Review: Hisense Sero Pro 7

Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer Hisense has decided that 2013 is its big push into the Australian market. Earlier this year it rolled out its LED and UHD television offerings, and now it has the 7-inch tablet market in its sights with its Sero 7 Pro device. The point of a 7-inch tablet is to give the user a portable PC that won’t take up too much space in their bag, purse or school satchel…

 

By Mike Wheeler

Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer Hisense has decided that 2013 is its big push into the Australian market. Earlier this year it rolled out its LED and UHD television offerings, and now it has the 7-inch tablet market in its sights with its Sero 7 Pro device.

The point of a 7-inch tablet is to give the user a portable PC that won’t take up too much space in their bag, purse or school satchel, or if it is light and small enough, even in your back pocket. While the Sero Pro 7 is probably a little too bulky for the latter, it would certainly fit snuggly into you bag or purse.

Compared to similar devices, like Samsung's Galaxy Tab 7-inch and the iPad Mini, it is a tad hefty but still manages to sit nicely in the hand. And of course there is the other main benefit of a tablet this size – the ability to hold it grip-like while you navigate around the screen with your other hand.

The bezel of the device is quite thick, and we’re not too sure why as it would be nice to have more screen available. Having said that, the resolution is nice and bright so you can watch movies or YouTube clips. Hisense says the battery should last up to seven hours when watching a video. We kept a video clip looping for just over six hours and there was still over 15 percent of the battery left, so we’re pretty sure it will live up to its reputation.

Being a touch screen, it is easy to navigate through the different apps and user interface, and you have several ways of interacting with the screen. You can slide or tap as per usual, but you can also press down on an app on the plastic face and applications will start up.

It utilises the Android Jelly Bean 4.2 operating system, has a five megapixel camera – which is average for this type of device –  a mini HDMI port, and a microSD port, which means you can expand the 8GB memory to up to 32GB. All this connectivity is great including the ability to join up to other devices via its NFC technology.

Overall, this is a good first attempt by Hisense to get into the 7-inch tablet market. They are finding their feet in what has become one of the most competitive areas of consumer electronics. If they can find a way to make subsequent devices a little lighter, add some more internal memory, and increase the size of the screen, then some of the bigger players will have to start looking over their shoulder.

 

Pros: Solid build, easy to use, nice price point, portable,

Cons: Bit heavy, big bezel, more storage would be nice

 

4.3 Shacks Out Of 5

 

RRP
$199