7″ Zeepad 7.0 Allwinnwer A13 Boxchip Cortex A8 Android 4.0, 4GB Capacity, 512 MB RAM, Multiple Touch Capactive screen, WIFI, Camera, Skype Video Calling, Netflix Movies.

Purchased product for my kids and I love it. My husband and I have the Samsung Galaxy 10.1 so we were looking for something very similar but smaller for the kids. This is the closest by far to the high end tablets for a great price. I love how it runs off the play store, many we have looked at were Android but they ran off of the “get jar” market and didn’t have much like the play store does. I recommend this product to everyone looking for and affordable tablet.

I have several Android devices – phones and other tablets. I wanted a tablet for my daughter for Christmas; she is 8, and very tablet savvy (they use them at school, and also she uses mine). The pink case sold me on it, and the price (< $80 delivered). However, I was skeptical of the cost, and how functional it would really be.

First off, it shipped very fast by USPS. It arrived within a few days. It was pristine. Along with the tablet was a screen protector, USB cable, charger, USB type-A adapter (which I assume is to connect USB devices such as flash drives and *maybe* keyboard – I plan to test both of these later today), earbud headphones and a decent (although unnecessary) stylus. Initially, I thought the screen was scratched, and not very responsive, but there is a protective plastic cover over it. Take that off, and put the screen protector on instead and it looks and works great. The capacitive touch is very good, especially considering the price.

It has decent performance. It came right up on my office network, and worked flawlessly. Netflix streamed very smoothly. Video playback from Netflix and MP4 files I copied from my PC worked great. Audio playback was reasonable for a tablet, and sounded very good with headphones. Sound through the speaker with video and audio playback was fine (plenty loud). Skype worked fine also, as did various games I tried (Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja come installed). The Android app store came right up, and I had no problem downloading apps and music.

By default, the tablet comes in USB storage device mode, which did not work with Windows 7 x64. Not sure why. I switched the tablet to Media Device mode and was able to copy photos, music and video to it with no issues. The popup keyboard worked fine; no issues. Typing emails and texts works great; it synced right up to my Gmail account no problem.

Overall, I am very impressed. This is well worth the money. The display is nice, and very readable. The battery seems comparable to my wife’s Nook Color. With a bit of tweaking, this could be a fantastic tablet for anyone. Well worth the money. In fact, I am amazed at the price. I highly recommend.

MORE INFO – NEXT DAY

Some additional info for those considering this tablet. The USB port is a micro USB, same as what you find on most Android smart phones and tablets. It uses the same cable and charger as my Motorola RAZR MAXX and my wife’s DROID X2. Also, it appears to support OTG (on-the-go) USB. It will connect to a PC to transfer files (photos, documents, videos, etc.) and will also connect to a USB flash drive. Inside the box is a Type-A USB adapter cable. You connect your USB flash drive to it, then connect to the Zeepad and open the Android file manager (see photos). Also, I connected a USB keyboard this morning in the same way (via the Type-A adapter) and that worked, too. I was able to type/edit a letter, and type an email. No app was required for the keyboard, it was immediately recognized.

I have tested Netflix, Skype, video playback, music playback, Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja, Temple Run, Pinball Deluxe, Hulu Plus, Lookout (anti-virus/malware app), Dolphin Web browser, Google Play, Gmail, and Kindle app (and store) and it all works great. No complaints. I’ve tested WiFi in three places, including home an office, and it was flawless and fast. The SD flash card slot is a MicroSD, not the standard SD card you find in most digital cameras. The MicroSD is very common on smart phones and tablets. The Zeepad 7 looks to support 16 GB cards with no issues.

Android System App says the OS is 4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich). Kernel build is 3.0.8+. Internal storage shows max 1008 MB for downloaded apps + 1636 MB for app data, and photos/videos/music transferred from your PC. Max RAM is 353 MB. Everything else is tied up by the OS. Adding an 8 GB or 16 GB MicroSD card would be best for storing music, photos and videos, and off-loading some apps and app data (that support off-loading to removable flash, not all do). The battery is reported as being a LiFe battery, which is lithium-iron-phosphate (LiFePO4). If true, that’s impressive. LiFe is a high performance and capacity technology with a long cycle life (up to 2000 cycles, or 3-4 times that of lithium-ion). Such batteries are extremely safe; they will not explode or catch fire if over-charged or short-circuited. They can also be charged very rapidly, and can last 5+ years. So, if I can trust what the Android System App is telling me, I’m impressed. The display is 800 x 432, 60 Hz refresh, with a 160 dpi display density. It is very readable, and bright. I am running mine at 40% brightness. The CPU shows as being an ARM v7 running at 1008 MHz. The clock rate is variable; it will range between 60 and 1008 MHz automatically to reduce power drain – the OS does this automatically.

