The Andy Pad launch counter has hit DAY ZERO and the HOUR OF TRUTH IS NOW UPON US ALL. The tablet maker has started taking orders for its two new Android tablets, with both the Andy Pad and Andy Pad Pro now able to be ordered through the maker’s web site – for £129 and £179.
There’s a bit of a disclaimer in that the devices won’t actually ship immediately, with the site claiming it’ll be “the week commencing 12th September” before delivery begins.
We’re feeling a bit sad about Andy Pad. Turns out the “Pro” model is just a rebranded and slightly redesigned Chinese Teclast model, which kind of goes against the whole brave UK manufacturer assembling something out of a range of components myth we were led to believe 
It’s smooth to use, the 1080p display is sharp, clear and bright, the device is extremely light and thin and therefore very pocketable and portable — much more so than other 5-inch phones we’ve used. And yet… we’re a bit unimpressed by the overall package…
A relatively high-spec smartphone, with a 4.5″ display running at 480 x 854 resolution and powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, plus the Ascend G510 arrives running Android 4.1.1 — albeit potentially hindered by Huawei only sticking 512MB of RAM inside it..
The Panasonic Eluga marks the company’s return to the European mobile phone scene years after several years of absence, and it’s come back to us with a moderately high-spec Android model that features a rather stylish, slim case.
Sony returns with an all-new mobile design for 2012, pairing a dual-core processor with a 720p display. It’s a lovely phone, but is it enough to end our Samsung and HTC obsession?
LG’s updated Prada phone comes with an absolutely crazy black & white theme, but is it just for fashionable suit wearers who want to make themselves look a bit more interesting?
Simon
/ September 1, 2011The pro is based on the Teclast T760 but the AndyPad guys have boosted the storage to 16Gb, produced a much better ROM that the original laggy Chinese ROM, and also have a white case which the Teclast doesn’t come with (yeah I’m clutching at straws).
Simon
/ September 1, 2011People still buy Non-Honeycomb tablets? Why?
Chris
/ September 1, 2011OK here are the reasons why to choose an Andy Pad Pro over a Teclast:
– More storage space (16GB over 8GB)
– Better build of Android
– Commitment to IceCream Sandwich
– UK sales & support
– White case
Also any ideas whether AndyPad’s Q&A is higher? Foxcon make a load of devices for many makes, but its the core design and Q&A that really matters.
Simon: because HC isn’t open source and GB is good enough till the ICS firmware is out.
Scot
/ September 1, 2011@Chris – Personally, I’d rather the case came in black.
Gary_C
/ September 1, 2011I’m not suggesting anyone buys the Teclast. Obviously the AP and its OS is much better suited to us.
It’s just a bit of a shame for the back-story that Andy Pad went from telling everyone it had an office full of components it was trying to assemble into some sort of exciting, new tablet for “tomorrow” – only to end up mildly re-jigging an existing Chinese model.
flibblesan
/ September 1, 2011They did. Originally there was only going to be one version of the AndyPad which is 100% custom. But because of public pressure for a version with a better screen they decided to offer the AndyPad Pro. Most likely because it was so late in the development they decided to take one ‘off the shelf’ rather than design and build from scratch.
The ROM on the AndyPad Pro will be a lot better than the ROM on the Teclasts anyway. These Chinese tablet manufacturers don’t care about user experience so much so these tablets often ship with poorly performing ROMs. Actually the prototype AndyPad Pros had shocking performance because of the ROM that the manufacturer installed. Happily this has been much improved and tweaked by AndyPad and the hardware manufacturer.
Afflicted.John
/ September 1, 2011Amen. I think it’s overly harsh complaining about a re-branded model. It’s a good spec and price and there’s no guarantee the lenovo will best it. It might be close but the andypad pro has everything going for it. I’d buy one I if I isn’t got a touchpad…