[UnknownVT]

I had been interested in a 7" Android tablet for some time - using the Google Nexus 7 (2012 1st gen) as a sort of benchmark.

I bought a cheap tablet - ICOO D70 Pro II as a kind of try out -
although it did very good benchmarks - and was pretty quick/responsive in usage -
the negatives were -
short battery life (only just over 2 hours usage)
non IPS screen which had fairly poor angles of view.

Since then Google Nexus 7.2 has come out - again putting together some really outstanding specs - fullHD resolution screen 1920x1200 @323ppi and class leading performance with long battery life - all for $229+Tax+Shipping for the 16GB model - that's simply amazing.

For those more earthbound and satisfied with the original 1st gen Nexus 7(2012) performance/specs - there were two offerings both with 1280x800 screens and quad core processors that seem to cover the Nexus 7.1 - but with some nice enhancements.

ASUS MeMO HD 7 (ME173X) (not to be confused with the MeMO pad ME172V the lesser sibling) this seems like the 2012 Nexus 7 with extras like microSD support, and rear camera - battery life is claimed to be 10hours.... $149 for 16GB shipped

Then there is the WalMart exclusive HiSense Sero 7 Pro (again not to be confused with the lesser Sero 7 LT) adds miniHDMI in addition to the Asus extras, rear camera adds LED flash, front camera is also 2MP (vs Asus 1.3MP), - but only 8GB NAND memory (but also has microSD card slot) - $129 from local WalMart +tax......battery life claimed 7 hours for video playing and 10 hours for web.

I risked it and bought one from my local WalMart - purchased with site-to-store from their website and saw a $20 off purchase over $100 sign up for a WalMart credit card at the checkout, did that - so mine cost $129 + tax = $138.09 - $20 = $118.09 - this is cheaper than an equivalent "unknown" Chinese tablet - and although HiSense is not known to me - I at least have the no fuss return policy with WalMart.

I ran some standard benchmarks - they seem very much in line with the reviews out there -

Benchmarks
Antutu


Quadrant Standard


Vellamo HTML5


Vellamo Metal


All the benchmarks were run in Performance Priority Mode -


Antutu using Balanced mode - which under-clocks the CPU to save battery


Device Info -


So that's the essentials out of the way -
the Hisense Sero 7 Pro matches and slightly betters the 1st gen Google Nexus 7.1 (2012) in the standard benchmarks.

Screen and Battery Life next post

 

[UnknownVT]

Part 2 of Hisense Sero 7 Pro - a User's Review

Screen

It is 1280x800 and IPS - so it looks great, with great viewing angles - in the same class as the Nexus 7.1 (2012)
the front is glass - but it shows fingerprints easily- this is simply solved with a screen protector, I used matte, which also helps reduce reflections.

Battery Life

Battery standby gets some mixed reviews one claims substantial losses in standby (eg: 33% loss in 24hours) - yet others say good standby, with one review claiming 19 days with 43% remaining!

I have now had 3 full to shutdown cycles (my tablet shuts down at 3% and not 0% battery) -
the first lasted 3 days 7 hours - that is with pretty heavy usage (for me) because of the benchmarks
Benchmarks are heavy users of battery -

with nearly 10 hours Awake, and nearly 7 hours Screen On time.

Second cycle lasted 6 days 20 hours -
first day - standby only drain; second day was light/moderate use (but WiFi was inadvertently left On for 11.5hours); rest of time was my normal usage, e-mail, reading eBooks, general surfing searching, and checking for apps and updates.

The third and most recent cycle - which is really my typical usage -
lasted 8 days 11 hours from Full 100% to Shutdown at 3%


Battery level graph -


Usage Stats -


Estimates based on Usage from Android Tuner -


Android Tuner estimates from this discharge cycle that standby time would be 24d12h, average use 13h26m - these would be slightly lower since the tablet shuts down at 3% instead of 0% - so the figure should be adjusted by 0.97x - therefore standby estimate = 23d18.4h; average use estimate = 13h02m.

These figures look good to me and being able to use the tablet for nearly 8.5 days between charges (for my light/frugal - but typical usage) is pretty darned good.

