When Google launched the Nexus 7 in a market dominated by Apple’s iPad, not many would have expected just how big an impact this tablet that can fit in a palm or a pant pocket would have. The impact was such that it compelled the mighty Apple to develop and launch its very own iPad mini to take advantage of this lucrative segment. Other companies were not to be left behind and they too jumped into the market with Acer recently announcing the Iconia B1 and then Asus announcing its MeMo Pad 7.
What these aforementioned companies have also done is, carve out a new market segment of low-cost 7-inch tablets by pricing the tablets in the sub Rs 8,000 price range. Considering just how price conscious we Indians are, this is half the battle won. So the question is taking into account the sacrifices the companies have made to keep the price down, are they still good enough when compared to their big brother the Google Nexus 7? We compare the specs to find out.
Though the screen sizes are the same, the MeMo pad 7 and the Iconia B1 lag behind with a LED Backlight WSVGA display with a resolution of 1024×600 and 170ppi pixel-density a diagonal WSVGA capacitive multitouch display with a similar resolution and pixel-density, respectively. The Nexus on the other hand boasts of a WXGA LED IPS panel with a resolution of 1280×800 and 216ppi pixel-density.
The price difference and the cost-cutting become immediately clear when the processing power of the tablets are compared. The Nexus 7 is powered by a NVIDIA Tegra 3 T30L Quad-Core 1.3GHz. The Iconia B1 follows with a Mediatek dual-core 1.2GHz processor, while the MeMo Pad 7 has had to do with a single-core processor.
On the software front, all the three tablets run on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. The Nexus 7 and the MeMo Pad 7 both come packed with a 4,325mAH battery while the Iconia lags behind in this race with a 2,710mAH battery. Cameras are clearly not a selling point for any of the three tablets with 1.2-megapixel front camera on the Nexus 7, 1-megapixel on the MeMo Pad 7 and 0.3-megapixel VGA cam on the Iconia B1. The only feature that is present on the low-cost tablets is a MicroSD card slot supporting up to 32GB which is completely absent on the Nexus 7.
The specs clearly point at the Google Nexus 7 as the winner on paper, but in a market where the value for money is given more importance than detailed specifications, the Asus MeMo Pad 7 and the Acer Iconia B1 should be able to hold their own.
Here is a spec sheet of the three devices:
| Features | Asus MeMo Pad 7 | Acer Iconia B1 | Google Nexus 7 |
| Dimension | 196.2×119.2×11.2 mm | 197.4x 128.5x mm | 198.5×120×10.56 mm |
| Display | 7-inch LED Backlight WSVGA display (1024×600 resolution) | 7-inch diagonal WSVGA capacitive multitouch display (1024×600 resolution) |
7-inch WXGA LED IPS panel, 10 finger multi-touch (1280×800 resolution) |
| OS | Android Jelly Bean OS, v4.1 | Android Jelly Bean OS, v4.1 | Android Jelly Bean OS v4.1 |
| Processor | 1GHz single-core processor | Mediatek dual-core 1.2GHz processor | NVIDIA Tegra 3 T30L Quad-Core 1.3GHz processor |
| Memory | 1GB of RAM, 8GB/16GB internal memory | 512MB of RAM, 8GB internal memory | 1GB RAM, 16GB/32GB internal memory |
| Battery | 4,325mAh | 2,710mAh | 4325mAh |
| Storage | MicroSD card slot (up to 32GB) | MicroSD card slot (up to 32GB) | - |
| Camera | 1-megapixel front facing Camera | 0.3-megapixel VGA front-facing camera | 1.2-megapixel front facing camera |
| Price | $ 149 | $ 150 | $ 199 |
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