At a shade over £150 the A1CS Fusion 5's specifications might seem too good to be true for a budget tablet: it has a capacitive touchscreen and runs Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). See also Group test: what's the best cheap tablet PC?
It will come as no great surprise, therefore, that the A1CS Fusion 5 is no Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime for a fraction of the cost. The hardware buttons are cheap feeling, and have been given the strangest functions we've ever come across. The large silver button on the front doesn't take you to the Home screen, as you might expect, instead it's a Back button. The rocker switch on the edge isn't a volume control: it takes you to either Home or Settings depending which way you press it. See also: Group test: what's the best tablet PC?
To control the volume you have to hold down the A1CS Fusion 5's power button at the same time, a process which had us accidentally turning the tablet off all too often. These design decisions are unnecessary as the operating system has software buttons always available at the bottom of the screen, suggesting the unit was designed with another OS in mind then converted to run ICS.
The screen itself is good, with the wide form factor making it ideal for watching films, although the viewing angles are somewhat tight. Colours can appear a little cool at times and text isn't as crisp as we'd have liked due to the relatively low resolution. Games look good though and play surprisingly well on the A1CS Fusion 5. See also: Group test: what's the best Android tablet?
In our tests Temple Run flew along at a breakneck pace and racing games didn't seem to trouble the 1.2GHz processor at all. However, in general use the A1CS Fusion 5 is sluggish at times, being slow to wake from sleep or even respond to button presses.
We are also concerned about build quality. In our tests ripples appeared on one corner of the screen when pressed gently. This would suggest that the slim profile is too tight for some of the components inside and could be a potential failure point in the future.
The battery lasted a respectable 7 hours in our video playback test, and it was good to see a micro SD slot for expanding the 8GB of built-in storage. Unlike some budget tablets, the A1CS Fusion 5 has Google Play so you have access to the full range of Android apps.
Comments
Jamie said: The quality of these tablets is terribly I have just received my third replacement and it is also faulty
Lozza 1996 Wright said: This is a fairly good tablet but i have to admit it has some faults i have only dropped it once and yesterday I went to pick it up and it was an inch of the floor and I accidentally dropped it n now the screen doesnt want to come on properly soo some one pleaseeee help meeeee
Kerry Scott said: Mine is great - I agree about the funny buttons but the build quality is good - everything runs well but get K9mail rather than use the supplied email app which is dodgy to say the least
Bob said: Ive got one of these its a fantastic bit of kit for the money It does everything Id expect of a tablet and it does it well Four stars from me
Davepoole said: A cheaper alternative to the other tablets out there and if you want a device just to browsing the web or watch you tube or similar I would recommend this device or the N90 - or is you are suffering from brand snobbery pay another 200300 poundbut Id rather keep that money for a rainy day
John Holmes said: Its excellent for the things you want from a tablet Its not an IPAD so dont compare it to one Its great the kids love it I have it for work email and pdf reader I plugged in my usb to RJ45 and it picked it up no problems The buttons work as expected a volume control on the top
ArtheriaEU said: We bought one of these about 6 weeks agoFor a simple browse while sat on the sofatoiletin bedreadingrecipesin the kitchen it is a great gadget although as the review said it is a bit slow It happily plods along with BBC iPlayer and videos although the claims of 2180p full HD are only if you use the mini HDMI to connect it to a screen that will catch less wary consumers outI would have given it 35 to 4 stars personally It might also be worth reading the PC Advisor review withhttpwwwinfobarrelcomRevi for a pro vs idiot review the PC Advisor review being the Pro one
Gedharrison said: The cheapest Ive seen the Samsung Galaxy Tab of the same size is 399 - ie twice the price of the Fusion 5 How is that not much more money I detect some snobbishness towards cheaper products here
cynic said: This is a bit of a strange reviewonly 2 and a bit stars 90 paying customers on Amazon say otherwise httpwwwamazoncoukproduc