Simmtronics Xpad 801 is a budget Android ICS tablet with call feature and 3G USB Dongle support. With 8-inch Capacitive Touch screen (square) it allows you a smooth scrolling features and average gaming output. Compare to other 7inch tablet, Xpad 801 offers you broader space on the screen. With 8inch size from all side, you can simply view a larger part of web page easily. The video output on 800×600 pixels is great. Simmtronics XPAD 801 offers complete pack of features in terms of calling, internet surfing, multimedia and a bit of gaming also. We found the tablet decent in performance to some extent. The battery output is also is great. Xpad 801 has a 4000 mAH battery that offers it maximum output of 5hrs if full charged. Below is a short specification detail of XPAD 801.
Specification:
- Screen : 8-inch (800 x 600 pixels) capacitive multi-touch display
- OS : Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) OS
- CPU : 1.2 GHz Cortex A8
- RAM: 512MB DDR3 RAM
- GPU : Mali 400 GPU
- Camera : 0.3 front and 2MP rear camera
- SIM: 2G voice calling support. 3G support via USB dongle, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, USB 2.0 OTG, micro USB port
- Audio : 3.5mm audio jack
- Storage : 8GB internal and 32GB expandable
- Battery : 4000 mAh battery
Design
Simmtronics Xpad 801 is portable is size. Due to 8inch screen it is slightly bigger and broader than a regular 7inch table which offers more portability in handling. The front part is mostly occupied by the screen with 4 quick navigation keys below. Which are Search, Return, Desktop and Settings Key. This adds a bit accessibility features on the home screen for instant navigation. A 0.3 Mega Pixel camera is placed on the top middle for video chat. The output of front camera is not so good in poor light. But enough for video chatting. The tablet is not really very thick. The body is made up of plastic mostly with glossy finish on the back side. All buttons are placed on the top side while connectivity ports lies on the right side of tablet. It has a nice finish that gives stylish look to Xpad 801.
At the top lies three buttons. Among which the first one marked as M is additional settings keys. It allows you to access the application Menu. The second is volume key and the last one is power key. Like many other tablet there is screen orientation lock or back key provided.
On the right side lie maximum connectivity options. Simmtronics XPAD 801 is the only tab that we saw with a direct USB port. There is no need to attach an additional cable. The tablet offers a single usb port where you case a pen drive or an external hard disk. Also you will be surprise to know that you can use a USB keyboard or Mouse on it. I had tested both works really fine. You can simply connect a USB keyboard on the tablet and use it for surfing, writing emails, or editing your office documents. And with USB mouse you can control the entire table screen, apps easy. Scrolling also works well. The only drawback here is that Simmtronics XPAD 801 is having a single USB port. So at a time you can use single device. While you can also use a wireless keyboard mouse on the same. You can check out the same in our video review of this tablet on techarena.in/videos. All connectivity ports are (from left):
- Power Jack
- Micro USB Connector
- SIM Card Slot
- SD Memory Card Slot
- 3.5mm headphone hack
- USB 2.0 Port
- MIC
At the back lies a 2MP Camera and speakers. The audio output is decent. The back offers a glossy look and it is really smooth to handle. Due to big size it is a bit comfortable to operate the tablet with single handle unless you attach a flip book cover on it.
Performance :
Simmtronics XPAD 801 offers decent performance in terms of various aspects. For multimedia 800×600 resolutions is enough for watching movies or surfing. We had played a 1080p video on the tablet that works fine. The tablet is fast responsive with multimedia files. The internal storage is 8GB internal which is enough for keeping some HD movies and hundreds of audio files. For surfing we tested it for few hours on Opera. The browser works really well in terms of download and UI. The browser works perfectly with emails, video streaming and downloads on Xpad 801. For gaming we tested a few games only. Games like Angry Bird, Temple Run works fine. But a bit heavy games like Asphalt do not work on it. Due to powerful 1.2 GHz Cortex A8 processor support, the app works flawlessly on it. But there is one thing which is affecting the performance. 512MB RAM. Even after being having 1.2 GHz Cortex A8 CPU and Mali 400 GPU due to low physical RAM the devices lags in between. This is only in terms of gaming and multi-tasking. While it works flawlessly when you are working on single application. Atutu Benchmark offers a score of 1846 that makes it a mid range tablet in terms of performance. While if you are using this for work, calling and surfing purpose it is an ideal choice.
4000 mAH battery offers a decent time to use the tablet. Compare to other devices in the market which features a lower battery the usage time is more than 40% less compare to XPAD 801. You can use a good battery optimization app that can keep a track of background application and offer you more time. It works fine for more than 4 hours in terms of gaming, internet surfing and talk time.
Additional feature:
For additional connectivity along with SIM slot you can also use a 3G USB dongle on XPAD 801. The tablet supports a 2G SIM only. But with Micro USB and USB port you can add a 3G USB dongle on the same that works properly. All you need to do is go in settings and enable the 3G USB dongle settings. The package content offers you a free 30 days web browsing support on Ozone Wi-Fi and Free BigFlix Blockbuster Subscription.
Conclusion:
Simmtronics XPAD 801 comes for Rs.8,499. At a budget price Xpad offers you ample of features including calling and internet surfing. Due to powerful built in feature and a mid range performance the tablet is ideal choice for day to day usage. Calling feature make the tablet handier in terms of communication. Due to added USB port you can use a USB keyboard or mouse directly on it. Xpad 801 according to me is a great device for multimedia purpose. You can enjoy as well work on the same with decent output. As I said before due to low RAM it is a bit laggy and the OS looks less optimized for the tablet which can add more to the performance.
Pros
- Direct USB Port
- Budget Tablet
- Call Facility
- USB Keyboard/Mouse Support
- Large Screen Size
Cons
- No 3G SIM Support
- Low RAM