Updates

Being a lesser known brand what are updates and support like?

Only time will tell - but there was already one system update before I even bought the tablet - OTA (over the air) maintenance update.

Also I got notification of a system update this morning when I turned on WiFi:


Comments

So it would seem if this Hisense Sero 7 Pro at $129 from WalMart is one of the value leaders at the moment - matching and sometimes bettering the 1st gen Google Nexus 7.1 (2012) in performance.

Battery life - my one area of doubt - seems to be actually really good - my last cycle lasting me nearly 8.5 days from full 100% to shutdown @ 3%

 

[Dustin79]

I dont know why anyone would buy a Chinese 7inch tablet when this one is available so cheap. My girls all have ainol tablets that are on their last limb so this will make a nice replacement/update.

 

[UnknownVT]

I dont know why anyone would buy a Chinese 7inch tablet when this one is available so cheap. My girls all have ainol tablets that are on their last limb so this will make a nice replacement/update.

Couldn't agree more - the Hisense Sero 7 Pro at $129 +tax from a local WalMart
is basically the 1st gen Nexus 7 with the most desired addition of microSD expansion, miniHDMI, and rear camera with LED flash -
but at a price as low as, if not lower than, a lot of unknown branded Chinese tablets of similar specs -
this is not being negative about Chinese produced devices -
the Hisense Sero 7 Pro is actually made in China.

The good benchmarks were plentiful on the reviews now on line,
and it was easy enough for me to run and confirm them.

The one area that got mixed reviews and of concern was battery life -
some reviews found very good, to some where it was only just acceptable -
same for the standby time.

Now that I've had time with the tablet I have managed to get about 3.3 days between charges for heavy use (for me)
to about 8.5 days for more like my typical use, standby estimates have been up to about 24 days -
I would say that was as about good as I could have wanted.

All this with the no fuss return policy of WalMart.

 

[johnnyblades]

I agree. I am finding fewer and fewer reasons to go with a "chinapad" these days. With price of refurbed name brand tablets, the fire sale pricing of Nook tablets, and the Hisense and Nexus pricing...the risks associated with the chinapads are just not worth it. by risks, I mean less than stellar batteries, screens, build quality, firmware, wifi, etc...
I'm all for tinkering, and there are lots of tablets that look terrific on paper. But there just seems to be too much variability. It seems that the quality of the chinapads is improving, but then the price goes up accordingly.

 

[Dustin79]

I agree. I am finding fewer and fewer reasons to go with a "chinapad" these days. With price of refurbed name brand tablets, the fire sale pricing of Nook tablets, and the Hisense and Nexus pricing...the risks associated with the chinapads are just not worth it. by risks, I mean less than stellar batteries, screens, build quality, firmware, wifi, etc...
I'm all for tinkering, and there are lots of tablets that look terrific on paper. But there just seems to be too much variability. It seems that the quality of the chinapads is improving, but then the price goes up accordingly.

Yes, I have purchased many Chinese tablets. I have purchased three ainol novo 7 aurora 2s for my three girls, two of which are no longer in service. I purchased a novo 8 Dream to replace one of the novo 7s but it isn't that great. I have an Aoson M11 that works but is broken. I had a Cube U30GT2 that I loved but it just died one day. Since then I have decided to stay away from the Chinese tablets. I bought my son a refurb Toshiba (Tegra 3) for 200 bucks and it is really nice. I bought myself a used Asus Prime with keyboard online and it is great. The only downside to having these namebrand tablets is that you might not be able to root them. I have gotten over that since everything works on these and the Tegra 3 already plays all of the games I want.

Of course, we have the many Chinese tablets to thank for the lower prices and better options of tablets sold at big box stores.

 

[UnknownVT]

Since then I have decided to stay away from the Chinese tablets.
Of course, we have the many Chinese tablets to thank for the lower prices and better options of tablets sold at big box stores.

