Ainol Novo 7 Aurora II - Short Review

Hey Guys,
I recently purchased a Ainol Novo 7 Aurora II Tablet as a gift for my dad and here is a quick review.

Sorry for Mr. Blurry Cam.. My camera was not with me at the time of writing .. also I promised to post this review by Sunday i.e., today

Price: Varies from site to site.. I bought it from MP4Nation at $149 (Rs. 8583.78) through sale. It came with free FexEx 2 day shipping. But currently MP4Nation had removed the sale and now its priced at $169. there are other sites which offer at $150 range..

Specs picked from MP4 Nation.

Google Android 4.03
Processor: Amlogic 8726-M6, 1.5GHz, Cortex-A9 dual core; GPU: Mali-400
RAM: 1GB DDR3
Internal storage: 16GB
Expansion: MicroSD expansion
7-Inch IPS LCD display (16 million colors)
1024 x 600 screen resolution (16:9 wide screen aspect ratio)
Capacitive multitouch touchpanel
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
1080p HD video playback capable
Mini HDMI out
G-sensor
Built-in microphone
2MP front facing camera
3700mAh battery(average w/ WiFi on is 5hrs)
3.5mm headphone jack

Box content.

Tablet
Travel Adapter (UK Pin)
Quick Start Guide
Warranty Card
Mini USB Cable (not shown in picture)
Standard Earphones

*i.imgur.com/0vdlQ.jpg

Build Quality and feel:
Completely plastic. but doesn't feel cheap at all. Buttons are fine too. The body is a finger print magnet. The edged and corners are rounded and smooth so its comfortable to hold. I feel its a little heavy.

*i.imgur.com/MpAmi.jpg

Hardware:
Screen: What interested me in this tablet was the screen resolution. it was better than other tablets which I was shortlisting. It used a 7" 1024x600 LG IPS screen.
The text looks crisp and graphics looks quite good. The video quality is also crisp, I was very surprised with the screen and happy too. The viewing angle is excellent, previously when our family used to see some photographs on our laptop we always had to adjust the LCD screen. this is not the case in this tablet. Downside is that I am feeling it has a touch issue not major but it is annoying sometime , I suspect the screen protector which was pre applied, I will get a new screen protector and try..

Storage:
This has 1GB ROM(?) , 1GM RAM, 16GB internal memory (shows 13.2 GB on system) , also there is a slot to insert a MicroSD card up to 32GB.
Android differentiates these storage memory as Internal SD Card and External SD Card.

Processor & GFX:
The tablet feels smooth and very responsive(except for some touch issues as mentioned above). apps load fast; no hiccups ,browsers render pages just fine. Games - well I haven't played any large games (shooters etc), but regular low footprint games play fine.

OS/Software
Out of box the Aurora II comes installed with Android ICS 4.0.3, Flash is present and works on browsers. the first thing you need to do when you buy this tab is to change the firmware.. There are many issues when it comes to Playstore. you wont be able to download much apps. IMDB for example didn't even allow me to download. I found one Firmware thanks to aniket.cain, and it worked perfectly. Play store works and what ever app I tried to install for installed and worked too. some Indian Apps kept crashing which I think is a issue with their own code and not of Aurora's.

Battery Life
I tested it on day two and it gave me 6 Hrs with WIFI on.. mixed usage.. like Browsing, watching videos, games, etc ..

Camera:
No comments.. its there just for the sake of it. 2Mp..

Issues Faced
Touch issues: some times touch doesn't register.. im not sure if its a software problem or a hardware problem or the problem of the screen protector. Touch works perfectly fine is some apps , but some apps its just a annoying.
WIFI: there is known wifi issue where the tablet doesn't pickup the signal at certain distance, there is a Hardware mod/fix for this but I am not gonna do it atleast for some time as two of my WIFI routers cover my house very well..
Software: on Stock firmware many apps say its incompatible with the device and wont even get downloaded from Play store. installing a custom ROM will fix these issue.
Heating issue: People have complained about heating issue on the left side of the tablet.. yes it does have heating issue, but its not uncomfortable. A future software update should fix it.

Things I need to test.
1. Charging time.
2. Video Chat
3. Heave graphics games.
4. HDMI test - I dont have a HDMI based TV

Overall Verdict: A very good buy. I am happy with the purchase. the USP of this tab is Dual Core CPU and the Screen.

I have written this review in a hurry, so please feel free to tell me what other information I need to include.

Special thanks to aniket.cain for helping me which choosing this tablet..

Site reference
SlateDroid- this includes all the info regarding ROM's and fixes.. this site really helped me a lot.

Benchmarks
Quadrant

*i.imgur.com/46C2j.png

Antutu

*i.imgur.com/Qp200.png

Nena Mark 2

*i.imgur.com/LRjEK.png

S

Seems like a nice tab. Got a Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 for my dad this week myself. Now thinking may be should've gone for this? Can you please post some gaming reviews for it? Start with temple run please.

