Axpad 8E01: Expensive features at low cost

Hong Kong-based Axtrom has launched an eight-inch tablet — the Axpad 8E01 — which aims to offer functions similar to that of an expensive device for much less money.

The tablet runs on the Android Jelly Bean operating system and is powered by dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 1.6GHz processor. The company has done some customisation to the user interface.

The 1024 x 768 IPS capacitive screen is comfortable enough to watch video, listen to music, surf the Internet or read an eBook. It has built-in 1GB RAM plus 8GB internal memory with an option to expand it up to 32GB via an extendable micro-SD Card slot. It has a 4:3 screen ratio instead of the usual 16:9 ratio.

It also has a built-in standard mini-USB and HDMI ports, a 0.3MP front camera and 2MP rear camera. Camera quality is not at all that great as it has low resolution, and don’t even think of taking pictures or videos at night as it does not have a LED flash. The pictures are grainy and washed-out.

The main disadvantage is the positioning of the lens. They are positioned where you hold the tablet in the landscape mode and much of the time my fingers were blocking a portion of the lens. There is no dedicated button for the camera and all the controls are on-screen. While it supports 3G data, it has no voice calling facility.

The Axpad is made of hard plastic and, in landscape mode, all the main slots — headphone jack, charger jack, mini USB, 3G data card slot, micro-SD slot and HDMI port — are on the left side. The power button and volume controller is on top.

A set of accessories — leather case, USB cable, screen protector, two and three power-pin chargers and headphones —come in the box.

The device supports 2G and 3G gaming. Playing Angry Birds and Temple Run was a breeze and even Drag Racing 3D presented no difficulties.

The browser isn’t that fast and it takes time to load a page but flipping between the pages was easy enough. Pinch to zoom in and out of webpages was also fast. I found that placing too many widgets on the home screen caused a delay when rotating the tablet from portrait or landscape.

The audio quality produced by dual speakers on the back of the device is fine but needs more volume. The device offers 3G, Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity.

The 4000mAh battery on the device is worthy of praise. During my tests with WiFi, listening to music, watching videos, using email and surfing the internet, the device lasted for around 12 hours. I watched two full movies and the device still had 15 per cent of juice left. It is priced at Dh899.