Review: Ainol Novo7 Numy AX1 (aka Poseidon) Android GSM Tablet

Tablets are latest growing trend in Pakistan and the hottest device that is keep getting out of stock right after arriving is Ainol's latest offering is 7inchs Novo7 Numy AX1 also known as Poseidon in many other parts of the world. How hot and in-demand this new tablet is? We had to track this baby down for 15 days all over the place before we finally manage to get one for ourselves before the stocks dried on us again.

And the wait was worth it.

Novo7's latest family member is pack with about everything you can imagine to be in your perfect tablet for this price, of course with a few compromises to keep the price under 15,000 Pakistani Rupees. But IF you are well connected in the market, you can find very good deal.

First thing to go is the last season's processor and GPU. GPU now is one of the highlights in AX1 for geeks where for consumers BlueTooth, Dual GSM and 3G sim slots, FM Radio and GPS chip would do the trick. These Quad core units are much faster and smoother than the previous ones I have checked. Rest of the specs are as follows:

• Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
• Official Play Store Access

• CPU  MTK8389 Quad Core
• GPU  PowerVR SGX 544MP
• 1GB Ram, 8GB internal storage
• Micro SD Card/ T-FLASH Support up to 32GB

• Complete Phone functionality Support
• Dual Sim GSM and 3G support inbuilt
• Dual camera with flash for main 5mp camera
• Bluetooth
• FM Radio
• GPS
• HDMI
• 1240x600 screen resolution
• USB OTG Support

On the weaker side company compromised with

• Screen type, not IPS
• Very Sharp Edge, uncomfortable to hold
• Power and volume buttons are sticking out and pressed accidentally very often
• Should be either 16gb Storage or 2GB Ram
• Very low sound for me, but sound quality itself is good

Well, personally none of the compromises holding me down from having a good experience of using Numy AX1. You can always avoid sharp edges or buttons by changing angle of palms and fingers. It just takes a little time to get used to it.

Speed and experience is great. Heavy games that I saw slightly lagging during the game play on few other tablets are smooth on Numy AX1.

Browsing is fast thanks to really improved wifi this time, signals are strong compare to my last tablet. I noticed the browsers are fast as well, so it is not only the improved hardware but improved software too.

I believe Android Jelley Bean 4.2 is also contributing in faster speed and overall better performance in this device.

I installed one of my regular sims in Numy AX1 and to my surprise it is getting stronger signals at dead zones within the house. Our location is a big dead zone for any mobile company. Very few connection manage to stay barely alive inside the walls so I was NOT expecting a single bar at all in a low cost ^China^ device.

Screen, for a low tech display looks better for me. I did not have had trouble using the lowest resolution before anyways. Brightness at the lowest point is still very good indoors lights that I actually had to check twice if the brightness is not up around 50%. I did a quick outdoor run and it was not too bad either. You wouldn’t be able to see anything sideways thought.

I am killing my battery twice a day like clockwork from 100% full charge doing mix of every thing, in which installing apps, extensive browsing, at lowest display brightness, wifi always on, sim always active with the low signal zone that itself is a battery killing task. All extra notification sounds and vibrations are turned off. I get 5 hours of work time. On my last tablet it was same time but for far less specs, lowest screen resolution and brightness.

I don't know about others but I check browsers/browsing speed using Facebook's full site on a tablet or a smartphone. Facebook's full website sucks the life out of any system. Browsers other than Opera Mobile Classic on Numy AX1 did wonderful job driving it with good browsing experience on full Facebook website. Opera Mobile Classic felt slightly slower but handles things much better. Now I don't have to use Facebook’s mobile alternates anymore, which means I can operate my Facebook Pages million times better.

All in all, you must have got the idea I love this new device despite some of its obvious weaknesses. The price is great, performance and built is superb. Very satisfying for now and I hope it will stay this way for a long time.

If I will find or face any serious trouble, it will be shared on these pages with the solutions hopefully, so keep an eye out to us.

And I will be recording video to demo new games and apps for my blogs, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and DailyMotion.