retailer to launch tablets here in the country. The company had previously inked a deal with Croma to launch Windows-powered 2-in-1 laptops and tablets.

Addressing the needs of millions of Indian consumers, Flipkart and Intel have jointly launched five new tablets - all powered by Intel's Atom chipset. The range starts at Rs. 5,999 for a 7-inch Wi-Fi only model, dubbed as ET701. The other models, with 8 and 9-inch displays offers 3G connectivity and voice calling features, to name a few.

The 7-inch model, Digiflip Pro ET701, appears to be a practical tablet with a 1024 x 600-pixels resolution display, a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of native storage a microSD card slot, Android 4.2 Jelly Bean on-board and a 2800mAh battery fitted inside.

At the launch event, we've got to explore the Digiflip Pro ET701 tablet. Here's our first expression of the new budget Android Jelly Bean tablet. Dive in!

Flipkart Digiflip Pro ET701- Form Factor, Design, Display and Operating System (OS)

This is the most promising tablet launched under the Digiflip Pro series. The ET701 is a great looking tablet, given its affordable price tag. The slate's design feels great in hand, while the chrome metallic edge gives it a more mature feel.

Its plastic made rear casing need not necessarily stun you for sure, but we loved the fact that the back isn't finger magnet. In fact, it seemed resistance to sticky fingers.

The tablet is neither tall nor thick that's made it comfortable to carry on long trips. We found that you can use the device for longer durations of time.

But there are few design indiscrepencies that could have been avoided. For instance, the power button is rather thin, though, so you don't get tactile feedback. Otherwise, this is a high quality tablet in our opinion.

Equipped with a 7-inch display having a resolution of 1024 x 600, the screen isn't that bright and effective. The 1,024 x 600 7-inch is not sharp by today's standards. Meanwhile, texts appear crisp and as good as any other tablet in the same league.

If you are unhappy with the brightness, there is an option to adjust screen color count. The viewing angles are accurate, though colors seemed imperfect and washed out. Since the tablet is priced under Rs. 7,000 price slab, the fitted 7-inch screen should be appropriate for an average user.

The Digiflip Pro ET701 runs the dated Android 4.2 Jelly Bean out-of-the box. If you are a prior Android user, you'll feel cheated. Wait. The company promises to update the device to the latest Android 4.4 (KitKat) sometime by October, an executive over at Intel India told GizBot.

The UI is pretty much standard , but there are a few notable additions. For instance, you'll get to see Flipkart and Myntra apps pre-loaded on the tablet itself. Otherwise, you still get the benefit of the Android experience.