One should not expect too much from a tablet. Tablets are simply made for on-the-go productivity and aren’t meant to replace a laptop or a smartphone. Take the ARNOVA 7d G3, for instance. It’s just a regular tablet with basic functions. It has no retina display, no special stylus, and no unique kickstand with a keyboard. That’s perfectly fine in my opinion; tablets are meant to consume content, not create it. This is why it is reasonable to settle on a basic low-cost tablet like the device at hand.
The ARNOVA 7d G3 is a 7-inch tablet that runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and packs a 1GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor with 1GB of RAM. It comes with 4GB of internal storage, which is expandable to 32GB with a microSD card. The device is Wi-Fi only, although it’s capable of utilizing 3G through a USB module.
Though its shell is plastic, it’s still very solid. The thing I love the most about the device is that it’s slim and lightweight, being as thin as an Archie Double Digest and weighing only half as much as your typical compact camera. This made it easy for me to pack it in my bag and carry it around.
This tablet is a pretty straightforward device, as it hosts no special ports or buttons. Flanked on its side are the power button, a LED indicator, a microUSB port, a 3.5mm standard audio jack for your headphones, and a reset button. The front face holds the 7-inch capacitive touchscreen with an 800 x 480 display (16:9 aspect ratio), and the device’s speakers. The tablet has an accelerometer that lets you use it in whichever orientation you’re comfortable with.
Also on the front face of the device are a camera and a mic. The device doesn’t have a back camera, which makes it difficult to take pictures because you can’t frame your shot the way you normally do. Having the camera on the front face, though, allows you to make and take video calls. One has to note, however, that its placement on the right side of the screen makes it ideal only when you use it in portrait orientation.
While it runs on Android, some of the apps from Google Play aren’t compatible with the device. This is why the brand carries its own app store—the AppsLib. Here you can find dozens of apps for your ARNOVA device.
The device has some performance issues. For one thing, it doesn’t do well when several apps are running. Oftentimes I had to deal with apps being frozen or suddenly not responding, and I had to restart them several times. I also encountered lags with the device’s touch screen when I used it for browsing and gaming.
Another issue is its battery life. I was surprised that I had to plug it into a wall socket for nearly 6 hours just to get a full charge. The battery lasts for an average of only 4 hours of heavy use, which includes gaming, browsing and multimedia playback. It isn’t practical for something that’s made for the convenience of portability to have a short battery life.
Despite the device’s weaknesses, it still served its purpose. I was able to browse, watch videos, play games, read e-Books, and edit documents (using the Office Suite app) while I was on the go. The device became very helpful to me, in particular, since I’m not a smartphone owner and it eliminated the need for me to lug around my laptop to perform basic office and multimedia tasks.
Even if the capture quality of the built-in camera isn’t stellar, the device’s multimedia playback is pretty good. Despite the resolution of the screen, I was able to enjoy watching videos. The tablet supports playback for H.264 video files up to 1080p resolution, as well as AVI, MP4, MKV, MOV and FLV videos. I really appreciated the device’s sound quality, which wasn’t too loud, but clear and audible enough for me to enjoy watching videos without my headphones on.
The price of the ARNOVA 7d G3 is very attractive, at only PHP 5,990, which is a good enough deal for a decent tablet that gives you basic functions and features. However, if you’re looking for something more special, you should probably look elsewhere as ARNOVA has yet to come up with a tablet with super powers.
What’s Hot:
Slim and lightweight
Affordable
What’s Not:
Laggy touchscreen response
Does not do well with multiple apps running
Short battery life
Bottomline: The ARNOVA 7d G3 is nothing special, but it sure is handy and portable enough to use when you’re on the go.
Buy Meter: 3.0/5.0
Tech Specs:
- OS: Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
- CPU: 1GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor
- Display: 7-inch Capacitive MultiTouch Screen (800 x 480 pixels resolution)
- Physical Dimensions: 223mm x 142mm x 12.2mm
- Weight: 340g
- Memory: 1GB RAM, 4GB ROM (expandable via microSD)