Hi everyone, i wanted to get a discussion going about this line of 7" ICS tablets *coming soon* from Ainol. Ainol is a budget chinese brand, but has been establishing a name for itself after becoming the manufacturer of the first ICS tablet. I have played with an older Ainol model, the Paladin, which has a pretty nice build quality to it, but the crippling factor was that it used a MIPS processor that was incompatible with a number of popular apps. This line of tablets uses ARM processors, so there shouldn't be any app compatibility issues. Here are the tablets with a list of key features.
Ainol novo 7 Tornado$99
Screen: 800x480
CPU: 1ghz Cortex A9
RAM 1GB
Memory: 8GB or 16GB(+$20)
Camera: 0.3MP front
Micro SD slot
Ainol novo 7 Mars $129
Screen: 1024x600
CPU: 1ghz Cortex A9
RAM 1GB
Memory: 8GB or 16GB(+$20)
Camera: 0.3MP front
Micro SD slot
Ainol novo 7 ELF II $149
Screen: 1024x600
CPU: 1.5ghz Dual Core Cortex A9
RAM 1GB
Memory: 8GB
Camera: 2.0MP front
Micro SD slot
Mini HDMI
Ainol novo 7 Aurora II $189
Screen: IPS 1024x600
CPU: 1.5ghz Dual Core Cortex A9
RAM 1GB
Memory: 8GB
Camera: 2.0MP front
Micro SD slot
Mini HDMI
It appears that they should be getting the Tornado and Mars tablets very soon, but the Elf II and Aurora II will not be available until May according to what I've read. Spemall appears to be a fairly reliable seller of android tablets. You can see them interacting with customers on their
facebook page and
twitter . They have posted pictures of the tablets and spec sheets on their facebook page as well. You may want to wait to order until they have given confirmation that they have stock on hand.
I like the look of these tablets. They have a nice clean modern look with a solid piece of glass covering the front. Most cheap chinese tablets are fairly ugly and have raised borders over the screen. I would find it hard to spend $189 on the Aurora II, especially since I'm expecting to see a Google/Asus tablet with the same specs coming in July for $200. However, the first three seem reasonably priced to me.
If you want to get a better idea of what these are like, check out this set of video reviews for the original Aurora. I believe they are using the same case/build style as the original Elf/Aurora on these new tablets. Really, the only difference between the original Elf/Aurora and the Elf II/Aurora II is the dual core processor. You can get the original Aurora for $169.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYHpHKIGqYk
Android tablet - Ainol novo 7 series new models' key features.