Some things it does not have: obviously, no mobile networking support, only WiFi. So, you need to be in a WiFi hotspot to access the Internet (which is getting easier and easier in so many public places). There is no GPS. There is no rear-facing camera for taking photos, just the front facing camera for making video calls (that seems like an oversight to me, because a 5MP phone camera would be cheap to add). There is no Bluetooth, and no way to add it. None of these things are show-stoppers in my opinion for a $70 tablet, but would be nice if tablet designers could make some of this stuff available as modular user upgrades.

Bottom line – this tablet is worth the price. Best $70 I’ve spent in a while.

***UPDATED*** See below original review***
I just bought this for my son for Christmas and it came in the mail today. It has an expandable micro sd card slot (TF)and most people will probably need it. (Keep reading) I bought this one: SanDisk microSDHC 8GB Class 2 Card with SD Adapter (SDSDQ-8192). I’ve always found Sandisk to be pretty reliable. The onboard memory states 4 gb but the available memory was about 1gb so keep that in mind if it’s important to you. Memory cards are dirt cheap and can easily get you where you want cheaper than going the “other” route.

I took the pad out to play with it some. It comes installed with Angry Birds, Netflix, Facebook, Fruit Ninja, Play Store, Adobe flash player and of course your regular items (wallpaper, camera, clock widget, browser, wifi, etc.)

Some have said the packaging had a knockoff look. A better choice of words would be that it has “generic” packaging. It’s not a ripoff or knockoff which connotes images of backstreet deals from some guys trunk. That’s not a fair assessment of this product. The instruction booklet is admittedly small but who needs an instruction booklet to run a tablet?

My only concerns are that it withstands the test of time and the 10 year old. It seems well built. (One minor design flaw is the screen and the outer frame aren’t flush with each other so there is a gap. It will definitely collect dirt and be hard to get out.) Not a deciding factor but I can see it getting on my OCD nerves. The camera is also average at best but I never understood why people needed a great camera for a tablet. (Is a tablet really going to be your go to camera for things like vacation?)

We bought this for our 10 yr old son. As such I think it’s important for people to understand what this tablet competes with. It would be a mistake to compare this to the iPad for both good and bad reasons.
It isn’t in competition with the iPad but rather the iPod touch. We went with this instead of the iTouch and saved a lot of $. It was $69 for a 4gb Android tablet (expandable to 32) vs. $199 for a 16gb iTouch (not expandable.)

I think we made the right choice and I think he will like it. Good luck everyone. Be smart.

I will update this review after Christmas when the tablet sees regular daily use.

****UPDATE***
It’s always good to come back and reevaluate a product after the newness has worn off and you can think more objectively. My overall feeling on the tablet hasn’t changed much. I would still recommend it to the target audience that I mentioned above. Again, if you are looking for a backup to your laptop or an alternative to an iPad, this probably isn’t for you. But for those who have read the description and know what you’re getting, this will still be a great product.

Here are my impressions over the past week of regular use:
Screen: I start with the screen because at first I was turned off by the screen. It is more of a durable plastic. However when I go to my Galaxy tablet and come back to it I am glad for the build and glad that my kids have the Zeepad. It’s perfect for them.
As such you should know though that it will probably show marks. I’m fine with that. After all it comes with a stylus. The screen protector that comes with it is lacking and we have been looking (unsuccessfully for some that will fit it). Screen protectors for a 7″ tablet Do NOT fit the Zeepad. It is slightly smaller than 7″ so keep that in mind. Also finding a case has been a bit challenging. Universal cases that hold the corners cause it rub against the power button (which may be a design flaw). Nevertheless none of these things would cause me to fret.

While I am glad that the screen is durable, others may be turned off of it if they are used to the high glossy, colorful screens. The Zeepad will look dull in comparison but again who are you buying it for?

One other issue that has given me pause is the wifi. It works great but it can be quirky at times. One time it was turned off and after selecting on it would immediately turn off again. It would continue to do this until we finally shut it down. After a little while it worked fine. Maybe this was a one time thing. It happens. Also the clock constantly reverts itself to January 1, 1970. I don’t know the significance of that date (LOL) but I finally solved this by checking the setting to sync the clock with the network when connected to wifi. Again, maybe this is an isolated event.

The battery: I would take off a 1/2 star for the screen build and another 1/2 star for the battery. It definitely doesn’t seem to last long but kids do forget to charge things. If you travel a lot this could be an issue for you. You might get a converter to get around this. (Finding a car charger might be difficult. The AC power cord is of the small, round variety.)

