Chinese manufacturer Huawei hit London on Monday night for the launch of its upcoming Vision smartphone and MediaPad tablet. Although the MediaPad is not due out in the UK until the first quarter 2012, we managed to get our hands on one of the devices at the launch party.

The MediaPad is a 7in tablet running Android Honeycomb 3.2. It has a unibody design, measuring 10.5mm thick and weighing in at 390g, and features a 1280x800 screen, which Huawei claims as full HD.

The tablet had a very similar look and feel to the HTC Flyer and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7in version. Compared to holding the 600g iPad, it’s noticeably lighter, and we’ve always found 7in tablets much easier to type on in portrait mode while holding the device.

There wasn’t much lag when switching between landscape and portrait modes, however we didn’t find the MediaPad touchscreen as responsive as some other tablet models, especially the iPad. It was also slower to load pages than other models we’ve used, although the 3G connection could have had some part in this.

There’s a 5-megapixel camera on the rear, and a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera for video calling. Video playback was smooth, although those purchasing a tablet mostly for watching video or TV would be better opting for a 10in model.

The MediaPad runs a 1.2Ghz Qualcomm processor, which Huawei said makes it fantastic for gaming. Certainly Angry Birds seemed to run well on the device.

Huawei claims that the battery will last for more than six hours. It will also have Wi-Fi, HSPA+ 3G and an HDMI port. The MediaPad will be priced at £330 in the UK.

As the MediaPad is very similar to the Samsung Galaxy Tab, we asked Huawei if it was concerned that Apple would start legal proceedings against the firm for copying the look and feel of the iPad.

However, the spokesman said that Huawei was not concerned about that at all. He dismissed the Apple patent as being based on just one diagram, adding that he felt Samsung would be the eventual winner in the legal battle.

When we asked Huawei what the key differentiators were between its tablet and other existing models, it cited Honeycomb 3.2 and the full HD video feature. However, the 7in Acer Iconia Tab A100 already runs Android 3.2. The 1280x800 resolution is unique to the MediaPad among 7in tablets, although among 10in models it’s common.

Huawei is aiming the MediaPad at women, as it says that the current 10in models are favoured by men and so feels there’s a gap in the market for a device that females can fit in their handbags. However, Huawei declined to share any sales targets for the tablet, so it’s difficult to ascertain how successful the firm thinks this will be.

Overall we’d say the price point of the tablet could see it fall between the gaps. Current tablet buyers seem to be after one thing – the Apple brand, and will dig deep for an iPad. However, the £300+ price tag will put it out of reach of the bargain hunters, after the cheaper models to just try out this tablet fad. 

We’ll have a full review of the MediaPad up soon.

08 Nov 2011