E-Fun's latest Android tablet hit store shelves this weekend just in time for a sale. BigLots had it advertised for $90, a slight discount from their regular price of $99.You know I cannot resist a budget tablet so I went out and got this one. Of the many budget Android tablets currently on the market, this is not the one you should buy.I've had this tablet for a week and I can say from first hand experience that it has several issues that should give you pause. While they're not major defects, they do cause this tablet to come up short against the Polaroid PMID701, IdolPad, or the Innosoul.

The Next7s has a 7" capacitive touchscreen with 4 GB Flash storage, a so-so camera, g-sensor, and a speaker. It's running the latest generation of Android on a 1GHz Rockchip CPU.

This tablet marks a new trend for E-fun. Before they had been trying to sell premium budget tablets with a nicer metal shell, better build quality, and a nice finish on the front. The Next7s gives up all this in pursuit of a lower price. The case is now plastic, with a build quality on par with other budget tablets.

Android Market

First things first. This tablet didn't come with Android Market and my usual easy method for installing it didn't quite work correctly. I then tried another easy method and that didn't work either. To be more exact, the app crashes when I try to run it.

I'm citing this as a shortcoming because the other 3 budget 7" Android tablets above all either ship with it or you can install Android Market with minimal effort. I see that as a point in their favor. I will of course look for other methods.

Camera

The Next7s was announced at the beginning of May as E-Fun's first cheapest tablet running Android 4.0. At the time I knew most of the specs but I didn't know that the camera could only do VGA resolution, and rather poorly at that. This photo is the best I could find out of a couple dozen test shots.

Apps & Performance

This tablet ships with most of the basic apps but it's missing Youtube, Amazon Appstore, and a decent reading app. It comes with the B&N ebookstore installed but the reading app is provided by E-Fun. Unless you happen to like your ebooks to have a faux book appearance, avoid this app.

The missing apps aren't a serious problem. I got Aldiko and Youtube apps from Freeware Lovers. They installed fine and both worked fine. The clips I played on Youtube all worked, and I'm currently reading a couple ebooks with Aldiko. Angry Birds also installed okay, but I'm having some issues with lag. It doesn't always notice when I pull back on the slingshot.

Battery Life

I've used this tablet for a week while I spent most of my time working at home. That falls into a moderate use category, IMO, and so far this tablet looks to have not much over a day of real battery life. That is far shorter than the 3 tablets listed above, making it a reason why you should get them.

Source: the-digital-reader.com