When was the last time you were actually excited about a tablet? Let alone a budget tablet. Well, I am about to get you excited. Ok, the tablet will get you excited. I will just be telling you how. Here’s my full review of the Tecno DroiPad 7D and why its the perfect tablet for you kids:
The Not So Good
Display
First, let’s address the elephant in the room, those on twitter might have seen this ad below:
Views from the Droipad 7D are thrilling. The 170 Degree wide angle display is the best. You can even make it a TV. #MayTricks.. 😎 pic.twitter.com/mEQylcC93s
— TECNO Mobile Kenya (@TECNOMobile254) May 16, 2017
Tecno boldly declared that views from the DroiPad 7D are thrilling and that you could even make it a TV. Ok. So, I sell my TV and switch it up with a 7-inch entry-level budget tablet with a resolution of 600*1024, barely meeting the now standard 720p HD resolution?
Here’s the truth, the Tecno DroiPad 7D has a below average display and that is no surprise considering its price. YouTube or any other video streaming service on this device and the resolution maxes out at 480p regardless of your network speed.
So no, you cannot make the DroiPad 7D a TV.
Performance
The DroiPad 7D has a MediaTek MT8321D, which is a quad-core processor tuned specifically for tablets and is supposed to be good for cinema-class home entertainment experiences. Well, performance on the DroiPad 7D isn’t good and before you complain, I will refer you to the price again. The device packs a 1GB LPDDR3 RAM that can only handle one app open at a time.
Playing games is not as smooth as you would like, for example, opening Asphalt 8 takes a whole 30 seconds and you will definitely notice how much the game lags and the low quality graphics while playing. Only less demanding games such as Hill Climb Racing 2 would play smoothly.
Camera
So my least favourite part of the device is its camera. I will not sugar coat it, the images produced by the 5MP main camera are not that pleasing. The camera app does nothing to cushion the situation, there are no extra shooting modes, no tap to focus, the app is just plain.
The 2MP selfie camera follows the same trend, but everything comes to perspective when you remember this is a sub 10k tablet. Bottom line is, do not buy the DroiPad 7D hoping to enjoy the camera. Here’s what I mean:
Not a good phone
If you were thinking, “hmm, I could buy the DroiPad 7D as a phone,” just stop it. This is a tablet and despite it having two SIM slots, it does not do well as a phone. Neither is there 4G connectivity.
Your voice will sound like you’re “inside a hole”, or so I was told when I tried making a call on the DroiPad 7D. You will also struggle to hear what the other person is saying on the other end.
The Good
Design
Built entirely out of plastic to keep the price low, the DroiPad 7D actually looks good and feels light, despite being thick. The back is textured to look like Kevlar but unfortunately it isn’t durable, as my unit has quite some scratches on it. I recommend you keep the silicon back cover that comes in the box on.
The two SIM trays and Micro SD Card slots are accessible by pulling off a small part of the back cover, found at the top of the device right next to the camera lens. The device does come with a 3.5mm headphone jack and USB port at the top, volume and power buttons to the right and the tinny sounding loud-speaker is found at the back.
Software
No HiOS. No bloatware. No translucent iOS-like user intarface.
With the DroiPad 7D you get a clean stock Android 7.0 Nougat. We saw Tecno do the same with the L9 Plus but they backslid when it came to the Camon CX. Please Tecno, just give up on HiOS and keep it simple like you did here.
Battery Life
Initially I thought the battery life would be horrible, like seriously, this is a 7-inch device with a 3000mAh battery. However, it did surprise me when it would hit 5 hours screen on time regularly before requiring to be plugged in. With light usage, the tablet could easily last two or even three days.
Unfortunately, there isn’t any form of fast charging, so charging up from zero takes up an unnecessarily long time.
Kid Zone
This is the only reason you need to buy this tablet. The Tecno DroiPad 7D was designed with kids in mind and they hit the jackpot with it.
Kid Zone is a pre-installed app that when launched creates a virtual environment that is suitable for kids. To setup Kid Zone, you will be required to set a 4-figure PIN which you will use to access the parent mode and/or exit Kid Zone.
Once the PIN is set, the parent can set the brightness, enable blue-light filtering, set the volume, change the wallpaper, activate Wi-Fi, choose the apps available while in Kid Zone and most importantly set the usage time and rest time. Once the usage time runs out, the device instantly locks and will unlock after the set rest time runs out.
The Kid Zone will not allow the child to access any other part of the device once it is activated, they will only have access to the selected apps.
We also discovered that it will not allow the child to play games if they aren’t sitting upright. It uses the gyroscope to estimate when the tablet is being held at an angle that would strain the neck and gives a very polite notice that you cannot play while lying down.
Even more pleasing, the device automatically locks when it is charging, preventing your child from using it until it is fully charged.
Conclusion
The Tecno DroiPad 7D retails at slightly less than Ksh.10,000. Which makes it one of the most affordable tablets right now. It is not a good entertainment device due to its poor display and tinny loud-speaker but if you can put up with all the negatives, go ahead and buy it.
However, this would be the perfect gift for any child, it will not dent your pocket and you will not have to be giving out your phone just so that your kids can play games. Adults just go for the Tecno PhonePad 3.
