PocketBook SURFpad is a new 7-inch tablet, also known as U7, in the e-reader manufacturer's line. Although PocketBook positions it as a “multimedia reader”, hinting that this is still an advanced version of the “reader”.

The international company has achieved success in the e-reader market of the CIS countries, thanks to a good software shell and a good bookstore. The SURFpad also has access to Obreey content, and the device itself runs Android 4.0. However, despite the presence of all the formal prerequisites for success, the device leaves a very ambiguous impression. Even despite the price of 3500 rubles.

It is difficult to say what makes a decisive contribution to the formation of this impression. Perhaps this is a low-resolution screen, perhaps the lack of integration with Google, perhaps its focus on high school and junior students, and perhaps the fact that for the sake of screenshots I had to try several combinations of dances and a tambourine. But first things first.

Design

The design is somewhat unusual for a tablet.

The device is clearly intended for use in landscape orientation. The bezel on the left and right of the display is wider than on the top and bottom. In addition, there are small indentations that fit your thumbs perfectly. The back side of the device is made of soft-touch plastic, the surface of which is corrugated on the left and right. In short, the tablet is very comfortable to hold with both hands in landscape orientation.

The front panel is made of gray plastic. The manufacturer also offers a white version, which looks more elegant.

The tablet is quite thin, but still a couple of millimeters thicker than modern top-end solutions.

In portrait orientation, it is quite comfortable to hold with one hand.

I would like to note the strange aspect ratio of both the tablet itself and the display. They are very close to 1:2. The device turns out to be long and narrow, which causes some inconveniences, but more on them later.

Despite its originality, we would call the design of the device inexpressive. It’s immediately clear that this is an inexpensive gadget. Although in general there are no complaints about the quality of materials or workmanship.

Connectors and controls

There are stereo speakers on the front panel at the bottom right and left of the display.

The VGA camera lens is located in the upper right corner.

At the top end we find the volume control swing and the on/off button.

The right side is the most saturated with connectors. There is a microUSB port, a 3.5mm headphone jack and a microSD card slot.

In landscape orientation, the button layout is very convenient. You can easily adjust the sound or turn off the display with your index finger. With the headphones turned on, it’s completely uncomfortable: the plug gets in the way of your right hand.

In portrait orientation, the buttons are poorly positioned. They are either too high or too low. However, there are no complaints about the placement of the audio jack.

When working with a tablet, there is an extreme lack of hardware Home buttons and Back. The physical dimensions of the screen are 155x87 mm. The aspect ratio is 1.78. Resolution 800x480 or 1.66. Therefore, some interface elements turned out to be smaller than they should be. Pressing some of the virtual buttons is inconvenient, especially in portrait orientation, so in our opinion it would be worthwhile to place hardware keys. They would make working with the tablet much more convenient.

Scope of delivery

PocketBook SURFpad comes in a white matte box. The image of the device on the lid is made with partial varnish, due to which it looks very colorful and impressive.

The back of the box contains brief product specifications in Russian, Azerbaijani, Belarusian, Kazakh and Ukrainian.

The delivery set is very modest. In addition to the tablet itself, in the box we found a quick user manual, a USB cable and a charger. The SURFpad package does not include a cover, although PocketBook offers several branded covers.

Case for PocketBook SURFpad

For example, the PocketBook SURFpad VigoWorld case, made in the form of an envelope. Black and blue color options are available, which can be purchased for 650 rubles.

A cover-case with the same name, but with a different design and colors is also offered: orange, gray, black and green. Its price is slightly higher - 890 rubles.

And the most expensive case for SURFpad is the one made in the form of a book. It also comes in four colors: white, brown, crocodile red (have you ever seen that?) and black. It costs as much as a third of the tablet itself - 1200 rubles.

Screen

The screen doesn't make the best impression. Firstly, its physical aspect ratio doesn't quite match the resolution. This leads to some, albeit slightly noticeable, distortion of proportions. In general, the only inconvenience is resizing the taskbar. In landscape orientation it turns out to be too narrow - the corner icons are not always clicked the first time. In portrait orientation it is too short. Not all buttons fit, and if several applications are running in the background, then the icons turn out to be very small and difficult to hit. I really want to pick up a stylus.

Secondly, the display, as expected, according to Android 4.0 specifications, recognizes 5 touches simultaneously. However, it does not respond to them as quickly as we would like. For the sake of economy, the screen does not have protective glass or plastic. And although the manufacturer assures that capacitive technology is used, the display feels like a resistive one.

Subjectively, the brightness of the display is not the highest. Viewing angles are small. Already with a deviation of 20-30%, you can see how the colors fade; with a greater inclination, they are noticeably distorted. In a word, it is clear that an inexpensive TN-Film matrix is ​​installed. Presumably, she became the main “victim” for the sake of the low price.

Objective data confirm subjective observations. White brightness is 242.26 cd/m2, which corresponds to an average LCD monitor. Black brightness - 0.23 cd/m2. The contrast is 1053:1, which can generally be considered normal results.

The color temperature graph is not smooth; it varies throughout the entire brightness range. At the same time, it not only decreases, which would be normal, but also increases. Even at its lowest setting it is at 10,000K, which makes the colors on the display look unnaturally blue.

The gamma curve of the PocketBook SURFpad is surprisingly good. It matches the 2.2 reference curve almost perfectly. The color rendition here is good, if you don’t pay attention to color temperature.

Camera

The PocketBook SURFpad U7 camera has VGA resolution. Actually, this is where we can finish our description. The only purpose of the device is to support video communication.

The camera settings are minimal. In photo mode, you can adjust white balance and exposure.

In the video - only white balance.

The camera offers geotagging of pictures and videos, although the tablet does not have a GPS module.

The quality of pictures and videos is appropriate.

Characteristics

PocketBook SURFpad is not the first e-book manufacturer. Moreover, this is not the first device that the Obreey Products team, a subsidiary of PocketBook, which operates the Obreey store and creates tablets like this, is working on. To some extent, the PocketBook SURFpad will compete with its “predecessor”. However, it should be noted that these devices are not close relatives. PocketBook A7" with similar characteristics works under more old version Android has a different design and a slightly different ideology.

