I was lucky enough to get some hands on time with the new Argos MyTablet made by Bush at a recent Argos Blogger event. We were given a range of tablets to test out and discuss, but the Argos MyTablet piqued my interest – at £99, it’s one of the lowest cost ‘branded’ Android Tablets available in the UK.
On the surface, it’s a handsome looking device, it’s got a metal back and is proudly ‘Designed in the UK by Bush’. It looks to be a solid device – it’s aimed at the tweenager market and comes in silver or pink. It’s got a very ‘Apple’ look to it – thankfully for Bush, the Apple lawyers probably won’t be knocking as there’s no physical ‘Home’ button. There is a bit of a flex to it, so perhaps the metal chassis could be thicker.
It’s rocking Android 4.2.2 and has a Micro SD slot (up to 32Gb Card supported), there’s a HDMI out to connect the tablet to a TV, and it’s got a front 0.3MP Camera and a rear 2MP Camera. It’s got a 1.2Ghz Dual Core Processor and 1Gb RAM so on paper – it’s pretty good. The supplied charger is proprietary, but you can charge it via Micro USB too apparently
With it being an ‘Argos’ Tablet you’d expect lots of branding, but aside from an Argos app, it’s been kept fairly ‘stock’ Android. There is a weird ‘screenshot’ button which is persistently next to the ‘Back’ button. There are a few pre-installed apps, including iPlayer, ITV Player, DoubleTwist Music Player, Angry Bird and a Bush Support App.
An obvious area that has been scrimped on to get the price down is the screen – it’s a disappointment – they really should have dumped the back camera and improved the display. It’s a sad 1024 x 600, the aspect ratio looks a little off – so round icons are ovals. Colour reproduction is dreadful and viewing angles are average at best. It kind of reminds me of the screens you’d see on one of the first wave of Android devices, it IS capacitive, and has 5 point multi-touch. Perhaps, you could excuse it as it’s for younger people – BUT – the screen on the Hudl is so much better (1440 x 900 resolution) and only £20 more.
Using the device is an average experience, you do have the dual core processor, but it feels a bit laggy at times. I suppose I’ve been spoilt by the nippy Nexus, and a speedy Samsung and I do need to remember this is a budget device aimed for youngsters, but they aren’t known for patience.
It’s really hard to recommend the Argos MyTablet, when you have the Tesco Hudl, Amazon Kindle Fire, and Nexus 7 breathing down its neck. If your budget it limited to sub £100, then there really is no better choice – perhaps there can be a few tweaks made to improve it with subsequent firmware updates. But it is a shame that the screen is so weak, because very little can be done with that! It’s a decent first effort, and I’m sure the price point will shift them this Christmas!
Massive thanks to Argos and markettiers4dc for giving me he time to play with the MyTablet and lots of other techy goodness! 🙂
No surprises there then!
Sub £100, you’re much better picking up a Nook HD whilst there is still stock. Much better than this!