EE Harrier Tab review

Android 5.1

Much like EE’s Harrier smartphones, the Harrier Tab runs the vanilla version of Android 5.1. Apart from a few pre-installed apps, the Harrier Tab has a surprisingly clean interface for an own-brand device, as everything you need as an EE customer is contained in the My EE app. Here you can check your remaining data allowance, pay your bill, buy add-ons and access the EE Store.

Camera

The 8-megapixel camera on the rear is by far the Harrier Tab’s biggest flaw. All the photos I took while testing came out incredibly blue, with dingy colours and overexposed skies. Admittedly, switching to HDR mode helped brighten up each photo, but each one was still spoiled by a noticeable blue sheen, so I wouldn’t recommend using the camera unless you don’t have any other camera-equipped gadgets to hand.

^ Shadows were very dark despite the relatively bright weather, but it’s the blue tinge that really spoils the picture

^ Switching to HDR helped brighten the image considerably, but it didn’t eradicate the overabundance of blue

Conclusion

The EE Harrier Tab is a sensibly priced 4G tablet with some very tempting data deals for existing EE customers who want a constantly-connected tablet. It’s certainly much better value than the Vodafone Smart Tab Prime 6, as it’s not only faster, but it has a better screen and a longer lasting battery. However, PAYG customers don’t get a particularly good deal compared to those buying on contract, with 2GB of data costing £10 per month.

If great wads of data on the go aren’t your priority, there’s little here to make it stand out from the best Wi-Fi only tablets. Screen quality and performance are both outmatched by much cheaper tablets such as the Tesco Hudl 2 and Acer Iconia One 8, and with the infinitely superior Nexus 9 now available for just £200, the EE Harrier Tab just doesn’t quite measure up to the competition.