BQ Aquaris M8

BQ Aquaris M8 is unveiled by BQ which is known for its Ubuntu mobile devices. The Spanish firm has led the way to fit their customers who have tighter budgets. BQ Aquaris M8 is a tablet with mid-range specifications and attractive price, which focuses on decent design and functionality. This tablet design is rather classic in a manageable size and weight for a terminal in its class: 215x125x8.35 mm and 350 grams. This tablet provides a viewing angle of an impressive 160 degrees, while also using the GFF (Glass-Film-Film) technology. The Swedish Beckers finish of its back cover repels dirt and has anti-fingerprint protection. BQ Aquaris M8 packs an 8-inch touchscreen, with 5 point touch and it offers a 1280x800 pixel resolution on that panel. There’s Dragontrail protection here with a special layer of alkali-aluminosilicate for extra sturdiness and to prevent scratches. The density remains in a modest 189 pixels per inch, with a strange aspect ratio in tablets which is 16:10.

Inside the BQ Aquaris M8, there’s a MediaTek MT8163B processor together with 2GB of RAM and a Mali T720 MP2 GPU. Internal storage is 16GB and expandable via microSD card slot. It is good that the internal storage is expandable because only about 11.2GB of internal storage remains available to the user, the rest of memory is destined to the Operating System, memory cache and other elements of the system. This is a typical case with a 16GB built in memory size. An Omnivision OV5670F 5 megapixel back camera with F/2.2 aperture has also been included and it’s capable of shooting Full HD video at 30 frames per second. Selfies are taken with a Galaxy Core GC2355 2 MP camera. The operating system of this tablet is Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow and has a 4050 mAh LiPo battery. BQ has integrated an intelligent amplification chip (Smart PA) that optimises the response of the speaker depending on the content. It reaches the highest volumes without distorting the sound and maintaining a high fidelity. A quality sound that is powered by its two front speakers of 0.7W. This is a clear effort by BQ to provide optimised multimedia experience. The BQ Aquaris M8 features microHDMI input which user can connect to a TV or other external display. The microUSB OTG port could turn the tablet into a work centre with keyboard and mouse or external hard drive. As far as connectivity goes, this tablet features the usual package of WiFi b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.1 and GPS. The Aquaris M8 is an affordable 8 inch tablet suitable for the casual user.

Hands-on article by Jagadisa Rajarathnam