itel is a familiar name in the feature phone and affordable smartphone segments, and has also forayed into smart TVs, feature phones and accessories. It’s aiming for a bigger piece of the pie as far as consumer mindshare is concerned, and coming as another effort to do exactly that, the brand recently came up with Pad 1 — its very first tablet. In keeping with the rest of itel’s portfolio, this is a budget device as well. The tablet segment came back into prominence during the pandemic, and after that, we’ve seen quite a few brands making a play in this category. The itel Pad 1 has to contend with some worthy rivals, so let’s see how it stacks up.
Right from the get-go, it seems like itel is serious about its intentions in the tablet space, as the Pad 1 comes rocking a solid metal design. It feels sturdy, and looks more premium than what its price would have you believe. I also appreciate the fact that itel bundles a transparent silicon case and a screen protector in the box. At the rear of the tablet, a large, black-coloured camera module sticks out, designed to look like a dual-camera setup.
Look closely however, and you’d notice that there’s only one camera lens (housing a 5MP snapper), while the other circle houses the flash. That apart, there’s a thin silver strip running across the width of the slate, and itel branding in the middle.
When held in portrait mode, the top left of the tablet is where you’ll find the volume rocker and power key, with the SIM tray placed towards the right. The right spine holds the USB Type-C port and a 3.5mm audio port tucked away at the corner. Both sides of the tablet have holes at four places, giving the impression of a quad-speaker setup, but only two (one on each side) actually churn out audio. The sound is decently loud, not too rich.
On the positive side, software is completely stock, with the slate running Android Go edition. There’s no bloatware either, and you even get access to the Google Kids Space, which helps create a separate user profile for use by kids and offers age-appropriate content and apps. Interestingly, the tablet comes with FM radio as well.
Powering the show is a 1.6GHz UNISOC SC9863A octa-core SoC, mated to 4 gigs of RAM. It’s no powerhouse but it does the job for basic tablet usage, without any major performance concerns or significant lag. It can’t handle heavy games but casual ones should run fine. The inclusion of 4GB RAM and 128GB storage is actually a rarity at this price point, and so is the 4G data and voice capability. There’s no fingerprint scanner but you do get face unlock which works satisfactorily for the most part. The 6,000mAh battery lasts long, but the 10W charging speeds are super slow and do leave one wanting more.
In sum, the itel Pad 1 is a bit of a mixed bag. The screen resolution seems to be the main niggle as far as I’m concerned, but the tablet does offer a few features that are tough to find at this price point — especially the 128GB storage and the inclusion of 4G. The device carries a sticker price of Rs 12,999, which makes it a good value for money, considering the aforementioned features. If you’re willing to spend a tad higher, you can get options from the likes of Realme, Motorola, Nokia etc, most of which offer better screens and better performance, but can’t match the itel offering in terms of storage and 4G connectivity in this price range. So if you’re on the lookout for a budget slate for basic usage and need ample storage and on-the-go connectivity, the itel Pad 1 could be where your search ends.
Editor’s rating: 3.5 / 5
Pros:
Good build
Decent battery life
Ample storage
4G for data and calls
Cons:
Low screen resolution
Touch response could be better
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