14 DAY TRIAL // SmartDevices has climbed on the cheap tablet train and settled into its seat so well that one might consider its device the cheapest there is, for its kind.
The slate that the company has just revealed is called SmartQ Ten2 Plus T13 and relies on an ARM Cortex CPU.
More specifically, an ARM Cortex A9 chip with a clock speed of 1 GHz lies at its heart.
Backing up the CPU are 512 MB of RAM (random access memory) and 8 GB of Flash storage.
That said, SmartDevices chose to implement a 9.7-inch capacitive touchscreen with a native resolution of 1,024 x 768 pixels (it is an IPS panel).
At this point, it becomes obvious that this is not something that is meant to actually compete with the stronger slates out there, based on Kal-El or otherwise.
Still, media playback should be no problem and, truthfully, we can't see how buyers would want to complain about the spec sheet after seeing the price.
Simply, SmartDevcies strapped a tag of RMB998 (Chinese currency) onto the SmartQ Ten2 Plus T13.
That means $160 or 123 Euro, which is an incredibly affordable figure when the iPad and Tegra-based devices sell for around $500 / 470 Euro.
Even the Amazon Kindle Fire, famous for its trend-setting price point, barely goes below $200 (153 Euro).
For those who want to know what else is included in the $160 price tag, SmartDevices didn't forget about Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, a 2-megapixel front camera and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi.
Impressively, even 3G is present, along with a 7500mAh Lithium-ion battery.
What lags a bit behind the times is the operating system: the aged Android 2.3 is loaded onto the slate.
Fortunately, SmartDevices is reportedly working on an Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update, so this drawback should be surmounted eventually, hopefully sooner rather than later.