Consumer Alert: Lava E-Tab Z7H Tablet
Indian mobile handset vendor, LAVA International Ltd. is misleading and cheating Consumers of Tablet PCs by falsely communicating and wrongly advertising the Processor Speed of its Lava E-Tab Z7H Tablet as 1.2 GHz whereas actually it is just 1 GHz.
Lava has printed a wrong and misleading Processor Speed on the E-Tab Z7H Tablet’s Retail Packaging, in its Downloadable User Guide and its website.
Check-out the following Picture of the Retail Packaging of the LAVA E-Tab Z7H Tablet with a wrong and misleading Processor Speed printed on it:
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The wrong and misleading Processor Speed of the Lava E-Tab Z7H Tablet has also been specified on the Lava website:
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We tested the Lava E-Tab Z7H Tablet for its Processor Speed using Quadrant Standard, Antutu, CPU Master and Four other Benchmarking and System Information Applications.
To our utmost surprise, with all 6 Benchmarking and System Information Applications, we found the Processor Speed of the Lava E-Tab Z7H Tablet to be just 1 GHz and not 1.2 GHz as falsely communicated by Lava and its online Retailers. The Benchmarking and System Information Test Results of the Lava E-Tab Z7H Tablet are shown in Pictures below:
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Before purchasing any unbranded or re-branded Android Tablet you should verify the ‘Maximum Speed’ of its Processor using popular Benchmarking Software like Quadrant and AnTuTu, both available free-of-cost at the Google Play Store. During the last 30 days Quadrant and AnTuTu Benchmarking Software has been individually downloaded 1 – 5 Million times. (Statistics Source: Google Play Store). You may also use other Benchmarking and System Information Applications like Elixir2, Z-Device Test, Passmark Performance Test, CPU/RAM/Device Identifier (version 5.2.0+) and Linpack for the same.
The usefulness of these Benchmarking and System Information Applications can be ascertained from the fact that during the last 30 days alone, up to 11.5 Million Users have installed these Applications on their Android Devices. (Statistics Source: Google Play Store).
The Lava E-Tab Z7H Tablet uses an Allwinner – A13 SOC (System-on-Chip). A Cortex A8 Processor with a Speed of 1 GHz is built inside every A13 SOC.
The following Description and Table from the ARM website clearly shows that the Maximum Speed of the Cortex A8 Processor used in the Lava E-Tab Z7H Tablet is 1 GHz and not 1.2 GHz:
From the Description and Table above, it becomes clear that ARM has designed the Cortex A8 Processor for a speed up to 1 GHz. It also becomes absolutely clear that Lava is misleading Consumers of Tablet PCs by wrongly specifying a Processor Speed of 1.2 GHz in its E-Tab Z7H Tablet.
It is relevant to note that other vendors of Tablet PCs like BSNL-PANTEL and TATA-CROMA, who are also using the Cortex A8 Processor in their Tablet PCs are correctly mentioning its Speed as 1 GHz.
PANTEL correctly mentions the Speed of the Cortex A8 Processor used in its Penta T-Pad IS701C, IS703C, IS801C, WS802C and WS704C Tablet PCs as 1 GHz.
TATA-CROMA also correctly mentions the Speed of the Cortex A8 Processor used in its CRXT1075 Tablet PC as 1 GHz.
PANTEL is offering its BSNL approved PENTA T-Pad IS709C Tablet with Features and Specifications similar to the Lava E-tab Z7H for just Rs. 3995/-. The Penta T-Pad IS709C is 37% cheaper than the Lava E-Tab Z7H at its current online price of Rs. 5499/-.
PANTEL is also offering its BSNL approved PENTA T-PAD IS701C Tablet with a full size USB Host Port, a HDMI Port for LCD TV/Projector connectivity and other Features and Specifications similar to the Lava E-tab Z7H Tablet for Rs. 4946/-. The Penta T-Pad IS709C is 11% cheaper than the Lava E-Tab Z7H at its current online price of Rs. 5499/-.
TATA-CROMA is offering its CRXT1075 Tablet PC with the latest Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) OS. The CRXT1075 Tablet PC comes with a Screen Guard and a Pouch. It is priced at Rs. 5990/-. The Screen Guard and Pouch are not provided with the Lava E-Tab Z7H Tablet. The CRXT1075 Tablet is available in easy EMIs and a 15 days Money-back Guarantee from cromaretail.com. The Croma CRXT1075 Tablet PC is also available at Croma and Croma-Zip Stores all over India. Croma service for its house brand ‘Croma’ is said to be good.
