Creative Ziio 7”

Priced at US $327 Creative's Ziio 7" is the least expensive tablet in this roundup and, like most of the other devices in our July 2011 grouptest, it is powered by Google's Android operating system (OS).

Given the device's low price we were expecting the tablet to sport basic specifications and when we studied the tablet closely, our suspicions were confirmed. While there's a reasonably quick 1GHz processor and 512MB of system memory the Ziio runs the older Android 2.2 OS. As a result the tablet didn't score high marks when it came to usability, as a lot of the neat features offered by later version of the OS were missing.

Our biggest issue with the Ziio however, is that it delivers a very dull user experience. The 7-inch LCD screen runs at a native resolution of 800 x 480 pixels, which, owing to the 7-inch size, results in a pixel density of just 133ppi (pixels per inch). As a result the visuals you see onscreen are far from sharp and this immediately handicaps the tablet. 

Photos, movies, apps and even games just don't look appealing and because the screen is a resistive display, it isn't as accurate or responsive as tablets that use higher-quality capacitive displays. Using the included stylus makes a world of difference but it's far from an ideal solution.

Our test sample lacked Android Market support as well, which limited the tablet's usability further.