We’ve heard about the Jetstream a 10.1 inch tablet from HTC, that has slipped into AT&T retail outlets with less fanfare than Hulk Hogan opening a Crèche. Maybe HTC just want to test the waters, the Jetstream is a premium Tablet device that demands a huge ransom, a whopping $850 US to liberate it from the carrier store. That’s well above the iPad, so what other than the carrier mark-up makes it worth this sort of price? Obviously build quality, a Qualcomm MSM8260 1.5 GHz Snapdragon dual-core processor, 32 Gb internal storage, micro USB expandable to 64 Gb. Android 3.01 OS with HTC Sense, and 4g enabled. The device is running premium hardware, but would seem to fit a niche market in that respect, observations say it’s big and heavy, and not as pretty as it could be. In other words, people are starting to question HTC’s current design language.
Aesthetically, the HTC Jetstream is somewhat underwhelming. The screen has good brightness and pretty good viewing angles, but the saturation and contrast are not as good as the Galaxy Tab 10.1 or iPad 2. Touch is very responsive, however. The enclosure has a very solid feel with brushed metal throughout (save for a strip along the top, on the back of the device), but the Jetstream is over a half-inch thick and weighs over 1.5lbs, so it’s definitely on the larger side
Some would say “familiarity breeds contempt”, and it’s quite possible that HTC have relied on a form factor that is so recognisable now that people are not excited by the look of their devices. Fashion has become a huge factor in the mobile accessories we carry, and maybe the Jetstream is a gaudy.
The only place you could get a look at one at the moment, is a demo unit at an AT&T store, so what better way to add a live video of the device to your site, than to record it in store. HotHardwareNews have done exactly that, a quick in and out of a working device, and by quick I mean lightning fast. The one thing I took from the short video is the speed and fluidity at which the OS ran on the tablet, it looks like a well balanced hardware software union. I digress though, the guys at HHN actually did some benchmarks on the JetStream and it performed quite well
I wonder if HTC have a screen to body size ratio that they employ, 10.1 inch screen equals half an inch thick, so that’s at least 12 .5 mm. Tablets are still a bit of a gamble for any one but Apple, but it seems that all OEM’s are putting a toe or two in the water, so as not to miss out in case they actually take of. The 10 inch tablet range is supposed to replace the netbookie things that were a niche mobile market, but it just doesn’t seem to be happening. HTC has to have something in the market just in case, but the Flyer was a late comer, and the Jetstream has blown away. It’s an undefined market that lot’s of manufacturers feel they need an offering in, “Just In Case”! In a way, picking one of these up for it’s future collectability, may be a good investment, in terms of using it over and above your mobile phone/smartphone. Tablets seem to be destined to extinction before they got started! I digress though, the guys at HHN did some bench marks of the Jetstream, and it performed quite well
No matter what it looks like, in it’s category it’s a competent bit of kit. If you are n the market for a larger tablet device, the Jetstream looks to be a fairly efficient Android Tablet, and well worth having a look at. The real consideration though, is the performance worth the price?
