Gemini Joytab 8” Tablet PC

 ‘A powerful device that can be used in a media playback role.’

Here at Micro Mart we’ve been expecting some reasonably priced Android tablets for a while, but up till now the cheaper ones have not really delivered good performance.

Gemini JoyTAB 8” Tablet PC

The JoyTAB, from UK-based Gemini, aims to change those assertions with a ranger of tablet computers in various sizes: 10”, 7” and the 8” display model reviewed here.

After removing the JoyTAB from its brightly coloured box my initial impressions were positive, as the construction quality of the device is generally good. On the front is a glass surface that extends to the very edge, the only exception being two buttons on the right. On the back is a metallic skin and around the edges are a number of buttons and ports.

The tablet comes with Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich pre-installed and, as such, the two front buttons are a little superfluous. One is marked with the return symbol and the other as the apps grid, but that latter button works as preferences, I noticed.

Internally, Gemini has used some reasonably powerful parts, combining the ubiquitous ARM Cortex A8 1.2 GHZ with the Mail-400 GPU for some excellent video performance. In addition to the 512MB of RAM, there’s 8GB of internal storage and a micro-SD slot for another potential 32GB if you need it.

I expected an audio phone jack, but the JoyTAB also has a mini-HDMI output, although you’ll need to provide your own cable use it. There’s also a USB port, but not the type I was expecting.

 Gemini JoyTab 9.7-inch Android tablet: slim and light

Why Gemini used a Mini-B port on this device and not a Micro-B like is standard on all phones is entirely beyond me. It provides a cable so you can hook the JoyTAB up to a PC, but surely using a Micro-B USB would have allowed it to use a cheap USB phone charger? It does provide a charger, but it’s proprietary one that uses a tiny power jack.

That threw me slightly, and when I powered on the JoyTAB for the first time I was further confused with an almost empty desktop and no request for my Google credentials. Gemini thought most users would only like to see the clock and an icon for the 0.3 megapixel front viewing camera, but I was expecting other applications to fill the empty desktop.

Entering the Application list, I was stunned to discover that Gemini had left out most of the key Google applications, including Gmail! It had put the generic Google Play Store on there, so that omission didn’t take much fixing, but it does make me wonder who advised them to leave off the single application almost most Android users will need. And, because Gmail was missing, so was the contacts management and the calendar.

On the other side of that coin it put in an application call Super HD player, which, combined with the Mali-400 GPU, made easy work of any video file format I threw at it, even 1080p ones. How smoothly it plays video is genuinely impressive.

That’s the real strength of this system, though I’m sure the seven-hour battery life might take a bashing if you watched HD video continually on it.

The weakness in the 8” 800 x 600 panel, which just isn’t bright enough if you’re not at almost exactly 90^o to it. That also makes the smaller text, like that positioned under icons, almost unreadable. Perhaps I’ve been spoilt by the panels used on more expensive tablets, but the lack of clarity did make using the JoyTAB harder work than necessary on occasion.

Overall, this is a responsive and powerful device that can be used in a media playback role very effectively. I’m just not sure I could look at this display for a very long time. That’s a shame, because most of what the JoyTAB has to offer is more than acceptable for the price.

Specifications

Memory: 510MB DDR3 memory

CPU	ARM Cortex A8 1.5 GHz
Graphics	Dual Mali-400 2D/3D Core
Memory	510MB DDR3 memory
Storage	8GB built-in, upgradeable to 32GB with micro-SD Card
Display	Capacitive multi-touch screen/8” TFT LCD – 800 x 600
Connectivity	Built-in 1W speaker, built-in mic, .5mm stereo earphone jack
Wireless Network	Wi-fi 802.11b/g
Video Output	HDMI 1.4 (Supports 3D Vision) 2160P HD
Camera	Front 0.3 megapixel
Video Supported	AVI, H.264, DivX, Xvid, rm, rmvb, MKV, WMV, MOV, MP4, MPG, FLV.HD 1080p max.
Music Supported	MP3, WMA, MP2, OGG, ACC, M4A, FLAC, 3GP, WAV
Battery	Up to seven hours (3.7V/ 4400mAh)
Gyroscope	Built-in G sensor for gaming and automatic screen rotation
OS	Google Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
Internet Services	Browser-ChromeLite, Java, YouTube, email, HTML5
Utilities	calendar, alarm clock, calculator, recorder, notepad, picture viewer
Dimensions and weight	(W) 210mm x (H) 154mm x (D) 10.7mm 500g

Detail

Price	$225
Manufacturer	Gemini
Website	geminidevices.com/joytab8.html

Verdict

A small and powerful tablet with viewing angle issues

Quality
Value
Overall