Coby Kyros Tablet Review

Introduction

Front

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Back

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Sides

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In the Box

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Along with your tablet, the packaging contents include a wall charger, a miniUSB cable, and assorted documentation.

Handling

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Because it is small and fairly light, the {{product.name}} is relatively easy to handle. There aren't any fatigue issues, although the resistive screen isn't terribly responsive. The internal accelerometers will allow you to hold the tablet at either orientation.

Screen

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The screen of the {{product.name}} is 6.406 x 4.8125 inches, with a resolution of 800 x 600 and a resistive touch screen. This is the standard option for budget tablets, but as far as resistive touch screens go, that of the {{product.name}} isn't terrible.

Indoor & Outdoor Use

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Resistive screens seem to reflect less light than capacitive screens, for whatever reason, but don't take that to mean that the {{product.name}} is easy to see in the outside. On the contrary, because of the abysmally low peak brightness, even if you crank your backlight to the maximum level, you'll struggle greatly in seeing your screen properly. This is a tablet that pretty much must stay inside to be used, even on an overcast day.

NOTE: The images above are shot with a variety of lighting sources, which may cause some color shift.

Legibility

Because of the type of screen used by the Coby Kyros MID8120, legibility is impacted negatively by a hazy outer screen layer and a low DPI. Though the text itself is increased in size, it’s still not the greatest.

Reflectance

Using our highly specialized lab equipment, we were able to determine that the screen of the Coby Kyros MID8120 reflects around 25.5% of all light shone on the screen. Perhaps the only saving grace of the Coby Kyros MID8120 in terms of reflectivity is that the reflection pattern really is not that terrible.

Screen Size & DPI

The Coby Kyros MID8120 has a rather odd screen size, but it’s decent, nonetheless. By employing a 6.406 × 4.8125 inch screen with a resolution of 800 × 600 pixels (125 DPI), the Coby Kyros MID8120 gives its users a screen somewhere in between the 10.1 inch tablets and the 7 inch tablets that are more popular these days. The resolution isn’t all that great, but it’s not fair to expect a tablet this size to have something much greater (yet). Still, this isn’t going to give you the clearest picture with a DPI of 125. The coating on the screen doesn’t help either.

Blacks and Whites

Because of the terrible peak brightness, you will have a really hard time using the tablet in conditions that are not low light. The black level is quite good, but it’s hard to laud a low black level when it’s hard to seven see the image in many environments.

Color Gamut

Like most tablets, the Coby Kyros MID8120 has a somewhat poor color gamut when compared to the rec. 709 standard. As you can see from t he chart, the reds and greens are undersaturated and shifted to a noticeable degree, and the blues are shifted wildly to a cyanish color. The white point is also a bit off from where it should be.

Battery Life

While it’s not enough to make users forget about their experience with the tablet, the battery life is absolutely absurd. Lasting well over 8 hours reading eBooks and playing back video, the Coby Kyros MID8120 actually does provide a respectable performance for what is otherwise a product noted to take every measure it can to come in at a price point under $100.

Controls

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Because the physical controls are limited to volume buttons and a power button, most of your interaction with the tablet is going to happen through the resistive touchscreen, which is mediocre at best. This is par for the course, though, and even the lag in command isn't terribly surprising. The fact of the matter is that resistive screens just aren't really ideal for tablets, but they persist because they're still cheaper to use than capacitive touchscreens.

Connectivity

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Due to the fact that this tablet is very limited in capabilities due to cost, it's not surprising that the connectivity is somewhat greater than we expected, mainly due to the fact that it has a microSD card slot, a full HDMI port, a miniUSB port, and 802.11n wireless. This surprises us because this isn't a media maven, nor is it built to handle very much of anything at all, as its paltry 256MB of RAM and limited internal hardware can't really keep up with the other tablets on the market.

That said, if you're just using the tablet to read eBooks or bring the occasional piece of media with you on a car trip, this tablet should have you covered, albeit annoyed. Still, the ability to import and store files on additional storage is a plus that shouldn't be ignored if you import a lot of large files to your tablet.

