The trouble is the tab runs Android 4.1 out of the box

Oct 16, 2014 07:50 GMT  ·  By

Those of you who have an interest in the audio segment are probably familiar with the name Audiovox. What you might not know is that the company is also in the business of making tablets.

Actually, its latest tablet effort, the Audiovox T852SBK (what an uninspired name, some companies really need a creativity crash course) – an 8-inch Android device, has just made it on the market.

Use the tablet at home or in-car

Nothing out of the ordinary here, but the slate actually has a special particularity users can take advantage of. The T852SBK can be thought as a 2-in-1 machine of sorts, because it can be used as a standalone tablet that can also be turned into an in-vehicle entertainment system.

Don’t expect the specs of the tablet be too disruptive as well, because Audiovox relies on this special mode of use to draw the attention of customers (who also have a car).

The device has an 8-inch display but we’re not being told what the resolution on board is going to be. We can only guess (and hope) it’s the standard 1280 x 768 and not less.

Under the hood lies a 1.5GHz dual-core processor (unnamed) fitted with 1GB of RAM and backed up by just 8GB of internal storage, although you can expand beyond by virtue of the microSD card slot.

The tablet is outfitted with two cameras (2MP on the back and 0.3MP up in front) and also takes advantage of 5-point multitouch input and HDMI output.

The Audiovox is said to be a Google Play certified device, so you’ll also have access to the Google Play store, which is not really a big deal, since you can do that with basically most tablets out there.

The Audiovox tablet runs an extremely outdated OS

The tablet ships with Android 4.1. Yes, you heard that right, there are companies out there which still believe it’s OK to roll out products equipped with an OS dating back to 2012. Especially since Android 5.0 Lollipop was unveiled a few hours ago, this seems quite puzzling.

Moving away from disappointing aspects like the old OS onboard, the tablet takes advantage of retractable “support arm” placed on the back. You can use the arm as a kickstand or to slot it into a bracket that can be secured to a headrest so your kids or friends can watch a quick movie while there are in the car.

Furthermore, the tab has a built-in 100 channel FM transmitter that can be used to beam audio to the car’s stereo. Also an IR transmitter is to be found onboard, pairing wireless headphones with the tablet.

Audiovox believes the presence of the support arm, FM and IR transmitter can justify the tablet selling for a whopping $300 / €235. For this price you can just get a tablet like the Nexus 7 (2013) and hand it to your kids in the car. Or get the super cheap Kindle Fire HD 6 and invest the remaining 200 bucks in a system to hang the tablet in your car.

Audiovox T852SBK Tablet (5 Images)

Audiovox T852SBK can be used in-car
Audiovox T852SBK with complementary armAudiovox T852SBK sitting in tilt possition
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