The Huawei MediaPad X1 is one of two tablets the Chinese company unveiled at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2014, but the 7-inch tablet has the edge over its 8-inch sibling, the MediaPad M1.
A quick look at the MediaPad X1’s spec sheet shows it looks like a worthy competitor to the likes of the Nexus 7 and Amazon Kindle Fire HDX, which currently dominate the small tablet market.
The MediaPad X1 features a 1.6GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, a microSD slot, 4G connectivity, and a 5000mAh
—much larger than the 3950mAh battery in the Nexus 7. One minor issue with the MediaPad X1 might be its price, as Huawei couldn’t tell me how much it’ll cost.
Considering the MediaPad X1 is scheduled to be released in the second half of 2014, companies like Google and Amazon may have already updated their tablet offerings, which could make the X1 feel a little dated.
I was pleased to see that the narrow bezels around the 7-inch display make the MediaPad X1 smaller than the Nexus 7 and Kinde Fire HDX, which means it’s easier to hold in one hand. At 183.5 x 103.9 x 7.18mm, it’s one of the smallest 7-inch tablets out there, adding to its portability, and I found it to sit quite comfortably in my palm
The centrally located power/lock key on the right side (in portrait mode) is easy to hit, as is the volume switch above it, while there’s a headphone jack on the top of the tablet and a microUSB port on the base.
The buttons do feel a little loose in their slots, and they all rattled when I shook the tablet, which calls into question the durability of some aspects of the device.
The MediaPad X1 looks more premium than its bigger brother, the M1, with a silver band around the perimeter and a metal plate at the back that makes this tablet feel like the real deal.
While the screen does have a Full HD resolution, I found it to be less crisp than the Nexus or Kindle Fire – there was noticeable blurring around app icons, partly due to Huawei’s Emotion 2.0 UI overlay.
The MediaPad X1 runs Android 4.2.2 at its core, but the Huawei overlay dampens it somewhat, and its style makes the screen experience feel like a child’s toy. That’s a shame, because the X1 does look relatively high-end in terms of hardware, but the icons Huawei forces on you are disappointing.
One nice feature is the ability to hide the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen, letting you make the most of the 7-inch space by simply swiping up from the bottom to get back.
Movement on the MediaPad X1 seemed pretty smooth, but it did lack the dynamism of other tablets I’ve used – but Huawei attributes that to the fact that the unit I got my hands on wasn’t running final software. If Huawei can fix the issues with interface lag and improve the camera’s image quality, the MediaPad X1 will be a serious contender in the 7-inch tablet market.
However, its Achilles’ heel may be its timing, as by the time it hits stores, competitors may have already launched their next-generation tablets – making the Media Pad X1 uncompetitive before it even hits the market.
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