The Chinese gadget market has sure seen an about face since the beginning of the year. While before it was all about the PMP – the best screen, the most codecs, the greatest music management, now it is all about the tablet device. Gone are those previous wish lists, replaced with the desire for bigger screens, faster processors and most of all, a new operating system – android. Into this new market place steps the Wits A81E, a successor to the A81. It is a great device, and at this moment in time, the best tablet device out of china. That mighty praise however, does come with a rather large qualification. Read on to find out…
Packaging/In the Box/Accessories:
The A81E comes in a simple cardboard box. Nothing flash, and not at all cheeky like the Moonse apad (which was a blatant knock off of the Apple ipad). In the box is the player itself, a carry case (this is a huge plus – and it’s a great durable case!), a wall charger, a car charger (not sure why…) and a male/female usb connector. What is strangely missing is a USB cable to connect the device to your computer. Luckily the Wits uses a standard mini USB connection, so you can use any spare mini USB to USB cable you have lying around. All in all it is a good selection of accessories, with the case giving it a definite plus. With a device this size, you will need something to protect it when travelling around. Thankfully Wits thought ahead and included this – something other manufacturers could learn from
Build Quality:
The Wits has a nice weight to it. It weights about what you would expect it to from seeing it – which in my mind is always a good thing as it provides a sense of quality. The back of the device is matte black plastic which feels nice to the touch. It won’t attract any fingerprints, but it looks like it could get easily scratched. The front bezel is black glossy plastic, which looks nice and frames the screen well. The 7inch display is resistive and is recessed below the bezel. This is annoying it terms of keeping the device clean (dust just loves those spots!) but at the same time it helps to protect the screen from damage. On the front left of the display are three buttons: Home, back and Menu – these are the standard Android OS buttons which are needed to navigate the OS (something that the original A81 lacked – which inevitably led to its failure). The buttons have very little wiggle to them and are easy to press. Looks like they will stand the test of time. At the top of the device is the power on button and a volume rocker.
In terms of ports the Wits A81E has put everything on the left/bottom of the device. On the left is the standard 3.5mm headphone jack, a mini USB connector and an AC power in. On the bottom there is room for a micro flash card, as well as the reset button. All in all a pretty standard affair connector wise. On the back of the device are two speakers (tinny sounding but they work) and a built in kick stand (a nice addition for a device like this).
While Wits won’t win any design awards for the A81E, it isn’t bad looking. And what it lacks in design flair it makes up with in functionality. It seems like Wits really thought about making a device that would last – and we can be very thankful for that!
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