Linx 7 Tablet review. A budget tablet worth the money. by @jimboireland #Linx7 #Windows #Review

Ok so we are all pretty use to seeing plenty of Android tablets on the market and to be honest most of them if not all that fall under the €109 mark are piles of trash,the specs look good and that is as far as it goes,i have tried many budget tablets running one or another kind of version of Android but below that price is only going to be a headache.

Now we are beginning to see some new Windows tablets coming onto the market and thankfully they are not running on RT which is kind of annoying and basically has no real place in the market now.

So lets look at the outside then we will check out what’s inside and how it performs.

Build quality is quite good its solid and does not feel cheap even though its completely housed in a plastic it has some kind of premium feel to it so we are happy there with this.

The top of the device is i must say somewhat pleasing to look at all the action seems to be in one place so its no fumbling around looking for buttons etc.

On the top we have our camera,home key,headphone socket,USB port,SD card slot and HDMI and down to the right we have our power on/off key and volume toggles.I like how all is place together and it does not look cluttered either.

Specifications.

Windows 8.1 OS,1GB RAM,7 INCH IPS TFT LCD DISPLAY,2 MP FRONT CAMERA,2MP REAR CAMERA,HDMI OUTPUT,43 GB INTERNAL STORAGE,MICRO SD SUPPORT,3,500 MAH BATTERY,BLUETOOTH,WIFI. 

Unboxing of the linx 7 and walkaround 

Ok lets begin with the camera its a 2MP camera and to be honest its poor,it will not be taking any wonderful photos at all,i am by no means any camera expert but the sample below was the best i could get and trying different exposure settings but then again a tablet is not for taking photos and when i see people in the public doing so i can only just laugh but hey people do it but with this tablet no,do not attempt it.

There is no point at all in going into video,i did not bother to be honest with the results from trying to use the camera,another downfall is that you can’t share images once captured which is probably just as well in this case.however the camera is there should you perhaps come across something urgent and do not have a phone at hand.

MUSIC 

For music we use Mix Radio,its not pre installed but you can get it in the app store and it works a treat,no lag,no problems at all we have to say,the speaker is the problem though,placed at the bottom it does from time to time sound a bit tinny,the tablet could of had one on top too to be honest but again its a budget tablet so dont expect top end performance,also you can add your own speaker to it too via the headphone socket to enhance the sound,Mix Radio is free to download from the store and unlocking the features is £4.99 per month,preloading Mix Radio on every Windows Tablet sub 9 inch would be a fantastic idea in my opinion as its a superb service to have..

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Gaming 

Well i was impressed with how it handled games,i am not a huge gamer no more but from time to time i like to check out what’s out there and see how they run same as i do with my Lumia devices,the tablet did not let down here which was good to see.For example we tried FIFA 15 and it worked a treat it did not lag at any stage..

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Apps 

Having such good performance with gaming we expected no issues with apps,this was true all our apps worked fine from social media,Netflix,Office and One Note for example,Browsing the web was also fine using IE,All the preinstalled apps worked like clockwork plus what we have downloaded app wise to our personal taste i was happy with this overall..

Maps.

We are a fan of HERE maps which is also not preinstalled on the device HERE maps is also free to use and download and the benefit of HERE maps is you can use them offline which is a great bonus and proves and much better overall than Google Maps.HERE worked flawlessly we are delighted to say..

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Under the hood.

Intel Atom QUAD CORE, Processor Speed IS 1.83 ghz

Windows 8.1 OS.

16/GB 32GB storage we used the 32GB version in our review this is expandable via SD to 64GB

1GB RAM ,this is not so great but it performed well to be fair with what we threw at it.

Front and rear camera is just 2MP which was its biggest letdown for me..Video res 720p @ 30FPS.

Video files supported H.264, WMV, MP4, AVI, ASF , and Audio files AAC, WMA, MP3, PCM, M4A, WAV, ASF.

Display – Was quite fine to be fair and sporting IPS (1280 X 800) TFT LCD it does the job.

Battery – 3,500 mAh it  will see you a good 3 to 4HRS use if you are heavy on it.

Good points to keep in mind.

HDMI output,this is not something you see on most tablets today even on Android.

One Year of Microsoft Office 365 FREE this is quite handy to have…

Overall my opinion is this is a great tablet for the price which is around €99  you can’t really go wrong,the only big issue with it is its camera and video capabilities ,having said that you don’t buy tablets to take photos but some do,IF you are one of these people stay away from it apart from that it excels many Android tablets in the same price bracket in many ways,again an issue would be apps especially local apps this is another area to consider should you be requiring apps but for the majority the apps are there be it third party or not..Its also a fingerprint magnet too.

Any questions on the Linx 7 Feel free to ask below or we can also assist on Twitter @jimboireland.