JoyTab 9.7” Dual Core Review

Performance

We ran four benchmarks programs on the JoyTab Dual-core (all of which can be downloaded from the Google Play store). Most of the benchmarks test browser CPU, Memory and GPU performance.

These included Vellamo, AnTuTu, CF-Bench and Quadrant. After ensuring that the JoyTab Dual-Core was running the latest firmware update we were quite surprised by the scores….

For example in Vellamo its overall score was 1764 vs. the Samsung Galaxy S III score of 1979 (which has a Quad-based CPU). In AnTuTu it scored 8201 vs. 12882. Quadrant proved respectable to with a score of 4076 vs. 5201. However in CF-Bench (which is regarded as one of the best benchmarks) its score was more befitting of a Dual-Core with 8822 vs. 13688.

What was more interesting was the system info of AnTuTu and Vellamo in that it was showing that the CPU was running at 1.6Ghz and not 1.5Ghz as claimed on the spec sheet, so it’s got a lot more grunt out the box than you think.

In the real world this meant that we could browse the web and play games smoothly. Speaking of which, we mentioned earlier that we could plug in a game controller to the tablet...

Well thanks to the ICS OS’s game controller support we could connect our PS3 controller to the microUSB to USB 2.0 adaptor and it worked a treat! Sadly we could not get the Xbox 360(USB) controller to work, nor could we get the PS3 to connect wirelessly, but even so it was great to play games on a bigger screen using a physical controller! We could even control the OS as well, which allowed us to launch apps and speedily run through the various on-screen gaming icons.

Camera

Similar to the JoyTab 9.7” the 2MP front and rear cameras are pretty much redundant for taking high-quality images (it’s just a simple point and click affair with almost no features). At least with its small led flash it can help with low level light conditions and it has some passable shots when viewed back on the smaller screen. But other than this the camera is not its best feature.

Battery Test

In our battery tests we go to the extreme in some ways as they are all conducted with the backlight set to max and the Wireless Antenna left active.

We first test the video playback side of things, by running a video for 2 hours and 15 minutes. We then switch to our general tests which simply involves sitting down and using the device in a natural way, i.e. playing games, watching streamed content etc.

While battery life was absolutely terrible on the previous model, with something like 24% remaining from a full charge, the Dual-Core version managed to achieve a respectable 65% which was a big improvement.

Also we played a lot of games on the tablet and while it drained within the day we still got several hours of solid gaming under our belt which was again a vast improvement over the original that’s for sure.

However we had to run the tablet on Max brightness at all times because the screen just wasn’t bright enough otherwise. This could be how they have managed to achieve a boost in battery life.

Summarise

The Dual-Core 9.7” tablet is certainly well built for a budget model and it does improve on the single-core variant in areas such as the design, a faster CPU and improved battery performance.

Unfortunately its system software is still buggy in places and until they iron out these problems it’s hard to recommend especially as its price tag (£199.99) is the same as the more power crazed Asus Nexus 7 (albeit with no secondary camera and a slightly smaller screen).

Specs Link: http://geminidevices.com/joytab9212.html