Mitashi PLAY BE-150 3G: More on Style than on Substance

The UI of the BE-150 has five home screens, which do not disappoint as the touch accuracy is pretty good. We tried to multi-task which did not have any noticeable impact on the performance even though the touch feedback started to lag. The display looks brilliant thanks to the IPS (In-Plane Switching) technology. IPS allows you to have accurate color reproduction even at a wide viewing angle, which helps when you are playing a multi-player game with others on the same tablet, amongst other similar uses. Antutu returned an excellent score of 7491, indicating powerful hardware as a whole. But coming to graphics specifically, An3DBench reported a slightly below-par score of 6087 and An3DBenchXL followed by reporting a score of 19785. The Vellamo Mobile Benchmark's HTML5 tests, which evaluate the web browsing experience, indicated a below-average score of 634 whereas the Metal tests reported a score of 321. The BE-150 has a mini-SIM slot at the bottom-right corner which is meant for 3G. The call quality was clear and not very loud. In addition, it offers mini HDMI, mini USB, a micro SD slot and the 3.5mm audio jack. Under indoor lighting conditions during day, both cameras gave slightly pixelated output but with very good color reproduction. While shooting indoors during night, the rear camera seemed to maintain its quality but the front-facing camera produces grainy pictures. The speakers produce good quality sound but the lack of bundled earphones may prove to be a hindrance for casual users as well as for those wanting to make/receive calls. The two cameras (front and rear) are of decent quality. The tablet is powered by 1GB RAM and 1GHz processor, making it pretty responsive but the 3000mAH battery is a let-down.The build quality is good but in an attempt to make the tablet shine, generous doses of gloss have resulted in the exteriors becoming a fingerprint magnet. Ports are spaced sufficiently apart and the power button and volume rocker work predictably. There are a few pre-loaded apps provided, mainly for productivity (such as Documents2Go) and entertainment (such as HDMISwitch), among others. The tablet weighs a comfortable 330 grams and takes 44 seconds to boot. While streaming an HD video over Wi-Fi, we found the battery to drain in a little over 4 hours from 100% charge. The boxed package contains the tablet with a screen guard, the power adapter, a mini-USB cable, warranty card and a user manual.

Bottomline: It is costlier than most budget tabs and underperforms in benchmark tests as well. However, its IPS display makes for good video watching.