The PocketBook SURFpad in its characteristics does not differ much from the A7 model. The worse display characteristics, lower camera resolution, and more modest battery are immediately noticeable.

The tablet is devoid of wireless interfaces, with the exception of Wi-Fi, and GPS is not supported.

There is no exact data about the processor, but the AllWinner A13 with Mali-400P graphics most often appears on Internet forums. This is very popular model among manufacturers of cheap tablets. The A7" has a TI OMAP 3621 chip with a similar architecture and a PowerVR SGX 530 GPU, but the Mali-400P accelerator looks preferable.

It is difficult to say anything about the battery without tests. At first glance, its capacity is sufficient, but let’s not forget that we are dealing with a rather old chip architecture, and one that was clearly not made according to the most advanced technical process. Therefore, you need to prepare for any surprise.

It remains to add that the device turned out to be very light and quite compact. And this is his unconditional advantage.

But in general, the characteristics show that the manufacturer tried to fulfill system requirements Android 4.0 at the lowest price. Let's see what testing shows.

Testing PockeBook SURFpad and PocketBook A7"

PocketBook SURFpad and PocketBook A7" differ only in graphics accelerators and display resolution. Let's see which of them is faster. But first, a couple of subjective comments.

PocketBook SURFpad works at an acceptable speed. We didn't experience any lag in the interface or very slow applications. At the same time, it was striking that heavy programs take quite a long time to load. To launch the mobile office you will have to wait 10-15 seconds, etc. Obviously, a single-core 1GHz chip is not the best choice for Android 4.0 and a modern tablet.

In the AnTuTu System Review, PocketBook SURFpad won an unconditional victory.

In two versions of Smartbench packages, tablets can be recognized as parity. In some cases SURFpad was faster, in others - A7."

In graphics tests, SURFpad turned out to be two or more times more productive than its opponent. But we would associate this advantage with lower resolution. Let's remember that the SURFpad's accelerator renders scenes at 800x480 pixels, and the A7's - 1024x600. Naturally, with a lower resolution you can show more FPS.

Linpack is also faster new.

But in the SunSpider browser test, where the influence of resolution is minimal, the A7 takes the lead with a noticeable advantage." But here, apparently, the difference in browsers affected. If the SURFpad is installed with “stock”, standard browser Android, then A7" also offers Dolphin Browser HD.

And finally, a time test battery life. After running the same set of tasks, the A7" battery was discharged by only 30%, while the SURFpad had a little more than half the charge left. With this result, the SURFpad will have to be charged almost every day. And we are not sure that the tablet will allow you to During a long journey, surf the Internet all day via Wi-Fi.

PocketBook SURFpad software

PocketBook SURFpad works under Android control 4.0. However, this is not a completely full-fledged OS. There is no store here Google Play, Gmail, YouTube clients, and others Google applications. Can't be connected to a tablet Google account, you can add a corporate account or VKontakte. But otherwise, we have Android 4.0, which we have already described. Therefore, we will focus only on applications pre-installed by PocketBook.

I would also like to note that a number of applications are already included in the tablet’s unlock circle when turned on: camera, client for classmates, application store and others.

First of all, I want to solve the problem with applications. There is an Apps Market icon in the menu. It is a shortcut for the Aptoid website. This is the largest alternative app store for Android. On the site page that opens after clicking on the Apps Market icon, the user will be prompted to install a client for Aptoid.

The client is generally similar to Google Play. There are the same sections with the most popular, free and other applications.

It should be noted that Aptoid has many programs from Google Play. Therefore, the user will not feel lost. In any case, Angry Birds, including the newest ones, are present in Aptoid. So it’s not difficult to download games for SURFpad. Moreover, in the default settings the option prohibiting the installation of APK files is disabled.

Instead of Google Maps SURFpad offers Yandex.Maps. The tablet does not have a GPS module, so the coordinates are determined when connecting to the Internet based on the distance to the nearest communication network nodes. I must say quite accurately. Maps allow you to plot routes and show road conditions. There are several layers. Yandex.Maps are quite well known, popular and have proven themselves well in the territory of the former USSR.

File Manager allows you to work with files in the tablet’s memory and on a microSD card. You can copy, cut, create both files and folders. Note that the application has separate items with which you can manage downloads, music, videos and photos. They are shortcuts to the folders in which the user stores the relevant content.

Obreey Store is a shortcut to the main page of the Obreey web store. Through it, PocketBook offers various content in two dozen languages ​​of the world, including Russian, Belarusian, and Ukrainian. Other CIS countries, Europe and China are also represented.

By selecting the desired language, the user is taken to the appropriate section of the store. Obreey Store offers books, periodicals, audiobooks and dictionaries. The periodicals are represented by both free and paid magazines. Choosing a language, unfortunately, does not mean translating the interface. It only applies to content. All content is divided into genres or other categories. The Obreey Store assortment is large, but not endless.

The VKontakte client allows you to access all the main pages of the social network. The screen has bookmarks for chat, personal messages, walls, music, and friends list. Moreover, if you move the page to the right, the social network menu will open on the left side.

Cool Reader is a famous book reading application. The supported formats are EPUB, PDF, EPUB, PDF, FB2, FB2.zip, TXT, RTF, HTM, HTML, DOC, DOCX. The app's first screen includes links to recently downloaded books, as well as shortcuts to quickly jump to local files by author, genre, and other categories, as well as links to large free libraries like Project Guttenberg. Books are more convenient to read in portrait orientation, then one page is presented on the screen. In landscape mode, the display is split into two pages. Flipping is done using a gesture.

IM+ is a universal messenger that allows you to configure a dozen different instant messaging programs and services in one application. This is how ICQ, VKontakte, Facebook and Odnoklassniki chats are connected here, Google Talk, Skype, MSN and others.

The client for Odnoklassniki, as well as for VKontakte, provides full access to your social network account, including chat and other features.

ArkMC - DLNA server. With its help, you can stream content from your tablet to various compatible household appliances, including players and TVs. The reverse process is also possible - watching videos from a computer on a tablet. True, not all formats are supported.

