Beetel MAGIQ Tab: Brief hands-on with the low-cost tablet

The low budget tablet battle is well and truly on. After the Reliance 3G Tab (yes, we did thehands-on and a detailed review elsewhere on this website), the Beetel MAGIQ tablet has arrived in our test center. This is essentially the Huawei IDEOS S7.

Here are some initial impressions and exclusive images of the MAGIQ.

1. The build quality is pretty good. There seems to be a bit of everything- brushed metal look, chrome and a bit of silver too.
2. This tablet is definitely thicker and heavier than the Reliance 3G Tab.
3. The integrated kickstand is a thoughtful feature, particularly if you are watching a video.
4. Display quality is better than the Reliance 3G Tab - colours are slightly richer and the text is crisp in a sharp way, and not a crude way.
5. The MAGIQ’s 7-inch resistive touchscreen doesn’t feel very good, at least not in the short time we have used this tablet. This is a resistive touchscreen. The Reliance 3G Tab’s touchscreen was just so much better.
6. A minimalist UI skin is wrapped around Android, and the multiple home screen category tabs (these are separate from the multiple home screens) just give you a lot of space to put up various widgets.
7. Comes preloaded with Android 2.2.2 version, and the OS performance seems quite okay.
8. Dual cameras- one on the front and one at the back. Both 2MP, and the picture and video quality aren’t very good. Lot of noise in the snaps, and videos are rough at best.
9. Slightly weird way to access the battery and the SIM card slot. Lift up the kickstand, remove the cover, do whatever you need to, slide the cover in and slot it back between the kickstand and close the kickstand. Whew!
10. What we feel is that the Beetel MAGIQ, despite its share of drawbacks, does offer a very viable option to the budget tablet buyer.
    At just under Rs 10000, the MAGIQ is slightly less expensive than the Reliance 3G Tab.
    Meanwhile, here are some pics of the Beetel MAGIQ tablet, in our test centre:

    ---

    

    This is it! The MAGIQ has arrived!
     

    

    The box pack isn't anything extraordinary. Just carries the essentials.
     

    

    The internals, well, sort of. The MAGIQ is has a 2200 mAh battery. The sim card slot is right next to the battery bay.
     

    

    This is the integrated kickstand we were talking about.
     

    

    We quite like the display quality of the MAGIQ. The colours seem quite vivid, and the text is quite sharp.

    

    Made by Huawei. Comes preloaded with Android 2.2 version.
     

    

    The Home, Menu and Return keys on the left of the display. These are not touch sensitive, but are hardware keys.
     

    

    On the other side of the display are the call buttons, and the navigation trackpad.