Huawei’s leaked MediaPad X1 hopes to disrupt the 7 inch tablet market

Huawei is not stopping with taking the war to Samsung’s doorsteps with its MediaPad Youth2 to counter the Galaxy Tab 3 Lite. It seems like we should expect to see the Chinese company offer matching quality devices at each range. Be it the 8 inch category, the 10 inch category or the 7 inch category. With the likes of Samsung already releasing 12 inch tablets and the rumour mill not relenting on news of a 12 inch iPad, expect Huawei to show up at that party very soon. For now, a leak from Chinese certification site Tenaa suggests that Huawei’s next assault will be on the 7 inch tablet category soon.

Going by the model number 7D-501L, the Huawei MediaPad X1 is said to pack a 7 inch 1920×1200 (323 ppi just like the Amazon Kindle HDX), a custom made Huawei processor (the HiSilicon 910 “Kirin” quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 chip clocked at 1.6 GHz), 2 GB of RAM, a 5 megapixel camera (with 1080p video recording) backed by a 1.3 megapixel front-facing shooter as well as a 3G modem. Optional LTE connectivity is also being touted in some quarters. The amount of on-board storage is not yet known.

Ultimately it is the pricing and the markets that Huawei will avail this tablet that will matter but if pushed the right way, with a possible refresh to current 7 inchers still many months away, Huawei has a beautiful (see leaked photo) and capable tablet to steal the show with. Notable 7 inchers that this tablet will go head to head with when announced include the immensely popular Google Nexus 7, the Amazon Kindle HDX and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 3 7.0. The Galaxy Tab does not have much going for it but most Android tablet users and new buyers can easily identify with the Galaxy range of devices and current stats in major markets show that the Galaxy Tabs have never under-performed, they come right after the iPads. Some argue that this could also endanger the status of the iPad Mini as king of the small tablets but I highly doubt that. Apple’s hold on that tabket category can only be challenged as of now by Google’s Nexus 7. The MediaPad X1 will have to beat Google’s offring before it can come anywhere close to being an iPad Mini challenger. Remember there’s also a gorgeous LG G Pad 8.3 that even has a Play Edition flavour. It won’t be easy for Huawei but the effort is worth it. Note that the tablet is much slimmer than its competitors so it will have a headstart there. The only drawback is a dated Android version (4.2) but how many buyers care about that?

Source: TheDroidGuy