Ainol’s latest tablet features a 7 inch screen, Android 4.1 software, and a quad-core processor. The Ainol Novo 7 Crystal 2 also one of the cheapest quad-core tablets around, priced at around $100.
Of course, not all quad-core tablets are created equal. This model doesn’t have a Samsung Exynos 4 or NVIDIA Tegra 3 chip. Instead it has an Actions ATM7029 ARM Cortex-A5 processor with Vivante GC1000 graphics.
While that should offer better performance than any 3-year old smartphone chip, it’s not exactly the fastest chip on the market today. GeekBuying has posted some benchmark results showing pretty good scores in the Linpack and NenaMark benchmarks of CPU and graphics performance.
The Ainol Novo 7 Crystal 2 has a 7 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display, 1GB of RAM, and 8GB of storage. It features a microSD card slot and USB and HDMi ports, and a 3700mAh battery which the company says should be good for 5 to 6 hours of run time.
The tablet features 802.11n WiFi but lacks Bluetooth or GPS. It has a front-facing VGA camera and a 5-point capacitive multitouch display.
GeekBuying sells the tablet for $103, and you can find a number of vendors selling the Ainol Novo 7 Crystal 2 at AliExpress for similar prices.
Just received a promotion e-mail few mins ago. Lightake are offering the first 100 buyers an intro price of just $98.79 for the Ainol Crystal II .but you will have to be quick as the offer runs out after which prices will raise to $103.99.
Coupon: LIGHTAKECRYSTAL2
5% OFF
https://lightake.com/detail.do/sku.Ainol_Crystal_II_Quad_Core_7_Inch_HD_Screen_Android_4.1_Tablet_PC_8GB_Black-61925
Lightakes customer service is terrible at best, non-existent at worst. I would avoid them if I were you, they suck and you will lose both money and time dealing with them, I ordered from them twice and both times Paypal had to be involved.
GPS I can do without, but no Bluetooth? C’mon man.
That’s barely usable.
Actions ATM7029 is quadcore Arm A5, not A7.
Hmm… there seems to be some question about that. Every store that’s selling this tablet says it’s Cortex-A7, but it looks like some other tablets describe it as A9, and the folks at SlateDroid seem to have decided it’s A5.
I’m going to avoid the whole issue since I can’t prove it one way or another, and just remove that part of this article. 🙂
Yep, Geekbuying says it was mislabeled. It’s a Cortex-A5 chip.
As the old saying goes, you get what you paid for. One hundred bucks this day and time doesn’t buy very much. I purchased a Novo 7 and it looks and feels cheap like it is. It’s been sitting in the box that it came in in the closet. I’m even too embarrassed to give it away.
Well, heck, I’ll take it.
I wish some place in the USA would distribute these, charge $135 and Check them before shipping for proper fit and finish; as that is my biggest worry with these items at present. I would be happy to pay an extra 25 bucks to have it checked before shipping.
Nice. I’m building a Windows 8 HTPC, and with the right ‘remote desktop’ software, this should make for a pretty slick wi-fi based remote control.