LearnEnglish - apps from the British Council for learning English language. The student is asked to listen to the podcast and then answer questions about it. The vocabulary expands, the skills of perceiving a foreign language by taste improve.

SPB TV - free apps for Internet TV. The picture quality is not always perfect, but the choice of several dozen channels is impressive.

If someone doesn’t have enough IM+, they can use Agent.Mail.ru. This application for communicating with other portal users and monitoring mail is well known to many users.

Vesti is a client of the Russian TV channel Vesti-24. You can read news, watch broadcasts, as well as individual stories.

GisMeteo and Pogoda.Yandex - two weather widgets. You can configure one or more cities, look at the forecast for the coming hours and days.

The diary is real school diary. You can use it to maintain a lesson schedule and record homework.

Conclusion

PocketBook SURFpad is a convenient tablet, but not in any quality. It works quite quickly, although not always. It has a 7-inch display, however, with broken proportions and not the best matrix. The manufacturer ships it with a developed ecosystem of applications, but this is not Google. Everything seems to be good in this device, but there is always some little thing that spoils the impression.

The main advantage of the PocketBook SURFpad is the price. It costs only 3500 rubles. And here it is worth paying attention to some applications of the device: Diary and Learning English. The device looks very good as a gift for a middle or high school student. There is a diary, a curriculum for English. It is worth recalling the excellent selection of dictionaries in the Obreey store. He will be able to communicate with friends on VKontakte and Odnoklassniki. In this capacity, the device looks very harmonious: inexpensive, simple, convenient. If the owner's turbulent adolescence causes the SURFpad's premature death, buying a new one will not be a serious burden on the budget.

Price

PocketBook SURFpad can be bought for 3,500 rubles and this is not the cheapest offer on the market.

But for 3,400 rubles you can buy a Wexler TAB.7000 that is completely similar in characteristics, and the Digma iDj7 will cost even less - 3,000 rubles. True, it’s worth thinking about whether everything will be just as good with the software? Still, PocketBook took development seriously, at least for e-paper readers.

PocketBook A7", which was a rival of SURFpad in tests, already costs from 6,500 rubles - this is a device of a different class, and the Google Play store is not cut out of it.

PocketBook SURFpad fits well into the niche of the cheapest 7-inch tablets.

Pros:

• original and user-friendly design;
• acceptable performance;
• many pre-installed applications;
• good choice additional accessories
• affordable price.

Cons:

• minor flaws in ergonomics;
• mediocre low-resolution screen;
• poor delivery package;
• “naked” Android without the Google Play app store;
• bad camera.

The PocketBook company has been a leader in the e-book market for many years. But, due to the fact that this class of devices is gradually disappearing into oblivion, being replaced by full-fledged tablets, the developer is trying to keep up with the . Today you can find many tablets from this manufacturer in almost any electronics supermarket. The advantages of PocketBook tablets are their low cost and good parameters, with which more famous brands would cost several times more.

We would like to dedicate this review to the PocketBook Surfpad 4 S 3G tablet - compact, stylish and powerful. What else is remarkable about it? How is it different from competitors? Is he even worthy of your attention? Our detailed review will answer these questions.

The gadget supports all modern technologies

Specifications

Operating system:	Android 4.4.2 KitKat
Screen:	7 inches, IPS, 1920 × 1200, 323 ppi, capacitive, glossy, multi-touch
CPU:	MediaTek MT8392, 8-core, 1.7 GHz
GPU:	Mali-450 MP
RAM:	2 GB
Flash memory:	16 GB
Memory card support:	microSD up to 64 GB
Connectors:	microUSB + OTG, micro-SIM, 3.5 mm audio interface
Camera:	rear 8 megapixels and front 2 megapixels
Communication:	Wi-Fi 802.11n, Bluetooth 4.0, 3G, GPS/A-GPS, GLONASS
Battery:	4000 mAh
Additionally:	accelerometer
Dimensions:	193.2 × 107.9 × 9.3 mm
Weight:	345 g
Price:	from 11.5 thousand rubles

Scope of delivery

The equipment of the PocketBook Surfpad 4 S 3G tablet is quite standard. The box in which the device is supplied is flat and square, made of cardboard. It contains the tablet itself, a charger with a voltage of 5 V and a current of 2 A, a microUSB cable that is used for charging and connecting to a computer, as well as a bracket for removing the SIM card. Well, and a set of documents, of course.

Design

The appearance of the PocketBook Surfpad 4 S 3G tablet is not for everyone; it is very reminiscent of a sports style. Supporters of monochromatic classics will clearly not like the bright green inserts on the sides of the tablet, as well as non-standard buttons. However, the tablet looks very stylish and interesting; its body is made entirely of metal, which is why it feels massive. Tactile sensations are neutral, the matte surface does not irritate, but does not cause delight. Unfortunately, after just a few days, the information about the make and model of the device painted on is completely erased; even the case does not help. The aspect ratio is 16:10, which makes it convenient to use the PocketBook Surfpad 4 S 3G tablet even with one hand.

The front panel consists mostly of a 7-inch Full HD display. The top and bottom margins above and below the display are quite wide, while along the long sides they are narrower. On the sides of the narrow part of the PocketBook Surfpad 4 S 3G there are two stereo speakers, which sound pretty decent. Their arrangement is symmetrical, which is why the tablet does not look one-sided. Near top speaker, right in the place of one of its holes, there is a front camera peephole. Software buttons are on-screen and therefore do not take up space on the panel. The corners of the case are rounded, a tangible edge protrudes above the surface of the screen, protecting the surface from scratches. If you place the tablet with the screen down, it may put pressure on your fingers if you are not used to it.

On the back surface of the PocketBook Surfpad 4 S 3G tablet there are plastic strips of light green color inserted at the top and bottom. If the purpose of the top one is clear (to protect against radio signal shielding), then the bottom one was added, most likely, for symmetry. In the corner of the upper plastic insert there is a peephole for the main camera. As already mentioned, the surface of the PocketBook Surfpad 4 S 3G tablet is matte metal; information about the manufacturer and model of the device is very quickly erased from it. After some time of use, your tablet will become nameless.

