Linx Commtiva N700 review

As we noted with the Viewtab 7, it’s only switching the tablet on that you start to notice some of the drawbacks of the device. One of the main drawbacks is the screen resolution, which is 800×480. This resolution is usually found on smartphones, where it looks sharp on a 4in or smaller display; on a 7in display icons and text can look a bit blocky.

Screen quality is decent, but there are some problems. We found that contrast wasn’t particularly good and bright screens took on a mottled appearance. Viewing angles are also pretty tight and we had to sit straight-on in order to see the screen properly. We also found that text wasn’t that easy to read and black text on a white background ended up looking more grey; to counter this we had to zoom right in.

It’s doing this that the limitations of the processor become apparent. While most new Android tablets are smartphones are kitted out with a 1GHz processor, Linx has fitted the Commtiva N700 with a 600MHz ARM11 processor. It means that zooming in and out of web pages isn’t as smooth as on Android devices with faster processors. This processor can also struggle a little when playing HD video, so it’s not the ideal media player. This is potentially a shame, as the stereo speakers are clear and crisp, lacking only bass, which is to be expected from such small models.

There’s one major drawback to the processor: there’s no Flash support. Given that this is Android’s one major advantage over the Apple iPad, it’s a shame not to see it on this tablet. That said, the lack of Flash hasn’t stopped Apple’s success, proving that it’s not the be-all and end-all of internet browsing.