It’s
official folks; the TCL Corporation makes Tablets.
This
realization comes to me at a time when Tablet sales are falling worldwide
according the analyst Canalys as noted in the article “Tablet
shipments continue to fall worldwide”, published August 12, 2015 by Andrea
Chang, Physorg and “Tablet
sales continue to slide – Canalys”, published 12 AUG 2015, by Steve
Costello, Mobile World Live.
So
I was quite surprised when I recently discovered that the TCL Corporation had
launched a fairly decent pair of Tablets way back at CES (Computer Electronics
Show) 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada as reported in the article “Alcatel Pop 7 and
Pop 8 bring LTE to cheap Tablets”, published 2014, January 6, by Eric
Franklin, CNET News.
The
two (2) tablets launched were the Alcatel
OneTouch POP 7 and the Alcatel
OneTouch Pop 8, differing in terms of screen size and other little details. The
Alcatel OneTouch POP 7 is a 7”
Tablet whereas the Alcatel OneTouch POP 8 is an 8” Tablet but both run Google
Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.
At
US$144 (JA$16,795) to US$154 (JA$18,000), based on which Telecom Provider you
decide to go with, the Alcatel
OneTouch POP 7 is going to be a must-have for Jamaican and Caribbean
children come September 2015.
But
it’s been so long since January 2014! Alcatel OneTouch POP 7, where
have you been all my life!?
The Alcatel OneTouch POP 7 –
Low cost TCL Tablet seeking a home
The
Alcatel OneTouch POP 7 main
claim to fame at the time was its low US$150 cost while packing 4G LTE (Long
Term Evolution). But the novelty got really old really fast, especially with
Americans skeptical of Chinese products!
By Father's
Day in June 2014, Telecom Provider T-Mobile had the Tablet on a US$100 rebate
as reported in “T-Mobile
shaves $100 off Tablets for dads and grads”, published 2014, June 4 by Scott
Webster, CNET News.
By
Valentine’s Day in February 2015, it was a Free Gift with the purchase of a US$20
per month 1GB Data Plan on T-Mobile as reported in the article “Want
a 'free' Tablet? T-Mobile gives away Alcatel 7-incher for Valentine's Day”,
published 2015, February 10, by Scott Webster, CNET
News.
At
least MetroPCS kept the flame burning a little while longer in October 2014 as
reported in my article “It
may be basic, but this 7-inch Tablet has 4G and only costs $150”, published
2014, October 24 by Andy Boxall, Digitaltrends,
with the Alcatel OneTouch POP 7
becoming a Christmas gift for some very surprised and very confused American
children.
So
now it's our turn in the Caribbean in 2015 to purchase the Alcatel OneTouch POP 7 for our
children going back to school by September 2015. What makes this Tablet so
special? Its super kid-friendly!
Alcatel OneTouch POP 7 - Too
heavy in the hand for one-handed commute
Straight
out the Box, Dr. Dre Style, the Alcatel
OneTouch POP 7 comes with a USB Cable, User Manual and Wall Charger that
works with a microUSB 2.0 port.
The Alcatel
OneTouch POP 7 sports an optional magnetic cover with a backplate that comes
in a rainbow of colours to spruce up that plain white look as reported in the
article “Alcatel
OneTouch Pop 7”, published 2014,
April 15 by Luis D, PhoneArena:
1.
Yellow
2.
Black
3.
White
4.
Pink
5.
Blue
Changing
the backpanel and magnetic covers is a snap, literally. Kids might find the
Tablet a tad heavy but a featherweight compared to that hamper filed with books
that they usual carry on their backs.
In
fact, it’s only a shade heavier than the 4.5” Alcatel OneTouch Idol 2 Mini
which weighs in at 110 g (3.88 oz) and costs US$200 as noted in my blog article
entitled “How
the US$200 Alcatel OneTouch Idol 2 Mini will be worshipped by Caribbean people
– Why Colours make Budget smartphones sells”.
For
a toddler, it’s not going to be a device that they can hold with one hand. With
dimensions of 192 x 113 x 8.9 mm (7.56 x 4.45 x 0.35 in) and is a somewhat
hefty 285 g (10.05 oz), this will appear to be a large tablet to a toddler.
Make sure you get the optional magnetic cover, as they might want to toss it
about a lot!
Alcatel OneTouch POP 7 - Low
Resolution Screen with a Poor Camera
Now
let’s dive into the specs!
The
Alcatel OneTouch POP 7 sports
a TFT (Thin Film Transistor) screen with a resolution of 1,024 x 600 and 170
ppi pixel density. Strangely enough, it doesn’t support IPS (In-plane
switching) as its big sister, the Alcatel OneTouch POP 8, does.
Not
that your kids will notice or even miss any of the 16M colors it can display.
But they will notice that they can’t view the screen from any angle, making it
hard for you as a parent to see what they’re up to on the Tablet.
The
Tablet's 1.3GHz Dual-Core Cortex-A7 is housed on a Mediatek MT8312 Chipset and
gets graphics support from a Mali-400 GPU.
With
barely 1 GB of RAM and 4G of Internal Memory, this Tablet can only play very
basic games such as Candy
Crush Saga (Deer,
2014, January 18), Rovio's
Juice Cubes (Deer,
2014, January 26) or even Threes as described in my blog article
entitled “Threes!
is an Engaging Mathematics Puzzle Game for Apple iOS - Sudoku in Multiples of
Three by Sirvo LLC Design Trio should be Inspiration to Game Developers in
Jamaica”.
