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A Brief (870) Review of the Coby Kyros MID 7033

Coby is a name we all recognize, and it’s one that’s been on tablets and electronics accessories for quite a few years now.Earlier this year Coby released a trio of 7″ Android tablets, all of which ran Android 4.0. I bought the cheapest model at Walmart for $90.

The MID7033 is a decent enough tablet with a 7″ resistive touchscreen. Like much of its competition, it’s running Android 4.0 on a 1GHz CPU. It has 4GB Flash storage, a microSD card slot, Wifi, speaker/mike, and a g-sensor.

This is the most basic model from Coby, and there’s a few compromises to get the price down. It doesn’t have the camera found on Coby’s next model up and on some of the competition, which is no big loss – most were crap anyway. But this tablet also lacks the capacitive touchscreen found on nearly all new 7″ Android tablets.

Opinion

Between the app store issues, resistive touchscreen, and strong competition in this price range, I’m not sure I’d recommend this tablet to anyone. There are no major issues with it, but the same can be said for a lot of its competition. It’s not the worst tablet I’ve seen, but it’s still somewhere down on the bottom rungs.

Hardware

With the exception of the touchscreen, the general build quality is good. It has a sleek appearance with a black front and a gray backside. The speaker is on the back and all the ports and slots on one end of the tablet. The power and volume buttons are on the upper edge, microSD card slot and headphone jack on the lower edge. The USB port and power are on the right edge, with the Back button to the right of the screen.

Apps

This tablet ships with the basics, including the stock browser, email client, file manager, calendar, and media players, but it doesn’t have much more than that. It’s missing Facebook, Twitter and other apps that usually clutter up Android tablets, and instead of a Youtube app this tablet ships with a link to the mobile Youtube website. It works.

I actually like the fact that this tablet doesn’t have the same clutter as other tablets, but not everyone agrees.

The MID7033 also ships with Aldiko (yay) but it doesn’t have a decent app store. Instead it ships with Getjar. Fifteen thousand apps just doesn’t cut it.

What’s more, I cannot get the Amazon Appstore to work, either. It installs but won’t register.

Update: I’ve identified the problem with the Amazon Appstore; I had too many Android devices registered to my account.

Android Market

This tablet doesn’t ship with Android Market.

Naturally I want it, and since I already have instructions on how to install it I gave it a shot. Unfortunately I encountered a problem. I couldn’t get the app to work after I installed it. If you ask me, that’s a good reason to get another tablet.

Between the 2 app store issues this tablet has fallen down my list into the do not buy category. While you can get apps elsewhere, you can also find other tablets in this price range that support one or the other app store (or both).

Battery Life

I couldn’t do my usual stress test on the battery, but I have been using this tablet around the house. I haven’t had any issues with the battery draining while the tablet is asleep, and I’ve found that this tablet usually lasts 3 to 4 days in light usage.

If I had to estimate it, I’d bet that the battery should last a day of moderate to heavy usage, or around 5 hours use. That’s well within the expected range for a sub-$100 tablet.

What Else is In the Box

This tablet isn’t much different from others in its price range, but I did want to highlight one small difference. While most budget Android tablets have a basic USB cable in the box (and on rare occasions a headphone jack), this Coby tablet also comes with a USB converter.You can use it to plugin USB drives and (probably) keyboards and other accessories.

That’s a nice little bonus which is worth a couple bucks. Or it would be, if not for the fact that this tablet doesn’t come configured to accept input from the external KB. The file manager on the device is also unable to see the thumb drive when it’s plugged in.

I’ve checked on an Android forum and they’re simply supposed to work.

Touchscreen

After a couple days use I can tell you that this tablet is going to have some issues with the touchscreen. Right now it requires a firm press before it responds to input. that’s going to make typing more than a little irritating.

But after a week of use I think I’ve gotten used to the touchscreen. Yes, it is a little more touchy than some, but it’s perfectly adequate. I do miss the multi-touch gestures that you can do with a capacitive touchscreen, though. I now instinctively use pinch-zoom, and naturally that doesn’t work.

Gallery

Specs

  • 7″ (800×480) resistive touchscreen
  • 1GHz CPU
  • Android 4.0 ICS
  • 4GB Flash storage
  • microSD card slot
  • Wifi
  • g-sensor
  • speaker/mike
  • Dimensions: 7.5 x 0.5 x 4.4
  • weight: 10.4 oz

A Brief Review of the Coby Kyros MID 7033

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Comments


Glenn Dixon June 17, 2012 um 6:18 pm

I have to admit that I’ve never heard of Coby before, but I appreciate the review.


Dustin Guest June 17, 2012 um 8:15 pm

So…would you pick this over the $89 android 4.0 tablet from polaroid tablet being sold at Big Lots? http://www.biglots.com/search/product/8181

Nate Hoffelder June 17, 2012 um 8:48 pm

I just reviewed that Polaroid tablet, and given that I installed Android Market and the Amazon Appstore on the PMID 702C, yes I do think it’s better.


Jerry Hecker July 13, 2012 um 12:59 pm

I found that I agreed with most of your comments. I do find that after trying 5 others under $100 this was the best.

I thinks the wifi works well and reading is ok.

Teresa martin December 16, 2012 um 7:40 pm

did you have trouble connecting to wifi i cannot connect?


Keith October 24, 2012 um 8:15 pm

I bought one as I take it to work, and won’t spend much on one. It seems to be fine, except I plugged in a 32 gb microsd and it won’t/can’t "see" it, so the extra storage is useless to me. Anyone have any suggestions???


Keith October 24, 2012 um 9:42 pm

I just bought this one for work – it seems fine, but it can’t/or/won’t access or recognize the miniSD card I put in it. Whats wrong?? Anyone know???


Steve November 18, 2012 um 10:41 am

I put in an 8gb mini sd card and it read it ok. my question is will it take a larger gb card?

jetiro November 22, 2012 um 4:31 pm

yes you can add up to 32GB sd card


jetiro November 22, 2012 um 4:32 pm

okay I’m having a bit of trouble getting the amazon app store to install … says it downloaded but I’m unable to find it on my device … got any suggestions…??

Nate Hoffelder November 22, 2012 um 4:46 pm

Open the file manager and then open the Download folder. I forget what the file is called but I think it starts with "az".

jetiro November 22, 2012 um 5:12 pm

okay never mind I found it … there is an app called Downloads and it the amazon store app was hiding in there….


jetiro November 22, 2012 um 5:13 pm

thanks


paul perkins December 8, 2012 um 10:40 pm

hello i bought this tablet at the pawn shop and it has a pass word in it can i get it out so i can ue the gadget , and if so , how? please respond thank you very kindly . pp


DJ December 10, 2012 um 8:52 pm

Donde descargo el sistema operativo para esta tablet? saludos


JuanCarlosLiraEspinoza December 12, 2012 um 7:27 pm

Hi I have a tablet, but you damage the touch screen, can someone tell me the average cost of this?


Keith January 3, 2013 um 2:29 am

Bought this awhile ago. Hate GetJar – can’t get anything much good on it, for what I wanted it for. I don’t do games much, but Battleship is garbage. The Unit looks to be well built etc, but it’s slow and I can’t get functions on it that I really wanted. Too bad.


Sheldon January 20, 2013 um 5:46 am

Does google play store work on coby mid 7033?


Tony Gomez February 5, 2013 um 8:43 am

I am trying to install "angry birds star wars" in my kid’s Coby Kyros MID7033, but I couldn’t.
Could someone tell me why it is not possible?


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