Battery Life

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While it's not enough to make users forget about their experience with the tablet, the battery life is absolutely absurd. Lasting well over 8 hours reading eBooks and playing back video, the {{product.name}} actually does provide a respectable performance for what is otherwise a product noted to take every measure it can to come in at a price point under $100.

Reading Books

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Because the {{product.name}} uses the Aldiko application, and does not have access to another eReader application, let's explore what we have access to. Because the functions for eBook reading are somewhat limited, the experience for reading eBooks doesn't vary too much, but if you have to deal with a resistive touchscreen that definitely hinders your options. You could normally drag your finger across the page to simulate a page turn, but it's difficult at best with the {{product.name}}. You'll have much better luck tapping the right edge of the screen to advance the page, and the left edge to go backward.

Refresh times are also abysmal, and page turns take an unusually long time with the {{product.name}}. It shouldn't be surprising, as you really get what you pay for.

Buying Books

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Users of the Kindle app will notice right away that the Aldiko store is no Amazon, but they do have a bunch of classic titles that you can grab. Instead of setting up your account ahead of time, you will be prompted to enter in your billing information once you've selected your title from one of the several bookstores supported by the app. Once you've squared this away, or if your title is free, your download will begin shortly.

eBook Formats

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Because you are limited to the Aldiko reader, the eBook file formats you'll be dealing with are mainly EPUB and PDF. Beyond that, and you're out of luck, especially since you will be unable to download a better program through the ultra-anemic market.

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Newspapers & Magazines

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There is no native newsstand on the {{product.name}}.

Music & Audio Controls

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Much like other Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) devices, the music application, not to be confused with Google's Music app, is a very basic audio playback interface with a scrub bar, playlist options, play/pause button, and track forward/backward icons. Though you shouldn't have any issues listening to music, don't expect to have the same level of fine control as you would with a capacitive touch screen.

Music & Audio Management

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Audio files are managed by the music application in list format. There's not a whole lot else to say about it except for that you have to transfer yoru files either by email or USB cable, which can be a pain if you do not drag and drop your files to the appropriate folders.

Music & Audio Battery Life

Video Controls

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The {{product.name}}'s video player is the stock Gingerbread video playback interface. Colmplete with scrub bar, play/pause button, and a relatively quick control disappearance so you can watch your video files with limited screen obstruction. It's a bit clunky, but it works.

Video Management

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Videos are managed through the gallery function of the {{product.name}}, in thumbnail format. This is especially helpful if you do not remember the names of video files, and need a visual reminder of what they contain.

Video Formats

Internet Video

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Included in the software for the {{product.name}} is a YouTube app that allows you to stream YouTube clips wherever you have a WiFi signal. The interface is rather simple and straightforward, but it does allow you to access the full array of clips on the streaming giant's servers. Beyond that, though, there isn't much you can do to stream video.

Video Battery Life

Email

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The email application pre-installed on the {{product.name}} allows you to link your POP/IMAP/Exchange accounts to your tablet and compose and receive email through your tablet. All you have to do is follow the instructions and provide your information when prompted. For whatever reason, Gmail is not supported by an application, but it does work well through the browser.

Web Browsing

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The browser of the {{product.model}} is extremely basic, as it is the stock browser included with Android 2.3. You can bookmark pages, search Google, watch flash movies, or just browse your favorite sites. Unlike the iPad, the {{product.name}} has support for flash, which is a nice plus.

Internet Apps

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Well, there technically is an ability to score some apps for your {{product.name}}, but to be honest, there's Angry Birds, and that's about it. Considering the resistive touchscreen, even that will be frustrating. We poked around for a while, and really couldn't find much of anything that wasn't just a promo or crapware item. No Pandora, no Netflix, no productivity software (that we could trust); virtually nothing that Android users would recognize or care for.

