iBall's Slide 3G: One hand poor, two hands better

We like our smart devices big. At 7.85 inches across, the display of iBall's new Slide 3G tablet, the 7803Q-900, should leave a good first impression on you. That the new offering in the company's Performance series isn't very heavy is another plus. The sleek body is classic with a metallic brush look.

The first thing I noticed as the new Silde screen came to life was that unlike most smart devices, it had no top notification bar. Everything's at the bottom of the screen. So, on the left hand are squeezed keys to go back and to the home screen, the running apps tray or settings; notifications, including the battery charge and reception indicator, pushed to the left corner. Above that is the shortcuts bar, which you can hide with the "simple style" option.

The big IPS display seems enervated - the colours aren't sharp enough to impress, the touchscreen lags a bit, the pictures lack detailing. The screen resolution isn't even high-definition; you get phones now at this tab's price with HD displays. Decent viewing angles were the only face-saving feature.

The tab comes with 1GB of RAM and runs on an ARM quad core processor. Keeping in mind the display, not quite the gamer's delight. A relief is that of the 16GB internal memory, 12GB is usable; it can be expanded up to 32GB with a microSD card. The tab takes two regular SIM cards (both GSM) at the top edge, which also has the 3.5-mm jack. The volume rocker and the power/sleep keys are on the top right corner. It's too big to be comfortable using with one hand. Phone calls on the tab are only in the handsfree mode. The tab supports 3G internet connectivity.

The device runs on now old Android 4.2 Jelly Bean version of the operating system. The cameras - front and rear - are average; a let-down in low light and click grainy images otherwise. Videos played on the tab were decent though the volume level is medium. It also supports a USB OTG extension so you can use pen drives with it. The 4,000mAh battery is good enough for about a day.

It features a 5MP Auto Focus (AF) rear camera with LED flash that lets users capture all their picture perfect moments even in low lighting conditions. It also comes with 2 MP front camera for video calling and clicking selfies.

My verdict for the Rs 13,999 iBall Slide tablet should be obvious to you, isn't it?