The company used a very interesting design solution for the physical volume control and display lock buttons. Located in the upper right corner of the PocketBook Surfpad 4 S 3G tablet, they are made not in the form of traditional rectangular buttons, but in the form of curly overlays of light green color. The volume button is made in the form of a plus and minus, and the lock key is in the form of an unfinished circle. This makes them very easy to find even in the dark. The remaining interfaces are located as follows: there is a jack for headphones or a headset on top, a microphone and microUSB on the bottom, and a slot for a SIM card and memory card on the right, closer to the bottom. The latter is combined in a rather interesting way: on one side of the metal plate you insert a SIM card, on the other - a flash drive. Original, isn't it?

The assembly of the PocketBook Surfpad 4 S 3G tablet case is made at a high level, the device looks strong and solid, and even solid. The widescreen form factor makes the tablet quite narrow, so you can use it with one hand without worrying about it falling out if you don't have time to grab it in the right place. True, for a 7-inch device the weight is quite large - 345 grams. Many other models pull almost half as much.

Screen

The PocketBook Surfpad 4 S 3G tablet is equipped with a fairly high-quality display with a 7-inch diagonal IPS matrix and a resolution of 1920 × 1200. The pixel density is 323 ppi, so most unassuming users will not notice any graininess. However, compared to top-end devices, the picture quality is not so perfect.

The color of the picture is excellent, the color rendition is accurate, and there is enough brightness in most situations. Thanks to IPS technology, viewing content is possible even if you tilt the PocketBook Surfpad 4 S 3G tablet at an angle of almost 180 degrees. The image does not change color, the brightness of the backlight may change, and the image itself will dim a little. You can enable the Clear Motion function in the settings, which is designed to make the image smoother. But in real field tests the function does not justify itself.

The sensor of the PocketBook Surfpad 4 S 3G tablet is sensitive and responds to touch almost instantly. You can control the device by just lightly touching the display surface. Unfortunately, his defense is at a very low level. The developer skimped on scratch protection, so avoid contact with hard objects. There is also no filter to prevent glare from direct hits. sun rays and anti-grease coating. Another disadvantage is the lack automatic control backlight level - you will have to control it manually.

Performance

The PocketBook Surfpad 4 S 3G tablet is equipped with an eight-core MediaTek MTK8392 processor, each core of which operates at a frequency of 1.7 gigahertz, as well as a Mali-450MP4 graphics adapter. RAM - 2 gigabytes. This combination is absolutely enough for all everyday tasks, as well as running powerful modern games. Even such resource-intensive games as Modern Combat 5, Brothers in Arms 3 or Dead Trigger 2 work at maximum settings without freezing or stuttering, let alone ordinary surfing the Internet or watching videos in HD quality. The menu is well optimized and everything scrolls through quickly and smoothly.

Performance tests show quite high results, for example, AnTuTu scores more than 30,000 points. According to this indicator, the PocketBook Surfpad 4 S 3G tablet is higher than some top-end devices of previous years. The permanent memory is 16 gigabytes, but only 2 gigabytes are available for installing programs, which is why you will have to bother with memory re-partitioning. Detailed information can be found on a specialized forum, for example, w3bsit3-dns.com. About 12 gigabytes are allocated for storing files, which can be expanded using a microSD memory card. As already mentioned, it is installed in the same slot as the SIM card.

The wireless modules on the PocketBook Surfpad 4 S 3G tablet include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 3G. Wi-Fi can work with the 802.11n standard. The 3G module only supports data transfer, sending messages and USSD; the tablet cannot be used as a phone. MicroUSB 2.0 supports OTG technology, thanks to which you can connect an external USB drive or other devices.

Multimedia capabilities

The standard audio player on the PocketBook Surfpad 4 S 3G tablet supports only three formats, which is not very impressive. But in fact, most music albums on the Internet are distributed in them (this includes MP3, AAC and WMA). Built-in equalizer has good settings sound. The audio player supports a huge amount of video and plays video perfectly even in the most high resolution, so you can easily do without third-party players.

The PocketBook Surfpad 4 S 3G tablet is equipped with two speakers, so the reproduced sound is true stereo, but the sound quality is not at the highest level. As the volume increases, the sound deteriorates significantly, so it is better to use headphones. The sound quality through the headset is at the level of most devices, that is, quite high quality.

Battery and operating time

The PocketBook Surfpad 4 S 3G tablet is equipped with a 4000 mAh lithium-polymer battery. Its charge lasts for quite a long time, if you do not overload the device with games or other energy-intensive tasks. On average, with a normal load such as several hours of reading or browsing, the charge should be enough for the whole day. Under maximum load, for example, watching HD videos and occasional games, the charge should last for about 5 hours, and if you play powerful games, the battery will run out after two to three hours. Therefore, if you like to play a toy on your tablet, keep the outlet in sight. In general, the autonomy of the PocketBook Surfpad 4 S 3G tablet is quite satisfactory. Among the shortcomings, one can note the strange behavior of the battery when the charge reaches 15%. Obviously, the sensor is not calibrated enough, which is why the device simply turns off, although the charge still remains.

Camera

The PocketBook Surfpad 4 S 3G tablet is equipped with two cameras. The front camera has a resolution of 2 megapixels and is definitely not suitable for selfies. The quality of its pictures is very mediocre, but it is quite suitable for video calls. The main camera has a resolution of 8 megapixels, which is pretty good for a 7-inch tablet. It is equipped with autofocus, which allows you to shoot various objects at close range. It is very convenient to use a tablet to take pictures of some documents for later use.

The quality of images from the main camera of the PocketBook Surfpad 4 S 3G tablet is quite good in daylight. The image is quite clear, with all colors reproduced correctly. But indoors and when it gets dark, the focus gets lost, various dots and spots cover the surface of the image. In any case, relying on a tablet as your main camera would not be entirely logical or correct.

