BSNL Penta T-Pad (WS802C) Review

Browsing is pretty good

The stock ICS browser does a very good job of rendering web pages and it's quite quick. Image heavy sites still have a little lag when scrolling through them but other than that, it’s business as usual.

Misc. Apps
BSNL have also bundled some pre-installed apps that my come in handy like ES File Explorer and Task Manager, Facebook, FreeNote, Photo and Video editor, Polaris Office, Radee PDF Reader, and MobiVision.

Stock ICS camera interface

Camera
The Penta T-Pad comes with a 2MP rear camera and a 0.3MP front facing one. The quality of both are surprisingly good. Even in low, ambient light, the picture quality is very passable and you could actually think of doing a video call with the front camera. The rear camera does not have auto-focus so don’t expect miracles from it. The interface once again, is stock ICS, which means you get all the standard tweaking options as well as panorama mode.

Not bad for a 2MP shooter

Battery Life
In our video drain test, the BSNL Penta T-Pad lasted for about 7-hours, which is not too bad. This means you can easily watch a couple of movies back to back when travelling. In our loop tests, with an hour of calling added into the mix, the tablet managed a respectable 6-hours and 10-minutes.

Verdict and Price in India
Just when I was about to swear off these el’cheapo Android tablets, BSNL’s Penta T-Pad has renewed new faith in me, proving that perhaps there is still hope for the segment to survive. This is hands down, the best ICS-based tablet in this price range that I’ve come across and offers good value for money without compromising too much on performance. Inevitably, you are going to compare this to the Nexus 7 and yes, Google’s tablet does have a better screen, a faster SoC and is lighter but other than that, the BSNL tablet can do everything the Nexus 7 can and more. It has 3G support, expandable memory, HDMI, USB (standard port and On-the-go) and dual cameras - all for a cheaper price.

You can buy the Penta T-Pad directly through Pantel's site right here. They've also appointed distributors in all major states across the country to sell the tablet in the retail market as well, so you might want to check your nearest distributor if you don't want to buy it online.