Coby Kyros 7″ Andorid Tablet Review

I have read several blog posts and articles written about this device before it was released and I think they didn’t really give it a chance because of it’s manufacturer.  The tablet I am talking about is the Coby Kyros MID7015.  I picked one of these up for $149 and did my best to break it.  Now I have used an iPad and several Android phones to base my view of what performance should be.  This tablet is actually very surprising, it is responsive and snappy.  I had no problem with the touch screen and accessing apps that are installed.  Even web browsing was pretty fast, although I did have some problems with the signal range that the device has.  I like the live wallpapers that come with Android and the screen resolution was really good.  It has a mini usb  port that can be used to connect to a computer or to connect devices to the tablet.  I did do some file transfers from a Fedora machine to the Kryos and the speed was not very impressive.  It took almost 5 minutes to copy over 1.2 Gig of data to the external storage card.  But before I go further, here are the specs of the device.

Features

• Large 7” Resistive Touchscreen
• Connect to the Internet wirelessly
• Browse the web and check e-mail
• Watch videos on YouTube
• Integrated flash memory
• Built-in 4GB internal memory
• microSD card slot(upgrade up to 16GB)
• Connect and enjoy Full 1080p on your HDTV via a HDMI cable
• Discover and download apps to play games, check the weather, listen to the radio, and more with AppsLib
• Download and read thousands of books with the included Aldiko E-book reader application
• View pages in portrait or landscape with automatic orientation detection
• Full-size USB adapter connection enables keyboard of your tablet
• USB 2.0 Hi-speed for fast file transfers
• Rechargeable lithium-polymer battery

Specifications

• CPU Type: Telechips TTC8902
• CPU Speed: 800 MHz
• Memory Type: Flash
• Memory Max: Built-in 4GB/Expandable up to 16GB
• Display Size: 7″
• Display Type: Resistive Touch
• Display Resolution: 800 x 480
• Aspect Ratio: 16:9
• WLAN Type: WiFi 802.11 b/g
• Audio Input Mic
• Audio Output: 3.5mm headphone & Built-in Speaker
• Video Output: High Speed HDMI, type C (mini), Supports 1080p and 720p
• USB Port: Adapter for full-size USB host (for keyboard)
• Text Format Support: ePub format
• Additional Functions: Compatible with Microsoft® Windows® XP, Vista, 7 or higher and Mac OS or Linux in mass storage mode
• OSD Menu Languages: English (U.S), French (France), German, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Korean, Japanese, Russian
• OS Support: Android 2.1
• Battery Type: Rechargeable Li-poly battery
• Battery Capacity: 3200mA
• Unit Dimension (WHD): 0.48″ x 7.5″ x 4.75″
• Unit Weight: 0.9 lbs

The box comes with a few items to make life a little easier.

1. USB cable to connect to computers
2. USB adapter cable, mini usb to full size female usb port
3. Power cord
4. Head phones
5. Screen cleaning cloth
6. Protective case for Kyros

It does come with Android 2.1 which isn’t the most current but I hope they will come out with a Android 2.2 upgrade.  Android 2.1 will allow for the install of flash but I think it is hit and miss, with it working for some devices and not for others.  The apps that come installed are pretty basic and you will have to go out to their apps site to get apps to install.  One problem I have with the Android tablets is the fact that you have to go to a different App store other than Android Market.  I read that this was due to the fact that they are not phones and Android Market is for phones.  Anyhow there are several other sites to get Apps from and they will install just fine.

I installed several apps to include a weather, adobe reader, and battery monitor apps.  I don’t think the little battery icon in the task bar is very accurate so I wanted to see how correct it is.  I did have to get use to the on screen keyboard but it works fine just not really big enough for normal typing with the 7″ screen.  The WiFi was easy to setup and works good.  It loaded every website I went to faster than I though it would, and using the sites was alright.  Some links are a little small for tapping with your finger, so you could use the stylus or double tap the screen in the area to have it zoom in.  The screen will rotate a full 360 degrees and over all usage of the device is easy.  The ports are all on one end and the home and menu buttons are on the top with the back button on the face of the device.  Here is a pic of the ports.

I did have to install a movie player to watch movies and I need to study up on what all is available for apps, but the tablets was addicting.  I played around with it for several hours just learning and setting things up like I want it.  The battery seemed to have a good capacity,  I started with a half charge and 3 to 4 hours later I had 10% left.  So you may get 7 or 8 hours out of a full charge, but I don’t know for sure.

The tablets was a little heavy at the start but I got use to it pretty quickly as I learned how I like to hold it as I use it.  I did try to get flash installed but it kept coming back with a parsing error.  So I will have to do some more playing to see if i can get it to work.  I did find it a little funny that the phone portion of the OS is still present in the tablet.  So playing around with these settings could cause you some problems with the function of the device.  I did start getting an error with the app site.  After a few installs it started coming up with a Applib error and kept making me force quit the install I was attempting.  It turns out this is something they are aware  of and I followed their instructions to fix it.  However you have to factory reset the device and you lose everything you install.  So that is a pain but I haven’t had it since.  There is an update available the MID7015 tablet at the Coby website, but I haven’t installed it yet.

All in all I like the tablet and think it is a nice toy to play with.  I will use it for reading, some web browsing, games, and watching movies on trips.  It does not replace a computer, but I do like how it functions.  It is easy to carry and has removable storage.  I think it is more user friendly than the 10″ tablets just because of size.  I am far from done trying to make the tablet just how I like it, and if I can get flash to work I will post how I did it.  For the money this is a very good tablet and I am sure this was a device purchased by Coby to be sold using its name or they finally go something right.  It is good quality and works great.  I would recommend this to others that want an inexpensive Android Internet Tablet.