Back in June when I reviewed the Hisense Sero 7 Pro, I was surprised by how nice of a tablet it was for $149 (it’s basically the 1st gen Nexus 7 with an HDMI port, microSD card slot, and rear camera with flash) and now the price has dropped even lower down to $129. It’s amazing how inexpensive good quality Android tablets are getting these days.
Just when you think a price point of $199 has been established for decent 7-inch tablets, Walmart and Hisense blow the doors off by taking an additional $70 off the price. There’s also the Hisense Sero 7 Lite, which used to sell for $99. They cut another $20 off of it too, making it $79. It has the specs of a tablet from a couple of years ago, though, so unless you really want to go the budget route you’d be better off spending a little more on the Sero 7 Pro.
One thing to note, the new lower price seems to vary from store to store. When the page first loads at Walmart, I see the lower $129 price, but it then reverts back to $149. It seems to depend on which Walmart store is selected; not all of them are showing the lower price. Unfortunately Walmart still does not offer shipping on the Sero 7 Pro; you have to pick it up in a retail store.
If you are looking to save $100 to get the Sero 7 Pro instead of the new Nexus 7, it’s a pretty good buy. It doesn’t have wireless charging or the super high resolution screen that the new Nexus 7 has, but it does have a few features the Nexus 7 lacks. Here’s the rundown on the specs:
Hisense Sero 7 Pro Specs
- 7-inch ISP screen
- 1280 x 800 pixel resolution (216 ppi)
- Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
- 8GB internal memory with 1GB RAM
- MicroSD card slot for cards up to 32GB
- 1.3 GHz NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor
- 2 Cameras: Rear 5MP with Flash; Front 2 MP
- Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4 GHz& 5 GHz)
- Stereo speaker, 3.5mm headphone jack
- Micro USB port for charging and transferring data (it supports external keyboards)
- Mini HDMI port
- Bluetooth 3.0
- GPS
- NFC – Near Field Communications (Android Beam)
- Battery life: 7-10 hours – 4000 mAh
- Dimensions:7.96 x 4.95 x 0.42 inches (199.8 x 125.8 x 10.8mm)
- Weight: 12.7 ounces (360 grams)
- Price: $129 at Walmart
I’m getting $149.
It’s the 8GB internal memory that made it a no go for me. That and the screen. I simply can’t comfortably use a tablet that is under 250ppi, and even that resolution is a bit low for me. That’s why I was fine with the Nexus 7 price.
I did recommend the Sero 7 Pro to a relative shopping for a tablet though, since if resolution is not an issue, it’s a pretty good deal!
I’m glad for my 32GB though, downloading some maps for offline navigation right now.
did you get the new nexus?
I took the plunge a month ago and am glad I did. Can’t ask for anything better as far as I’m concerned. The 3 settings for power consumption really work well. Highest for gaming, middle for web and lowest for reading. No hiccups so far. You hit the nail on the head in your review Nathan.
This tablet is still standing its ground well against new competition too. It’s a way better tablet than the new Kindle Fire HD that Amazon just came out with for $139. It has the memory card slot, HDMI port, GPS, NFC chip, Play Store, front and rear cameras, and a better processor. It’s not even close.