In the Lava E-Tab Z7H Tablet, Popular Browsers like Firefox and Chrome for Android DO NOT work properly. While using Firefox typed characters are not visible in the Tablet. While using Chrome its Touchscreen becomes non-responsive on the edges.
‘Application-Not-Responding‘ messages appear in plenty while using the E-Tab Z7H Tablet. The E-Tab Z7H Tablet’s compatibility with popular Android software is absolutely untested and the user is left frustrated using this Tablet.
Switching the Equalizer On/Off is a Difficult Task and it is simply Not Possible to adjust the Bass Boost and 3D Effects in the E-Tab Z7H Tablet.
The Low Brightness and Poor Quality Microphone of this Tablet leave a lot to be desired. The Low Brightness and Poor Quality of the Microphone of this Tablet become prominently noticeable during daytime Video Playback and Skype Calls using this Tablet.
We found the wireless connectivity of the E-Tab Z7H Tablet to be good over WiFi compliant Routers.
The Lava E-Tab Z7H Tablet is prone to scratches and within 4 weeks of usage with reasonable care, the back side of our E-Tab Z7H Tablet has got noticeable scratches.
The Battery Charger of the Lava E-Tab Z7H Tablet warms up considerably and does not have a single Safety Approval. Check-out the Battery Charger of any Samsung/Apple/Nokia/LG/Blackberry/Motorola/Sony/Acer or other reputed brand of Tablet or Mobile Phone or Laptop. You will see many Safety Approvals on each every Battery Charger. The ‘Safety‘ and ‘Maximum Current Handling Capability‘ of the Battery Charger of this Tablet is questionable.
Its bundled ‘Moon+’ Ebook Reader is convenient. Moon+ and many other good Ebook Reader applications can be downloaded along with Thousands of Ebooks, free-of-cost from the Google Play Store. I found at Two Ebooks bundled with the E-Tab Z7H Tablet to be good.
The bundled ‘Merit Nation‘ and ‘Tata Photon‘ Coupons may be useful for some. With 6-7 months left for children’s exams, the Merit Nation Subscriber may have to pay a full year’s subscription. The Tata Photon Data Card is available free-of-cost in many Circles upon prepayment of 2 months subscription. So both these Offers may not be the most attractive offerings for customers.
I rate the rest of the bundled content as Bloatware, unnecessarily using the E-Tab Z7H Tablet’s Resources. The bundled content has been preloaded on the Internal Storage/ROM of the E-Tab Z7H Tablet, so everything (including the unwanted content) shows up again, every time the Tablet is restored to its Default Settings.
The Lava E-Tab Z7H tablet does not come with a User Manual. Its User Manual has to be downloaded from the Lava website. The ‘Connectivity’ Page on the Lava website provides a Software Update for the E-Tab Z7H Tablet but does not inform its purpose i.e. whether it is for the USB Data Cards or otherwise.
Significantly, we found that the Lava E-Tab Z7H Tablet has Poor Build Quality.
The Battery inside the E-Tab Z7H Tablet is neither held in any ‘Battery Slot’ nor with any ‘Battery Retention Mechanism’. The Battery has been fixed inside the Tablet using cheap Cello Tape! The Poor Build Quality of the Lava E-Tab Z7H Tablet is shown in the Picture below:
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Battery Charging and Long Duration Usage of the E-Tab Z7H Tablet causes “Temperature Rise” inside the Tablet. Due to the temperature rise and over a period of time, the cello tape may loosen and come-off. Consequently, the loosely fitted Battery inside the Tablet may cause:
- a “Short Circuit” inside the Tablet and “Permanent Damage” to other Components inside the Tablet such as its Camera, Main Board, LCD Panel, Processor, RAM, Storage Devices, Connecting Cables, Connectors, etc.
- “Injury to the User of the Tablet“. (More likely if the Unit is on-charge at the time of short-circuit inside the Tablet. A Lithium-Ion Battery can explode in case of a Short Circuit.)
- “Noise from inside the Tablet” upon moving the Tablet.
Please note in the Picture above that there is No UL or equivalent Battery Safety/Compliance Approval or Safe Disposal Instruction/Graphic on the Battery nor is its Brand or Capacity mentioned. Check-out the Battery of any Samsung/Nokia/LG/Blackberry/Motorola/Sony or other reputed brand of Mobile Phone or Laptops or the Tablets shown below. You will find many Safety Approvals and relevant details on every Battery.
To say the least, such Poor Build Quality is not expected from any Vendor of Tablet PCs.
