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Skytex is adding two new Android tablets to its line of low-cost tablets this summer. The Skytex SkyPad Gemini is a 7 inch tablet which we first saw at CES in January, while the Skypad Protos is a 9.7 inch tablet with a 4:3 aspect ratio display.

The tablets will be available in July for $179 and $279, respectively.

A few months ago those prices would have looked pretty good. But now you can pick up a Google Nexus 7 tablet for just $20 more than the suggested retail price for the Gemini. Google’s tablet has a faster processor, higher resolution display, better battery life, and support for the Google Play Store.

On the other hand, the Skytex tablets have HDMI output, microSD card slots, and support for USB OTG.

I’d still probably go with the Google tablet, if I were interested in a 7 inch tablet — but the 9.7 inch model doesn’t look that bad for $279. Here’s what the new Skytex tablets have to offer:

Skytex Skypad Gemini

• 7 inch, 800 x 480 pixel display
• Capacitive 5-point multitouch panel
• 1.2 GHz ARM Cortex-A8 CPU
• Mali 400 graphics
• Android 4.0
• 1GB RAM
• 8GB storage
• microSHC card slot
• 3000mAh battery (6 hours)
• mini-USB port
• HDMI 1.4 output
• 802.11b/g/n WiFi
• Bluetooth 2.0
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• 2MP front-facing webcam

Skytex Skypad Protos

• 9.7 inch, 1024 x 768 pixel display
• Capacitive 10-point multitouch panel
• 1.2 GHz ARM Cortex-A8 CPU
• Mali 400 graphics
• Android 4.0
• 1GB RAM
• 8GB storage
• microSHC card slot
• 6000mAh battery (10 hours)
• mini-USB port
• HDMI 1.4 output
• 802.11b/g/n WiFi
• Bluetooth 2.0
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• 2MP front-facing webcam
• 5MP rear camera

Both tablets come with the 1Mobile Marketplace instead of the Google Play Store, but you can also install the Amazon Appstore or other third party app marketplaces.

press release