The tablet market is expected to have shipped almost 120 million units in 2012 and is expected to grow to over 180 million units in 2013. India accounted for 3 million devices and the tablet market is expected to grow by 100% in 2013 here. It is predicted that in 2013, the tablet market in India would cryztalize into three price points – Rs 5,000-10,000; Rs 15,000-20,000 and over Rs. 35,000
[dropcap]M[/dropcap]ercury, a leading player in computer peripherals entered the Tablet market in 2011 and since then has expanded its mTab range with several models. mTab 7, an entry level tablet was released a couple of months back in October 2012. Since then, there have been a newer competing models from other makers, lets find out if mTab 7 is still relevant in this review.
mTab 7 box contents:
No surprises here, the box contents are pretty as expected
- The tablet
- Charger
- USB cable
- Headset
- Manual
Look and feel of Mercury mTab 7
What really got me interested in this 7 inch tablet is its form factor. For an entry level tablet, mTab looks pretty good. A pleasing black front and an attractive white rear body, bezel width that is not awkward for the 7-inch size and more importantly the curved edges that not only adds a perception of slimness to the tablet but also makes it easy to hold on hands.
Measuring 192mm x 117mm x 12mm and weighing 300 gms, mTab 7 looks dapper thanks to the dual colour and the curved edges…
All the ports, slots plus the power and volume rocker are nested on the right hand side…
The plastic bodied white rear is shiny as well as pleasant…
The rear also indicates the various ports and slots – power on/off button, volume rocker, earphone port, micro USB port, charging port, microSD slot and a reset button, incase of emergency.
Tech Specifications and Performance of mTab 7:
mTab 7 sports a 7″ TFT LCD capacitive touch screen with a screen resolution of 800×480. The tablet is powered by a 1.2 GHz Cortex A8 processor with a 512 MB RAM. It runs on Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich and I don’t think it would ever see the flavour of Jelly Bean on it in future. It has a 4 GB internal storage and an expandable memory upto 32 GB through microSD card. On the front it has a VGA camera for the basic video calls through apps. It supports a full HD video playback and has a 2300 mAh battery. Network connectivity options include Wi-Fi and 3G through micro USB dongle. At the time of launch the specs could have been pretty decent for the entry level budget tablet but technology is growing at a knee jerk speed and just a few months down the lane there are serious and spec-wise more powerful tablets in the similar price range from the likes of Karbonn and Micromax. So the going gets tougher for mTab 7 when we bring out the spec sheet comparison. Otherwise, if you still opt for mTab 7 the tablet does have a decent performance. The touch is good for the segment and the video playback quality is appreciable. Along with a decent browsing experience and ability to handle the most common apps, it does fit the needs of an average entry level customer. [gallery columns="4" ids="1424,1425,1426,1427,1428,1429,1430"]Kobian Mercury mTab 7 price
mTab 7 retails at Rs. 6,499. The tablet seems to be sensibly priced for the decent build quality and performance it delivers. It faces stiff competition from the home grown Tablet makers like Karbonn and Micromax to the newly launched low cost tablet Iconia B1 from Asus. [pros]- Pretty impressive form factor in this segment
- Decent touch experience
- Decent performance
- Stiff competition with better specs at comparable pricing