Fret
not however, as you can always slot in an external microSD Card to add an
additional 32GB of storage space for music and apps. Already, it's becoming painfully
clear that this is more of a keep-them-occupied tablet and not a Gaming Tablet!
Alcatel OneTouch POP 7 –
Kid-friendly Tablet with Educational potential
You’ll
probably notice that the Alcatel
OneTouch POP 7’s Rear-facing Camera is only 2 Megapixel. The images it
shoots also appear washed out as the camera can only take pictures with a
resolution of 1600 x 1200 pixels.
Curiously,
this is slightly higher than what the 1,024 x 600 Tablet screen can manage as
it still manages to shoot 720p video. Still, your kid will have a lot of fun
learning on how to use the camera to take pictures and two-handed selfies,
making this tablet the perfect practice tool to get them Social media savvy.
The
VGA Front-facing camera can make Skype Video Calling but the processor might
not be able to handle Group Calling as explained in my blog article
entitled “How
to make a Free Group Call in Skype – Google+ officially a Ghost Town Again as
Microsoft gears up for WhatsApp free VoIP Calling in June 2014”.
If
your kids already have the US$60 Alcatel OneTouch Pop C2 as described in my blog article
entitled “How
the US$60 Alcatel OneTouch Pop C2 manages to Pop - Lower Pricepoint and Great
Battery life”, they’ll be used to playing MP3, AAC+, WAV and WM files to
MP4/H.264 videos.
If
you’ve spoiled them buy buying them Wired or wireless Bluetooth headphones like
the ones listed in my blog article
entitled “Five
Great Over-the-Ear Headphones - Noise Cancelling, Comfortable, Fashionable
Bluetooth Music Streaming”, they’ll love you to bits!
A
standard 3.5mm jack fits any headphone such as the US$250 Philips Fidelio L2
headphones as detailed in my blog article
entitled “US$250
Philips Fidelio L2 headphones - Great bargain Headphones that's a Quiet
Achiever”.
You
can also pair the Tablet with a Bluetooth 4.0 headphones such as the US$249.95
Hello Kitty Solo2 as reported in my blog article
entitled “US$299.95
Solo2 Wireless coming November 2014 - US$249.95 Hello Kitty Solo2 and US$149.95
Hello Kitty UrBeats launches as Beats Audio coming to iOS 8.0”.
All
wonderful choices that your kids will love!
Alcatel OneTouch POP 7 – How
to teach kids about the Internet and Streaming
The
Alcatel OneTouch POP 7 isn’t
all about just play or distractions to keep them still while you out in
public.
Once
you’ve got Wi-Fi in the area or a Digicel Zero Data Plan as described in my blog article
entitled “Digicel
launches Digicel Zero - How @Digicel_jamaica is testing VoLTE vs @WhatsApp's
Free Voice Calling to boost smartphone sales”, you can surf the Internet
anywhere, anytime!
Play
time can also be about learning, as you can let them play with Google Earth
Professional, a great educational product for free as described in my MICO Wars blog entitled “US$399
Google Earth Pro now Free as Profit in Selling Bacon than the Whole Hog”.
If
you have Wi-Fi in your home, the built-in Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n option allows you
to stream Rdio from Digicel or Deezer from LIME as explained in my blog article
entitled “@Digicel_Jamaica
and @LIMEJamaica sign Streaming Deals - How HD Audio Streaming, 4G LTE and
Caribbean Artiste means Streaming Revenue Bad Blood”.
You
might need to invest in a Portable Battery Charger as detailed in my Geezam blog article entitled “How
to extend your smartphone’s battery Life with a Portable Battery Charger” as
the 3240 mAh Li-Ion battery only gives you 300 h on 2G and 70 h on 3G.
To children,
this might as well be eternity, as they can get practice learning how to
recharge their precious Tablet as well as learn how to take care of its
delicate screen as explained in my Geezam blog
article entitled “How
to make your own Cleaning Fluid and Cleaning Tips for your Smartphone or Tablet”.
So
a Tablet that’s a keep-‘em-busy-tool while it gets them to learn? Can it also
watch your kids while you shop like a robotic Nanny? Unfortunately no, but this
is the next best thing!
Alcatel OneTouch POP 7 -
Tablet training wheel for Toddlers
The
low resolution screen of the Alcatel
OneTouch POP 7 means that even the icons will be hard to see, thanks to the
lack of the IFS.
To
you as an adult, the screen will appear blurry making this a no-no for reading
e-books as described in my MICO
Wars blog article entitled “How
and Where to Self-Publish and promote your e-Book as an Indie Writer”.
Videos
will appear pixilated with still photos in the Photo Viewer being hard to view
without zooming in.
Washed
out colours means whites having a slight tinge of blue and cyan and magenta,
thereby not appearing up to par with higher-end Tablets like Apple iPad Air 2
and the Apple iPad Mini 3 as detailed in my blog article
entitled “Apple
SIM in the Apple iPad Air 2 - How iOS 8.0 Carrier Unlocked SIM sells Apple
iPads in Year of the Sheep 2015”.
So
in concluding, while this is a very basic tablet that’s sparse on features, it
still makes an excellent gift for your kids to introduce them to the Internet
and Apps. With a Wi-Fi and a 4G LTE Option, the Alcatel OneTouch POP 7 children
will have an eternity of endless fun and is a recommended gift for toddlers
this Christmas 2015!
Here’s the link:
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