contixo-q102-android-tablet

It’s not easy to find 10.1” tablets that are fully functional and affordable. With the market littered with name brands, like Samsung and Nexus, it can be hard to find the middle ground tablet that doesn’t put you into long-term credit card debt to own a quality piece of hardware.

With the Contixo Q102, you get a fully functional Android-based 10.1” tablet that offers you everything you could want in a tablet without the expensive price tag attached to it.

We looked at the Contixo Q102 to see if it can be that tablet you invest in without going broke doing so.

Hardware and Design

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Contixo Q102 has a glossy exterior.

Like most tablets, the Contixo Q102 offers a sleek and stylish design in black, similar to other tablets. The primary difference is where the buttons lie. It can take some time to get used to utilizing the button functionality, but once you get used to the layout, it becomes second nature.

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All buttons and slots are labled for easy understanding.

Unique to the Q102 is the labeling of buttons, so that while you’re getting used to where they sit, you’ll know what you’re clicking. For those who aren’t used to using a tablet, this is a handy design feature.

The Q102 features a micro USB port, common among tablets and phones, along with a headphone jack, DC power port for charging, along with an SD card slot for additional storage. One of the biggest perks of the Q102 is that the HDMI adapter that comes in the box. You can utilize it via the micro USB port to show what you’re doing on your tablet to an HDMI-capable monitor or TV screen. Very few tablets include what you need to get this functionality out of the box.

This tablet uses an A31S Allwinner Quad Core CPU with a frequency of 1.2 GHz, giving you the processing speed you need to watch movies and play games with little latency.

The tablet features a dual camera design (2 MP rear, 0.3 MP front.)

At 10.6” x 6.7” x 0.4”, this tablet may be a bit bigger than you’re expecting from the standard 10.1” line. However, it’s build feels solid and it weighs 1.2 pounds total.

The sound quality of the Contixo runs along similar lines as mid-grade tablets, but when paired with headphones, the sound quality improves significantly.

The Q102 can be used over mobile data networks, but you have to check with your provider to set up service to get it going. While on wireless, the Q102 takes advantage of 802.11 b/g/n and features Bluetooth functionality.

The Contixo Q102 offers 16 GB of internal storage, with the option to use an SD card to upgrade.

Display

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Display quality isn’t top of the line.

The Contixo Q102 offers a 1024×600 display and may be the only factor that turns potential buyers off. If you’re looking for a high quality, in your face, beautiful full screen display like extreme high-end tablets, you’re looking in the right place. This is where the compromise between functionality and price takes hold.

While 1024×600 might seem like a lower resolution than you’d like, the overall screen quality isn’t as bad as you’re imagining it to be reading this right now. I was able to play games, type up emails, view pictures, and video chat just fine with its display.

Handling and Benchmarks

I use a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 every day, and I have been unimpressed by its speed and handling. I should’ve opted for a better model. The Contixo Q102 outperforms the Tab 3 I use every day with its speed, processing, and overall performance.

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Contixo beats popular names like Nexus and Galaxy Tab in performance benchmarks.

Overall, the Q102 responds well to touch, opening and closing apps quickly and effectively. For its price, you’d be surprised to see it beat the Galaxy Tab and Nexus tablets, popular namebrands, in benchmark testing.

Here’s how the Contixo Q102 stacked up against other tablets in our benchmark testing:

Quadrant 1072
Vellamo 834
AnTuTu Benchmark 15586
CF-Bench 8440

Battery Performance

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Battery performance is about average.

As you’d expect from an off-market tablet, the battery life leaves a little to be desired. The Contixo Q102 offers up to 7 hours of battery life. This doesn’t seem like much at all, but with the ability to charge it via USB and the wall, you are given the tools to keep it charged on the go.

Like just about every other tablet and device on the market, the screen brightness is what causes the Q102’s battery life to drain. Make sure you’re using auto-adjustment, turn off the screen when not in use for shorter periods, and turn the device off when not in use for longer periods of time and you’ll be just fine.

Software

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The Contixo Q102 runs on Android KitKat 4.4 along with custom features built in to the device. You’ll find Google Search at your fingertips, a built-in feature you can’t remove, on each screen, along with a host of apps and services that help make the Q102 run smoothly.