One last thing: the memory. I said in my original review that the memory issue (comes stock with around 1GB available) could be worked around with a memory card. That is still technically true but in reality it has proven a little more difficult to run apps solely from the memory card. This could be an Android limitation as I am still new to the Android ecosystem. There is an app called App to SD which has made it a little more simpler but I am still not sure that it frees much space on the tablet. There are simply some games that you won’t be able to play on this tablet. (So far it seems to be the racing games: Need for Speed, Asphalt, etc.) These use a lot of memory.

While it may seem that I have changed my mind on this tablet because of these comments, in reality I haven’t. I still consider it a good purchase and the proof of that is the recipient still enjoys it and loves it. However I wanted to be thorough for those who were still thinking of purchasing. All things considered I would still rate this a solid 4 star product and worth the risk if you understand who the target audience is and should be and also temper your expectations in regards to other similar products.

PS – Just FYI. A lot of people are leaving negative reviews on this product because of shipping issues. Please read the reviews and find out if this product is for you. I am sad that others had shipping problems. Ours arrived in good time, from West coast to East coast during Christmas rush. Research the seller. There are probably some drop shippers used by Amazon that have nothing to do with the company that makes them. I have seen 2 or 3 different sellers to these.

Hope this helps.

**BATTERY UPDATE**
Some users have experienced issues with the battery. I have monitored this with my son and we have come to the conclusion that the battery life is approximately 2-3 hours. It seems to be about 2.5 hours on average. This is basically Minecraft (which is all he plays) and nothing else. We have monitored it with low power usage apps and received about the same results. In short, you would be fortunate to get over 3 assuming all tablets are the same and this is the norm for these batteries.
There was also an issue with the charger. It sometimes prefers certain outlets. Some outlets won’t charge it correctly. I am assuming this is an adapter issue since we live in the USA. The adapter seems generic and I am currently trying to find a backup just in case.

This still doesn’t change much from my initial review but I wanted to keep the review updated. I always appreciated it when people would continue to be open minded toward their products and let others know how it was going.
The battery issue may be disappointing to some but as I said above, it really all depends on who you’re buying it for. My son has learned to work around it by keeping it charged and in all honesty kids need limits anyway. Long car trips could pose a problem but a converter would do the trick.

This is one of the best buys i have gotten. I mean I got this for 70 bucks including shipping and it works like a dream. No lag well maybe sometimes while searching stuff but other then i have not found anything wrong with this tablet. Shadowgun runs surprisingly well and Dead trigger runs really good. One more thing if found that was wrong with it was Temple run because i could not move the guy by turning the tablet. And the package arrived exactly on time. Couldn’t of asked more for a tablet of this cost.

At first I had my doubts about purchasing this product. But I’m certainly glad I took the risk. Considering I wanted this device mostly as an e-reader, the tablet would be worth the price even if all it i did was respond to touch and read PDF’s. But it does a lot more. The right thing to do is to not have high expectations. I mean, after all, it’s incredibly inexpensive. But I am honestly surprised as to how functional this tablet is.

I’ll start by listing the cons to get them out the way:

-Ports and jacks quality: poor
(Some of the physical ports, like the AC and micro USB may not align perfectly. You may need to push hard.)

-UI virtual movement response: seldom slight lag.
(The UI response lag is slightly noticeable at times, but not significant. Most of the time it responds very well, you have to be very picky to care for a few hundred milliseconds)

-Bluetooth: None

-Technical Support: Poor/Non-existent

Now for the Pros:

-Android 4.0 : Excellent OS & UI

-Rooted!: Root access enabled
(You’ll be able to install apps that require root access)

-Graphic processing: Impressive
(I was able to play Raging Thunder 2, Angry birds Starwars, and some other demanding games without any lag)

-G-Sensor: Yes

-Display and touch response: Good
(The display is much better than others have described it. The touch response is on point)

-Micro USB OTG: Allows you to plugin many common USB devices (have tried Flash drives, Mice, Keyboards)

-Included Bonus: Ear buds, Micro USB to OTG cable, Screen protector(perfect fit), USB to PC cable, Tablet Pen.

Other observations & comments:

-The device comes with a proprietary charger, which I thought was kinda lame, until I discovered you can also charge the device using any Micro-USB charger (Recommended use: 5v – 2A).

-No micro HDMI (Oh well)

-Google Voice recognition works great at a fair distance.

-Running: ES File Explorer with LAN file management – Good, Android VNC client – Good, Fling – Good, Google Play – No limitations, SuperUser – Good, ConnectBot – Good, AutoKiller – Good, Terminal Emulator – Good, Tasker – Limited.

