Toshiba Regza Tablet AT270 - 7.7-inch of AMOLED Goodness

Overview

Toshiba is no stranger in the tablet scene as it has consistently unveiled new devices over the past two years. Some of the models introduced in 2011 are the AT100 and AT200, which are powered by Android Honeycomb and have 10.1-inch displays. 

Earlier this year at CES, Toshiba lived up to its promise of delivering the world's thinnest tablet (at that point in time) with the launch of the Excite X10. The Excite X10 is a 10.1-inch tablet with a sleek profile of 7.7mm and a lightweight form factor of 558g.

Besides revealing retail units for the mass market, Toshiba also took the chance to show off some prototypes and concept products, which include a waterproof table that charges wirelessly in water. Three months later, Toshiba took the wraps off a trio of tablets - the Excite 7.7, 10 and 13.3.  

In case you don't know, the Toshiba Regza AT270 is the Excite 7.7 model (as marketed in North America). The only differences are that the Regza AT270 comes with increased onboard storage capacity and an built-in 3.5G module. Here's a quick look at the specs of the Toshiba Regza Tablet AT270: -

Key highlights of the Toshiba Regza Tablet AT270 (3G) Android 4.0.3 (Ice Cream Sandwich) 7.7-inch AMOLED display / 1280 x 800 pixels NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core 1.2GHz processor 1GB RAM 32GB internal memory microSD card support up to 128GB 5MP rear autofocus camera with LED flash 2MP front facing camera 3940mAh battery 350g 204.5 x 135.2 x 7.85mm Price and availability: Available now at S$899

Design and Build

Sporting a duo-tone aluminum chassis, the Toshiba Regza Tablet AT270 reminds us of the first generation ASUS Eee Pad Transformer, which has a bronze-black combination. While it is not obvious from the front, the back of the AT270 consists of two different shades of grey. The presence of dimples on the textured back also helps you to have a good grip of the AT270 in your hands although we prefer the feel of the Google Nexus 7.

Measuring just 7.85mm thin, the AT270 is one of the thinnest tablets in the market with the Apple iPad Mini taking the crown at 7.2mm. The AT270 barely edged out its closest competitor, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 which boasts a side profile of 7.89mm. Frankly speaking, the difference is almost negligible to the human eye. 

Features 

Preloaded on the AT270 is Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich, an OS which is increasingly dated as a result of Google's rapid release cycles. At point of publication, the latest Android OS is 4.2, and will ship with the new Nexus 4 and Nexus 10 devices. Toshiba Singapore has declined to specify a firm time frame as to when the Jelly Bean update will arrive on the AT270.

By default, the virtual keyboard on the AT270 is the hugely popular Swype where you swipe your fingers across the keyboard to string words faster. You also have the option to switch back to the stock Android keyboard.

Performance

Powered by a NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor and 1GB RAM, the  AT270 is in the same class as the ASUS Transformer Pad Prime, Transformer Pad TF300 and Google Nexus 7.

Competition in the 7-inch tablet market is heating up as Apple recently joined the party with its iPad Mini. As such, we pit the Regza Tablet AT270 against the latest crop of 7-inch tablets which include the Apple iPad Mini, Google Nexus 7, Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) and Galaxy Tab 7.7 to see how it fares. The following benchmarks are used for raw performance evaluation: -

• Quadrant evaluates the CPU, memory, I/O and 3D graphics performance. This is an Android OS based test.
  
   
• Smartbench 2011 is a multi-core friendly benchmark application that includes both the Productivity and Games indices for a more complete gauge of the overall performance of Android tablets.
  
   
• SunSpider Javascript benchmark measures the browsing performance of the tablet. 

Even though both tablets run on the same processor, the Nexus 7 had a an edge over the Regza Tablet AT270 in most of the benchmarks, which may be attributed to the enhancements on the Android 4.1 OS used on the Nexus 7. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7, upgraded with the latest firmware and OS update, proved to be a very competent dual-core tablet that held its own against the Toshiba slate. Does the the Regza Tablet AT270 need to be concerned with its standings?

Putting aside synthetic benchmarks aside, we had no complaints or issues using the Toshiba slate. Apps loaded quite fast and switching between tasks was quite a breeze. However, after being spoilt by the buttery smooth performance of Android 4.1 devices we've reviewed so far (Samsung Galaxy S III LTE, Galaxy Note II and Nexus 7), we could not help but feel that there is room for improvement in its speed of operation.

Having said that, we feel that its benchmark scores and actual performance are likely to improve after an update to Android 4.1, although Toshiba Singapore has not confirmed a firm date as to when they will be upgrading the slate to Jelly Bean.

