Coby Kyros 10 & 7 inch Tablets

Coby may not be that well known in the United States simply because they are one of those companies that offers competing products at drastically reduced prices. For example, about two years after DVDs debuted, Coby began offering DVD players and home-theater systems for about $150.00. This was about half what comparable units by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic were offered their units for.

This time around Coby got right to it. It has been slightly more than a year since Apple introduced the original iPad and last month the followup iPad 2.

As usual they are offering tablet computers (one is currently available) in an assortment of form factors for about half what Apple, Motorola, Research in Motion, and HTC are selling them for. Of course, to do that they had to use slightly different technology here and there, but by all reports users can hardly tell the difference.

This is another thing Coby is good at. They may use last year's technology for some parts of their competing products, but they do so in such a way that the consumer has a hard time telling.

For example the tablet that is currently available uses a resistive touch-screen where everyone else has gone on to use capacitive touchscreen. Consumers reviewing the device say the touch-screen though having a slightly mushy feel (normal for resistive touch-screen), is as responsive and accurate as a capacitive touch-screen version.

This is where Coby shines. By using perfected, but dated, technology to reduce the cost of the product they pass that reduction on in the sale price.

This review will cover two of the three tablets offered by Coby. The seven (7") and the (10") though the ten inch is not yet available. For some strange reason Coby also has an eight inch tablet in the works, but except for the size, the specifications are nearly identical to the ten (10") inch model.

Coby is the only manufacturer out there to offer a tablet in all three form-factors.

Where all other tablet makers are using 16GB as a base memory, Coby set their base at 4GB. Of course this is expandable to 32GB via microSD card. This is one of the things Coby did to lower the price of their tablet. The other, as mentioned above, was to use a resistive touch-screen rather than the (now) popular capacitive touch-screen.

Processor
The Samsung S5PV210 (Cortex A8) processor running at one GigaHertz (1GHz) powers this tablet. This is the same processor rumored to be the predecessor to the Apple A4 processor. Because it uses the Cortex A8 architecture it is ideally suited for tablet use.

Operating System
The Kyros 7025 will come with Android 2.3 with Coby's proprietary overlay. Rooting the tablet is easy with instructions provided by Coby on their web-site.

Memory
The 7025 uses a maximum of 4GB inboard with the ability to read and use up to 32GB on a microSD or SDHC card.

Display
The 7025 incorporates a seven (7") inch resistive touch display screen supporting 800 x 480 (VGA) resolution. It also supports the HD aspect ratio of 16:9.

Connectivity
Wi-Fi support includes 802.11 b/g/n. As of now, if there is to be 3G or 4G support Coby has yet to announce it. However, past Coby tablets have offered 3G as an option for slightly more than the Wi-Fi only version of their models.

Audio
Audio is supported by two internal stereo speakers, a 3.5mm headphone jack (headphone is included), as well as audio in with a built-in microphone.

Video Out
The 7025 supports high speed HDMI, type C (mini) including 1080P and 720P. The 720p resolution is for the built-in screen and the 1080p can be output via miniHDMI connector to a HD television.

Memory Card Support
The 7025 will support microSD and SDHC cards.

Other
Because the 7025 is also an ebook reader it will support the ePub document format.

In the Box
The Kyros will ship with a slip case, headphones, USB cable, and power adapter.

Pricing
Coby's suggested retail price for this tablet is a very appealing $179.99; however in the past eTailers such as Amazon have been able to offer the tablet at up to 15% off of the retail price meaning that the Kyros 7024 could sell for as little as $150.00.

Reviews
This is a new product so there are no reviews as yet, however the unit it is replacing, the 7015, got rave reviews from roughly 90% of buyers with another 5% giving it a good (middle of the scale) review. Of one hundred ninety-five reviews only a handful were bad and of those the reviewers were expecting an iPad for less than $200.00.

see below for the full list of specifications

As with the seven inch 7024 above, Coby saved on hardware costs by using a resistive touch-screen display and by offering the tablet with only 4GB or storage space. These cost savings are reflected in the sale price.

Processor
The Samsung S5PV210 (Cortex A8) processor running at one GigaHertz (1GHz) powers this tablet. This is the same processor used in the 7024 above.

Operating System
The Kyros 7025 will come with Android 2.3 with Coby's proprietary overlay. Rooting the tablet is easy with instructions provided by Coby on their web-site.

Memory
The 7025 uses a maximum of 4GB inboard with the ability to read and use up to 32GB on a microSD or SDHC card.

Display
The 7025 incorporates a seven (10.1") inch resistive touch display screen supporting 1024 x 600 (WVGA) resolution. It also supports the high-definition and an aspect ratio of 16:9.

Connectivity
Wi-Fi support includes 802.11 b/g. There is supposed to be 3G or 4G support, but no news on when or how much.

Audio
Audio is supported by two internal stereo speakers, a 3.5mm headphone jack (headphone is included), as well as audio in with a built-in microphone.

Video Out
The 1024 supports high speed HDMI, type C (mini) including 1080P and 720P.

Memory Card Support
The 1024 will support microSD and SDHC cards.

Other
Because the 1024 is also an ebook reader it will support the ePub document format.

In the Box
The Kyros will ship with a slip case, headphones, USB cable, and power adapter.

Pricing
Coby's suggested retail price for this tablet is a very appealing at $349.99; however in the past eTailers such as Amazon have been able to offer the tablet at up to 15% off of the retail price.

Reviews
This is a new product so there are no reviews as yet.

see below for the full list of specifications

Both these products are pending releases though their predecessors can be found on Amazon and other eTailers.

Despite the very low prices Coby has a reputation for creating inexpensive, yet solid and reliable products. To do this they "cut corners" on some of the hardware included in the equipment. Often these are components only the most choosey consumer will notice.

To date, Coby is the only manufacturer to offer Internet tablet computers with solid functionality at greatly reduced prices. This makes Coby a good choice for consumers curious about the tablet market who do not want to spend exorbitant prices to explore these types of computers.

Past Experience
I've owned a number of Coby products over the years. I primarily purchase these as "secondary" items. When I've needed (or wanted in this case) a second "bedroom TV" I bought a Coby; I did not regret it. When my DVD player broke down I purchased a Coby entertainment system as a "stop-gap" measure. I used it for four years rather than purchase another "name brand" unit. In all my experience I've paid considerably less for Coby products and with one exception have been more than happy with both the money I saved and the quality of the item.

In short I'm very excited by the prospect of an Internet tablet made by this manufacturer.

Coby Kyros MID 8024
Coby also offers an eight (8") inch tablet. I did not cover it here because, except for the dimensions, it is virtually identical to the 1024. The suggested retail price on the 8024 is $249.99, but as with all other Coby offerings the selling price will likely be 15% less.

The author was not compensated in any way, either monetarily, with discounts, or freebies by any of the companies mentioned.

Though the author does make a small profit for the word count of this article none of that comes directly from the manufacturers mentioned. The author also stands to make a small profit from advertising attached to this article.

The author has no control over either the advertising or the contents of those ads.