Aakash 2 Tablet - Review Of The Specs & Comparison With Aakash I

On the occasion of Diwali, Indian Government has launched the much awaited #-Link-Snipped-#. The most amazing thing about this tablet is its price - students will get this tablet for subsidised price of Rs. 1132 only and the commercial version of the tablet (same in specs) will be available for Rs. 4499. I thought of reviewing the specs that DataWind (the maker of original Aakash tablet) decided to put in this machine and I must say I'm bit surprised (not impressed).

Comparison of Aakash II with Original Aakash tablet

There are few noticeable improvements in the latest version. First, Datawind has addressed the issue reported by several people about the responsiveness of the screen which hampered the overall user experience. The new tablet prefers 7" capacitive touch screen over the resistive touchscreen in the earlier version. This should make it more intuitive to use and shouldn't cause delays. However, the actual opinion will only follow once someone among us gets hands on this machine.

Second, the obvious and expected improvement is in the firmware version of Android. The earlier tablet shipped with Android 2.2; while the new one embraces Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). This should offer a better performance of the tablet and more optimised app experience for the users. Plus, ICS should be able to make the most out of the capacitive display.

Third improvement is in the CPU department. While the earlier Aakash used snail-speed 366MHz processor, version 2 includes 1 GHz (ARM Cortex A8 architecture) processor, which should make the things more snappier.

Apart from the above three; I'm yet to notice anything that'd make this tablet desirable for the price it's being offered at. The tablet ships with Amrita University's software pre-loaded but that's all about it. If you must buy a tablet, Aakash 2 might be a better choice over Aakash I. I'm not sure if Aakash I is still being sold.

Note that the Aakash 2 tablet is mostly based on DataWind's UbiSlate 7Ci tablet so you can make the comparisons. I'm tracking down the changes DataWind's incorporated in Aakash 2. I'll also try to do a hands-on review of this tablet.

I'd like to ask all CEans whether the price point of Rs. 4499 is justified for the specs. The competition is getting totally wild in the tablets domain and a lot of low-cost tablets are breaking in for prices about Rs. 10,000. Share your opinion on this tablet. If you bought this tablet already; do not forget to share the photos whenever it arrives.

Replies

  • Abhishek Rawal
    Abhishek Rawal
    Sirji, I visited official datawind website where the booking is open for 4 aakash2 models (Resistive touch with gprs & w/o gprs, Capacitive touch with & w/o gprs).
    As per news, Students will get for 1130.So being a student I want this tablet in 1k only.
    Do you know how a student can have his/her hands on this gadget ?
    Searched a lot but didn't found the process of booking for engineering students.

    Student's version is Capacitive touch or Resistive touch?

    Btw, 1GHz processor, 512 MB Ram with ICS 4.0.3 & Capacitive touch;ain't that bad. We middle class dudes will always prefer 1K Aakash over 14K Nexus/Kindle.
  • Kaustubh Katdare
    Kaustubh Katdare
    From what I hear, the student version is the same model that will retail for the regular customers. So, the screen on the student version of the tablet is going to be capacitive as well. DataWind's CEO said that the government buys the tablet from DataWind (in bulk) for a about Rs. 2000 - 2500 and then subsidizes it for the students. At least a million of these tablets will be made available to the students from what I hear through different sources.

    The best way to get a hands on Aakash 2 is to wait until it's made available through retail stores. DataWind's website seems to be going through hiccups - and for most of the times I tried to access it; it was unavailable.

    I'm also wondering how useful would it be to have GPRS connection. Most of the downloads these days go into several MBs in size and downloading them over a GPRS connection is going to be a bad user experience. Plus the data costs aren't pocket friendly yet - at least from the students perspective.

    I'd not make an order online for this gadget. If I think of buying it; I'd visit a retail store first; test the quality and overall ease of use myself. If anyone here orders the Aakash 2 tablet - we'd like to hear your opinion. I'll check and post more information about ordering this tablet online.
  • Ankita Katdare
    Ankita Katdare
    Yes, I couldn't find a link that specifically says buy for students here.
    This is the only place on their site. #-Link-Snipped-#

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