Operating system and programs

The PocketBook Surfpad 4 S 3G tablet is running under operating control Google systems Android 4.4.2 KitKat. The manufacturer did not equip its device, so you will use pure Android. Only minor proprietary changes have been added, such as Clear Motion or a proprietary search system instead of the Google search bar. Over-the-air firmware updates are supported. If you can solve the problem with the small amount of memory allocated for installing applications, you can install any software with Play Market.

Competitors

Huawei MediaPad X1 7.0 - has the same display characteristics and memory capacity, quad-core HiSilicon V9R1 processor with a frequency of 1.6 GHz, Mali450-MP4 video card, 13 and 2 megapixel cameras, LTE support, automatic brightness control, use as a phone, 5000 mAh battery . Price - about 14,000 rubles. You can read a review of this tablet at.

ASUS MeMO Pad 7 - with the same screen characteristics and memory capacity, runs under Intel processor Atom Z3560 with a frequency of 1.83 gigahertz and a PowerVR G6430 graphics adapter and is equipped with two cameras of 5 and 2 megapixels, as well as a 15 Watt-hour battery. Its cost is about 15,000 rubles.

Pros and cons

We traditionally want to conclude our review of the PocketBook Surfpad 4 S 3G tablet by highlighting the positive and negative nuances of this model.

• Metal body, attractive design.
• Stereo sound with two speakers.
• Excellent screen with high Full HD resolution.
• Not a bad 8 megapixel camera.

• Too heavy.
• Lack of screen protection.
• A bit overpriced.

Conclusion

The PocketBook Surfpad 4 S 3G tablet is an excellent competitor to many other, much more expensive models. For an acceptable amount, the buyer receives an excellent high-performance device with.

Have you ever used this device? Share your experience in the comments.

You can easily fall in love with Pocketbook SURFpad 4 M, it is so powerful and beautiful at the same time.

• Content
• Introduction
• Specifications
• Appearance
• Equipment
• Screen
• Camera
• Performance
• Communication capabilities
• Conclusions

Introduction

The PocketBook brand has long established itself among reading enthusiasts, and here we mean primarily e-books. However, many probably know about the tablets in the company’s product range. We are, of course, talking about the SurfPad series tablets. The first models of this line appeared on the market almost two years ago and immediately attracted the attention of ordinary buyers with their good ratio of quality, price and performance. Today we present to your attention the highest evolutionary point in the development of tablets from PocketBook - the SURFpad 4 M model.

Specifications

Screen	IPS, 7.85 inches, 2048×1536 pixels
Chipset	1700 MHz, 8 cores
Memory	RAM 2 GB; ROM 16 GB
Memory expansion	microSD/HC/XC
Cameras	front: 2 MP; rear: 8 MP
Wireless communication	Wi-Fi, 3G (HSDPA/UMTS), Bluetooth
Connectors	Micro-USB, 3.5 mm
Gyro sensor	+
Battery	Lithium polymer, 4000 mAh
OS	Android 4.4
Sound	speakers 2 x 0.5 W
Navigation	GPS, A-GPS
Dimensions, mm	188 x 108 x 9.2
Weight, g	270

Appearance

Let's say right away that the PocketBook SURFpad 4 M case is a “monolith”, that is, it cannot be disassembled. Anodized aluminum was used to create the case, and this coating effectively protects the surface from corrosion and also gives a respectable appearance. The latter is facilitated by two bright yellow plastic inserts along the edges with a textured pattern, which allows you to more securely clasp the tablet with your palms in landscape orientation.

The dimensions of the tablet are very small (203.7x136.9x8 mm), as is the weight (380 g). The front part of the case is occupied by a 7.85-inch display, as well as two low-power (0.5 W) speakers that create a stereo effect. In the upper front part of the case we saw a camera lens designed for video communication. There are no touch buttons under the display at all, but there are buttons responsible for adjusting the sound volume. There is a microUSB port on the bottom edge of the case, and a slot for installing microSD (without a plug) on ​​the top. A slot for micro cards SIM. There is a main camera on the back of the case.

Equipment

The delivery set probably includes everything most useful and necessary: ​​a microUSB cable, a charger, a special needle for removing the SIM card, and paper documentation, where would you be without it.

Screen

The tablet display is created on the basis of a high-quality IPS matrix, which allows you to obtain colorful, clear color reproduction and very wide viewing angles vertically and horizontally (by the way, color reproduction is very close to the sRGB standard). The diagonal screen size is 7.85 inches, the maximum resolution is simply excellent - 2048 × 1536 pixels (pixel density - 326 ppi). Of course, the screen is capacitive and multi-touch. The backlight is uniform, the screen also has a decent amount of brightness.

Camera

As mentioned above, the front camera of the tablet is two megapixel, which allows you to use it without any problems Skype program. The rear camera is more powerful, it is 8 megapixel and equipped with autofocus. However, in reality, pictures are only taken in good lighting. The owner of the tablet has access to various shooting modes. Unfortunately, there is no outbreak.

Sound

Sound in stereo mode is output by two low-power speakers located in the front. We noticed that sometimes when listening to music online, the tablet’s speaker wheezes. There was no such problem when listening to music from flash memory, so this is purely a “software” bug, and the developers have already released a firmware update that corrects the decoding of audio from the Internet. By the way, you can listen to your favorite songs using the built-in FM tuner.

Performance

The “brain” of the PocketBook SURFpad 4 M is the Chinese MediaTek MT8392 chipset with 8 cores operating simultaneously at 1.7 GHz. That is, it is already clear that the tablet is capable of handling the most sophisticated toys, HD video and other resource-intensive tasks. Moreover, as much as 2 GB are “directed” to the eight cores of the chipset to help RAM! The internal memory is 16 GB, and it can always be expanded by installing a memory card. We ran some 3D games and they all came with quality personal computer, so to speak, and without slowdowns.

Software and autonomy

Already installed on the tablet operating system Android 4.4, with a pristinely clean interface.
Updates are available over the air and via Google Play. Additional and partner software can be installed immediately upon request.
first startup of the device. We really liked this approach, because in other tablets internal memory initially offers the owner much less space than its nominal value, since not only the OS is installed on it, but also various, sometimes unnecessary software. The 4000 mAh lithium polymer battery shows good battery life. Its full charge is enough to watch two movies in FullHD resolution, and with moderate use - for a day.

