Binatone HomeSurf Tablet 705 review

Binatone’s HomeSurf 705 is the cheapest Android tablet we’ve seen so far, costing less than £100. On first impressions, you wouldn’t guess that it was so cheap; it feels well-made, with a glossy plastic case that’s light and thin. The tablet runs Android 2.1 – not the latest version, and not even a tablet version – and to keep costs down, Binatone has left out many technologies that are standard on other tablets: there’s no Bluetooth, no camera, and the screen is resistive, rather than the more responsive capacitive type.

Still, we approached the HomeSurf 705 with enthusiasm, as an Android tablet at this price seems an unbelievable bargain. Binatone is keen to stress that it’s designed for basic web browsing, eBook reading and watching videos, and with the bundled Mindings app. It’s also aimed at those who aren’t comfortable with technology.

At this price you can’t expect luxuries like a camera

Mindings is an app and a cloud service that lets you push photos, reminders and social updates to the HomeSurf, turning it into a cross between a Facebook wall and a digital photo frame. The idea is that you’d give it to an older relative to stay in touch and keep tabs on them. It’s currently in Beta and so may not be available when you read this, but it’s an interesting concept. However the HomeSurf 705 needs to be easy to use and reliable if Mindings is to be successful, and this is where it may fall down.

Resistive screens aren’t always bad, but the HomeSurf’s is particularly stubborn, and increased the rate at which we made typing errors on the Android keyboard. Image quality isn’t great either; the low resolution 800×480 screen means that images aren’t very sharp, and small text can be hard to read without zooming in. The resistive screen also adds a grainy sheen that doesn’t help improve things. Viewing angles aren’t great either, although colours are strong. We found it annoying that the bundled Photo Viewer app doesn’t help picture viewing, buy stretching everything to fit the screen’s resolution.

For some reason Binatone has included a software control bar at the top of the screen with the Home, Back and Menu buttons, despite the fact that the HomeSurf has physical buttons for these. This bar just wastes precious space on the screen, although it doesn’t appear on all apps.

As with many budget Android tablets, there’s currently no Android Market and many of the standard Android apps are missing. Unfortunately, there’s no way to install these either with no hacks for the tablet currently available. As it stands you’re limited to using the bundled GigaStore. This alternative app store doesn’t list apps by category, but instead by New, Popular and Recommended.

Apps are listed in no particular order and with no description, and most are rated at half-a-star. It also doesn’t help that this app launches upside-down. There only seem to be a couple of hundred apps available, and mostly consist of joke or game apps, with a number of obvious rip-offs of well-known apps such as Angry Birds. This is a minefield for new users, and frankly we think the HomeSurf would be better off with no app store rather than this.

The software control bar, top, is a waste of screen space

There are some redeeming factors. Battery life wasn’t too bad, and the HomeSurf managed to play our test video for over five and a quarter hours. There’s also a microSD card slot for adding more storage. As a basic web browser (without Flash), eBook reader and internet radio (with the bundled TuneIn radio), the HomeSurf does have some uses, but its limitations are painfully obvious. Strangely, these limitations are also what makes it ideal for use as the client end of the Mindings app, but without being able to test that service we can’t really recommend it.

If your budget is limited, the HomeSurf may be tempting as an introduction to Android, but it really doesn’t show off the platform’s potential. You’d be much better off saving up another hundred pounds to buy the Advent Vega.