NeuTab I7 7'' Google Android 4.4 KitKat ــ- full review

NeuTab I7 7'' Google Android 4.4 full review

NeuTab I7 7 tablet was provided to me for the purposes of evaluation and an honest, unbiased review, which I have done to the best of my ability.

I was skeptical that a 7-inch tablet that sold for $60 (at the time of this review) would be very good. So I was surprised that I enjoyed the NeuTab I7 7'' tablet as much as I did. Head-to-head with a Kindle Fire HDX 7" or a Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 or any of a number of other high-end 7" tablets, the NeuTab loses every time, but those tablets cost much more than the NeuTab. For someone looking for a very inexpensive 7" tablet that has most of the expected features of an Android tablet, the NeuTab may be what you're looking for, with the understanding that it has some real limitations.

NeuTab I7 7'' Google Android 4.4 full review

The tablet is almost pure vanilla Android, and anyone who's already familiar with the Android environment will hardly need the user manual, which is very skimpy anyway. The tablet is running Android version 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean). I asked the manufacturer about an upgrade to Android 4.4 (KitKat) and they said that the upgrade would be available on their website in late July. At least one app from the Google Play Store that I wanted ("Watch TBS") would not install with Jelly Bean - it required 4.4 KitKat. I imagine there are other apps that also need KitKat, so the upgrade should make the tablet more compatible with Android apps.

Wi-fi is very good, although the NeuTab did not detect as many near-by wireless networks as my Kindle Fire and Android phone see. The connection has been stable, even when I moved the tablet well away from my wireless router.

The screen display is 1024x600 (160 dpi). That's the same as one of my other 7" tablets, a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3, so it's not too shabby. I've been streaming some sports from ESPN and watching a couple of videos that I downloaded, and the sharpness and color saturation are very acceptable.

NeuTab I7 7'' Google Android 4.4 full review

With only 4GB of storage, forget about downloading many videos. After accounting for the operating system and some essential apps (browser, email, Google maps, Kindle books, etc., there's only going to be around 2GB of storage available.

The battery life isn't great, but it shouldn't be a deal-breaker. The product description indicates a 6-hour average life for mixed use. I pushed it to the extreme by streaming full-screen video with sound on, and the battery died after about 3:30. Based on that, the 6-hour claim for mixed use is probably pretty accurate.

The audio is just okay from the single speaker on the back of the tablet. With no background noise, the maximum volume is satisfactory, but as with most small tablets that I've used, you may want to have an auxiliary speaker handy when the ambient noise is high.

Attention, here's a possible deal-breaker: No Bluetooth. That means no wireless speakers, wireless keyboards, or other accessories that connect via Bluetooth. There is a workaround for speakers, though. Plug one of those little Bluetooth transmitters into the tablet's 3.5mm audio port, and voilà - you have Bluetooth. But as a practical matter, with the extra cost of the transmitter added to the tablet's cost, you could probably buy a comparable 7" tablet with Bluetooth built-in. But you could also connect a speaker with an audio cable, which is a very inexpensive solution.

There are front and rear cameras, both 0.3MP (640x480). The on-screen camera controls are pretty good, letting you adjust several settings, including zoom, but there's no flash. You can also shoot videos. Both cameras are located in a corner of the tablet, which isn't the best location for Skypeing, but it works.

There are a couple of cool features on the tablet that aren't standard on all tablets today:
* Screenshot - There's no fumbling around trying to remember how to take a screenshot. There's a camera icon at the bottom of the screen. Press it and you've got a screenshot (PNG file format). It couldn't be simpler.
* There is a micro-USB port on the tablet. Sure, all Android tablets have one for connecting to a computer, but with this one, you can insert a USB device like a flash drive and move data back and forth. Using an adapter (not included), I inserted an 8GB flash drive with some MP3 music on it and played several songs from the flash drive.

Just to quickly summarize some other features: The tilt sensors worked well in the games I played. The microphone was excellent in using Google voice search. For expanding the limited storage capacity, the tablet has a micro-SDHC card slot. These cards are so inexpensive now that it hardly makes sense not to add one.

Okay, taking all that into account, I gave the NeuTab 4 stars. It's certainly not comparable to my Kindle Fire HDX or Galaxy Tab 3, but for basic tablet functions, it does the job pretty well at a remarkably low price. I can imagine people buying the NeuTab for an inexpensive backup, or for their kids when they don't want to risk an expensive tablet with them. (And by the way, the tablet plays Angry Birds very nicely.)

This tablet was provided to me for the purposes of evaluation and an honest, unbiased review, which I have done to the best of my ability.

 NeuTab I7 7'' Google Android 4.4 photos