Multimedia Performance

Sporting a 7.7-inch AMOLED display, you can expect to see rich and vibrant colors with very deep blacks on the AT270. When tuned to full brightness, the screen may be a little too overbearing on the eyes, hence we recommend setting it to the minimum when you are indoors. As with all AMOLED displays, the AT270 offers wide viewing angles and good contrast, making the multimedia viewing experience an excellent one. 

In terms of storage capacity, the AT270 has 32GB onboard memory. For power users, you will be glad to know that the AT270 is the only tablet we've come across that supports microSD cards up to 128GB in capacity. This bring the maximum storage capacity of the device to a whopping 160GB!

Audiophiles are also in for a treat as the AT270 is equipped with several audio enhancements such as SRS Premium Voice Pro and other Toshiba sound enhancements such as auto ambient noise equalizer and auto volume adjustment. We tested several of the features and found that they indeed made the audio quality clearer as compared to other tablets in its competitive circle.

The AT270 comes with a 5-megapixel rear autofocus camera with LED flash and a front-facing 2-megapixel camera. How does the AT270 fare in the imaging aspect? Well, we put it to the test in our standard indoor photo test subjects: - 

Battery Performance

Next, we ran the AT270 on an intensive battery test, which involves a video with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels being looped on the unit. The test is performed under specific parameters, such as:

• Screen brightness and volume at 100%
  
   
• Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity turned on
  
   
• Constant data streaming through email and Twitter

The AT270 did a fairly good job by lasting close to 9 hours (likely attributed to its AMOLED screen) considering that it was able to edge out the Apple iPad Mini with a smaller battery capacity. However, it could not match up to the stellar performance of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 simply because the Samsung slate has a higher capacity 5100mAh battery, which actually weighed less than the Toshiba slate. That's quite a feat Samsung has accomplished, but Toshiba likely gave up extra capacity for expandable storage, a micro-USB port and other audio enhancements.

Power consumption wise, it is one of the lowest among the tablets compared, and since both the AT270 and Galaxy Tab 7.7 boast AMOLED displays, the power draw was identical. Taking into account its overall weight, volume and battery mileage, the AT270 didn't fare as well in our Portability Index as it is the heaviest among the comparison tablets. Apple's iPad Mini capitalized on its ultra-thin (7.2mm) build and featherweight (308g) design to narrowly pull ahead in the Portability Index. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 with its extra long battery life, comes up tops again in this comparison as well.

On a side note, if we were to test the AMOLED tablets on a lower brightness setting (considering that they are extremely bright compared to the non AMOLED screens), we reckon that the mileage of both Toshiba and Samsung would have been further extended.

Video playback aside, under normal usage conditions, we were able to squeeze about a day of usage from the AT270 with occasional Web surfing, checking emails, playing games and downloading of apps. Potential buyers of the Toshiba slate should note that the AT270 comes with its own proprietary charging cable. Therefore, if you forget to bring the cable and need to charge the tablet, you are out of luck. This same issue is also present with Samsung's Galaxy Tab 7.7. As such, you'll need to purchase extra charging cables should you need to charge your slate in more than one location.

Conclusion

Retailing at S$899, the Toshiba Regza Tablet AT270 (3G) is priced a little on the high side. It is encroaching on the 10-inch tablet territory where the Apple iPads and other 10.1-inch tablets reside. For example, a 32GB Apple iPad 4 (Wi-Fi + 4G) will set you back another $70 but in return, you get a Retina display, access to over 250,000 tablet-optimized apps and a sleek user interface. 

While its biggest strength is the potential to increase storage capacity up to 160GB, we feel that the Toshiba Regza Tablet AT270 will only appeal to a niche group of consumers who find the standard 32GB/64GB models too little for their usage patterns. Other plus points include the dedicated micro-USB port for data transfers and audio enhancements incorporated by Toshiba.

Its immediate rival, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 provides superior battery performance in a lighter package. Moreover, the Galaxy Tab 7.7 has already been out in stores for more than six months and its street price is far less at about S$600 (or less). However, it only has 16GB of built-in storage.

For consumers who do not need more than 32GB storage, they can wait for the upcoming 32GB Nexus 7 (Wi-Fi + 3G). Judging from the stellar performance of its 16GB counterpart, we feel that the 32GB Nexus 7 will be equally good as well. However, this is only an option if you don't mind the 7-inch screen size - the difference while it sounds small, is noticeable in actual usage. The 32GB Apple iPad Mini (Wi-Fi + 4G) is another good alternative at S$748 if you have invested heavily in the iOS ecosystem, but it will only be available towards the end of November.

Overall, the Toshiba Regza Tablet AT270 has its merits as a 7.7-inch tablet but its higher price point may be a deal breaker for some consumers.

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