Communication capabilities

The new product is in perfect order with this. Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n), 3G (HSDPA/UMTS) and Bluetooth 4.0 modules are offered. Connecting to GPS is very fast, although there is no talk of GLONASS; after all, the chipset is Chinese. The presence of GPS allows you to turn your tablet into a full-fledged navigator, on the screen of which you will see traffic jams on city roads, thanks to the built-in 3G modem. Interfaces include a 3.5 mm audio jack for connecting headphones and a Micro-USB port that supports OTG. Miracast is also supported - wireless technology transmission of multimedia data. Using the latter, you can transfer “heavy” video and audio content to other devices in real time.

Conclusions

The Pocketbook SURFpad 4 M tablet turned out to be not only beautiful and impressive in appearance, but also productive, which is facilitated by 8 chipset cores and 2 GB of RAM. As a plus for the new product, we will also include a “clean” Android 4.4 OS, the ability to use it as a GPS navigator, a high-quality IPS display (resolution 2048×1536), a 3G modem, as well as a sufficiently “resistant” battery. Among some of the shortcomings, we would note a rather weak rear camera (does not match the declared 8 megapixels), a worn-out screen and modest speakers without bass. However, Pocketbook SURFpad 4 M can be called a competitor without a stretch Apple iPad, it is so powerful, beautiful and, in addition, cheaper.

Good afternoon Today we have a new collaboration with the PocketBook company; there will be three reviews of devices from this company. A tablet PC and two e-ink books, one black and white and the other color. I'll start with a tablet called "PocketBook SURFpad 2".

About the PocketBook company.

Traditionally, at the beginning, a few words about the company.

Created in 2007, PocketBook is an international manufacturer of multifunctional electronic devices for reading based on E Ink technology (“electronic paper”), as well as multimedia readers on Android platform under the PocketBook brand and branded accessories for them. The company is one of the world's leading manufacturers of readers. As of August 2012, over the entire period of the company’s existence, 1.5 million devices were produced and sold in more than 24 countries: in the markets of the CIS, Europe, North and South America, the Middle East and Asia. PocketBook is the best-selling e-book in the CIS countries and is among the top five best-selling in Western Europe.

PocketBook devices regularly receive prestigious international awards and lead in ratings. Among the latter - PocketBook Touch became the best reader in Europe according to the magazine “ComputerBild” (October 2012, Germany), PocketBook A 10" received an award for “Product Design” from the prestigious international Red Dot Design Award 2012, PocketBook Basic was awarded “Electronic Letter 2011" in the category "Best Reader of the Year" (Russia), and PocketBook A 10" 3G was recognized as the best multimedia reading device of 2012 in Russia.

Among the key unique advantages of PocketBook devices are a unique design and specially developed software, support for all formats of e-books, a simple and user-friendly interface, as well as pre-installed content.

PocketBook is an international brand of consumer electronics. PocketBook produces electronic readers using electronic paper (E Ink) screen technology, tablets and other multifunctional devices on the Android platform. As of May 2012 model range PocketBook consists of 15 electronic readers and tablets in 5-, 6-, 7-, 9.7-, and 10-inch formats.

PocketBook sells through its own retail network and online stores, as well as through partner retail networks. PocketBook has created and is developing the multilingual content platform Obreey Store.

The company provides after-sales service for customers around the world, and for partners the support structure includes marketing and logistics. PocketBook devices are manufactured at factories of the world's largest electronics manufacturers - such as Foxconn, etc.

COMPANY INFORMATION TAKEN FROM: http://www.pocketbook-int.com/ru/company

Technical characteristics of the device.

Operating system - Android 4.1.1
Processor/chipset - RockChip RK3066 1500 MHz.
Video chip - Mali 400 MP.
Number of cores - 2.
RAM - 1 GB.
Built-in memory - 8 GB.
Memory card support - microSDXC.
Screen - 7 inches.
Screen resolution - 1280x800 pixels.
Screen type - TFT IPS, glossy, touch screen, capacitive.
Multi-touch - 5 touches.
Pixels per inch - (PPI) 216.
Wi-Fi - yes, Wi-Fi 802.11n.
Front camera - 0.3 million pixels.
Built-in speaker - yes, stereo
Built-in microphone - yes.
Automatic screen orientation - yes.
Sensors - accelerometer.
Connection to a computer via USB is available.
Connection of external devices via USB - yes.
Connection to TV/monitor - mini HDMI
Audio/headphone output - yes, 3.5 mm.
Battery capacity - 4000 mAh.
Dimensions (LxWxD) - 194x122x10 mm.
Weight - 300 g.
Case material - plastic.
Features format support - EPUB, PDF, EPUB, PDF, FB2, FB2, ZIP, TXT, RTF, HTM, HTML, DOC, DOCX; JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF; MIDI, ASF, AVI, FLV, WEBM, 3GP, MPG.

Packaging, complete set.

The tablet is packaged in a square box made of thin cardboard. On the front side there is a schematic color image of the front and back of the tablet. On the back of the box there is a short technical information in different languages.

Equipment. But here everything is very meager. The manufacturer included only a charger and a USB cable in the package, which in turn is part of the charger. There is also a short user manual.

Appearance, design.

Again according to appearance Before us is a classic tablet that is in no way different from other tablets. Round corners, wide frames around the edges of the screen.

Are there any design solutions. A regular tablet for everyday use. The plastic case has a small protrusion of about 1.5mm. above the tablet screen. The volume button has a wavy shape like the semicircular power button, the color of the buttons is black.

The tablet is made entirely of plastic. There is no metal in the design. The back is blue and has a Soft-Touch coating.

Thanks to this coating, the tablet does not slip out of your hands. Actually holding it in your hands is quite convenient and comfortable. With certain skill, you can use one hand.

Build quality. Everything is put together very well. The buttons do not play, there are no creaks or gaps on the device body. In a word, a solid and high-quality assembly of the tablet.

Functional connectors on the device body.

