Review: Hotwav R7 rugged 10.1-inch tablet

Review unit provided by Hotwav

Hotwav R7 is a rugged 10.1-inch tablet designed for use in harsh environment. The price is USD 249.99 and launch date will be 22 Feb 2024 on Amazon USA.

Launch promotion: From 22 to 28 Feb 2024, the first 150 units will sold at USD 149.99. After the limited 150 sets are sold out, the price will go up to USD 174.99 until 28 Feb, and after that to USD 249.99. It's obviously a pretty good deal if you can get the tablet at USD 149.

Pros and cons at a glance

Given the budget pricing, this tablet will have some limitations.

+ Design looks good
+ Build quality is solid
+ Rugged design for outdoor use specifically
+ Comes with grip attachment
+ Display is big enough
+ Laminated display
+ Has microSD card slot
+ Has 4G SIM support
+ No bloatware
+ 18 hours battery life
+ Attractive pricing
- Heavy at 960g
- No auto brightness
- 1280 x 800 resolution
- Limited colour gamut
- Performance can be sluggish at time
- Speakers sound hollow
- No 3.5mm audio jack
- No biometric unlock
- Stock Android has limited features
- USB-C port with USB 2 transfer speed

Specifications

• Dimension: 252.5 x 168.5 x 15.5mm
• Weight: 960g
• MicroSD card slot: Two nano 4G SIM, or one nano SIM with one microSD card
• CPU: Unisoc Tiger T606 (2 x A75 @ 1.6Ghz and 6 x A55 @ 1.6GHz)
• GPU: G57
• OS: Android 13
• RAM: 6GB
• Storage: 256GB
• Display: LCD, laminated, 60Hz
• Resolution: 1280 x 800 pixels, 16:10 aspect ratio
• Brightness: 400 - 450 nits
• Battery capacity: 15600 mAh
• Cameras: 16MP front, 16MP back
• Speaker: Two 1W stereo

For full list of specifications, visit the product page.

Things included

• Tablet
• Glass screen protector
• Wipes for screen protector application
• Screw driver
• 4x extra screws
• SIM ejection tool
• USB-A to USB-C charging cable
• 20W USB-A charger
• 2x metal bracket for hand grip
• Elastic hand grip
• User guide

The tablet already comes with a plastic screen protector applied. Make sure you don't peel off the screen protector while removing the protective film. There's also one piece of glass screen protector included which is much thicker than the applied screen protector.

As the tablet is 960g and quite heavy, the company has included a hand grip which you can attach to the back of the tablet using the included screwdriver.

Design

This tablet is designed to handle harsh outdoor environment. There's IP68 rating for dust resistance and water submersion, and IP69K rating provides protection against dust and high temperature, high pressure water. It's also tested with MIL-STD-810, a US military standard to ensure equipment can withstand certain environmental stress.

The tablet looks like it has a built-in case and build quality is of course extremely solid and durable. Corners have thicker bumper to absorb shock. The glass is Panda Glass.

The flash light is bright but small so the company missed an opportunity to fit a bigger flash light. The camera is 16MP.

The front camera is also 16MP and thankfully there's face unlock which works fast and effectively.

Display quality isn't the best which is to be expected for a budget price tablet. Colours look slightly washed out and resolution is just 1280 x 800 which means pixelation is noticeable from one arm's distance away. The display is laminated and refresh rate is 60Hz.

The screen protector is very reflective. Brightness is high, which is great, but not high enough to go through the reflections from strong light sources. In other words, don't use this tablet under direct sunlight. Viewing angles is alright.

At the top, there's one speaker, power button and volume control.

On the other side, there are two removable covers, one for the USB-C 2.0 charging port and the other for the microSD card slot which can hold either 2 nano SIMs, or one nano SIM with a microSD card.

There's no 3.5mm audio jack.

The tablet is quite thick at 15.5mm.

Performance

The tablet has 6GB RAM and 256GB storage. Storage transfer speed is measured at 330MB/s read and write.

OS is Android 13 and it's almost stock Android so there isn't much feature. There's Google Play Store so you can install your own launcher for more features. I use Nova Launcher. There's no bloatware except for a few utility apps.

The Unisoc Tiger T606 is an entry level CPU and isn't that powerful but is still able to provide smooth operation with this tablet. Interestingly, I had reviewed the Alldocube iPlay 60 tablet recently that uses the same CPU but performance was sluggish at times. The difference? This Hotwav tablet has 1280 x 800 resolution while the Alldocube tablet has 2000 x 1200 resolution, and that's 2.3 times more resolution.

Switching between apps is smooth. Apps can launch fast, web pages can load quite quickly, but loading huge games will take some time.

Gaming is possible but don't expect to play with the highest visual quality and of course resolution is limited to around 720P. In the real world, it's not realistic to be holding such a heavy tablet to game.

Battery capacity is 15600 mAH and battery life is around 18 hours. This tablet can be used to charge other devices.

Conclusion

This is an entry level rugged tablet selling at an affordable price. Given the budget price point, there will obvious be limitations and the main limitation is the display quality, more specifically the washed out colours and 1280 x 800 resolution. Thankfully brightness is high enough.

Audio quality from the speaker sounds hollow but I've already come to expect that with budget tablets. It's better to get wireless earphones for better audio quality and nowadays you can get decent ones at less than USD 30, such as the Baseus M2s that I reviewed recently.

This tablet is made for outdoor use and harsh environment. When you look at a tablet with specs and features like the Hotwav R7, you'll know instantly whether you're the target user for such a tablet.

If you want a high-end rugged tablet, consider the Hotwav R6 Ultra with 8GB RAM, 2000 x 1200 resolution and MediaTak P60 processor. I've not used that tablet before so I can't comment on its performance.

Availability

You can find the tablet via these links:

10% off COUPON CODE for Amazon US - TeohonTech03
Amazon US - https://amzn.to/3SDZatd
CA - https://amzn.to/48gA1dO
DE - https://amzn.to/48i1onH
FR - https://amzn.to/48nRdhq
IT - https://amzn.to/4bEEMRl
ES - https://amzn.to/3T3aBMt