Yes, we have a lot to be grateful to ChinaPads -

My first "try and see" ChinaPad was the ICOO D70 Pro II for all of $85 shipped from Hong Kong -
it had really good benchmarks - but the screen was only just acceptable - at 1024x600 - the viewing angles was pretty narrow -
I eventually got used to it, since I use a 7" tablet mainly handheld, it was naturally instinctive to micro-adjust the viewing angles.
Then the battery life was just poor - it lasted just over 2 hours of my usage.
(I even bought a 10ft microUSB charging cable just because of that).

Then to add insult to injury it then started to have rows of dead pixels - appearing as permanent colored lines on the screen:


I complained to Icoo (aoicoo.com) the makers, several times - with absolutely ZERO response -
then to the vendor DX.com, and to their credit, were good enough to stand behind what they sell -
offered either to refund the money if I returned it or give me a partial refund as store credit if I kept it.
It was still July - and although the new 2nd gen Nexus 7.2 had just been rumored and possible lower price, or drop in the 1st gen price -
I decided to keep it - with partial refund. The tablet still works and usable - but the screen - well - it just doesn't look good.

So a try out was just that - I now knew to look for good IPS screen with wide viewing angles,
respectable battery life of at least 6-7 hours usage - and better reliability or at least a maker/vendor that could back up the product.

I think in the Hisense Ser 7 Pro I found all that - Hisense may seem an unknown brand - but it is sold by WalMart who do have a no fuss return policy -
it has a 1 year parts and labor warranty and I bought it with a credit card that doubles the warranty period:

 

[UnknownVT]

The most recent discharge cycle for my normal (but frugal) usage from fully charged (I always wait for the charge current to show 0mA before unplug) to shutdown at 3%
was minutes under 9days 16hours:








The estimates by Android Tuner based on my usage:

27days 18hours Standby
12hours 44mins Average use.

This is better than my initial expectations.

As many already know there was a small update:

notice that it would not allow the update (it did download it)
- even though the tablet was plugged in and on charging.

So I waited until the battery was fully charged before attempting the update -


The update was about 4 days ago I haven't noticed much difference -
but then I am not particularly demanding on the tablet -
although the battery consumption seems as if it may be even better -
but I have also reduced the battery monitoring programs to just Android Tuner Free
and changed my anti-virus from Lookout (had just updated to V8.22 - for some reason seemed to be gobbling CPU) to Advanced Mobile Care -
this combination seems to be better at battery consumption on my already miserly Android Phone (LG Optimus T - P509).

Of course there has been the recent announcement of the new Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 7 - that has even better/faster CPU than the already highly vaunted Google Nexus 7.2 (2013) -
but this "humble" Hisense Sero 7 Pro - may be last year's technology (but it is what was the top rated for last year) and corrected for all the missing/shortcomings of the original Nexus 7.1 - at almost half the introductory price of the Nexus 7.1 (2012) - has got to be a bargain - especially since I have proven for myself that the battery life - both in use and standby is about as good as one could hope for......

 

[johnnyblades]

These Hisense tablets do seem to be a great bargain. I'm swimming in tablets, so not really in the market. But if the new tablets (especially the new Amazon and Dell tablets ($140-180))continue to put pressure on the price on last years models, I just might pick one up for SAG. I expect to be able to pick up a refurb for under $100 by xmas

 

[UnknownVT]

But if the new tablets (especially the new Amazon and Dell tablets ($140-180))continue to put pressure on the price on last years models, ....... I expect to be able to pick up a refurb for under $100 by xmas

Thanks, I too think it's amazing tablets with what was last year's top end specs are being marketed by big name brands with MSRP in the $150 region.
When just a few months ago this was the bottom price for a better spec'd almost unknown brand "ChinaPad".

I do think we have the fierce competition of the ChinaPad to thank for this current trend.

and I think you are right, the refurb prices are going to have to be under $100 -
hopefully by Xmas.

 

[johnnyblades]

refurb Pro is available on fleabay for $110 right now.

I'm hoping this was a big enough success for Hisense/Walmart that they do an upgrade this year. I'd really like it if they did similar specs in a 8" 4X3 ration form factor.