1. At the top end with right side There is a volume button and a power button for the tablet.

2. All main connectors are located on the right side: charging indicator, microUSB output, 3.5mm headphone jack, microphone hole, mini HDMI output, memory card slot.

3. There are no controls on the bottom and left sides.

4. On the front side we have front camera for video communication and two stereo speakers at the lower corners of the tablet.

5. On the back of the tablet there is only the PocketBook logo, made by embossing.

Functional elements.

The tablet runs on Android OS 4.1.1. This is "pure" Android from Google without any third-party launchers.

The menu is built according to the 4x7 formula with one main screen where only the most basic applications are installed, which come by default. It is strange that PocketBook did not install any of its original program for reading books.

There are also 4 working screens with installed widgets.

There is a very powerful File Manager with the ability to display hidden files, as well as with the ability to separately display music, video, photos.

Screen. 7 inches, 1280x800 pixels, 5 simultaneous touches, IPS matrix.

Viewing angles: The maximum possible image is visible from any position. It practically does not fade in the sun and the image can always be read. Very high quality reproduction of color shades, all colors are rich and natural. Lovely black color. It is practically impossible to see individual pixels anymore, and in fact this is not necessary.

Before us is one of best screens if we take into account the price category of the tablet. In terms of this parameter, PocketBook was very pleased. There is a protective coating for the screen, but the type of coating could not be determined. On the screen there is protective film and for the first time it is quite suitable.

Connection via HDMI. There seems to be nothing unusual here. The tablet can be connected to any signal source where there is an HDMI output and display all necessary information on the big screen.

IN this tablet One very big and pleasant surprise awaits you and me. For me personally, this is one of the most important points in tablets which oh how rarely can be found. The manufacturer has provided the ability to install applications and games on the memory card. We go to the tablet settings, then memory and check the box “use an external micro SD card as main memory” and that’s it, after rebooting ALL applications are installed on the memory card, naturally, if you remove the memory card from the tablet, then installed games or applications will become unavailable. This parameter is definitely a big plus for PocketBook.

It is possible to update the tablet software over the air. When I turned it on for the first time, the tablet reported that new firmware was available. To be honest, after the update “by eye” I did not notice any improvements in the operation of the device.

Touch control buttons are located exactly in the middle of the screen, usually they are placed in the lower left corner.

Camera. As many have probably already noticed from the screenshots presented, we do not have a main camera. Yes ladies and gentlemen, this can happen in 2013! But nevertheless, we still have a 0.3 MP front camera. which is actually only suitable for video communication. However, it works well in Skype, no obvious problems have been identified. The settings of the camera itself are minimal: geotags, photo size QVGA and VGA, white balance. There is a digital zoom, of course, at full magnification the noise is simply enormous. This is the manufacturer’s extraordinary approach. It’s good or bad, I think everyone will decide for themselves separately.

In progress, testing.

The tablet has a dual-core processor - RockChip RK3066 1500 MHz. and a quad-core video processor - Mali-400 MP and 1GB. RAM (890MB available after downloading). This combination allows you to comfortably play all modern 3D games, although there are minor moments....

The game has a new N.O.V.A. 3 lacks a number of graphic effects, such as volumetric smoke. Although on other tablets with the same filling, the entire visual part is presented in full.

Synthetic test charts:

In the Velamo test, when testing in HTML 5, the tablet constantly freezes; only a reboot helps. So, before you is a test only in Metal mode.

The main memory in the tablet is 8GB. After downloading, 5.65GB remains.

The tablet supports work with microSDXC memory cards. Memory card 64GB. works great. By the way, the manufacturer itself claims support for memory cards up to 2TB, all that remains is to wait for these media to go on sale.

Wi-Fi. The tablet accepts and holds very confidently and stably Wi-Fi signal. There are no revelations here.

Sound. Two stereo speakers. Very loud sound. Can be heard under any operating conditions. At maximum volume, the sound is not distorted or distorted. An excellent indicator.

Out of the box, the tablet plays most of the most common video formats. So, for the first time you can limit yourself to the built-in player. There are also no problems with playing MKV. Is it worth mentioning how gorgeous films look on this screen?

Navigation on the tablet occurs with small visible lags; if you like, there is not enough smoothness when flipping through the desktops. Also, the sensor does not always respond to touches the first time and you have to press several times. There is information that all this will be corrected in the upcoming major firmware.

Connecting external devices. We were able to connect the following devices without any problems: mouse, keyboard, card reader, USB flash drive, PS3 joystick, hard drive for 80GB and 3G USB modem HUAWEI E1550 from MTS (unlocked). I didn’t even have to register anything to connect to the network.

When using the tablet, whether playing games or movies, the tablet gets very hot.

Battery life.

The battery in the tablet is 4000 mAh. Still, I’m afraid that this battery may not be enough for a long operating time given the HD resolution of the tablet. Supports charging via USB port computer and this is again a big plus. There is a tablet charging indicator.

Now let's see how long the declared 4000 mAh will last.

1. Playing MP3 in headphones, maximum volume - 25 hours.

2. Playing a video file, volume and screen brightness at maximum - 3 hours.

3. Working in 3D applications, sound at maximum, screen brightness 75% - The situation here is interesting, for example, in NFS MW the battery ran out in 1 hour. 40min. In the game, Death Dome lasted 2 hours. 15min.

4. Work in a mixed cycle: music, video, games, surfing the net - 5 hours.

As you can see, the indicators are quite weak.

Conclusions.

At first, you seem to even feel euphoric from the PocketBook SURFpad 2. The screen is simply gorgeous. Installing applications on a memory card, loud speakers. But the longer you use the tablet, you come to the conclusion that the main camera is missing, even if it’s a weak camera, the operation is not smooth, and not everything is smooth with games. It feels like the tablet needs new, more stable firmware. And the price is 4,690 rubles. seems already a bit high, competitors are keeping pace, and some sometimes even get ahead. Explay Surfer 7.03 - 4.190 rub. Same screen resolution, although the battery is worse. Fly IQ320 - 3.590 rub. a similar screen, although the video is a little weaker, but the price difference is 1 thousand rubles. IconBIT NetTAB Matrix HD - 4,490 rub. more capacious battery. teXet TM-7043XD - 3,690 rub.
WEXLER.TAB 7iS - 4,590 rub. already Bluetooth 4.0 and the main camera is 5MP. DNS AirTab E77 - 3,850 rub. there is a main camera.

