In the gunfight between companies like Micromax, iBall and Karbonn, Chinese major Huawei has walked in with a Bazooka – a full-HD-plus, LTE enabled 10-inch tablet that is more than 12% lighter than iPad 4.
Next to the iPad 4, the Huawei MediaPad 10 FHD will be the tablet with the greatest specifications in the Indian market. However, like the iPad 4, the MediaPad 10 FHD too has not been launched yet. The Huawei tablet will be available next month, and the price too will be announced closer to the launch, the company said.
Going by the trend, the MediaPad 10 is likely to cost in the range of Rs 32,000-37,000, or about 10,000 or so cheaper than a similarly speced iPad 4.
There is very little that the Huawei tablet has been left wanting and it has nearly everything that modern technology can provide for in a tablet today.
At its heart lies a K3v2 Cortex-A9 1.4GHz quad-core processor and a 16-core GPU. In comparison, it was only three weeks ago that iBall launched India’s first dual-core powered tablet in the affordable category.
It has a more-than-full-HD display. In other words, while the Asus Eee Pad Transformer TF300TG, priced at Rs 42,200 in India, has 2 million pixels (dots) on its display, the Huawei model has 2.3 million pixels. When launched in December, the MediaPad 10 will have the display with the highest resolution in the Indian market.
The best part, however, is that Huawei, known for its cost-effective, yet highly advanced devices, is guaranteed to cut high-end Android tablet prices in the country.
The IPS-enabled MediaPad 10 has the features to hit the Samsung Galaxy Note 800, priced at Rs 37,500, simply out of the park. The Samsung Note 800, for example, has a display that has just 1 million pixels, though it does have a 1.4 GHz quad core processor like the Huawei model.
Despite having superior specifications, however, the Huawei MediaPad 10 FHD is likely to be priced at the same level or below what the Galaxy Note 800 is priced at.
The tablet is housed in a sleek aluminium-alloy body, is only 8.8mm thick and weigs only 580g, less than both the latest iPad and the Galaxy 800.
“The 16:10 golden ratio (of the display) is providing optimal screen viewing for gaming and high definition video,” Huawei said. IPS technology ‘raises’ the LCD picture to nearly the glass-level, making the picture clearer from all angles.
The tablet also has an 8 megapixel autofocus rear-facing camera that records 1080p HD videos and a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera and comes with 5.1 Dolby surround sound technology.
The Android 4.0 ICS device supports 150 Mbps LTE and 84 Mbps HSPA+, in addition to Wi-Fi and ‘normal’ 3G. It has a 6600mAh battery that provides more than 10 hours of continuous usage, the company said.
“With a keyboard add-on, the MediaPad 10 FHD can be transformed into an ultra-book, and its VGA and HDMI output and office software compatibility supports all your business and entertainment needs,” it added.
The MediaPad 10 FHD also supports Ethernet access via a USB adapter cable, allowing users to connect using the normal cable in their office or at home.
The company already has a 7-inch, 3G-enabled tablet in the Indian market that comparable in specifications to the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2.
However, at Rs 13,700, the tablet is about one-third cheaper than the Samsung model, which is priced at Rs 19,300.
The seven inch tablet, however, is powered by a single-core 1.2 GHz processor. In almost all other features, it is equivalent to the Samsung model.
It has an 1024 x 600 pixel IPS multi-touch display and built-in 3G.