 

[dougmack]

There have been some comments on "made in China" and "battery life"--I think that every tablet you come across is going to have been made in China, And so, I bet, is the battery. Probably all the units are
virtually identical, when they have the same size screen--they will use the same high-density integrated circuits, which actually _might_ be made in the US--and very likely screens from the same vendor.
So the variations are more likely to be a function of the quality of the battery! I don't know if all Chinese batteries come from the same place, but I do know that there are a lot of different brand names.

Some speculation here, but it seems reasonable. --doug

 

[UnknownVT]

There have been some comments on "made in China" and "battery life"--I think that every tablet you come across is going to have been made in China, And so, I bet, is the battery. Probably all the units are
virtually identical, when they have the same size screen--they will use the same high-density integrated circuits, which actually _might_ be made in the US--and very likely screens from the same vendor.
So the variations are more likely to be a function of the quality of the battery! I don't know if all Chinese batteries come from the same place, but I do know that there are a lot of different brand names.

Some speculation here, but it seems reasonable. --doug

Yes, and no....
The Hisense Sero 7 Pro is actually made in China - it has great specs - basically matching or bettering last years top rated Nexus 7.1 performance, and has great battery life.
The Google Nexus 7 (gen 1 & 2) are made by Asus a Taiwan/Chinese company.

However "ChinaPads" (meaning tablets bought directly from China or Hong Kong) mostly are lesser or unknown brands -
they are of variable and questionable quality.

For example I bought an ICOO D70 Pro II (link to my review) back in March -
it has great benchmarks just shy of the 1st gen Nexus 7 -
but its battery life was poor - barely lasting 2 hours for my usage -
and I was getting better battery life than most other people
there's plenty on the battery life in the linked review: ICOO D70 Pro II .

If you care to look back at earlier Post #7 in this thread -
its reliability was not great either,
and this is from a somewhat better known and reasonably reputed tablet.

This of course does not mean everything made in China is poor
as evidenced by this Hisense Sero 7 Pro and both gens of the Nexus 7 -
but buying lesser and unknown Chinapads is a risky business -
I do not see many reports of Chinapads having either great reliability or battery life.

 

[UnknownVT]

Some reviews of the Hisense Sero 7 Pro seem to say it isn't much of a tablet -

but it is cheap.....

Now let's backtrack 1 year - the top of the heap and gathering almost universal rave reviews was the first generation Google Nexus 7 - at an introductory price of $225 for the then 8GB version.

Hisense Sero 7 Pro matches the specs and the benchmarks (some are better) of the 1st gen Nexus 7- then adds the glaring omissions like microSD expansion, rear camera, and HDMI... so is it really just cheap and mediocre?

Well CNET has just reviewed the new Amazon Kindle Fire HD 7 (2013 version) BUT the Kindle lacks any camera, no SD expansion, no microphone(!) - has only a dual core processor - it also obviously has the Amazon OS - so it's not native Android, no Google Play Store - and costs $10 more than the Hisense Sero 7 Pro - yet it gets a pretty favorable review....

OK......

I know where my money went.

 

[johnnyblades]

Just got a refurb Sero 7 Pro for eighty bucks from newegg and I'm loving it. This is a very fast little unit. The wifi connection is the best of the 9 tablets I own, and even better than my two laptops. I get full signal strength everywhere in my house. I haven't bothered to install a custom rom because I have no complaints. Wish I bought a couple more for gifts before they sold out. I'm still hoping Hisense will put out an official 4.3 rom. Also hoping they put out a new model in 2014, preferably a 4:3 ration 8 incher.

 

[johnnyblades]

Hisense has released the source code! XDA members are working on custom ROM based on KitKat!!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2536116

 

[UnknownVT]

Hisense has released the source code! XDA members are working on custom ROM based on KitKat!!
http://forum.xda-dev...d.php?t=2536116

Thank you so much for keeping us informed.

That's an amazing price for such a great little tablet.

If it's of any use -
Antutu has recently updated their benchmark - so I ran it again - this time the scores seem higher -


their comparison -


Out of interest I also ran it in the Balanced (power saving) Mode


Vellamo also updated thier benchmark -


My most recent battery usage (full 100-3% cycle) as reported by Android Tuner Free -


Battery Calibration -