Rating: 4/5
Review:
A good tablet/notebook
I was kindly sent this Windows 10 tablet/notebook for my objective review. I think it is very good.
The packaging is a nice, sturdy cardboard box in which you get the tablet itself, the keyboard/cover, a mains charger, and a micro-USB lead. There's also a manual which is adequate, if not brilliant. It's fine as a quick-start guide, but if like me you're new to the touch-screen Windows 10, you'll need extra help.
The tablet itself is very good. It is robustly made, elegant and good to use. The back is metal and the screen is very good to my eyes: it's bright with good, true colours and has a good tolerance of viewing angle. It has Bluetooth (which is very solid) and ports for USB and HDMI and 3.5mm jack so connectivity is good. Set-up was simple (after a bit of a wait for Widows to update itself), wi-fi connection was easy and remains solid, and syncing with my Windows/Hotmail account was quick and trouble-free.
The keyboard/case is very good. It's soft but durable and ingeniously designed to form a stand which is great on a solid surface although not so stable on your lap without a tray or similar underneath it. The keyboard is excellent and it's like using a normal laptop. (I did find that the connection to the keyboard kept dropping out to begin with. It's easily sorted out by lifting the tablet off and replacing it, but it was annoying. However, it's happening much less as time goes on, so I think it may be a teething problem which will go away.)
The specs are a little basic and in particular the cameras aren't great (2mp front and rear), but the tablet performs very well for what I need. Battery life is around 4 hours with my usage which is enough for me. It boots pretty quickly and programs run without any delays. I don't game or use social media and I don't multi-task much so I can't comment on these things; my usage is mainly TV, music, web browsing, email and some work in programs like Word and Excel. The tablet is just fine for all of these and everything I want just runs smoothly and without problems. Playing and streaming video is smooth (although it does occasionally struggle a little when using Bluetooth at the same time). The speakers aren't bad for a tablet (which isn't saying much, I know) and through headphones or an external speaker the sound is excellent, both wired and via Bluetooth. Obviously, it's a tablet not a laptop so it has no internal hard-drive, but working with external memory seems fine, and for most things I want it's really good.
Pretty obviously, lots of Android apps don't run on a Windows tablet. I can do most of what I want (like watching TV) via the browser, which I find excellent, but if you have a lot of favourite Android apps you'd need to check carefully that you can do what you want in Windows 10.
It's probably worth saying that this tablet has a pin-plug charger rather than charging via micro-USB, so you'll need to take the charger with you if you're going to need extended use. Not really a problem, but it's not as convenient as just micro-USB.
Overall, I think this is a very good tablet/notebook. It has some limitations, but it's well made and it just works for me. It will depend on what you want it for, but if a Windows tablet with slightly basic specs in some areas will suit your needs I can warmly recommend this one. It's a good product which I enjoy using.
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