Tesco's new 7in Android tablet, called the Hudl, is family-focused, with kid-friendly features and a beginner's guide to Android built in.
Offering a low-cost alternative to Google's £199 Nexus 7 and Amazon's recently price-cut £119 Kindle Fire HD, Tesco is aiming the £119 Hudl at people who wouldn't ordinarily think of buying a tablet computer.
Design: Soft-touch plastic that feels good in the hand
The Hudl is a colourful Android tablet encased in soft-touch plastic, which makes it easy to hold and feel good in the hand. It's also light enough, like most other 7in tablets, to wield with one hand.
The front of the device is dominated by its 7in high-definition screen. It is both sharp and clear, making text from websites and ebooks easily legible, while TV and movies look good. The screen's viewing angles are also pretty good, which should make sharing videos and pictures with friends and family easy.
The back of the device sports two fairly loud and clear stereo speakers that make for better video viewing.
Specifications
- Screen: 7in HD LCD with 1,440 x 900 pixels
- Processor: 1.5GHz quad-core processor
- RAM: 1GB of RAM
- Storage: 16GB plus microSD slot supporting up to 32GB cards
- Operating system: Android 4.2.2
- Camera: 3-megapixel rear camera, 2-megapixel front-facing camera
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi (a/b/g/n), Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, micro HDMI
- Dimensions: 128.8 x 192.8 x 9.85mm
- Weight: 370g
Powerful enough for web browsing
Tesco has given the Hudl a 1.5GHz quad-core processor, which generally produces a lag-free experience within individual apps. However, with only 1GB of RAM, multi-tasking displays a noticeable burden on the Hudl, with slow transitions between apps and a touch of mildly frustrating lag in certain situations. The Hudl is certainly not the fastest or most powerful 7in tablet out there.
For the most part, the processor copes well enough with the demands of web browsing, sending email and watching YouTube videos, but I found that video and audio could occasionally move out of sync while watching shows via the BBC iPlayer app.
Tesco rates the Hudl's battery life at around nine hours, which proved to be roughly accurate in my testing. It charges quickly via the included mains charger, and lasted for around a day's worth of good general use, including watching videos, reading websites and sending and receiving around 25 emails.
With light or occasional use, you'll have to charge the Hudl about once every two or three days, which is about on par with competing 7in tablets from other manufacturers.
Software: Perfectly usable standard Android
Unlike other 7in Android tablets such as Amazon's Kindle Fire family, Tesco decided to make only minor additions to the standard Google Android ‘Jelly Bean’ experience.
That means users have full, unadulterated access to the Google Play Store, including its 850,000 or so apps, plus movies and music services.
Tesco's only immediately visible addition is a small white T in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen, which acts as a one-tap access button for Tesco's services. These include Tesco's online grocery shop, the Tesco Direct store, Tesco's F&F clothing store, Tesco Clubcard, Mobile network and Tesco bank account access, as well as a store locator.
Tesco has also given Hudl users direct access to its on-demand streaming entertainment services, including Blinkbox movies, music and books, and Tesco's Clubcard TV.
Blinkbox movies works well, offering on-demand movies and TV shows on a pay-as-you-go basis, while Clubcard TV provides free access to a roster of family-aimed streaming TV shows.
Blinkbox music offers free streaming music, while Blinkbox books, which wasn't available at the time of writing, promises to offer access to 600,000 books in the near future.
For the family audience, Tesco has also added account control into the Android 4.2.2 operating system, allowing parents to set up restricted accounts for the kids that prevent access to certain content and applications, including YouTube.
Tesco has also attempted to make Android more accessible to tablet novices with a simple walkthrough guide, instructing the user on setup and general use.
Camera: The results are poor
The camera on the back of the Hudl takes only passable still shots at 3-megapixels, and while it is also capable of capturing high-definition 720p video, the results are poor, full of judder and bordering on unwatchable – certainly in indoor lighting conditions.
The front-facing camera is also anaemic, producing shots with washed-out colours, but does the job well enough for the highly compressed demands of video calling, which will be its primary use.
Price: As little as £6o in Tesco Clubcard vouchers
Available in black, blue, purple and red, price is arguably the Hudl's greatest strength. It's available in-store for £119, but can also be bought with just £60 of Tesco Clubcard vouchers, which represents astounding value if you happen to be a Tesco shopper.
Verdict: A great value tablet
Overall the Tesco Hudl tablet is great value. It's not the best 7in tablet out there, but it holds it own very well compared to similarly priced competition.
It feels good in the hand, has a crisp HD screen, and packs enough punch to handle web browsing, email and general tablet usage without much worry or frustration.
For £119, it's hard to beat the Hudl, and it would make an excellent first tablet for the kids or the grandparents.
- Star rating: 4/5