Toshiba AT200 review

Inside the dual-core TI OMAP 4430 chipset isn’t anything we haven’t seen before, it’s the same chipset used on the competing Motorola Xoom 2, and even had the same respectable 1.2GHz clock speed. In the Sunspider Javascript benchmark it scored 1,941ms, which is almost exactly the same as the Xoom 2. Unsurprisingly, but still disappointingly, this tablet has been launched with Android 3.2.1 (Honeycomb) and there’s no date at present for an upgrade to Android 4.0 – despite some other tablets now receiving such updates.

Toshiba has done little to mess with the default Android installation. There are a few odd apps added, but nothing worthy of mention. We really like the app tray though, which has a My Apps tab, so you only see the apps you installed yourself (and for us these are usually the only ones we use). It defaults back to this tab whenever you select the app tray too.

The 10.1in widescreen display is crisp and the reflective coating helps, but it’s not quite up with the best examples in terms of contrast and colour vibrancy. On the Android home screen it’s hard to notice, but after studying our test photos for a while, devices like the Sony Tablet S and Motorola Xoom 2 have the edge in image quality. It’s actually a surprisingly narrow difference, as the AT200 doesn’t use a high-quality IPS panel like its competitors. Speaking of image quality the 5-megapixel camera is nothing to get excited about and certainly isn’t a patch on the new iPad’s example.

There’s little wrong with the AT200, but conversely there’s little to get excited about too. It’s a perfectly decent tablet, with a practical design, and it’s a little cheaper than the immediate competition. If you’re set on Android, then the Xoom 2 offers a slightly better screen, IR-emitter for AV control and a water-resistant coating for around £40 more. But unless you have a raft of Android apps you can’t live without, most will be better off paying the extra £70 for the mighty iPad.