Ainol Novo7 Elf budget tablet

Em3bbs · 23 Jan 2012 at 11:04

I've been looking for an 'ok' budget Android tablet recently. After trying the Novo7 Paladin and Teclast P76Ti (as per that other thread) they were both really good but had a couple of issues. The Novo7 Paladin is extremely well built, feels 'premium' and the screen is pretty good however it suffers in that it has a MIPS CPU rather than an ARM one so there are not so many apps available for it.
This reason and the thread here led me to sell and buy a Teclast P76ti which indeed mean a lot more apps and it's a great tablet let down by it feeling cheap and I'm not keen on the matte screen.

I saw the Ainol Novo7 Elf mentioned in the other thread and spoke to the guy I got my last tablet from and he said he was getting some so I put in an order. It arrived today an all I can say is WOW

. It cost about a third more than the other two tablets but it's really worth it. The screen is 1024x800 and looks great, my only slight complaint would be maybe the viewing angles but I see this as a bonus in some ways as I will only be looking at it straight on and it stops nosey people on the train.

Head on the screen is awesome.

It runs Android 4.0.3 and has the the same Allwinner A10 CPU as in the Teclast so all the usual market apps are there. It has HDMI out and comes with a cable.

I'll have a bit more of a play later but finally I have the budget tablet I want, I'm probably a bit picky as I also have an HTC Flyer so for this to feel as premium says a lot! It cost me £125 but the extra £20 over the Teclast was worth it to me.

Pic (which doesn't do the screen justice at all):

krooton · 23 Jan 2012 at 12:24

This looks like it might meet my needs for a comic reader!

Where did you get it so cheap? I'm worried about getting stung for customs and whatnot.

Tempted by the IPS screen of the Aurora, but it's more expensive with a lower resolution, I'd rather have the increased res for less money tbh.

kona786 · 23 Jan 2012 at 12:40

doesn't this have a 1024x600 Capacitive screen?

paradigm · 23 Jan 2012 at 12:57

kona786 said:
doesn't this have a 1024x600 Capacitive screen?

Yes.

At £114 they are pretty decent value though.

kona786 · 23 Jan 2012 at 12:59

I was wondering as the OP said 1024x800

Simian · 23 Jan 2012 at 13:07

Hmmm Might be very interested in this... erm... Yep!!

Em3bbs · 23 Jan 2012 at 13:17

Sorry yes, brainfade moment, its 1024x600

w1lliam · 23 Jan 2012 at 14:55

How would you compare the build quality? Compared to the Flyer? I have a Tab 7 and do not want to comprimise on build quality but it does have to be decent enough

Em3bbs · 23 Jan 2012 at 18:10

The build quality is excellent, in fact I would say it feels almost exactly like a 7 inch Galaxy Tab. Similar weight, thickness, bezel and glass front.

EniGmA1981 · 23 Jan 2012 at 18:47

It does look nice, and it's specced quite nicely for the price... Just a shame about the name... Ainol... With a bit of artistic license on the pronunciation that says anal doesn't it lol

w1lliam · 23 Jan 2012 at 19:25

Em3bbs said:
The build quality is excellent, in fact I would say it feels almost exactly like a 7 inch Galaxy Tab. Similar weight, thickness, bezel and glass front.

How about performance? How does ICS compare with HC on the Flyer? I think a single core tablet is not enough, it has to be dual core.

flibbage0 · 23 Jan 2012 at 20:09

Where did you get it from?

Em3bbs · 23 Jan 2012 at 23:00

w1lliam said:
How about performance? How does ICS compare with HC on the Flyer? I think a single core tablet is not enough, it has to be dual core.

It's certainly quicker than the Flyer in general, GTA III is unplayable on the Flyer with HC, it is just about playable on the Elf, although not as smooth as the Nexus/SGS2.

flibbage0 said:
Where did you get it from?

I got it from a seller I got the Teclast from, I mailed asking about it and he had just got some in to try.

I've modified the keymap now, it doesn't have hardware volume buttons by default, there are buttons that you'd expect to be the volume but they are menu and home which seems a bit silly with ICS! Anyway, I edited /system/usr/keylayout/sun4i-keyboard.kl and changed MENU and HOME to VOLUME_UP and VOLUME_DOWN, job done.

Em3bbs · 23 Jan 2012 at 23:11

Oh - one thing, if you are buying one of these and you're not that tech-savvy check that it has the Market, as they don't as standard apparently. Ask the seller if they have already installed it for you, if not there are guides online about how to do it.

mithrandir · 23 Jan 2012 at 23:18

Any chance you can run some benchmarks and post up the results. Would be keen to compare it.

Thanks

Vellamo

AnTuTu

Quadrant std

Nenamark 1 & 2

Subliminal Aura · 23 Jan 2012 at 23:23

Niiiiiicccceeee !

Time for an upgrade but I'm not convinced that it's running ICS

EDIT: OK Maybe I'm wrong http://www.androidtablets.net/forum...novo7-elf-unboxing-disassembling-details.html

Richdog · 24 Jan 2012 at 06:24

Im very tempted by ghe Aurora for the IPS screen. What is batterylife oike on these thngs though?

Em3bbs · 24 Jan 2012 at 09:16

Subliminal Aura said:
Niiiiiicccceeee !

Time for an upgrade but I'm not convinced that it's running ICS

EDIT: OK Maybe I'm wrong http://www.androidtablets.net/forum...novo7-elf-unboxing-disassembling-details.html

There is no maybe about it, it's running Android 4.0.3. I have 5 ICS devices currently so I know what it is.

mithrandir, I will run those benchmarks later as I'm just off to work, although I'm really not a fan of those kind of things as there are too many variables and results are so inconsistent/can be 'cheated' so easily that they are next to useless.

Subliminal Aura · 24 Jan 2012 at 09:21

Em3bbs said:
There is no maybe about it, it's running Android 4.0.3. I have 5 ICS devices currently so I know what it is.

mithrandir, I will run those benchmarks later as I'm just off to work, although I'm really not a fan of those kind of things as there are too many variables and results are so inconsistent/can be 'cheated' so easily that they are next to useless.

Cool, looking forward to seeing the benchmarks btw does this device support USB OTG ?

Would be a winner

-BA- · 25 Jan 2012 at 12:02

Looking at a 7" tablet with HDMI that can access the Android market so interested in this or perhaps the Playbook (I believe the new version of the OS will give Android app access). Which is faster?