Active Stocks
Thu Mar 28 2024 15:29:14
  1. Tata Steel share price
  2. 156.10 2.13%
  1. ICICI Bank share price
  2. 1,095.75 1.08%
  1. HDFC Bank share price
  2. 1,446.65 0.41%
  1. ITC share price
  2. 427.85 -0.04%
  1. Power Grid Corporation Of India share price
  2. 277.15 2.25%
Business News/ Mint-lounge / Features/  iBall Slide Stellar A2: Two in one?
BackBack

iBall Slide Stellar A2: Two in one?

Using a tablet as a smartphone is in vogue, and iBall wants to cater to that audience

Photo: Priyanka Parashar/MintPremium
Photo: Priyanka Parashar/Mint

We regularly come across people using 7-inch tablets as phones. In fact, many people like to pair the tablet with a wireless headset, and use it for making calls. Samsung’s Galaxy Tab range and Asus’ Fonepad series are quite popular, considering the usability and experience of two devices in one. Now, Indian company iBall has launched the Slide Stellar A2 at 11,999, with phone capabilities as the main attraction. But is it any good as a tablet or a phone?

Design: premium looks, handy to use

Despite looking much better than the rivals, the Stellar A2 has a couple of design issues. There is no volume button on the tablet, something that is missed while watching movies and videos on the tablet. The iBall has integrated the volume keys next to the home/return/menu keys, which is not easy to use.

Display: HD resolution but lacks class

It has a screen resolution of 1,280x800 pixels, which is quite enough for a 7-inch tablet. But in terms of real-world experience, it is a bit disappointing—the colours look dull for movies and games. On the brighter side, the text crispness and white colour reproduction is on the warmer side, which makes it comfortable for browsing the Internet, reading books and anything to do with text reading in general.

Performance and battery: far from impressive

Calling capabilities are being used to the fullest with two SIM slots, just like the Asus Fonepad, which makes it easier to enable voice calling on one, and 3G/4G use on the other. The Dell Venue 7 3000 scores over the Asus and Stellar A2 since it offers twice the internal memory and supports up to 64 GB micro SD cards.

During our tests, the battery registered close to 6 hours of backup time, even with modest tasks like calling, reading and video playback. We expected a bit more, considering the fact that it isn’t running a very powerful processor or a big screen.

Software: smart gestures but old Android

The tablet runs on Android 4.4.2 (KitKat), which is a rather old version of Android. Though Android 5.0 (Lollipop) is also not yet offered by the competition, but we feel this new tablet had the chance to show the way. iBall has added an impressive array of touch-screen gesture controls that work very well and are quite accurate too. For example, drawing a shape such as C will open the calling menu, E would take you to the browser and O will access the photo gallery. The other two tablets don’t offer this feature. It does not have option to add more customizations for other apps. The Dell tablet also runs Android 4.4.

Verdict

If you are in the market for a tablet that will be thoroughly utilized for voice calls as well, the iBall Stellar is an acceptable option. But there are rough edges, such as limited performance ability and battery life. This is a device made for modest usage scenarios such as reading e-books, browsing the Web and little bit of gaming. There are better alternatives at just 1,000 extra —the Dell Venue 7 Series 3000 tablet also supports voice calling, has 16 GB internal storage and is priced at 12,999. The Asus Fonepad 7, priced at 12,999, is a much better-looking device with more impressive speakers.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Abhijit Ahaskar
Abhijit writes on tech policy, gaming, security, AI, robotics, electronics and startups. He has been in the media industry for over 12 years.
Catch all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
More Less
Published: 18 May 2015, 04:55 PM IST
Next Story footLogo
Recommended For You
Switch to the Mint app for fast and personalized news - Get App