Chinese chip maker Infotmic‘s new iMAPx800 and iMAPx15 processors are dual-core ARM Cortex-A5 chip with Mali 400 graphics. Introduced earlier this year, tablets based on the new chip are starting to show up in China.

Infotmic isn’t trying to compete with Samsung, Qualcomm, or NVIDIA in performance. Instead, the company’s chips offer reasonable performance at a low price — which probably explains why the chips are showing up in tablets with underwhelming specs, but which also have the low prices to match.

iMapx15 tablet

MIC Gadget has details of a few different tablets with Infotmic chips, which is where I first noticed the devices. But a quick scan of AliExpress shows a number of tablets with Infotmic processors for prices ranging from as low as $60 to as high as $200.

The cheapest models tend to have 7 inch, 1024 x 600 or lower resolution displays and 512MB of memory.

While that’s pretty unimpressive by modern tablet standards, it’s not bad for a $59 tablet or a  $60 model with a capacitive touchscreen display, HDMI output, and Android 4.1 software.

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4 replies on “Tablets emerge with Infotmic low-cost dual-core chips”

  1. I wonder who is buying these real low end tablets and what they use them for. You can get a decent tablet for $150 and a good one for $200.

    1. Why use a Bic pen when you can buy a Cross pen? Why buy a $10 Timex when you can buy a $150 Casio or a $10k Rolex? Why buy a paperback when you can get a leather bound volume?
      Because they work, they are good enough, and they are nearly disposable. Finally if you need a couple of them (for kids, or just to have a few at hand) they are no big deal. If you want to mod the hardware or software and fail no big loss. And having a tablet, any tablet, is a lot better than not having one.
      A few years back a cheap $100 “craplet” was problematic, 800×480 resistive screens, sub-GHz single-core processors, and ancient 2.x Android OSes made them a trial to use. On the other hand the current generation of >=$100 tablets are quite competitive and in some regards better than the name brands. If you don’t need GPS or an uber-camera they are pretty impressive.
      I just bought a pair of dirt cheap tablets a $109 Coby MID7065-8 Dual Core 1024×600 7″ capacitive tablet (with bluetooth) and a $200 Nextway F9X 10″
      2048 x 1536 capacitive A31 quad core 9.7″ tablet. Both are getting more use than the premium tablets I own. They both sport microSD slots, microHDMI ports, and microUSB OTG ports unlike my Samsung Galaxy 2.0 7″. Battery life is quite decent, and running 4.x Android they are very snappy. But most importantly, if they get broken, stolen or lost they are no big loss.

      When tablets are $50 or even less and bubble pack impulse buy items in shops things change radically. Having a few tablets is normal. If you forget one on a trip you just buy one at the other end. Just like in Star Trek TNG, when Riker hands Piccard a tablet with a report he doesn’t wait for Piccard to hand it back., he just leaves and grabs another.

      That is what low end disruption looks like:
      https://chrisklein.wordpress.com/2008/10/30/apple-vs-android-modular-to-interdependent-and-back-to-modular/

      1. Couldn’t have said it better, I own a couple and I’m a third worlder

    2. I expect the developing world is the biggest market for sub-$100USD tablets.

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