Hot on the heels of the budget tablet Canvas P690 (launched in July for Rs.8,999), the Indian company Micromax has come up with another affordable Android tablet. Called the P680, it is priced at Rs.9,499.
Ordinary looks but good build
One of the plastic strips on the back panel serves as a detachable cover for the two SIM slots and the micro SD card.
The Tab P680, which comes with a pair of back-facing speakers, looks plain but is comfortable to use. It weighs just 318g. The lower bezel doesn’t have any touch-sensitive keys and the navigations keys are incorporated within the on-screen interface, in line with the Android Lollipop interface.
The back panel has a dark metal finish in the middle and black plastic strips on either side. Beneath one of these sits the dual SIM card slot and the microSD slot. All in all, the tablet is well-built and easy to handle.
Big but dull display
Though the display comes with a healthy screen resolution, it doesn’t impress. However, its good for reading and typing documents.
The 8-inch display has a screen resolution of 1,280x800 pixels. Most tablets in this range have similar or lower screen resolutions. The touch response is pretty smooth and consistent. However, the display is a fingerprint haven—it smudges all too easily. The screen is comfortable enough for reading, watching movies and even for some level of productivity such as document creation. The colours don’t look very good; this results in dull-looking videos.
Runs a plain Android version
The background in the app drawer is transparent instead of white. All third party pre-loaded apps can be uninstalled.
This is the first tablet in the affordable segment that runs Android 5.0 (Lollipop) out of the box. Interestingly, the manufacturer has used an almost plain version of Android L with slight changes. It looks similar to the interface the company uses in its smartphones. The most obvious one is the use of a transparent background instead of a white one in the app drawer. Also, the settings panel has been modified to utilize the space on the display better—it uses both the sides of the screen, which is better than running down a long page of settings. It doesn’t offer many features but is more convenient to use. Interestingly, the manufacturer hasn’t tried to bombard the user with apps and the few there are can be uninstalled if you don’t need them.
An inconsistent performer
The tablet runs on a MediaTek quad-core processor, which is paired with 1 GB RAM. It supports 3G networks, provides 10 GB of in-built storage and, in case you want more, a card slot can accommodate another 32 GB. On paper, this sounds pretty good. Unfortunately, the performance is slightly stop-start.
Stutter and sluggishness become more noticeable when you start opening and using more apps. Switching from the landscape to the portrait mode can take time. The inconsistent performance is a big letdown, and the lack of more RAM a real bottleneck. Battery backup, however, is pretty impressive. The 4,000 mAh battery lasts over a day without any trouble.
Verdict
The Tab P680 runs the latest version of Android and is meant for someone who needs a tablet for basic use. If you need something more powerful, you can consider the Dell Venue 7 series 3000 (Rs.7,885), though it does not run the latest Android.
