I was browsing thru the various chinese tablets, and thought the Aurora II to be a good deal. It has an Amlogic cortex A9 dual core, dual mali 400, and a LG IPS screen for under 12k. But I can't find any detailed reviews for this tab.
Firstly, how is the build quality? Is it good enough for our daily grind? And how is the android experience? How does this compare to say - a Galaxy Tab 2.0? Does the play store work properly? Are all apps supported? What about stability, battery life, etc? Which 3G dongles would work on this? Any chance at all of a JB update? Any better option in this price range? Is there a limit to question marks used in a post? What other questions am I missing?
Hi,
I bought an Aurora 2 from Mp4nation around a month ago for $149.50 (around 8.6k after conversion). I paid through SBI Visa card, and the tablet was delivered to me in 2 days (no kidding) by FedEx from HongKong.
I'll try to answer your queries one by one:
The build quality is very good for such a cheap tablet. It feels solid in hand, and the plastic, although glossy, doesn't look cheap. The bezel around the screen is uniform, unlike the Nexus Tab. The buttons on the side (Unlock, Vol+-, and Home) feel a bit rattling, but have good response.
The screen, being an LG IPS of 1024*600 resolution, is very good with natural colors and excellent viewing angles. It is a pleasure to watch photos and video on this thing.
The android experience is as good as you can expect from such a powerful device. It beats many high end phones in benchmarks, including the Galaxy Note and Galaxy S2. I will post screenshots if required.
I ran a 17GB MKV file from my external HDD (using USB OTG) and it played without any problems. Seeking was also very smooth.
On default ROM, the Play Store doesn't work as it doesn't recognise the device. However, after installing a Custom ROM, this issue is resolved, and so far, I have not faced any problems with any apps.
Regarding heating, it gets a little warm, but nothing uncomfortable or on the verge of overheating. I am currently on a custom ROM (Double Stuff V24) and it runs very very stable.
Ainol has confirmed that it will get the JB update, and anyways, there is already a JB Custom ROM available for it, with more on the way.
Wi-fi seems a bit flaky though. Some people have faced issues related to this. However, works fine for me in my 3BHK apartment with my router in the middle of the house.
The touch response is another thing where some people complain. There is a 19px border on all the sides which doesn't respond to touches, but doesn't hinder productivity at all.
3G dongles do work on this tablet, however I have not tested it personally. Ainol has a list of dongles officially supported, and I was able to find some dongles on eBay from the list.
For the price that I paid for this tablet (8.6k) I couldn't have been more satisfied with it. I use it all the time, and would recommended to someone who can tweak it to perform at its optimum. It is not for an average joe totally unfamiliar with poking into the system though, as it does require a little bit of tweaking to get the desired response from the tablet.
If anyone would like to ask anything else, I would be glad to answer.
