Huawei MediaPad 7 Honeycomb Tablet Review [video]

Posted on 12 November 2011, Last updated on 03 January 2014 by

I recently got my hands on a trial Huawei MediaPad 7 and over the last week I have been using it instead of my Eee Pad Transformer to see how it stacks up in the workplace.

The screen is one of the Huawei MediPad 7’s strongest features. It’s a 7” capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 1280×800 and is IPS. It’s bright and produces colors well and is perfect for photos and videos but is also great for reading text. E-books look fantastic and the text jumps off the “page”.

Build quality

Firstly I am impressed with the look and feel of the MediaPad 7 and it seems to be very well made. The materials are first rate and the fit and finish equal to any other high grade tablet I’ve used. The device feels solid in the hand and it’s ergonomically easy to hold. The MediaPad7 feels a bit heavier than the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 (380g vs. 391g) and this may have an impact if you intend to carry it around a lot or hold it for extended periods while reading or watching videos.

Personally I like the smaller form factor but with a high resolution screen and the 7″ size if you don’t have good eyesight you may struggle with the MediaPad 7.

The Cracked Screen

I found out the hard way that the MediaPad doesn’t have Gorilla Glass screen as unfortunately my Son dropped the tablet and it landed screen first and slid a bit. It scratched badly and has a crack running edge to edge across the top of the screen. And this from a drop onto a wood floor from a height of less than 2 feet!  I’d highly recommend a screen protector and a case as the first accessories you buy. Personally I don’t like screen protectors and haven’t fitted any of my devices with one and the Eee Pad, for example, hasn’t got a scratch on it. I don’t know whether it was just bad luck or a soft screen but this scratching is the worst I’ve ever had on a tablet or phone screen and it didn’t take that much of a fall. YMMV as it could also have been a freaky perfect storm of impact and angle.

Cameras

Moving on to the device, I tested the cameras and I was pleasantly surprised by the rear facing camera.  It’s a 5 megapixel camera and just using the standard Android camera interface it handles low light well and the image looked nice and crisp. This photo of a teddy Bear was taken in the middle of the loungeroom with filtered light from a window about 10 feet away and there’s little grain in the image. The front facing camera is 1.3 megapixels and also handled room-only lighting easily. Under low light the MediaPad 7 performed as well as any of the other Android cameras I’ve tested and so would be fine for video conferencing or VOIP calls.

Test image from Huawei Mediapad camera

Keyboards and Mice 

Periperals like my portable Bluetooth keyboard and mice setup worked fine. I couldn’t connect any USB devices or drives because the MediaPad 7 doesn’t have a full-sized USB port, so this was untested.

Battery life

Huawei claims 6 hours for the battery and this feels right to me. I didn’t run any formal benchmarks on the battery but I could easily get through the day and night using it and have 25% left in the battery when I plugged it in at night. I had WiFi and Bluetoth on, auto brightness, and default screen time-out and sleep settings. My ‘all day’ is from 7 am to midnight usually. The MediaPad 7 will do well for active all-day use.

Overall

I liked the Huawei MediaPad 7. Cracked screen aside, the Medipad 7 is well made, fast, has a great screen, and is very portable. With the right accessories, like a good case and a keyboard, it could work OK in an enterprise environment (of course with the standard Android limitations) but the lack of a full size USB port hamstrings the MediaPad 7 for enterprise work. This may be the tradeoff you have to make to get a 7″ form-factor so you need to asses whether the ability to connect drives or peripherals via USB is a real need for you. I prefer the 10″ screen tablets for work but a 7″ is great for portability and as a quick around-the-house consumption device. I’d consider the Huawei MediPad 7 if it’s priced correctly — stay tuned for pricing announcements which should be coming soon from Huawei.

Video

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fp5WO-XzEEU&version=3&hl=en_US]

8 Comments For This Post

  1. Broli says:

    Are you running from the cops or something? Text & video reviews seem rushed & you sound like you’re out of breathe.

    Why didn’t you buy a USB adapter? They cost like $1.

  2. rabs says:

    Didn’t seem rushed to me. I guess it’s more because a child was sleeping nearby or something. The recording environment wasn’t the best, though people do with what they have.

    Though I agree, some USB host tests with an adapter would have been nice.

    Looks like a nice device, overall.

  3. Monarch says:

    Hello. The device could have been great but it broke from a wooden floor? That’s very poor build quality. I have some questions. First, can it send and receive calls and text messages just like the Galaxy Tab? Second, would you consider this as a worthy upgrade for your tab? Thank you very much.

  4. W00t says:

    Monarch not even one Honeycomd device can recieve/make calls and some goes for the sms. I contacted huawei and answered me that the usb is a usb otg so with the right cable you can attach anything.

  5. gEoo says:

    My Huawei Mediapad is able to make voice call and sms over GSM.

  6. Willing Tan says:

    Hi! By the way @GEoo did you get Whatsapp to work on it?

  7. Gadgety says:

    I wish Huawei had stuck to the S7 dimensions as it was slimmer and therefore easier to slip into a pocket. What is with all these tablet manufacturers – don’t they understand the need for pocketability? The S7 seems to have had near perfect dimensions.

  8. thiya says:

    i have one of this Huawei too and i try to get it work with the sim card but nothing. so do you know how to make it work? so i can make a call.

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