Review Ainol Novo 7 Crystal Quad Core Tablet

No one should expect a metal casing for not quite 90 Euros (~$116) and Ainol wraps its tablet in simple, black plastic. The back cover is glossy and susceptible to fingerprints. The casing's design is plain and should unlikely deter any customers. However, it does not feature any highlights either.

Interestingly, the casing makes its big debut acoustically. The tablet makes creaking noises everywhere just by picking it up. It also produces an audible snapping noise when pressure is applied to the front's upper left. The stiffness is inadequate. The slightest pressure from the back is passed on to the screen and becomes visible as waves in the liquid crystals. Some of these pressure marks even remain for a while. We have not yet seen this to such an extreme extent in any device. On the other hand, the tablet cannot be warped and the transitions between the parts are well processed.

Ainol's Novo 7 Crystal positions itself in the midfield compared with its contenders. However, its weight undercuts even a few brand name devices. With a weight of 335 grams (~11.8 ounces), it is much lighter than Amazon's Kindle Fire HD 7 that weighs 60 grams (~2.1 ounces) more.

The tablet's interfaces are all located on its left when holding the tablet in landscape mode. The home, volume and on/off buttons are at the upper left edge. This puts them in a favorable position when the tablet is held in portrait mode because the buttons are then in the upper area and all connections are at the top like on a smartphone. The connectivity corresponds to tablet standards. However, Ainol integrates a micro HDMI port that is not available in all low-budget tablets.

The innards of Ainol's Novo 7 Crystal are composed of a quad-core processor and a dual-core graphics card as well as one GB of working memory and eight GB of flash memory. The tablet only sports one webcam that also has a rather low resolution. As for equipment, the Novo 7 Crystal is generally on a par with its contenders. Solely the quad-core processor seems promising because it is usually only found in brand name devices like Google's Nexus 7.

Accessories

Besides a USB cable and the charger, Ainol does not include any accessories for the Novo 7 Crystal Quad Core. However, the manufacturer offers many reasonably priced accessories on its website. The buyer will have to add 10 to 20 Euros (~$13 to $26) for shipping because the accessories come directly from China.

For example, an artificial leather case can be ordered for 5 Euros (~$6), an HDMI cable is available for 3 Euros (~$4) and a WWAN dongle for connecting the tablet to mobile Internet costs 3 Euros (~$4). The highlight is most likely a protective case with USB keyboard for 10 Euros (~$13). However, the quality of the accessories is questionable considering the tablet's build. Besides that, shipping costs as well as possible customs fees increase the price of the accessories.

Warranty

Ainol includes a 12-month warranty on its tablet. It can be upgraded by a further 12 months for a low 30 Euros (~$39). Warranty claims can easily be submitted via a form when the tablet is registered on the manufacturer's website and an account is created. The tablet has to be sent directly to China for repair and it would thus be advisable to inform yourself about customs regulations. Ainol's support tries to answer all questions on the website and there are also a few updates to newer Android versions available.

The manufacturer has not modified the general Android interface and uses Google's default virtual keyboard model. This is usually not a drawback because the on-screen keyboard is very functional. Users who do not like this keyboard can look around in Google's Play Store for another one.

The capacitive touchscreen detects up to five fingers at once and works reliably. All inputs were identified correctly during our test. The surface also exhibits an agreeable resistance when gliding and does not give reason for complaint.

Just as we were praising the tablet, the screen, with a resolution of 1024x600 pixels, gives us plenty of reasons for complaint. First, there is the much too low brightness, on average 178 cd/m². Although that more or less corresponds to the tablet category standard when compared with the Captiva PAD 8 Pro or Odys Loox, the low rate involves clear limits in outdoor use or bright surroundings, which we will describe further below.

Ainol's tablet fared quite well in the synthetic GPU benchmarks and could even be a threat for Google's Nexus 7 depending on the benchmark. The Vivante GC 1000+ dual-core should therefore be quite apt for all current games from Google's Play Store. More information can be found below under Games.

The same picture as in the processor benchmarks is seen when Ainol's Novo 7 Crystal Quad Core is used for browsing on the Internet. The synthetic benchmarks consistently show a poor system performance. The tablet is usually in last place. Websites need a longer time to load and scrolling is not smooth in practice.

The flash memory of Ainol's Novo 7 is not particularly fast either. The tablet unfailingly places itself behind its contenders here. This is noticed in the long wake up times needed from standby and the delayed start of apps.

Temperature

The temperatures of Ainol's Novo 7 Crystal Quad Core were never extraordinary even when the tablet was put under full load for a long time. 40.3 degrees Celsius (104.54 Fahrenheit) on the back can be felt but the tablet still can be held comfortably. The maximum temperature of 34.5 degrees Celsius (94.1 Fahrenheit), without load, measured on the lower left front will barely be noticed anyway.

This low consumption is also noticed in the battery runtimes. Ainol's Crystal is far in front with a load runtime of 3:20 hours. Although 6:18 hours while surfing via Wi-Fi is 30 minutes less than Google's Nexus 7, it is a lot more than Prestigio's MultiPad 7 or Captiva Pad 8 Pro.