Beetel Magiq Tablet

Will need thirdy party apps to really rock the boat!

It won’t play full HD videos (1080p) and has no support for AVI, FLV, MKV or WMV formats but MP4 files at 720p resolution worked just fine. Once again the Android Market came to the rescue as third party players like Mobo or RockPlayer will give you the capability of a lot more formats. The display works out quite in this case, its “resistive” nature not withstanding.

Connectivity
It’s an open GSM-based tablet meaning it can be used with a service provider. When it comes to calls, as mentioned earlier, get yourself a better handsfree and you’ll have no issues. Call quality is pretty good overall. It’s 3G and Wi-Fi with a hot spot creator is supported. If 3G is still a bit out of your reach, it works just as well (only slower of course) on EDGE. The Magiq also comes with a GPS module built in for third party software or Google Maps and all its corresponding apps like Places, Navigation or Latitude. Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP and USB 2.0 are also on board. Social networking apps like Twitter for Android and Facebook are preloaded along with Gtalk amd Android’s stock Gmail app. Microsoft Exchange accounts are also supported. An RSS reader, Google’s Voice Search, YouTube and a Weather and News apps are also provided.

Connectivity options as good as a smartphone

Misc. Features
There aren’t any significant extra apps that Beetel has thrown in other than a Memo Pad with a widget, a lite edition of Documents to go that allow you to access and read MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint files are on board. The calendar app can sync with your Facebook and Google accounts to update you on anniversaries and appointments. There is, of course, an alarm clock and calculator as well.

Camera
The 2MP fixed focus camera is not too bad. It’s not going to give you the crispest images in this range but it does a pretty good job nonetheless. Features include Geotagging, White Balance and Color effects. Colors do tend to look just a little washed out but quite alright since we’re not looking at a high end camera phone lens.

FroYo is good to go

Battery Life
Equipped with a 2200mAh battery, the device didn’t seem to manage power distribution too well. A video ran for 4 hours and 50 minutes non stop with 3G and Wi-Fi switched off and just about 4 hours with 3G and or Wi-Fi active. In this round that wasn’t too shabby and on par with the Reliance 3G Tab. In our tech2 Loop test though, the Magiq did not impress. It failed to complete even the first loop which meant running it for 2 hours of video, 2 hours of audio, 1.5 hours of talk time and 2 hours streaming. It managed to fall short of the first loop by 30 minutes as during the last leg i.e. audio streaming, it went dead after 1 hour and 30 minutes.With 3G active this device will not last you for more than a day of nominal usage.

The Bottom Line
We’re talking about a tablet device priced at just Rs. 10,000 that includes 3G support, a 1GHz processor and 8GB of storage with the ability to boost that by another 32GB. Sure the battery is its Achilles Heel, but other than that, from looks to overall functionality, the Beetel Magiq tablet or Huawei IDEOS 7, or whatever you wish to call it, is a device that’s well worth the money. In regards to performance it does as well as some high-end smartphones out there except for the battery life of course. So if you’re looking for a tablet that does almost everything that a mid-high level smartphone does, this is it.