Lenovo IdeaTab A1000 vs A3000
The tablet market is rather crowded with the variety of tablets getting released almost every day. Sometimes it’s excruciating to keep track of what’s happening everywhere because there is no way of concretely defining which hardware devices falls in to which category. We have primarily learnt to do that using the screen size as the differentiator and today we are going to compare two 7 inch screen tablets. 7 inch tablet segment is one of the most crowded tablet markets, as opposed to the less crowded 8 inch market. The tablet we chose today is in no way remarkable and doesn’t have a WOW factor. Instead they are usable, and we were told they’ll be offered at a competitive price point. So let us get down to the individual reviews of Lenovo IdeaTab A1000 and Lenovo IdeaTab A3000.
Lenovo IdeaTab A1000 Review
I actually can’t fathom why Lenovo decided to choose such a crowded market segment to come up with yet another regular tablet. Lenovo IdeaTab A1000 is an entry level tablet powered by 1.2GHz Dual Core processor on top of MediaTek 8317 chipset with 1GB of RAM. We don’t know whether it has a dedicated GPU although what we can say is that the performance was acceptable for a tablet of this caliber. It wasn’t buttery smooth or highly responsive, but it did work well. The operating system is Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, and we frankly don’t think Lenovo would bother to get it upgraded to v4.2 any time sooner. It has a 7 inch TFT capacitive touchscreen display featuring a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels at a pixel density of 170 ppi. We got to say that the display panel wasn’t very convincing. The texts were visibly blurry and pixelated while videos were comparably alright.
The point of attraction in Lenovo IdeaTab A1000 is its two Dolby stereo speakers which seemed to produce quite nice quality sounds. They stand out at the top and the bottom of the otherwise stale and plain tablet. It doesn’t have a rear camera although A1000 offers a front camera for video conferencing. That brings us to the connectivity options. Lenovo IdeaTab A1000 doesn’t feature GSM connectivity and relies on Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n for browsing and other internet related actions. Surprisingly it also provides the ability to host a Wi-Fi hotspot although that just doesn’t make much sense without a working GSM connectivity to share. It comes with 4 GB or 16 GB storage options with the ability to expand storage using a microSD card up to 32GB. Lenovo guarantees that the IdeaTab A1000 can stay up to 7 hours with the 3500mAh battery included within.
Lenovo IdeaTab A3000 Review
Lenovo IdeaTab A3000 is a slightly upgraded version of Lenovo IdeaTab A1000 and is bound to be priced more competitively than its sibling. It is powered by 1.2GHz Quad Core Cortex A7 processor on top of MediaTek 8389 / 8125 chipset and runs on Android OS v4.2 Jelly Bean. As you can see, this is a mid-range set up and works quite well although the UI is not buttery smooth as it should have been. It has 7 inch IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen display featuring a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels at a pixel density of 170 ppi. The display panel reproduces pictures accurately and has extended viewing angle; but what ruins the party is the low resolution it has effectively making it pixelate when you are reading texts etc. So, if your primary goal is to read when you take A3000, it won’t be a pleasurable experience. It’s accurately weighed but a little too thick for my taste at 11mm.
Lenovo IdeaTab A1000 was appreciated for the Dolby stereo speakers it offered but, unfortunately, Lenovo has decided to remove that from IdeaTab A3000 which is a disappointment. It has 16 GB or 32 GB of internal storage with the option to expand using microSD cards up to 32GB. Lenovo also provides the option to have 3G HSDPA connectivity which is a good decision. Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n connectivity takes care of your internet needs when you are in the vicinity of Wi-Fi access points. You can also create a Wi-Fi hotspot and enable your friends to share your internet connection, as well. A3000 includes 5MP rear camera with autofocus and the VGA front camera is still intact that can be used for video conferencing. Lenovo claims similar battery life at 7 hours from the 3500mAh battery A3000 has.
A Brief Comparison Between Lenovo IdeaTab A1000 and A3000
• Lenovo IdeaTab A1000 is powered by 1.2GHz dual core processor on top of MediaTek 8317 chipset with 1GB of RAM while Lenovo IdeaTab A3000 is powered by 1.2GHz quad core processor on top of MediaTek 8389 / 8125 chipset with 1GB of RAM.
• Lenovo IdeaTab A1000 runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean while Lenovo IdeaTab A3000 runs on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.
• Lenovo IdeaTab A1000 has 7 inch TFT capacitive touchscreen display panel featuring a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels at a pixel density of 170 ppi while Lenovo IdeaTab A3000 has 7 inch IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen display panel featuring a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels at a pixel density of 170 ppi.
• Lenovo IdeaTab A1000 has front facing camera that can capture VGA quality video while Lenovo IdeaTab A3000 has 5MP rear camera as well as VGA front camera.
• Lenovo IdeaTab A1000 only features Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n connectivity while Lenovo IdeaTab A3000 features 3G HSDPA connectivity along with Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n connectivity.
• Lenovo IdeaTab A1000 and Lenovo IdeaTab A3000 have the same 3500mAh battery.
Conclusion
Like I mentioned earlier, Lenovo is trying to get in to a pretty competitive market with mediocre products. In market analysis, you have a range of tools to analyze the market before entering it in order to understand your market position and subsequently profitability. However it doesn’t seem Lenovo has given it much thought seeing these two tablets enter the 7 inch market. They could have made a more impact if they were released as perhaps 8 inch tablets. But as it is, these two tablets are budget range 7 Inchers, which don’t associate a halo around them. Translating that to layman’s terms, what we are saying is that these two tablets are entry level, and there’s a high chance that you can find better tablets of the same caliber around the same prices these tablets should be offered at. So wait until Lenovo releases their pricing information and availability information for these tablets before you make your purchasing decision.