By pbbiet - April, 4th 2012

The new players in the entry level tablet market are now providing some really cool stuff at such a lower price tag and Micromax Funbook tablet is none other than that. Micromax tablet is launched keeping an eye on the large student base of India as is loaded with lots of utilities and content for students. Funbook has tried to cover all the things that lags in other tablets such as Aakash tablet and BSNL tablet. The processor is faster than both and also the internal memory is increased. The main feature of Micromax funbook is Operating System.It runs on the latest Android version 4.0 also known as ICE CREAM SANDWICH. Android 4.0 ICS is the latest in Android arsenal and provides you faster performance, more flexibility, less bugs and Intuitive Interface which ensures you never have to look back at your PC again for malfunctioning of Apps. Micromax has also partnered with many international and national publishers (Pearson, Scholarshub etc) to provide content for students. This is one of the best fit for the students who were looking for a bit more functionality and feature than Aakash and did not want to spend more for Apple Ipad or Samsung Galaxy tab. It is the 3^rd ICS tablet in India to be launched after Zync Z-990 and HCL ME Tab U1 within 48 hours and under Rs. 10,000. Micromax tablet is priced at Rs 6500 keeping an eye over the aakash tablet price and HCL ME U1 tablet.Fun book provides 1 month free subscription of Bigflix movie streaming worth Rs 249 which is another freebie you will get after free Tata Photon+.

Operating System	Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich
Processor	1.2 GHz Cortex A8
Video Processor	Dual Mali 400 2D/3D
Sensor	Gravity Sensor and Accelerometer
Connectivity	Wi-Fii( 802.11 b/g)
Screen Size	7″ inch.
Screen Resolution	800×480, 16:9
Screen Type	Touch Screen Capacitive Multi Touch
Internal Memory	4 GB
Random Access Memory (RAM)	512 MB DDR3
Expandable Memory	Upto 32 Gb with SD card slot
USP support	Only Micro USB
Audio support	3.5 mm jack
File extension Supported	Almost every available extension supported
Weight	350 Grams
Dimensions	Height 192 mmWidth 122 mmThickness 10 mm
SIM Card Slot	Not Present
Phone Support	Not present
Price	INR 6500 /-

 

Micromax Funbook tablet Review

Hardware and Design of Micromax Funbook

The tablet is available in 2 colors Slate Grey and Midnight Black with a nice slim and sleek design. The front panel includes 3 physical buttons for Back, Menu and Home. A branding logo of Micromax is provided at the lower back of the tablet. A VGA camera is mounted on the top of the screen for video calling and chatting. Micromax tablet size (dimensions) are 192mm in height, 122 mm in width and about 10mm thick. The tablet weight around 350 grams. The processor of tablet is based on CORTEX A8 architecture which is seen in Samsung galaxy tab which clocks at 1.2 GHz makes it lighting fast thereby saving a lot of time in processing. A Dual Mali 400 2D/3D video processor is also added to Micromax tablet for the smoother transmission of videos and multimedia processing which means that your games can run fast and with better graphics. Internal memory of 4GB NAND Flash storage is provided which is double than tablet with price less than 5000. The internal memory can be extended up to 32GB using a flash micro SD card. RAM (Random Access Memory) of this tablet is around 512 MB which is again double than both of his cheaper counterparts. A gravity sensor and accelerator sensor is also provided in the tablet which intelligently recognizes which direction you are holding the tablet and switches to portrait or landscape mode accordingly.

Display, Sound and camera of Micromax Funbook tablet

Micromax tablet funbook has a 17.78 Cm capacitive touch screen with multi touch. Multi touch functionality and Pinch Zoom were most innovative functions of Apple Ipad and now comes with most of the high end tablet. The pinch zoom allows you to zoom in and out a picture with your 2 fingers.Touch Screen of micromax tablet supports 5 point touch which means it can detect the touch at 5 points on the screen at a time. There are a few problems with viewing angle of the tablet and you can’t get clear picture at every angle which can be expected at this price range. The screen resolutions are 800 x 480 pixels with aspect ratio of 16:9. The touch screen has a high pixel density of 2160 which ensure more clear pictures and allows you to play HD videos. A 3.5mm jack is provided with the Micromax funbook to connect it with headphones or external speakers. The sound quality of the tablet is yet to be tested. A VGA camera (0.3 MP) is provided over the top of touchscreen to enable video chatting in Micromax tablet. Funbook is preloaded with many apps but still you can integrate it with Skype for Android and can use it for calling and video chatting.

