Tablets from Lenovo?s rival houses have targeted different audiences via different features, but the Lenovo A8 has no competition when it comes to users looking for entertainment and a fast work station, that is, ?for the people who do?. With a strong battery and more focus on being a voice-calling tablet, the A8 did enough to mildly raise our eyebrows.
Design and camera: Sporting a sturdy frame of 217 x 136 x 8.9 mm (8.54 x 5.35 x 0.35 inch) and weighing 360 grams, the A8 is not sleek which makes for a good grip as the device is large. The A8 has a 3.5 mm audio jack at the top as most Android tablets and has two slots on the side for a SIM card and microSD. It is currently available in five colours. The top edge houses a Micro-USB port next to the headphone jack, with the slightly protruding, rounded power button and volume rocker on the top-right edge. The tablet sports a 5-megapixel fixed focus rear camera with no LED flash, while there is a secondary 2-megapixel fixed focus front-facing camera also onboard. The camera is not excellent as in most voice tabs but given its budget, it is value for money.
Display: The 8.0 inches IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen with 16 million colours combined with a resolution of 800 x 1280 pixels is a pleasure for the eyes when it comes to watching videos on the tablet. Though its 188ppi is meek in comparison to the higher-end pixel-packed slates, it?s very comparable to other bargain tablets. The 8-inch screen responds quickly to touch and looks sharp enough when reading text and browsing the Web. The brightness level is a bit dull, making it a weak choice for an outdoor companion, but it boasts greater contrast ratios than its competition in the price segment.
Hardware performance: The A8 comes with a 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek processor, 1 GB RAM and packs 16 GB of internal storage space. Lenovo ships the A8 with Android 4.2 .2 operating system installed and simultaneously it is also rolling out an over-the-air update which upgrades the operating system to 4.3. Performance is smooth for basic tasks like checking email, browsing the Web, and streaming video, but things slow down when trying to do too much at once.
Sound and gaming: The tablet features front-facing speakers with a built-in Dolby Digital audio speakers that will blow you away. Although, the A8 houses only a single speaker, in comparison to the duo the 10-inches holds, yet for a mono speaker it boasts a rich sound at medium volumes?but toying with the Dolby Digital app is necessary to perfectly fine tune your media. Gaming performance for mobile games was very smooth but larger games take time to launch. Once loaded, the games and their respective levels perform smoothly.
Connectivity and battery: The tablet includes 3G, Wi-Fi, Micro-USB, GPS/ A-GPS, GPRS/ EDGE, FM radio and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity. It also packs a non-removable 4200mAh Li-Po battery, which is rated to deliver up to 11 hours of usage time and upto 20 days of standby time.
Verdict: The tablet is a must buy for the price segment as it offers more features than its rivals making the A8 a value for money product. Also if you are looking at a tablet that can help you in having fun with music and gaming, the A8 again is the clear winner.