The following Pictures will give you a clear idea about the Build Quality and Battery Fitment in popular global brands of Tablet PCs:
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We communicated all our findings to Lava for their clarifications about the same. Lava did not deny our findings and wanted that we ‘do not publish’ our findings/review about the E-Tab Z7H Tablet on this site. We were also told that a Tablet ‘E-Tab Z7H+’ similar in appearance to the ‘E-Tab 7ZH’ Tablet shall be launched during the end of this month. For the Z7H+ Tablet to be worthy, we hope that it has a faster Processor, a higher capacity Battery, a Standard USB Host Port, HDMI Port and a safer method to hold the Battery inside the Tablet.
Update: 11 October 2012. Lava has launched its Z7H+ Tablet. On its website Lava states the speed of the Cortex A8 Processor in the Z7H+ Tablet as 1GHz. The Z7H+ Tablet is equipped with Stereo Speakers. Lava website states that the Z7H+ Tablet supports Airtel E1731, Idea E1732, Reliance 3G MF190, MTS Mblaze AC2746 EVDO and Reliance EC150 EVDO USB Data Dongles. There is no mention of support for Tata Photon EC156 and EC1261 USB Data Dongles. Both these Tata Photon Dongles are supported in the Lava Z7H Tablet. The Tata Photon Offer is also not available with the Z7H+ Tablet. The Z7H+ Tablet may be using a different SOC. The HDMI Port and a Full Size USB Host Port are also not available on the Lava Z7H+ Tablet. The 512MB RAM, 4GB ROM and 2800 mAh Battery Capacity in both the Lava Tablets remain the same.
A “Detailed Performance Review” and a “Video Review” of the Lava E-Tab Z7H Tablet is coming soon on this site. Do check them out.
Due to the above mentioned facts, I do not recommend the Lava E-Tab Z7H Tablet. With all its deficiencies, the Lava E-Tab Z7H Tablet is also expensive. Brands like BSNL-PANTEL and TATA-CROMA in particular offer better Tablet PCs which offer superior performance and much better value for your money.
For immediate purchase, you should consider the Penta T-Pad IS709C, Penta T-Pad IS701C or the Croma CRXT1075 Tablet PC. You can also wait for the new Akash II/ Ubislate 7C Tablet. It has Mobile Phone Capabilities (SIM Slot), a 1 GHz Cortex A8 Processor and other specifications similar to the Lava E-Tab Z7H Tablet. The new Akash II/Ubislate 7C Tablet has won rave pre-launch reviews outside India. It is expected to be launched in October 2012 at approx. Rs. 4500/-.
Some Comments about the Lava E-Tab Z7H Tablet by Flipkart Buyers are:
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Our findings of the Actual Processor Speed of the Lava E-Tab Z7H Tablet have also been confirmed by Tech2.in in in their independent review of the Lava E-Tab Z7H Tablet dated 28 September 2012:
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Lava is also making false communications while advertising its E-Tab Z7H Tablet through online retailers like Flipkart, Ezoneonline, Snapdeal, Infibeam, etc. Consequently, Lava is also spoiling the trust of Consumers in these Online Retailers. Check-out the following Pictures with the wrong and misleading Processor Speed of the LAVA E-Tab Z7H Tablet in the Advertisements and Offers of Flipkart, SnapDeal and Ezoneonline.
With false and misleading communications, poor build quality and unfair trade practices Lava would lose Customers sooner than later. If you own a LAVA E-Tab Z7H, ask your Retailer for a Refund.
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You may also like to read :
PANTEL launches Penta T-Pad IS709C Tablet for just Rs. 3995/- and
Helpful Tips on Buying Electronic Gadgets
Last Updated on 11 October 2012. Correction: The User Guide of the Lava E-Tab Z7H Tablet does not accurately describe the function of the Second Button of the Tablet, located just below its Power/Lock Button. As a result on 8 October 2012, in our update to this Post the Second Button of the Tablet got incorrectly described. The Second Button from the Top does not function for Power On/Off purpose but takes the User back to the Home Screen of the Tablet from a running Application or from the Application/Widget Menus. However, if this Button is pressed while the Home Screen is being displayed, it has ‘No Function’ (as described by us on 8 October 2012). The error is regretted.
Updated on 8 October 2012 with Comments/Reviews by Certified Buyers of Flipkart for the Lava E-Tab Z7H Tablet of and a Screenshot of the review of Lava E-Tab Z7H Tablet dated 28 September 2012 on Tech2.in.
Updated on 4 October 2012 with Download Links to Android based Benchmarking and System Information Software, Cortex A8 Processor Data from ARM Limited Website, Images of Build Quality of Popular Tablet PCs and a brief Product Safety and Performance Review of the Lava E-Tab Z7H Tablet.