Great little tablet for the money (bought new for $97 in early 2017).
Context: I bought two of these for our kids to use (rather than have them destroy $400 iPads/galaxy tablets). Compare this product to
Fire HD 8 Tablet with Alexa, 8" HD Display, 32 GB, Black - with Special Offers
. The Fire boasts slightly more ram (1.5GB versus 1.0 GB), and I'm sure if I knew about processors the Fire would have a better processor, but this tablet's party pieces are:
Wins:
1. Attachable keyboard: This tablet has a magnetic attaching keyboard (similar in concept to a Microsoft Surface). Keyboard performs well, and tablet seems to recognize it the instant it is attached (no waiting for Blue Tooth Pairing). Keyboard can be attached front or rear facing, and fits snug into position (though I'm sure if you tried, you could shake the tablet and keyboard apart, potentially damaging your tablet, but again, you'd have to try for that). Honestly, the keyboard is what sold me on this tablet!
2. Large Display: this tablet boasts an 11.5 inch display (though the resolution is not great).
3. 32 GB Storage: competitive amount of storage space for this price point
4. Ports: tablet has TONS of ports: Mini HDMI, AC Power*, Micro USB, 3.5MM headphone jack, USB, Micro SD, also microphone, cameras (front and rear), and a speaker
5. Features: full Android 6.0 Marshmellow OS (not a watered down Kindle OS)
6. Connectivity: Blue Tooth, Wifi --nothing wanting in this department
*Tablet can be charged via the Micro USB port (just like any other tablet), or the AC Power port (AC Power cord included). Not sure why RCA felt the need to include a redundant changing mechanism, but okay. I'd rather they just included USB charging, and took the $3.00 - $5.00 off the price of the tablet, as it's just one more cord to keep track of (and honestly, we'll probably never use them since USB cords have infested our house).
Where it's lacking:
Keep in mind, this is designed to be an entry-level tablet. . . like for kids/tweens/teens entry level. If you are buying this for a blazing fast, visually stunning tablet experience, you will HATE this tablet. The screen resolution will not wow you (it's not terrible, just not great). I purchased this for my young children to do homework on/watch some Netflix on. With that said:
1. Clunky: the tablet has a rather thick and clunky (read: cheap) feel to it. There is no pretentiousness about it. It is not pretending to be a sleek and sexy tablet. It's more a grown-up
TI-108 Elementary Calculator
(man that brings back memories of getting my friends to key in 7734 on those things back in the 3rd and 4th grades!. Despite it's plastic feel, it does feel sturdy and solid. you can hand this off to a toddler relatively confident that at the worst it will come back with a smeared screen (but what the kid smeared on the screen can leave nightmares!)--this thing's not military grade, but it's no egg shell.
2. Resolution: If there is a shortcoming to this tablet, it's the resolution. I've struggled to find any hard figures on the screen resolution on amazon's page. If you meander over to Wal Mart's website (where it currently sells for $20 less than Amazon, by the way!), I was able to find the resolution listed as 1024 x 600. Compare that to the Fire HD with a 10.1-inch display's resolution of 1280 x 800, or the iPad Air's resolution (on a 9.7 inch display) of 2048 x 1536 --literally, double the resolution on a screen nearly 2 full inches smaller! (Granted, you're paying roughly 5 times more for that 2x resolution and the processing power that comes with it).
3. Performance: While not great, the performance is acceptable for the price. If you're looking for blazing fast computing at this price point, you're a few years out at least.
Conclusion: great tablet and excellent value for the money. Tablet is by no means "future-proof" (there are probably apps already out there this thing would struggle with), but this thing seems to be exactly what I was looking for in a tablet for my kiddos. Well-played, RCA.
| Standing screen display size | 11.5 Inches |
|---|---|
| Screen Resolution | 1200x800 |
| Max Screen Resolution | 1200x800 |
| Processor | 1.3 GHz intel_atom |
| RAM | 1 GB DDR_SDRAM |
| Hard Drive | 32 GB SSD |
| Card Description | Integrated |
| Wireless Type | 802.11bgn |
| Number of USB 2.0 Ports | 1 |
| Average Battery Life (in hours) | 6 Hours |
