A (165)

Group test

Parental

guidance

Parents can set certain

restrictions to apps or

websites that they don’t

want their child to have

accessto,orcreatean

account to monitor what

they’reuptoinstead

Powerful

processor

The Intel Atom processor

is found in a lot of

netbooks and

Chromebooks, so the

poweritbringstoatablet

is remarkable. You won’t

findanylaginanyareaof

this tablet

For the family

The rubberised casing of

the Hudl 2 demonstrates

how the device is built

with the family in mind. It

can take knocks,

scratches and bumps

easily and is also available

in an array of colours

»^ Operating system........Android 4.4.2

»^ Processor ...........................Intel Atom 1.8GHz quad-core

»^ Memory ...............................2GB RAM, 16GB storage

»^ Dimensions .......................224 x 128 x 9mm

»^ Weight ...................................410g

»^ Display size .......................8.3-inch

»^ Display resolution ........1920 x 1200 pixels

»^ Connectivity .....................Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0

»^ Camera ................................5MP rear, 1.2MP front

technical specs

Price £129

»^ More information tesco.com

»^ Supplied by tesco.com

information

The Hudl 2 sets a very high

benchmark for other tablets

to follow. If you consider the

discount off the RRP, this is

an absolute bargain

»Verdict

Tesco Hudl 2

»head-to-head

Design

The rubberised backing won’t be to

everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s important to

realise that this is a tablet built with the family

in mind. There is a selection of colourful

cases to kit the Hudl 2 out with as well

Performance

With the powerful Intel Atom processor

within its shell, the Hudl 2 blasts through

anything you can throw at it. It’s really the

best choice when it comes to multitasking

or playing the latest triple-A games

Camera and video

There’s been a noticeable bump between

this and the original Hudl when it comes

to taking pictures and recording video. It

still lags behind what smartphones can do,

but the results are noticeably better than

those from most of the competition

Battery life

Tesco has promised a solid 8 hours of battery

life with the Hudl 2, but during our tests with

it, we found it to be closer to the 7 hours mark.

It’s not as good as the Nexus 7, but 7 hours is

fairly standard for most tablets today

The original Hudl was the biggest surprise hit of last year,

but does the Hudl 2 maintain the standard?

W

e fell in love with the original Hudl tablet,

which proved that ‘budget’ never ever has to

mean bad. A year on and Tesco has released

the second iteration of the Hudl series, and once

again it’s proven to be a massive hit. The 8.3-inch

tablet is covered in a thick rubberised casing, which

perhaps isn’t as appealing as the Nexus 7, but this

tablet is built for the family and all the rough and

tumble that comes with it.

As well as the normal array of ports, there’s the

inclusion of a micro-HDMI output for connecting the

tablet to your TV. With Tesco’s array of Blinkbox

video apps pre-installed, the micro-HDMI port is a

fantastic addition for movie and TV watching. Some

of the ports are placed quite awkwardly, with the

rocker and power button sat peculiarly at the top of

the tablet, making them quite diffi cult to press at

times. Around the back there’s a large 5-megapixel

camera, which takes some of the best images we

found in the group.

What will please most users more than anything

else is the pure speed of the Hudl 2. The quad-core

Intel Atom processor has been clocked at 1.8GHz and

it blasted through anything we threw at it. Want to

watch HD movies? No problem. Want to download

apps and browse the web at the same time? Easy. It’s

ridiculously quick and trumps the rest of the group by

some considerable margin.

There are several pre-loaded apps from Tesco, all of

which tie in with the various services the fi rm offers.

We’d have preferred to have a completely stock UI, but

this is a small setback nonetheless. With the whole

family thing in mind, users can fi nd some great parental

systems to help keep their kids safe when using the

tablet. Parental controls are easy to set up and it’s also

simple to create web browsing restrictions.

If the Hudl 2 didn’t already sound like a tempting

proposition, avid Tesco Clubcard users can get up to a

staggering £60 off the £129 retail price of the tablet

• a bargain in every sense of the word.

Tesco Hudl 2

EDITOR’S

CHOICE

Dolby optimised

sound

The Dolby Digital

optimised sound lends

itself well to both listening

to music and enjoying

movies. Dual speakers on

the back of the device

offer great clarity as well