Battery life and Connectivity of Micromax tablet funbook

A battery of 2800mAh is used in Micromax funbook to power the device without power. The capacity of the battery looks little low and you cant expect longer backup time. The HD video processor and display will further ruin the backup and you can get about 2 hours backup from this tablet without any power. The tablet is provided with a micro USB 2.0 port which forces you to carry one more cable to connect any of your USB devices. One HDMI port is also present to connect it to your TV or projector for HD videos playback on other screen. Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g support is also present in the tablet to connect it with Internet at any Wi-Fi hotspot beside this you can connect it with any 3G datacard for Internet connectivity. Micromax funbook tablet comes bundled with TATA Photon+ which itself cost around Rs 1400-1500 so the effective cost of the tablet is around Rs 5000 which definitely a stealer at this price.

Software Specifications :-

Operating System of Micromax Funbook:

Micromax tablet is powered with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich which is the latest version of Android present currently in the market. This saves you from the unnecessary firmware update to upgrade your Android OS. Updating Android is a tedious task and many times the incompatibility results in frequent system freezes and crashes, system failure and Data loss most of the times. The presence of latest version of Android stops you from getting involved into it.

Micromax tablet Multimedia Apps:

Micromax funbook runs on Android 4.0 ICS which is a big advantage as it enables you to play every format related to videos and audios. Many android apps are available in the market to let you play every video and audio format you can even dream of. A picture browser and Web Browser is also present and you can include opera and other browser for Android from market place. A lots of preloaded apps are present for almost every need of yours including Adobe PDF, Flash, Office, ZIP archives, Youtube and many more.

Micromax has partnered with Bigflix entertainment for free HD movie streaming on fun book tab through it Bigflix app. Bigflix is Reliance Industries subsidiary and one of the largest Movie on Demand Portal in India. The users will be provided with one month subscription worth Rs 249/- for free for HD movie streaming. The users can logon to the Bigflix site and can watch the exclusive collection of thousands of HD movies from the Bigflix using its Bigflix Plus Android app. Movie rental service in India are still lacking the momentum largely due to low bandwidth and poor Internet connectivity but if you are at a high speed Wi-Fi Hotspot this service is something to go for. Video Processor in Micromax tablet enables you to play HD videos on the tablet also if your internet connectivity is good you can watch live TV through its Zenga TV App. Bigflix One month subscription is another free goodies you will get with Micromax tablet as it already offer free Tata Photon+.

Availability: Micromax tablet will be available in about 50 cities from 3rd week of April. Currently it is available only in Delhi and via Snapdeal portal which is experiencing a huge demand of about 30 tablets per hour. Snapdeal has partnered with micromax to sell the tablet via its portal.

EDUTAINMENT :

Yes that’s what Micromax call it. Funbook is loaded with so many entertainment apps and study materials that it is a fusion of both education and Entertainment which are the 2 most important things of Youths life. Micromax funbook tablet is aimed for youth and the features are designed especially according to it. Micromax has partnered with many publishers for good content to students. Pearson, Everonn, and Vriti are a few of those who will provide the digital content including HD video lectures and presentations for the tablet and BigFlix, Zynga and Indiagames will provide the entertainment applications for the funbook owners. You will get everything related to course material to sample papers and self-study material on Micromax tablet. The content is however not free and a Fees of Rs 700 will be charged for getting access to any of the class study material in Micromax Funbook tablet. Micromax tablet is currently looking one of the best budget tablet and only attitude daksha seems to be giving it a bit of completion.

Pro’s

• Speedy processor and RAM
• High performing GPU
• Multi touch supported Capacitive screen
• High Pixel Density 2160 PDI
• Latest Android 4.0
• Free Tata Photon+
• Valuable Content Partnership
• Big Flix subscription worth R 249/-

Con’s

• The Biggest problem is Frequent system freeze
• Poor customer satisfaction
• Problems of working only with Tata Photon are also surfacing.
• VGA Camera
• Poor viewing angles
• Poor Battery
• No USB (only micro USB )
• Paid Content

Many people have shared there experience with the Micromax tablet funbook you can read them in the comments below or can share your own experience here.