Tablet Hands-On Roundup
by Vivek Gowri on January 27, 2011 10:25 AM ESTEnspert was one of the most promising of the numerous new tablet makers we caught up with at CES. Enspert is the new name of Inbrics, a Korean company that made Android-based smartphones, and they were showing off a range of smart looking new Android tablets.
Let’s start with the S200 home phone tablet. It’s a combination of a 7” tablet and a VoIP phone, and is designed to be a media convergence hub. The tablet itself has an aluminum front face, with a white plastic backing. The build quality is solid, and the design is definitely attractive. The 7” screen has a disappointingly low 800 x 480 WVGA resolution, but is otherwise bright and has acceptable viewing angles. Interestingly, the Enspert tablets are all running Samsung’s Hummingbird SoC (1GHz Cortex A8 and PowerVR SGX 540, for those that don’t remember) with 512MB of RAM, so they’re on par with the Galaxy Tab as far as computing power goes. The rest of the spec sheet is fairly standard - 4GB ROM, SD card slot, front facing camera, mini-HDMI, mini-USB, WiFi, and Bluetooth, but the one fairly major blemish on the spec sheet is Android 2.1. Eclair was over a year ago, guys, get with the program. Enspert promises an update to Froyo shortly, but I’ll believe it when I see it.
The E201 is Enspert’s first entry to the Android tablet space, and it has the same basic configuration as the S200’s tablet. That means Hummingbird, 7” WVGA, mini-HDMI, WiFi, Bluetooth, and Android 2.1. It also has an aluminum chassis (aluminum panels instead of a unibody construction like the iPad), and is set to hit Best Buy shelves for around $200 later this quarter. For the price, it feels pretty good, but the lack of Froyo is a big deal. As with the S200, an upgrade to 2.2 is promised soon.
The newest and most promising Enspert tablet is the E301. Designed as the successor to the E201, it’s set to hit market later this year as a higher end alternative to the E201. The specs are pretty similar, with three major upgrades: a 1024x600 WSVGA 7” display, Android 2.2, and updated industrial design. It’s still an aluminum sandwich, but it’s a cleaner design that’s less reminiscent of the iPad. With the small lip on the right side and the capacitive buttons, the design is actually a bit like the OpenPeak tablet that we saw at IDF. The entire chassis is aluminum and glass, so it feels like a very high quality product. Definitely one of the more well-designed new tablets we’ve played with recently. Enspert has partnered with one of the three largest US carriers to sell the E301 for a subsidized price on the good side of $300, and if they can deliver on their promise to have Gingerbread by the time the device releases, it’ll be a very interesting addition to the 7” tablet market.
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KLC - Thursday, January 27, 2011 - link
You say the UI of the Notion Ink is colourful but later you say the transreflective display is monochromatic. You call it the Adam but the photo gallery calls it the Eden.zebrax2 - Thursday, January 27, 2011 - link
Adam is the tablets name while Eden is the name of the UI.vol7ron - Thursday, January 27, 2011 - link
Why are all the tablets so small? Why can't they introduce something slightly bigger than the iPad. I'd like an 8x11.5 screen.softdrinkviking - Tuesday, March 29, 2011 - link
i think the issue is that larger tablets are a bit too cumbersome when you actually start using them.the bigger, heavier size ones are uncomfortable to hold for long periods of time, and they don't really prop-up well by themselves like a laptop.
they probably did test groups and people whined about the bigger ones. maybe they figured over 10" might as well be a laptop.
metafor - Thursday, January 27, 2011 - link
I believe the Notion Ink is a dual-mode display. When in reflective mode (e-reader), it's monochromatic. When it's back-lit, it functions as an LCD.tipoo - Thursday, January 27, 2011 - link
Its a hybrid display, its a colour LCD like the iPad and other tablets, but it can also become a e-ink display like the Kindle.Shadowmaster625 - Thursday, January 27, 2011 - link
Just because a few million dumb yuppies can afford to throw away $500+ on a tablet does not mean there is a market for a bunch of cheap knockoffs that just happen to not be cheap at all. These things are way way WAY too expensive for what they are. They offer nothing above and beyond what you can get with an ipod touch. If they cannot bring it to market for $149 or lower it is a waste of time. If they think they're gonna get away with charging $500 I hope they all go out of business.HibyPrime1 - Thursday, January 27, 2011 - link
It doesn't matter if they're too expensive for what they are, thats pretty much how all new things in the tech world start out. Remember before the iPad was released everyone was expecting it to be $800-1200?Besides, tablets are a legitimate alternative to a laptop for those that aren't using it as a productivity tool. These tablets have productivity apps, but really thats kind of a misnomer with these things.
I can't for the life of me understand why you say they don't offer anything above and beyond an iPod touch? It literally takes a half second glance to see that they are very different form factors. The screen size is the main selling point of a tablet vs ipod touch/smart phone.
With all that said, I don't think this form factor will last all that long. I think Motorola has the right idea with the Atrix, in my opinion that is the future of mobile computing.
Shadowmaster625 - Thursday, January 27, 2011 - link
They are bigger than an ipod but the screen resolution is the same, or less. So all you're getting for twice the price is the ability to hold it 1 foot further away. That's retarded. Anyone who spends $200 to hold something 1 foot further away needs to have their job outsourced to a monkey.maxhdrm - Wednesday, February 2, 2011 - link
Are you kidding me? It sounds like YOUR job has already been outsourced to a monkey by the lack of research you have done. I have a Velocity Micro Cruz color eReader with tablet functionality that I bought @ best buy for $99. Sure, it is only 800X600 but not that far from the Ipod touch. The Samsung Galaxy...600X1024 WSVGA, Props goes to Ipad for the one of the highest but C'mon there are plenty that will be the Ipod touch and yah it is nice to read an eBook that isn't in a 2pt font or having to scroll all over the touch.Moreover, while I am at it why in hell would I want something bigger than 7"? A 10" tablet is the same size as a netbook why not just sticks with a netbook for a cheaper price and way more functionality. IMO 7" is a good form factor and just because the price isn't insane doesn't mean it's crap. It’s called research. More places like fry's are putting out demos so consumers can interact with said tablets. Apple aside...EVERYONE is running android so it comes down to the "perks" that a tablets puts in, which ones you like and the openness of the tablet.
This leads me to my biggest concern. As so many forums have posted about Samsung (mainly Verizon phones) phones running android, just how easy is it going to be to update these devices to the newest OS or is the industry "sucker punching" consumers by only allowing us to update via a newer device? Google needs to pass these updates along and ALL tablet device makers need to be allowed accessibility for OS updating.
This should be every consumers concern otherwise they will sneek this under the radar