Ainol Novo 7 Elf photos and impressions by Andropos

[andropos]

I got my hands on one early unit of Novo 7 Elf, and will share my thought in this post.

Novo 7 Elf Specs:

• CPU: Allwinner A10 1.5GHz (runs on 1.0GHz)
• GPU: Mali 400
• OS: Android Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.3
• Memory: 1GB RAM, 8GB falsh
• Screen: 7-inch Capacitive 5 points, 1024 x 600
• Built in Loud Speaker
• Front Camera of 2.0MP

First some photos:





Quadrant Advanced system info.



Quadrant Advanced 1765 score.



Running latest ICS 4.0.3.



Supported Languages.



Preinsatlled apps, (minus Quadrant Advanced).










Novo 7 Advanced next to Novo 7 Elf.





*update*

So Novo 7 Elf was finally released before Chinese New Year holiday, after the discontinuing of the popular Novo 7 Advanced.

A little background:
Novo 7 Advanced was maybe first tablet from Ainol with a modern looking design and it didn't make you think "just another shanzhai tablet not to care about".
Instead n7a was powered by a fresh new chip set Many Core A10 from Allwinner, with good performance, stable Android implementation and a low price, it is was a winner for all

Novo 7 Advanced had it all, good video and even flash performance, slick desing, working Market, good battery life, 5 point capacitive touch screen, low price compared to all other low-end crap and IT WAS NOT ROCKCHIP. All that made n7a a great 7-inch device with a potential selling for months instaed of weeks and getting a wide army of happy end users. People bought it even though the viewing angle was its weakest point.

Long story short, Ainol discontinued the n7a to pave way for its cheaper brother n7b based on MIPS and made lots of buyers disappointed as it looked the same as n7a but didn't offer all the goodies that made it so popular.

After short time even n7b was discontinued, Ainol blamed shortage in tochpanels for both models (I'm speculating the reason was a big OEM order, but who cares).
Instead of fulfilling the huge demand from domestic but mostly overseas buyers (Christmas was just around the corner) Ainol started to work on new models to be ready before the Chinese holiday and 5 models where announced, including Novo 7 Elf and Novo 7 Aurora.

Many including me where hoping for an upgraded n7a or at least something running Allwinner as MIPS proved to be limited in apps compatibility and performance..

Ainol produced and released a limited batch of Novo 7 Elf and Novo 7 Aurora unit 1 week the before the big holiday.

Novo 7 Elf impressions:
I had the chance to get my hands on one early unit and here are my thoughts on n7e.

First the positive points with these "upgrades".

1. n7e is using a high resolution screen (1024 X 600) which has been requested for long time (I mean its 2012)
2. n7e got RAM upgraded to 1GB. We all like more RAM even android
3. The screen brightness and contrast is better then n7a and n7b
4. I think that's all... oh no wait, you get a hdmi cable included instead of the useless remote that left everyone wondering "how can a infra red remote work without a infra red receiver".

Now to the not so nice part:

1. The n7e have a new shell which is longer and wider compared to that on n7a/n7b. Few mm's may not be a big deal, but on mobile devices every mm feels like cm and the smaller top and bottom screen border that made the n7a looks so special, is now gone and we have a thick border around the screen.
2. The front heat buttons on right side of screen are also gone, so the extra border space is not being used and we get the digital-photo-frame look instead.
3. n7a had lots of hardware buttons, in total 8 buttons. 5 heat buttons on front right side, 2 dedicated volume buttons on top and a power on button.
   There are only 4 buttons on n7e, 1. Power, 2. Menu, 3. Home, 4. Back and gone are volume buttons which you can't live without once you had them there before. Luckily we can remap buttons to Volume buttons instead.
   
4. Not really a negative but the ba(d)ck camera is missing, and no one will really miss it.
5. The high resolution screen makes the device much more lag in Android 4.0.1/4.0.3, this may improve with future updates.

To summarise, the n7e feels like a device made in hurry to sell off quick during Chinese New Year holiday. I really liked the shell on the n7a so the bigger shell feels like a downgrade for me.
On the other hand, with Elf you get better high res screen, 1GB of RAM and the nice Allwinner A10 CPU all for same price as the n7a and hopefully a stronger battery.

[martec]

You could test for me if this image below is good read in this tablet without zoom.

If you can could take a picture?



Thanks...

[RobertNl]

Can't wait to recieve it (hoping next week)

[andropos]

You could test for me if this image below is good read in this tablet without zoom.
If you can could take a picture?
Thanks...

No problem reading the text in landscape and portrait without zoom.

[kristjem]

This is really exciting. Thanks for the teaser Andropos. How are the viewing angles on this device, by the way? I really hope they get the A10 processor to work proporly with high res screens.
I'm also waiting in anticipation to see the Aurora model. Hope you can test one out soon!

Edit: How are the g'apps working with this tablet? Do calendar sync/work? (it doesn't on n7a ICS 0.4)

[ReallyColorful]

So what are the 3 buttons on the elf? Home, back, and multitasking?

[amihay_h]

Purchased mine yesterday from "www.ownta.com"
Hopefully will get it next month :-)
Meanwhile, i will have to get along with my good old "Motorola Milestone" mobile phone :-)

[Ottuboy]

Hey, nice review mate! But I have some extra questions, is the Camera really 2MP? What is the quality of the pictures, maybe u can post some here? And some state that the resolution is not excactly 1024, more like under 1000?

Thanks!

[andropos]

So what are the 3 buttons on the elf? Home, back, and multitasking?

I updated my review, ELf have 4 hardware buttons.

Hey, nice review mate! But I have some extra questions, is the Camera really 2MP? What is the quality of the pictures, maybe u can post some here? And some state that the resolution is not excactly 1024, more like under 1000?

Thanks!

The highest resolution the device can record is 2592 x 1936.

I just took a photo of my PC monitor.

Original file:
Hotfile.com: One click file hosting: IMG_20120127_034700.jpg

You can view image here:
http://i.imgur.com/mHWcP.jpg

[ReallyColorful]

ELf have 4 hardware buttons.

So what are these four buttons? And that picture looks confusing lol is that a picture of your monitor showing a picture of the tablet? Lol, how about you show us a big smile!