The Lifetab S10346 is a 10-inch tablet built by Medion in partnership with German supermarket chain Aldi. Priced at £149.99 and packing basic specs, it’s aimed firmly at the low end of the tablet market. In this way it's much like the critically acclaimed Tesco hudl 2, winner of Best Value Tablet in the TrustedReviews Awards 2014.

However, it provides nowhere near as positive an experience as its supermarket rival’s offering. Performance is sluggish, the camera app is faulty and there are also serious issues with the screen. We recommend forking out a little extra for the same-sized Lenovo Yoga Tablet 10 HD+ or saving a few pennies with Tesco’s 8.3-inch superstar. Dead set on it? Read on to find out why you really shouldn’t buy this tablet.

Aldi Medion Lifetab S10346 – Design

The Aldi Medion Lifetab isn’t going to stop you dead in your tracks. If you were to browse the web for a stock photo of a generic-looking tablet, you’d probably settle for something that looks a lot like this. And we’re not just saying this to hurt Aldi’s feelings.

It’s very angular, partnering straight lines with sharp corners and edges. The glossy plastic front/grey metal rear combination is ugly and we feel that, with a little effort, Aldi and Medion could have made this look significantly better. Leaving out the metal entirely might have improved its overall look because in its current state it just looks messy. We got to play with the white model, but a slightly better-looking black version is also available.

At 263 x 174 x 8.5mm, it’s a large specimen – after all, the 10.1-inch display is one of the biggest on the market. It's slimmer than a fair few more expensive models though, such as the LG G Pad 10.1.

The oversized bezels are good for resting your thumbs on and succeed in making the tablet easy to grip, but for aesthetic reasons we wish they were a bit smaller.

It’s heavy at 580g, but not unbearably so. To compare, the 9.7-inch iPad Air 2 weighs 437g and the 10.5-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 is 465g, but they’re right at the top of the market and cost a lot more money. The Lifetab’s weight is manageable in one hand for short periods of time, but this is where the design lets it down.

The metal rear isn’t that easy to hold when your palms are sweaty, and makes the Lifetab appear to weigh a lot more than it actually does. Make sure you don’t lose the stand included in the box, you’ll need it if you want to watch a full-length movie. There are a few build quality issues too. The unit’s right speaker doesn’t fit into its recess as well as it should, with part of it jutting out slightly. The joins between plastic and metal on the sides and back are also visibly uneven, which isn’t nice for the fingertips or eyes.

In landscape mode, you’ll find a solid selection of ports and physical buttons on the right-hand edge. From top to bottom, these are: power, volume, Mini HDMI out, Micro USB 2.0, the headphone jack and microSD card slot. The power and volume buttons don’t feel entirely stable, and it’s easy to wiggle them around with your fingernail. They offer a little resistance yet remain easy to push, making a nice little clicking sound when you press down on them.

It’s fiddly to hold the tablet in this position when the charging cable or headphones are plugged in, since they stick out exactly where you’d normally keep your right hand. You’ll either have to flip it into portrait mode or slot it into the tablet stand to counteract this.

Source: www.trustedreviews.com