Hewlett Packard Unveils $100 HP 7 Plus Tablet Powered by AllWinner A31 Quad Core SoC

Hewlett Packard has just launched HP 7 Plus Android 4.2 tablet with an AllWinner A31, or possibly AllWinner A31s considering the screen resolution, that sells for $99.99, but you may also be able to get it for $85 with SLICK15HP coupon. This price includes shipping, but unfortunately this is only available in the US. I’ll also check out alternatives of the rest of us.

HP 7 Plus specifications:

SoC – AllWinner A31 (A31s?) quad core ARM Cortex-A7 @ 1 GHz with PowerVR SGX544MP2 GPU
System Memory – 1 GB DDR3
Storage – 8 GB eMMC + micro SD slot (up to 32GB)
Display – 7″ diagonal WVA IPS multitouch-enabled (1024 x 600)
Camera – 0.3 MP fixed focus (front-facing); 2 MP fixed focus (rear-facing)
Audio – Mono speaker, 1x integrated microphone, 1x 3.5mm headphone jack
Connectivity – 802.11b/g/n (Miracast compatible)
USB – 1x micro USB 2.0
Sensors – Accelerometer
Battery – 2800 mAh Lithium polymer (Up to 5 hours and 30 minutes)
Dimensions (W x D x H) – 19.25 x 12.19 x 0.81 cm
Weight – 295 grams

HP 7 Plus tablet comes with a micro USB cable, a Quick Start Guide, and a 5V/2A charger. The tablet currently runs Android 4.2.2, but there may be a chance of an upgrade to Android 4.4, since AllWinner releases an Android 4.4 SDK a few months ago. The tablet comes with Google Mobile Services, as well as Kingsoft Office, several HP services and apps, a year-warranty and 30-day limited software support. The device does not support Bluetooth nor GPS, and seems limited sensor-wise, but for this price it’s acceptable.

If you don’t happen to live in the US, you could get a noname tablet with basically the same specs plus the addition of Bluetooth and HDMI output for $104.80 from DealExtreme, On Aliexpress, there’s currently a tablet Colorfly E708 Q2 with a slightly better screen (1280×800), 16 GB eMMC, Bluetooth, HDMI output and Android 4.4 (or is it 4.2?) that goes for $101.64 including shipping via Sweden post. There are also lower specs AllWinner A31s based tablets such as Onda V701s that come with 512 MB RAM, no rear camera, but a micro HDMI port that sells for $75 and up, also including shipping. Finally Geekbuying sells Colorfly E708 Q1 with a 1280×800 display, no rear camera, an HDMI port, and a smaller battery (2,300 mAh) for $83.49 with free shipping.

So it turns out Hewlett Packard HP 7 Plus tablet price tag ($99.99) is not that exceptional for those us used to shop from Chinese online retailers, but if you’re based on the US, I understand it’s certainly reassuring to buy from a well known brand, get a proper 1-year warranty, and possibly better support.

Thanks to Jon for the tip.

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.