When you are looking for affordable tablets in Pakistan, there are a few things that you should know about how the market works. Unfortunately, things don’t work the same way they do with phones and tablets’ prices and quality is dependent on features that are not key to phones.
Understanding Specifications: Battery Time and Connectivity
You need to think of how people use tabs versus phones to understand the value of different specifications in that context. People usually keep tabs at home or at work rather than carrying them around all time – this means that the battery time and connectivity (3G/4G) is less important as you would be able to charge the tab whenever you want and you can connect your tab to Wi-Fi for connectivity. This works in the benefit for customers looking for a bargain because tabs with SIMs and mobile connectivity are priced much higher than the ones that just depend on Wi-Fi.
In terms of how 3G and 4G are super new in the Pakistani market, this price differentiator works in the favor of consumers. So, to summarize the first part, you don’t need to think about battery time that much and connectivity is not a big deal.
Understanding Specifications: Size
In terms of size and price considerations, 7 inches is what you are looking for. Larger display sizes come with a sharp increase in prices and 7 inches is almost double the size of a 4.5 inch screen (usual size of a smart phone). The next screen size you usually work with is a 14-inch laptop screen, but the transition in terms of screen size is not linear – 14 inch is not double the size of 7.
Understanding Specifications: Camera
Camera’s usage is also different as compared to a phone. The most common use of a camera on a tab would be to use it to video chat – and depending on your internet speed, a high megapixel v low megapixel camera wouldn’t matter because the quality of the video transmitted would be limited by the internet speed.
High-end versus Chinese
The thing here is that the experience of using a tab is highly dependent on the quality of its display, processor and OS. If it’s an older version of Android with a poor touch system, you might hate it so much, you wouldn’t use it all. On the other hand, name brands such as Samsung and LG charge a premium for the reliability that their specs (even if they are low for the price) will deliver the right experience.
I have listed 6 tabs available in Pakistan ranging from 10-20 thousand rupees. It is recommended that once you have made the decision of buying a tab, you should think about what you will use it for and in what situations and make a decision on specs accordingly. Additionally, specs might be specially misleading with tabs, so try to get your hands on one (the kind that you are thinking of buying) and try it out – open apps, play video and try to connect to the internet.
Here is a summary of the features of the 6 tablets:
Name | Samsung Galaxy Tab 47.0 | LG G Pad 8.3 | Huawei MediaPad Youth 2 | HP Stream 7 | ASUS MeMO Pad 7 | Qmobile Tablet QTab Q400 |
Estimated Price | 15,500 | 20,000 | 20,000 | 16,000 | 10,000 | 12,000 |
Operating System | Android v 4.4 | Android v 4.2 | Android v 4.3 | Windows 8.1 | Android 4.4 | Android 4.2 |
Memory | 8 GB | 16 GB | 4 GB | 32 GB | 1 GB | NA |
Camera | 3 MP | 5 MP | 3 MP | 2 MP | 2 MP | 2 MP |
Processor | 1.2 GHz Quad Core | 1.7 GHz Quad Core | 1.2 GHz Quad Core | 1.8 GHz Quad Core | 1.2 GHz Dual Core | 1.3 GHz Dual Core |
Display Size | 7 inches | 8.3 inches | 7 inches | 7 inches | 7 inches | 7 inches |
Display Quality | 216 ppi | 273 ppi | 170 ppi | NA | LED | NA |
Battery | 4000 mAh | 4600 mAh | 4100 mAh | 3000 mAh | NA | 3200 mAh |
Connectivity | Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi | 3G | NA | Wi-Fi | Edge |