DOMO Slate X3G SE
Street Price: Rs 9000

If you're looking for an inexpensive tablet with phone functionality, the DOMO Slate X3G SE may initially seem like a decent choice, given its primary specs — it is powered by a 1 GHz dual-core CPU, has dual-SIM functionality with support for calls and 3G. But then it is not without flaws. Let's see how this product measure up against the slew of budget Android tablets in the market today.

 

Design And Build Quality
The first thing you'll notice is that the device's build quality is disappointing. The tablet is made of a glossy plastic, which makes it a fingerprint and smudge magnet. The tablet is quite thick when compared to most similarly priced tablets (such as the NXG A10 Plus). The bezel surrounding the screen is larger than what you get on most 7" tablets. If that wasn't bad enough, the SIM slot cover is an epitome of shoddiness. Moreover, the slots are not even properly aligned. The only saving grace is that the slate doesn't make much of a creaking sound when pressed.

Screen
For starters, the capacitive display isn't calibrated properly. Also, the images and UI elements look vertically stretched. The company claims that the screen packs in 800x480 pixels. However, upon inspection, I found out that the screen actually has pixel dimensions of 764x480. The display lacks sharpness due to its highly reflective nature and a poor contrast-ratio makes things worse. The brightness is low and even the colours look washed out. In short, it's not the kind of a display you'd expect after paying 9 grand.

Package And Basic Specs
The X3G SE is powered by a Mediatek MT6577 chipset with a 1 GHz dual-core Cortex A9 CPU, coupled with PowerVR SGX 531 GPU. There's 512 MB of RAM, 8 GB internal storage, and microSD card slot. Detailed list of specs can be found at the end of this review.

UI And Performance
The tablet runs Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) out of the box. Since Domo hasn't made any customisations, the UI looks clean. Due to the lack of software optimisation though, there's a significant amount of delay, even when performing simple tasks such as swiping through home screens. It gets worse as soon as you start multitasking. Occasionally, the screen refuses to respond to touch inputs. While drawing the odd blank is expected out of budget tablets, after a while it does get extremely annoying.

 

The browser has decent page rendering speeds and also supports Flash. In gaming, the device can handle popular games such as Fruit Ninja, Temple Run, and Angry Birds Star Wars. However, be prepared for occasional slowdowns. For those interested in synthetic benchmarks, the tablet scored 6862 in AnTuTu.

The tablet's USP, like I said, is its dual-SIM phone functionality. During testing, I found the call quality and signal reception to be good. Be warned though, holding a 7" tablet to your ear makes you look incredibly silly. So I'd recommend using a Bluetooth headset. But looking at the continuous increase in the interest level of phablets, slapping a big device across your face might be a fashion statement in the near future and make my my earlier statement look foolish.

Multimedia
The gadget's sound quality is bad, and even a good pair of third party earphones can't salvage it. On the plus side, the tablet has a capable video player. It had no issues at all, even when playing 1080p MP4, DivX, and XviD clips. It would have been nice of the manufacturer to include an HDMI-Out port though. The 5 mp snapper is absolutely horrendous, and the resulting images look more like they've been shot, at best, by a 1.3 camera. 

Battery And Verdict
The slate packs in a 3600 mAh Lithium polymer battery that lasted for around 2 hours in our video loop test. This means, you can't even watch a complete Bollywood movie at one go. However, that's an unfortunate reality in a lot of similarly-priced tablets.

For around Rs 9000, the X3G SE makes a lot of promises, but delivers very few. Right from the build quality to the performance, the tablet disappoints on many levels. Therefore, if you're looking for a decent dual-SIM tablet, better go for the NXG Xtab Duos for a premium of Rs 1000.

Design And Build Quality: 2/5
Features: 3.5/5
Performance: 2.5/5
Value For Money: 2/5
Mojo: 1.5/5

Overall Rating: 2/5

Specifications:

• 1 GHz dual-core Cortex A9 CPU.
• PowerVR SGX 531 GPU, 512 MB of RAM.
• 8 GB internal storage, MicroSD card slot.
• The 5 megapixel rear camera, 2 mp front-facing camera.
• 7" screen with pixel dimensions of 480x764.
• 3600 mAh Lithium polymer battery.
• Accelerometer, In-built speaker.
• Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, A-GPS.
• Package Contents: Tablet, Charging Power Adapter, USB Cable, OTG Cable, Documentation.
   

TAGS: Tablets, Android