Coby, one of the more prolific budget tablet makers, has released a new line of inexpensive tablets with decent specs and low prices for 2013. There’s a 7-inch model (MID7065), a 10-inch model (MID1065), and an 8-inch model (MID8065) available right now from various online retailers.
About this time last year I reviewed the Coby Kyros MID7042. It was an okay tablet but it didn’t have access to the Google Play store and it had a low resolution screen.
This year Coby has upped the resolution, the processors, and added full support for Google Apps and Google Play, while somehow managing to drop the prices even lower than last year.
The screen resolution still isn’t as good as more expensive tablets—it’s mid-range now instead of low, but the combination of price and features puts up a good fight against pricier options.
Right now there are three new Coby tablets available over on Amazon. This post was just going to cover the 7-inch model, but then they just added two newer models with 10.1″ and 8″ screens so I might as well include them as well.
All three tablets run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and come pre-loaded with Google apps and the Play store, as well as the Kindle reading app. They are all powered by 1.2GHz dual-core processors and have 1GB of RAM. About the only thing that separates them is the screen size, and the 7-inch model lacks a rear camera.
Please note that the prices listed below are what they are selling for as of this writing. The prices will change over time.
7-inch Coby Tablet MID7065-8
- 7-Inch multi-touch screen (1024×600)
- 1.2 GHz dual-core processor
- 8 GB internal memory
- 1GB RAM
- Mini HDMI port
- MicroSD card slot
- Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n)
- Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
- Front facing camera VGA (640×480)
- 4,000 mAh battery
- Size: 7.8 x 4.8 x 0.45 inches
- Weight: 11.8 ounces
- Price: $109 at Amazon
8-inch Coby Tablet MID8065-8
- 8-Inch multi-touch screen (1024×768)
- 1.2 GHz dual-core processor
- 8 GB internal memory
- 1GB RAM
- Mini HDMI port
- MicroSD card slot
- Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n)
- Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
- Front facing camera VGA (640×480), rear facing camera 2.0MP
- 4,400 mAh battery
- Size: 8.3 x 6.3 x 0.45 inches
- Weight: 17.1 ounces
- Price: $162.16 at Amazon
10.1-inch Coby Tablet MID1065-8
- 10.1-Inch multi-touch screen (1280×800)
- 1.2 GHz dual-core processor
- 8 GB internal memory
- 1GB RAM
- Mini HDMI port
- MicroSD card slot
- Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n)
- Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
- Front facing camera VGA (640×480), rear facing camera 2.0MP
- 6,000 mAh battery
- Size: 10.2 x 7.1 x 0.4 inches
- Weight: 20.8 ounces
- Price: $208 at Amazon
The Amazon reviews (4) are off to a good start, but I am sure they will taper off.
You’re probably right. All those reviews sound like people who are well educated about tablets and know exactly what they are getting. At first I thought maybe they were faked, but a couple of them rip on Coby for other things, which is pretty funny.
I can’t resist. I’m going to have to order one of these to review and find out how well it works.
I am always skeptical of the non-amazon verified purchase reviews, although I am sure there are ringers who purchase there own stuff for purpose of doing reviews.
I look forward to the review. I am sure the viewing angles will bite on the display, but hopefully everything else will be decent.
I just checked the reviews. Amazon is using the 4 reviews for the 7″ tablet and 1 for the 8″ for all 3 devices. There are currently 5 reviews for all three devices, four of the reviews say:
Size Name:7 Inches
One says:
Size Name:8 Inches
There are currently no reviews of the 10″ tablet, even though there appears to be 5 reviews of it.
One interesting thing I noticed when checking out these tablets is that the 7″ and 10″ are 16:9 aspect ratio, while the 8″ is 4:3. I know if I was getting one for reading, I would think the 8″ 4:3 device might just make a good little e-reader. I’m not ready to give up me e-ink device yet though.
Yeah, it’s got the same setup as the iPad Mini. I’m tempted to get it instead of the 7″ one. I kind of like that size and ratio better.
These tablets look really good on paper and the only thing I would be concerned about is battery life. I’m tempted to get one myself as a cheap “throwaway” tablet/e-reader.
maybe it’s a better tablet to hand your to your 5-year-old than the ipad? but still, don’t give up your pswd to the Google Play Store!
The price on the Coby 7″ just went up to $119 this morning.
Yeah and of the course the 8″ one went down in price shortly after I bought it, but it was only a few bucks :).
Looking very forward to your review of the 8″ one!
Agreed!