Heiner HaiPad M703 from China rocks 800MHz Cortex-A9 processor
Appearing as one of the first tablets out of China with a next-gen dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 based processor, the HaiPad M703 from a company called Heiner (previously best known for its very cheap budget tablets) can be considered as a pioneer in the Chinese tablet market. The SoC in question is an AMLogic 8726-M clocked at a speedy 800MHz combined with a Mali 400 GPU for good measure.
The rest of the hardware generally doesn't disappoint with the HaiPad featuring a 7-inch WVGA touch screen available in either capacitive or resistive varieties, 512MB RAM, 8GB inbuilt storage, a high capacity 3000mAh li-on battery, and the standard array of ports including HDMI-out. The tablet ships with Android 2.2 with full support for Adobe Flash 10.1 and hardware accelerated 1080p full HD video playback. Physically, the M703 has a very simple, plain design with a metal frame surrounding the screen and a less attractive plastic back panel. The tablet also appears to be a good size with a slim profile for portability.
Early impressions appear to be positive with reports praising the HaiPad's excellent overall performance, speedy browsing, Flash support, 3D graphics, and HD video playback. Heiner states that it intends to launch the M703 in China in the near future, but an exact release date and price have yet to be disclosed.
It's impressive and exciting to see a new Chinese tablet sporting some of the latest technology, particularly a Cortex-A9 processor from a Chinese chip company. This raises hopes that we will get to see more of such devices in the near future, lowering the entry price of high-end tablet hardware.
As for the HaiPad M703 specifically, the WVGA screen resolution is starting to look a bit low in comparison to the new breed of WSVGA tablets, and the rapidfire pace of Android development has left Android 2.2 Froyo looking a bit long in the tooth as well. But overall the M703 looks like a very decent package, and it will be interesting to see what the price tag is when it launches.
[Newpad.cn via Shanzhaiben]
