TESCO hudl 2 Review – Inexpensive Doesn’t Mean Cheap and Nasty [VIDEO]

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There is nothing really cheap about the TESCO hudl 2 tablet, except its price! The market is flooded with inexpensive Android based tablets, this being TESCO’s second release and a very impressive one at that.

As soon as you pick up the hudl 2 in your hands, the soft-touch shell available in a variety of colours instantly feels right, due to its pleasing to the touch feel and not too heavy weight.

Featuring Android 4.4 KitKat, the Intel Atom 1.83 GHz quad-core processor makes light work of many day to day tasks. Navigating around the tablet, reading books, surfing the web and playing games is well within the reach of the capabilities of the Hudl 2. The Micro SD slot supporting up to 32GB cards is a very welcome addition for storing additional photos, music and videos – however due to the limitations of the KitKat operating system, you can’t copy apps on there to free up some of the internal 16GB memory that is is built-in within the tablet.

Hopefully the Hudl 2 will receive the latest Lollypop version of Android in the near future to help address this, but only time will tell. You can also use the Micro HDMI slot to connect to your HDTV for viewing all your favourite content on the big screen.

As you would expect, the Android app ecosystem is absolutely vast with the help of the Google Play Store – with offerings for Facebook, Twitter and of course games, games and yet more games.

Although the hudl 2 is a TESCO device, you don’t need to be a TESCO customer to enjoy it. There are however TESCO apps installed that can’t be removed and an icon in the top left of the screen that takes you to a full page of related offers and information from the store.

It certainly doesn’t spoil the experience, however if you are desperate to remove this aspect of the Hudl 2, you can easily install from the Google Play Store a replacement Launcher including Google’s Google Now, or the excellent Nova Launcher.

The hudl 2 features an 8.3″ IPS LCD display with a 1920×1200 ‘Full HD’ resolution, equating to 273ppi with excellent viewing angles. Colours are vivid and text is crisp, although the brightness could have been a little stronger, it’s still an impressive screen for viewing photos, videos and reading content.

The stereo speakers with Dolby optimised sound reproduce music and film scores with a decent amount of clear detail. It is a shame they are positioned around the back of the tablet as your hands can often cover them by mistake, although for general use perfectly acceptable.

The 5MP rear camera is capable of capturing 1080p video and the front 1.2MP achieves a respectable 720p. Neither camera will blow your socks off in quality, however for taking the odd snap or two or for Skype video calls – both perform acceptably.

Battery life is rated at around 8 hours and throughout the day this seemed perfectly achievable. The dual-band Wi-Fi also ensures support for older and the latest routers available.

For parents, the Child Safety app allows you to set how your kids can use the Hudl 2 so you can have full control over their access to content.

TESCO also offer a range of their own cases for the tablet, including leather ones with a built-in stand.

Conclusion

If you are still undecided of whether tablet devices are for you, the Hudl 2 is the perfect introduction to this rich app universe without the complications of a traditional computer.

For £129 (and potentially around £65 if you use your TESCO Clubcard vouchers), the Hudl 2 is an aggressively priced device that is fully capable of becoming your main or even only tablet device within the home. If that wasn’t enough, there is even £60 worth of offers within the box for further incentive.

The price may be incredibly inexpensive, but there is nothing horribly cheap about the TESCO hudl 2.