So I was kinda skeptical at first, how good of a tablet can you really get for $80? I was pleasantly surprised though. This little tablet is very responsive, the build quality is pretty good, and it even has expandable memory (which my more expensive tablet does not). I bought this as a xmas gift for my girlfriend and overall I’m really happy with it. My only real gripe with it is the screen, but for the price I can’t complain. There’s no dead pixels or anything, you can kinda just tell the screen is cheap based on viewing angles and quality of images. It’s really not that bad though and again, for $80 what do you expect. I especially like the size of this device. It’s nice and compact and fits easily in my sweatshirt pocket but yet it’s still big enough to where you can set it down and watch something on it. I definitely think it’s worth it and it should be able to do everything my girlfriend should need to do on a tablet – surfing the web, Youtube, watching movies, listening to music, reading books, etc. I’d definitely recommend this tablet.

This tablet is a very basic day to day machine. It is not fancy, not top of the line. It has a low quality feel to it, however, do not be fooled. This is a very good tablet to do your daily things, without having the fear to break your $200-$500 tablet.

Let me mention some of the pros and cons of this machine, and this is my personal observation.

Pros:
For the price, it is pretty rugged and well made, you won’t break it easily (but do not test it )
It has Google Play apps, which is important.
It is not large, can fit into a large pocket, or holder.
Battery life is considerably long and that makes it great for travel.
Easy to touch by finger and price is very affordable.

Cons:
The volume does not go to levels that you could hear some stations, prepare to use headphones in some cases.
No GPS is installed in this machine, map directions cannot be used on road.
App pages are limited, but it still isn’t bad.
Camera quality is very basic. Do not expect to have high quality pics.

Overall, I am very happy with this tablet so far. It is an affordable machine, and you get what you pay for. I also have a Samsung S2 which is much higher in quality on all levels. But hey, this is a machine that if you break, it won’t break your heart with it. It is pretty rugged, as I said.

I wanted to get my son a mini tablet so he could play games instead of always using my phone but didn’t want to spend alot of money, considering he’s only 8. He can skype my sister in AZ., he listens to music on Youtube and sends emails to EVEYONE. I ordered it right before Christmas and got a great deal. I am ordering another for my 4 y.o. I would recommend this product. You get the ear buds, a pen, etc. It keeps my guys busy and my phone free. Yes, buy this!

My wife has a Google Nexus 7 tablet and the latter is my only frame of reference for functionality and quality.
I purchased (3) Zeepads for my grandchildren and they arrived 12/22/12 instead of the scheduled 12/21. All were about 85% charged. Each Zeepad connected to my wi-fi home network in a matter of seconds. Touch screen was responsive and a breeze to navigate. I am pleasantly surprised with the overall build quality and remarkable functionality of the Zeepad.
While not as fast as the Google Nexus 7, which has a hotter Arm Holdings designed processor, the Zeepad’s speed is quite adequate. I was drawn to the Zeepad since its processor is also an Arm design and the Android operating system is tough to beat. Image or screen quality is inferior to the Nexus but decent. The difference can be noticed when viewing the screen from an angle, but as long as the view of the Zeepad is straight on, the quality is good, not great. To put the review in perspective, remember the Zeepad is well below $100 and, at this price point, I think this product is a real value. Actually, it is a remarkable surprise. My grandkids opened these on Xmas Eve and within seconds were connected to the net and gazing at more apps (mostly free games) on GooglePlay, where android apps are offered in abundance. Did not experience any slowness as mentioned in some reviews. Perhaps the network? Durability is an unknown since we have had the Zeepads for just few days so I’ll follow up in a month or so. While I was very skeptical that a tablet would do all the things claimed, after seeing the Zeepad in action, I wish I would have grabbed one for myself!

Zeepad 7 inch Tablet in PINK
I purchased 2 on 12/14/12 for my niece (8 yrs) and nephew (10 yrs) – pink and black – $70 each. I had issues with the seller also – left feedback on them specifically, not on the product review.

Arrived new with screen protector, USB adapter, charger, pen stylet, and ear buds. Everything is as described above. It has the many apps already installed, so it is ready to use after charging. Also has Google Play installed. Easy access to all the games, apps, books, etc. It was very sensitive to WiFi. No issues with getting a signal and keeping it connected.

It is the best $70 for a tablet computer. My husband is thinking of the 9 in model. I would recommend getting a case/cover and an 8 or 16 GB micro SD for additional memory.

***Remember this tablet is not specific for any age of user. If you give it to a minor/child, please adjust the internet settings, etc or monitor the device appropriately. And please discuss internet and email safety with those children.

I would definately recommend this product.