Specifications
For the present time HP Slate 7 is available in four variants – 2800, 2801, 4600 and 4601. However, it is the support page that describes the variants of the device not the Slate 7 specifications site. It is not surprising that we didn’t manage to find any noticeable difference between the above mentioned variants. The PDF-manual below, which available for download, as well as Slate 7 the firmware, the links to it are placed under the Specifications Table, do not give any information either.
A glance is enough to understand that dealing with the HP Slate 7 one should not expect to get a business class device. It is not only the mobile communication module, that the device lacks, that shortage at least could be forgiven, the tablet PC has no GPS (one of course may try to accept it), and, what is after all strange, no FM-receiver. It is evident that without GPS and mobile communication module the device is going to be used instead of an electronic book, for example, on the road. Assuming that, it is logically to expect that the device should be equipped with a radio receiver. The unpleasant impression is completed by the 2nd version Bluetooth, not the 3rd or 4th one. The only merit here is that Wi-Fi supports 802.11n speed standard.
It is quite demonstrative as well that HP didn’t get enough courage to give the tablet PC processor brand name. All the available information about it is the core architecture (Cortex-A9), the number of cores (two) and the frequency (1.6 GHz). There is a great possibility that some little-known processor brand was used, otherwise what is the point of hiding its name? All in all the device performance should be enough for Android, thanks to 1 GB RAM as well, but the tablet PC is really not the sharpest tool in the shed.
On the other hand, the processor has Mali-400 MP video core, the same as a 2012 winner Samsung Galaxy S III. Having that in mind, one should expect good games performance. May be the device is “no great shakes”, yet promises quite stable operation.
The internal storage capacity is not big. The device has a microSD slot and supports the card with the memory up to 32 GB memory, which is definitely a merit. HP highlights that Slate 7, moreover, has good sound characteristics claiming that the tablet PC is equipped with the special beats audio sound chip. We are going to tell more about that while describing the software.
HP Slate 7 battery capacity is 13.4 Wh, which is less than that of the ASUS Nexus 7, of the year 2012, and the latter has the quad-core, not the dual-core, processor. It is interesting to see the autonomous operation tests. HP promises that Slate 7 will be able to operate in the video playback mode for 5 hours, which is not bad at all.
Generally, one may say that the HP Slate 7 characteristics are far from those of the lower business class devices. To become a business class it should have GPS, 3G, the manufacturer could at least has offered the device variants equipped with these modules. One may sooner attribute the device to an advanced electronic book, the device for internet roaming and an interesting solution for games. On the whole, it is sooner a consumer device.
Performance
HP Slate 7 offers quite modest characteristics, close to the chinese devices within the price range of $150-200 or such prominent brands as the Kindle Fire and Nexus 7 (of the year 2012). Yet HP claims to offer a device of high quality, close to a business-class one. That’s why we decided to compare it to the previous year release tablet PC, Fujitsu STYLISTIC M532. This is the youngest model in the range of expensive models, a budget business class, so to say. What is the difference between the device of 2013, claiming to be in the same range, and the previous season’s average quality device? By the way the Fujitsu Tablet PC has the same platform as the ASUS Nexus 7 of 2012.
When first comparing HP Slate 7 to the Fujitsu STYLISTIC M532 it seems that the Slate is going to lose in each and every test. Let’s have a look at the test results.
The results of the very first test become a surprise. Generally, it is HP Slate 7 which becomes a winner according to the results of AnTuTu System Review. The HP device showed worse results during memory, processor and drive tests, yet its two- and three dimensional graphics was faster.
Testing with Quadrant makes the Fujitsu the winner; on the other hand the gap between the results is not big. That is quite more than acceptable for such an inexpensive device like Slate 7!
The graphics deserves special attention. Synthetic benchmarks result gives the draw – during the RD3D testing the Fujitsu shows better results, while during the Nenamark 2 it is the HP device.
Electopia is not a synthetic, but a real game benchmark. The Fujitsu result during that test is only 4 FPS. We don’t know what kind of processor is used in the HP Slate 7, but its graphics core appears to be really powerful.
After the rest of the tests the Fujitsu device becomes the winner. All in all, the quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 reveals itself when it comes to the tasks demanding high computing power of the central processing unit.