Amazon Kindle Fire

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Device & Specs

Each device is relatively basic in many ways, but what the big differences center around are the screens. For the extra $100, the Kindle fire has an extremely bright, capacitive touchscreen, where the Kyros has an extremely dull, resistive touchscreen that takes forever to respond to commands. For whatever reason, the Kyros, with its similar hardware, seems to make less efficient use of its processor. For the extra $100 that it would cost for the Fire, you get a lot more tablet.

Screen

The screen of the Kindle Fire is far better than that of the Kyros by far. Not only is it brighter, but the colors are more accurate, the touchscreen is better, and the coating doesn't muddle the image at all. The only downside is that the Fire's screen is much more reflective.

Battery

Hands-down, the battery of the Kyros is better, by lasting over an hour more than the Fire in both reading eBooks and video playback.

eReader

It's hard to top the additional support Amazon Kindle owners get with the Fire, especially since you can buy from the Kindle eBook store. As a pure eReader, the Kyros falls flat in comparison.

Internet

Even though both tablets do not have that many unlocked internet features, the Kyros has to deal with a pared-down market, much like other bargain-bin tablets. The Fire has a somewhat larger array of available applications, including the Netflix app.

Barnes & Noble Nook

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Device & Specs

Though both tablets have comparable processors, the Nook tablet has better RAM, a better screen, and a slot for a microSD card. For the extra $150, you get a lot more tablet.

Screen

The screen of the Nook Tablet is brighter, clearer, and employs a much more responsive capacitive touchscreen than the Kyros' dimly-backlit resistive touchscreen.

Battery

Possibly the biggest value you get with the Kyros is the battery. Clocking in with a better battery life than the Nook Tablet, the Kyros is a solid bet if that's what you're looking for.

eReader

As a pure eReader, the Nook Tablet is the better bet if you're going anywhere brighter than an unlit cave. IT stands to reason that to make the battery life better, Coby would cap the maximum brightness, but it does prevent it from displaying a visible image in sunlight.

Internet

Even though neither tablet has full access to the Android Market, the Nook has a slightly wider array of familiar apps for the casual Android user. While neither dazzle in this area, we'd stick with the Nook Tablet.

Velocity Micro Cruz (4GB)

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Device & Specs

Both devices are a little on the lackluster side, but for the extra $20 you'd spend on the Kyros, you get a tablet that actually works the way it's supposed to. The same could not be said for the Cruz tablet, which stymied our attempts at testing several times before the general unresponsiveness thwarted our robots.

Screen

Though both have somewhat unimpressive screens, with a frustratingly bad resistive touchscreen, that of the Cruz is far worse. You can actually use the Kyros, albeit with a few errors here and there. The Cruz, on the other hand, requires the patience of a saint, and the self-restraint not to toss it aside in frustration.

Battery

We can't give you an accurate comparison here, because we weren't able to properly test the Cruz tablet all the way through. From what we did see, however, is that the {{product.name}} is a bit more efficient with video playback anyways.

eReader

To read eBooks, you have to have a platform that won't crash and freeze after 3 pages. To this end, the {{product.name}} is the infinitely better eReader of the two. No question.

Internet

Even though both tablets have access to only an extremely limited sliver of the Android Market, the Kyros' proprietary app market is a little bigger than that of Velocity Micro, so the Coby tablet has the edge there too. This one's shaping up to be a no-brainer.

Conclusion

All things considered, you could by buying a worse tablet for the money, as the last time we reviewed something at this price point, it was so bad it could not be tested properly. Not only does the {{product.name}} function with a relative degree of stability, but given its hardware it does a fair job.

Knock it if you will, but the battery life of the Kyros is great overall, even if the capabilities of the tablet are a little bit on the limited side. It's a tablet that can be bought for $100: of course it's going to be limited.

That being said, the resistive touchscreen is a huge drag, and the RAM makes operation of the operation of the tablet a little clunky, but usable. This is absolutely not going to make anybody forget about the iPad or various iterations of high-end Andrioid tablets, but the Kyros performs well for the money, if you can tolerate the limitations of the unit itself.