Like you’d normally find on an Android-based tablet, you’ll find the familiar Google apps suite to get started with. The notable exception is Google+, which isn’t compatible at the moment with the Contixo Q102. But I’m sure not many potential users would miss it too much.

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By swiping down from the top of the right-side of the tablet, you’ll find the familiar quick settings options.

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By swiping from the top of the left-side, you’ll find the notifications area, which works similar to the previous version of the Android OS.

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Apps and Ecosystem

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Other than Google+, I was able to download and install all third-party apps I typically used on my Tab 3 and Galaxy S5.

There’s thousands of apps to choose from and start using from the Google Play Store, so chances are you’ll run into few and far between that won’t work on the Q102.

Google Now, and the Google Now Launcher, can be installed and used on the Contixo Q102 for those looking for a truly immersive, hands-free approach for their tablet.

Time for Some Nitpicking

Just like any tablet, there’s some quirks and functions that just don’t live up to the expectations. Overall, I was quite happy with the quality and functionality of the Contixo 102 and for its price, and features, this really is just nitpicking on my part.

When I first booted up the Q102, it seemed to get awfully warm at the top of the device. After more prolonged use, this lessened and it no longer seems warm when in constant use.

After taking the tablet out of the box, the controls seem backwards to how you’ll use other tablets. This can be a blessing or a curse depending on who bought the Q102.

The only big issue I had with the Contixo Q102 was utilizing YouTube. After trying it out on three different Internet connections, I just couldn’t get most YouTube videos to play from start to finish on the tablet. Netflix, Google Movies, and Vimeo all played on the tablet with no issue, just not YouTube. Not sure if this is a software flaw, perhaps the Internet I was using, or something else.

It would be nice to be able to remove the Google Search box from the home screen, but for now, you can’t.

Contixo Q102 – Specifications

General
Model: Q102
Operating System: Android 4.4.x KitKat
Screen Size: 10.1 Inch
Display Technology: HD Capacitive Touch Screen
Resolution: 1024×600
CPU: Allwinner Quad Core A31S 1.2 GHz
RAM: DDR3 1G
Hard Drive: NAND Fast Flash 16GB (Expandable to 32GB with micro SD card)
PCMCIA Expansion: T-Flash (Support 16G MAX)
Camera: 0.3 MP Front/2.0 MP Back
G-Sensor: Four ways
Audio: Built in stereo speakers; Built in microphone
Language: Multi-language support
Battery/Run Time: 7 hours
Communications
Networking/Data Link Protocol: Fast Ethernet
Wireless Connection: Wi-Fi
Wireless Protocol: 802.11 b/g/n
Support Format
Video: AVI/RM/RMVB/MKV/WMV/MOV/MP4/DAT/VOB/PMP
/MPEG/MPG/FLV/ASF/TS/TP/3GP/MPG
Audio: FLAC/APE/WAV
Picture: JPG/BMP/PNG/GIF
EBook: WORD/EXCEL/PPT/PDF/TXT/CHM/HTML

Should You Buy the Contixo Q102?

If you’re looking for an affordable, fully functional Android-based tablet that does just about everything you could want it to do, you could do much worse than the Contixo Q102.

When it comes to pricing, the Contixo Q102 retails for between $100 and $150 depending on how much internal storage space you’re after. When compared to its competitors, and for the features offered, especially it’s speed, you’d be hard-pressed to find a similar tablet for this price even during the holiday season. With most high-quality tablets in the hundreds of dollars range, you don’t always need the best and brightest for what you’re trying to do. You also don’t need to spend $300+ to get a quality tablet.

This is where the Q102 shines compared to the Nexus, Galaxy Tab, and other off-brand tablets you find in retail locations. For its price tag, you’ll be amazed at its speed, the variety of apps offered, and it’s overall performance.

If the display issues irk you, then you’d want to shy away from it; otherwise, this tablet performs the way you’d want it, especially when gaming or watching Netflix. If you’re looking for a way to get a 10.1” tablet that offers speed, performance, and doesn’t hurt your budget, the Q102 should be an option you consider.

Check out Contixo Q102.

Disclaimer: The above company sent me the product reviewed in this blog. However, that has not swayed my opinion of their product one way or another.