Swipe Ultimate Tablet Review: Is it Good For Business?

Swipe has come out with the Swipe Ultimate Tablet which is aimed at replacing your laptop and believe me if it weren't for a couple things it would do just that. Basically the low-end 10-inch Windows 8 tablet can also function as a laptop thanks to its keyboard segment.

This isn't a true laptop replacement, but for Rs. 20,000 it is a great-value, honest device for students. Read our Swipe Ultimate review to find out why.

PROS

• Impressive Form Factor and Design
• Magnetic Keyboard
• Great Battery Life
• Retail Price

CONS

• Outdated Processor
• Disappointing Camera

BUILD QUALITY AND DESIGN

In the box, in addition to the Swipe Tablet we also get a magnetic keyboard to turn the tab into a fully functioning laptop. We'll get into the keyboard a bit later but the Swipe Tablet itself has quite a nice design. First off the tablet weighs around 580 grams which is not that heavy but when it is paired with the keyboard it gets to be quite heavy.

The bezels around the screen are not that big and when you look at it from the front it looks clean and slick. The back has very coarse texture which makes it easy to hold onto. Speaking about the back we also have a 5MP camera with no flash. Around the back you will find all the names for the different ports printed out. There are many if that's what you are thinking. The bottom of the tab is where you will find the magnetic connector for the keypad. The power button and volume rockers are on the top.

The overall design of the tablet is quite nice and definitely a step up from the previous Swipe product that I reviewed. All the parts used seem to be of good quality, except for one thing that I noticed which is that the power button does not always respond when pressed.

HARDWARE

Okay Swipe, you are trying to replace a laptop or give a laptop experience. So what do you pack into your laptop and how do you power it? Let's see what Swipe has done.

We have a 1.3 Ghz Quad-Core Intel Atom CPU. Intel Atom is quite an old processor and if you expected the Tab to be slow because of that, well the Tablet is not as slow as you would expect. There might be a stutter hear and there but it's something you can live with. Memory wise you will get 2GB of RAM and 32GB of ROM. 2GB of RAM is not really enough for a laptop but like I said it is manageable but what I cannot manage with is 32Gb of ROM. Note that you don't get 32GB of free space but 24Gb and by time you install the necessary software you will be left with 18-19Gb of free space.

How do I manage with that? There is one way which brings me to the next topic, the various ports. So the Swipe Ultimate comes with a micro sim slot, micro SD slot, mini HDMI, micro USB, USB 3.0, headphone jack and a 5V charging port. So the USB 3.0 will really help you expand your memory. This feature along with the mini HDMI, provide lots of functionality.

The Screen/Display on the Swipe tablet is 10.1" and has a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. Now the display works decently with visible pixels but it does not give you that effect of a full HD display.

To describe the Hardware on this laptop in one word it would be ‘decent'.

MAGNETIC KEYBOARD

It's nice that swipe has included a keyboard with the tablet and even though it meets all the requirements the quality is just not there. The keys don't respond well and the trackpad is quite a hassle to work with. One thing that is good about the magnetic keyboard is the ease of connection, all you have to do is pop it on and it's up and working. No settings to be tinkered with. The quality of the keyboard could massively increase.

SOFTWARE

The Swipe Ultimate runs Windows 8.1 which is quite familiar. The software works very nicely and there is not much lag if any at all. It's nice to have a tablet version of windows and for someone always on the go having a laptop in your bad would be paramount. Office 365 subscription for 1 year comes absolutely free with the tablet and this is also crazy because outside this software costs around Rs.5000. Software is one of the winning points of this tablet.

BATTERY

Now with an 8000mah battery you would expect a pretty good battery life, and well you do get a pretty good battery life. Whatever I did on the tablet the battery did not disappoint me.

CAMERA

The camera is not a major selling point of the tablet. The quality is not great and it's added more as a feature than a real use. You don't see many people carrying around a tab to take pictures. Both the primary 5MP and secondary 2Mp camera are not great, but just okay.

CONCLUSION

The Swipe Ultimate Tablet is a winner if you're looking for a portable laptop on the go. But if price is not the issue and power is the requirement, the Microsoft Surface Pro would be a much better option. For Rs. 20,000 you get a good product. Kudos Swipe.