Review: Linx 7

Meet the Linx

The term "cheap" is usually associated with Google's Android operating system. Until recently, Windows tablets were considered to be more expensive, but that changed earlier this year. Both Microsoft and Intel feared that ARM and Android might effectively use tablets as a Trojan horse to make both Wintel laptops and desktops redundant.

It explains why the two companies chose to discount their hardware and software so significantly. Intel reportedly spent billions on marketing and support for mobile device makers while Microsoft gave away its crown jewels (Windows 8.1 and Office 365) for devices with displays smaller than nine inches.

It's in that context that we're reviewing the Linx 7, a Windows-powered tablet that costs just under £80. Linx - not to be confused with Lenovo's Lynx - is not a totally new player having sent us a Commtiva Android tablet four years ago. It costs even less if you trade in a working tablet as the promotion runs until March 31, 2015.

Should you do that, the price falls under £50 which is pretty good – and unexpected - for a tablet that comes both with Windows 8.1 and a year's subscription to Office 365 Personal (one that comes with 1TB storage by the way, moving to unlimited pretty soon).

There's a few differences compared to the other "cheap" Windows tablet we reviewed, the Pipo W2. The Linx one is widely available in the UK (so you don't end up being stung by a custom duty fee). You also get a full warranty (as it is sold by a number of online retailers including Amazon and Ebuyer) but no Office 365 physical coupon.

So, there you have the good. As for the bad, well, it has a meagre 1GB of RAM and the rear camera is a 2-megapixel snapper; so don't expect any miracles.

The rest of the hardware is similar to the W2. Inside is a bog standard, quad-core Intel Atom Bay trail-based processor, the Z3735G, clocked at 1.33GHz. It has a 1280 x 800 pixel-reslution display (because it's a 7-inch panel, it has a higher pixel density than the W2), a 2-megapixel front-facing camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a microHDMI port and a microSD card reader. Two cables (microUSB to USB and a USB to micro USB) are also bundled.

There's also 32GB onboard storage although only 24GB are usable. That's because there's a 4.8GB recovery partition that you may want to delete. After installing Chrome and any necessary Windows update files, 17.59GB (or about three quarters of the available storage) was still free.

The tablet is about the size and weight of a Google Nexus 7 (2013) tablet which means that it is small enough to be comfortably carried in a coat pocket.

Its 16:10 aspect ratio means that holding it in portrait mode feels natural; unlike the W2, it is designed to be held in that mode rather than in landscape. This also impacts the location of its physical Windows button as well as that of the front-facing camera.

As expected most of the ports are located on the top of the device while the power and volume buttons are located on its right hand side.

Its finish surpasses our low expectation for such a keenly priced device; its plastic back is matte, not unlike the Motorola Moto G smartphone and it's sturdily built. Its screen surprisingly doesn't bear the hallmarks of an entry level model. It's an IPS model that uses glass rather than plastic (it feels cold to the touch and doesn't have dreaded pressure marks).

Battery Life, performance and verdict

The Linx 7 has a 3,500mAh battery and can be charged using its microUSB port, which is always a good thing if you don't want to lug another charger with you. It lasted almost three hours playing a Youtube video at standard resolution (360p) on full brightness before giving up the ghost.

When it comes to performance, we chose not to run this device through our usual set of benchmarks. Doing so would miss the point; not only would some benchmarks probably not run (blame the 1GB RAM for that) but the use case for the Linx 7 wouldn't match what you'd expect from a traditional Windows device.

As a touch-only device, anything other than passive media consumption would be a tricky exercise. Sure you can use Word and Excel but do you really want to do so on a tiny screen and without a keyboard and mouse?

That said, it is still a pretty fast tablet; the Z3735G CPU is about as capable as a first generation Core 2 Duo CPU like the U9400. I noticed no noticeable lag when playing eight concurrent Youtube videos (that's right!) and swapping between applications didn't slow down our user experience.

Verdict

There's only five months between the apparition of the first subsidised Windows tablets on the market and the widespread availability of the Linx 7. That's an incredibly small window and one that gives us an indication of how far Intel and Microsoft plan to go to stop Google and ARM from dominating the global tablet market.

We liked

But is the Linx 7 a tablet for you and your family? If you want to watch Youtube, check your emails, Twitter or Facebook, then yes, this is an absolute bargain. It's fast, well-built, packed with features squeezed into a very handy form factor and is one of the cheapest tablets on the market.

What's more, you should – in theory - be able to run Android applications on it; either using Bluestacks on Windows or simply by installing Android or Chrome OS on it in lieu of Windows.

Connect it to a monitor or television (with a HDMI port), add a keyboard and mouse (preferably via a USB hub) and you have a fully functional PC. Oh and don't forget that Office 365 Personal also allows you to run a copy on a desktop or a laptop.

We disliked

Having a higher resolution rear camera and more system memory would help but that, in turn would just add to the cost. In the hindsight, Windows 8.1 with Bing runs pretty well on 1GB.

Note that an 8-inch and a 10-inch models of the Linx 7 are also available but, unsurprisingly, they are way more expensive as well without adding much to the mix.

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