Although the Nexus 7 is one of the most popular 7-inch slates available, since owners updated the firmware there have been several problems. We talked about Nexus 7 Android 4.2 Jelly Bean update problems, and then thought is there a real competitor out there that can compete with this little tablet. After looking at this we found the SmartQ X7.
The SmartQ X7 isn’t that close to the Nexus 7 in specs, but according to The Droid Guy, many people may not use demanding applications that warrant a quad core processor, so the SmartQ X7’s dual core chip could suffice, whilst the internal memory and RAM are pretty much the same.
The SmartQ X7 sports a 7-inch IPS touch screen with the same resolution as the Nexus 7, 2GB RAM, a 1.5GHz TI OMAP 4472 dual core processor and 16GB internal storage, and although the Nexus 7 comes in both 8GB and 16GB models, the SmartQ X7 does offer microSD expansion up to 32GB, whilst the Nexus 7 doesn’t.
When it comes to cameras, the Nexus 7 sports a 1.2 megapixel snapper; however the SmartQ X7 sports a 2 megapixel rear facing snapper and a 2 megapixel front facing camera. The X7 also comes with Android Jelly Bean 4.1 pre-installed, which might be a bit surprising when you consider some major Android tablet makers still haven’t started rolling out 4.1 Jelly Bean to their slates, and well with 4.1 aboard you shouldn’t suffer those problems the Nexus 7 is experiencing after the 4.2 update so there is that to consider.
On the graphics side, the Nexus 7 sports a ULP GeForce GPU, whilst the SmartQ X7 has a PowerVR SGX 544 graphics processor, so the X7 should handle both video and graphics quite well, and of course the slate comes with the usual other specs such as GPS, Bluetooth 3.0, HDMI out, WiFi, and 3G albeit via a 3G dongle.
The X7 is made by Chinese company SmartQ, and measures 200.6 x 127.2 x 9.5mm, which is slightly thinner than the Nexus 7, weighs in at 335 grams, but sports a 4200mAh battery, whilst the Nexus 7 has a 4325mAh battery.
When it comes to price, we know the Nexus 7 is $249 for the 32GB version, whilst the SmartQ X7 commands a price tag of $269.99 from Pandawill, but considering SmartQ is a smaller slate maker than Asus who build the Nexus 7, that price isn’t that bad.
Can the SmartQ X7 compete against the might of the Nexus 7 in the tablet space? Well considering how well known Google is, and the popularity of the Nexus 7, probably not, but it is at least another option for you to consider.
Would any of our readers consider purchasing the SmartQ X7 Android tablet over the Nexus 7?