If you haven’t heard of AOC then it’s likely you haven’t spent that much time in front of a computer. Why? Because they own a little more than 35% of the market share in LCD monitors, that’s why. That means there’s a one in three chance that the monitor you’re using is made by AOC. Well, it looks like they’re expanding their product offerings in the country by launching a couple of budget Android tablets for the average Pinoy consumer. The AOC Breeze tablets, as they’re called, come in 7 and 8 inch variants.
Meet the AOC Breeze MW0731+ and MW0831
Both the 7 and 8 inch Android tablets from AOC, codenamed MW0731+ and MW0831 respectively, are powered by a 1.4 GHz dual core Rockchip RK3066 processor coupled with a quad core Mali-400 GPU and run Android 4.1 Jelly Bean out of the box. They come with 1Gb of DDR3 RAM and a standard 8Gb of internal storage, expandable up to 32Gb via micro SD. They also come with WiFi b/g/n connectivity and USB OTG support as well so you can connect your flash drives, portable hard drives, and USB peripherals like a mouse and keyboard.
The main difference between the two is that the 7 inch Breeze MW0731+ sports a TFT panel at 1024 x 600 WSVGA resolution while the 8 inch Breeze MW0831 sports an IPS panel at 1024 x 768 XGA resolution, and I was told by AOC that they are both protected by Corning Gorilla Glass. The 8 inch Breeze MW0831 comes with a couple more connectivity options, specifically Bluetooth and HDMI Out. Finally, the 7 inch Breeze MW0731+ is powered by a 3,100mAh battery while the 8 inch Breeze MW0831 has a 4,550mAh battery.
Impressions, Pricing and Availability
The AOC Breeze MW0731+ and MW0831 Android tablets might not bring anything new to the table, but they do have a much better overall build and are quite slim when compared to other budget tablets I’ve seen. They are priced at Php5,999 and Php8,999 respectively, which is pretty competitive pricing, and they already come with a basic set of accessories, such as the power adapter, USB OTG cable and leather case. It’s still to early to tell if AOC will be able to succeed in the local tablet market, considering they’ll be going against many other affordable value-for-money options from local brands and small-time importers, however, the AOC Breeze MW0731+ and MW0831 are good enough that I believe they’ll have a fighting chance.
Dual Core for that prices?.i don’t think its competitive.
It depends on what you’re comparing it to. If you’re comparing it to the CM Fusion Bolt, naturally, the Bolt is cheaper while giving you slightly better paper specs. But if you compare it to something like the iFive Mini that sells for 1k more for the same specs, you’re getting better value.
I’m concerned about the low-reso of the 8 incher. Even if it’s IPS, dapat mataas na ang ppi as the screen gets bigger. But i’m glad another player has joined in the fray and bringing these units into our shores at less than 10K. Mag WWZ na talaga for 2013 hahaha.