Pros:

1. Great screen.

2. Loud stereo sound.
3. Installing applications on the memory card.

4. Build quality.

5. Good performance.

Cons:

1. There is no main camera.

2. The tablet software needs improvement.

Thanks to DNS and PocketBook for providing the tablet for review.

Bye everyone and see you again!

The inexpensive reader-tablet-video player from Pocketbook is inexpensive, compact, runs Android 4.0.4, is this enough for people's love? It seems to me quite. Despite a number of disadvantages, oddities and rough edges.

Design, construction

I liked the packaging of the tablet - a white box, nice photos devices, this approach is not typical for budget products. The delivery set is standard. Most of the body is white lacquered plastic, the back is matte black plastic, and there are perforations where you'll hold the device. Or rather, where you can hold the tablet. After all, if we talk about reading books, it is more convenient to hold the SurfPad vertically. The dimensions of the device are 202.08 x 116.32 x 10.85 mm, weight 285 grams. The assembly is good, there are some holes on the left to the right of the display, you would think that these are speakers, but in fact, they are just there for beauty.

The gadget easily fits into a jacket pocket; the tablet is well suited for use in public transport. It is curious that the company is positioning the device as a multimedia reader, although it is more logical to call the SurfPad a tablet. Inside is Android 4.0, you can install any programs from the store, turning the device into a reader, a video player, or a simple player.

On the right side there is a 3.5 mm jack, microUSB, and a slot for a microSD memory card.

It's a shame that the headset and case are not included. Many will immediately want to use the tablet to listen to music, and protection for the display will not hurt, as far as I know, in such devices the screen is the weakest link. There are also quite loud speakers here; in principle, you can use the tablet as a music box.

Display

Display diagonal 7 inches, resolution 800 x 480 pixels. Note the strange aspect ratio, which makes the tablet look elongated. Clearly they tried to make a convenient device for reading, especially when held vertically. As practice has shown, watching movies is also good and convenient. But the quality of the display itself leaves much to be desired. The colors are faded, the viewing angles are not very good, the brightness changes strangely when you drag the slider halfway, the changes are not particularly noticeable.

Control

At the top end there is a power button, next to it is a volume rocker, the main control element, of course, is the display. There is nothing to complain about here, the sensitivity is at the level, the display responds well to pressing. The main thing is that there are almost no delays.

OS version, performance

Operating room in use Android system 4.0, version 4.0.4. You can find out more about the OS capabilities in a separate review.

The following programs are already installed:

• Obreey Store- a book store created by Pocketbook, if you wish, you can take volumes from here
• Cool Reader- a reading program, in my opinion, it is better to immediately install FBReader
• Office Suite Pro- a full-fledged version of the program for working with office documents
• "Odnoklassniki", "VKontakte"- programs for using data social networks
• IM +- client for communication in ICQ, etc.
• SPB TV- a program for watching TV programs, requires a network connection
• Gismeteo- weather
• Learn English- an English textbook, useful for students, although there are hundreds of similar programs

There are other programs, but my goal was to show that SurfPad does not come “empty”, which is especially useful for those who have not used Android before. There will be something to start with, but the rest can be installed from the Apps Market - I note that this is not the Play Market, it is located in the Obreey store. It’s not entirely clear why there is no official store; this can often be found in cheap Chinese crafts. It is curious that here you cannot take screenshots in the usual way, there is no such item in the menu, pressing the power off and volume down buttons also did nothing.

About performance, clock frequency processor (Cortex A8) 1 GHz, 512 MB of RAM, Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n), interesting that I did not find Bluetooth. Although this connection method would be useful for use wireless headphones. Or for quickly transferring files, say, books from a computer. No 3G either. When working with some applications, the menu disappears at the bottom, dots remain, or nothing remains. As far as I understand, a software update has already appeared, which fixed some bugs, and this one will probably be fixed as well.

Interestingly, the device natively supports many different multimedia formats, for video these are ASF, MKV, AVI, MP4, FLV, WEBM, 3GP, MOV, MPG, WMV. Audio: MP3, WMA, AAC, OGG, MIDI. You can read books in EPUB, PDF, FB2, FB2.ZIP, TXT, HTM, HTML, DOC, DOCX, RTF. In fact, you can immediately read and watch anything you want (in theory). Naturally, it is better not to try to run “heavy” films tens of gigabytes in size.

Accordingly, in the case of this book it is difficult to talk about any specific application scenario, there are hundreds of them. You can read, watch movies, listen to music, play, watch documents, etc., etc. Compared to inexpensive readers with TFT displays, this book provides much more capabilities.

Memory

The device has 4 GB of memory, 2.22 GB is available to the user for books, music or videos. Naturally, you can easily add memory by installing microSD card(up to 32 GB).

Opening hours

A 3000 mAh battery is installed, about seven hours of operation in normal mode are stated. In fact, the tablet lasts about five to six hours, but that's not bad for an Android tablet. I managed to watch two films for an hour and a half, with more than thirty percent of the charge remaining. Not bad.

But let me remind you that many modern traditional e-readers with E-ink are capable of working in offline mode month. If you are looking for a reading-only device, then it is better to buy an Amazon Kindle or Pocketbook Basic.

Conclusions

Now about the main thing. Despite the strange replacement for the official Google store, despite the faded display, the SurfPad is a very interesting device and certainly better than some of Pocketbook's past Android experiences. Look, SurfPad retails for about 3,500 rubles, for this money you get not some e-reader with a TFT display, but a completely normal tablet. Looks good, well built, decent performance, large display. It’s a paradox, but almost any consumer can afford such a thing - that is, someone may well go to the store for the already mentioned TFT reader and buy a much more functional SurfPad. In my opinion, Pocketbook has created a successful device, and before the holidays it will be a hit - cheap, cheerful, and the packaging is quite gift-friendly. I recommend it.

Sergey Kuzmin ()

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