P

RDP TEST Please

I want to know is tabs are worth buying instead of carrying a laptop .

thanks

Good review

.add some benchmarks too.

pankaj. said:
RDP TEST Please

I want to know is tabs are worth buying instead of carrying a laptop .

thanks

will test tonight

Nanducob said:
Good review.add some benchmarks too.

Which all benchmarks do you want me to test??

Congrats buddy. Nice tab.. yesa it has known touch issues. try to install custom Jellybean onto it

Antutu and quadrant.

Sorry but I don't think a "tablet" should EVER overheat. Maybe it's just me.

havoknation said:
Congrats buddy. Nice tab.. yesa it has known touch issues. try to install custom Jellybean onto it

Will install it once a stable release comes out..

Nanducob said:
Antutu and quadrant.

will do that on 15th ..

sharang.d said:
Sorry but I don't think a "tablet" should EVER overheat. Maybe it's just me.

it doesn't overheat.. just a little warm..even my phone used to run hot before a patch fixed it

, AFAIK its a software issue that is causing the heating issue.

P

me too purchased aurora ii from mp4nation @ 142 $. my unit is with 717 firmware. no touch issues till day, got in hands this saturday only. battery backup is also gud.
wht i would like to ask is i dont have ne otg cable. is this otg cable same of s2/note.
where to purchase this otg cable and mini hdmi cable
thnx in advance

P

Hi Rcuber and paradisevikas,

Can you guys try to use any rdp software to remote connect with windows xp or windows 7.

Thank you in advance.

^^ Sorry I forgot about that.. will do it today(sunday)

SunE said:
Seems like a nice tab. Got a Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 for my dad this week myself. Now thinking may be should've gone for this? Can you please post some gaming reviews for it? Start with temple run please.

Why Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 is not good.I am going to buy that.Please tell me.

@RCuber Thanks For This Short Review.I have copied this content to my blog.

@RCuber Thanks For This Short Review.I have copied this content to my blog.See Here- *technologyworm.blogspot.in/2012/08/ainol-novo-7-aurora-ii-short-review.html

Plz,We want benchmarks,see if it can beat the galaxy tab

Hey is Aurora 2 Amlogic 8726-M6 1.5GHz processor better than Elf 2 Amlogic AML8726-MX 1.5Ghz processor? I have ordered a Elf 2, specs are almost the same except the IPS panel.

T

Good short review

thanks and keep up the good work

As asked above please post the benchmark results of Quadrant and Antutu ...also post the result of Nena Mark 2 ..it will be helpful for us to know what does the tablet score in benchmarks

Updated benchmarks.. CPU set in Performance mode.

@SunE, I bought this tablet just as a first Tablet.. its not necessary that it is the best. My real purchase would be a iPad or a Asus/SAmsung Tablet

@pankaj : I forgot to test the RDP.. give me some time.. I hardly get time to use the tablet as its with my dad. will try to get it ASAP.

Nice benches!

D

I was also about to buy Elf 2 , but once I had a look at Google nexus 7 tablet , I couldn't resist myself to purchase it. It has awesome hardware specs with only one negative point that you it doesn't have expandable memory slot. Other than that it beats any tablet in display, processing etc on market : Overclocked Google Nexus 7 scores high on Quadrant Benchmark

^^^ yes.. Nexus 7 as really awesome specs.. may be couple of months later they will release another version with a rear cam and expandable memory.

BTW.. the ROM I have installed masks my tablet as a Nexus 7, this is done so that Market apps (most) can be installed without issue.

P

Hi RCuber

pls pls rdp

Thanks

pankaj. said:
Hi RCuber

pls pls rdp

Thanks

Finally..
installed this 2X Client RDP/Remote Desktop, works flawlessly.

P

Hi Rcuber,

Thank you so much

@Pankaj, I checked it with only RDP and no other software like VNC etc. do note that theme was "Windows Classic" during the RDP session. except that rest are fine.

M

@OP

Did you bought Aurora 2 or Aurora v2...Aurora 2 has dual mali while aurora v2 has single mali and is upgraded version of Aurora 1...

elf vs Aurora : Only difference between elf and aurora of same version is that aurora has IPS screen which is much better than normal screen..

IIRC the device had dual Mali processor. I can confirm this later tonight.

PS: I have a strange feeling that it might not be a dual mali one :-?

E

Guys,

Ainol Aurora II is available @ its official site @ Special Price: $129.90 :-o

, earlier price was $159.90

As well as could anyone confirm what kind of After Sales Service will be provided like who will bear the charges of sending the tab to their SC?

RCuber said:
IIRC the device had dual Mali processor. I can confirm this later tonight.

PS: I have a strange feeling that it might not be a dual mali one

From what I have read:

The Mali400 GPU has one geometry processor (GP) and one to four pixel processors (PP) depending on the chip used. In the case of Aurora II, "Mali400 Dual Core" refers to having one GP and two PPs. At 400MHz, the Mali400 GP pushes out 44Mtri/s, while each PP pushes one pixel every cycle, which turns out to be 400Mx2=800Mpx/s.

elcore said:
Guys,

Ainol Aurora II is available @ its official site @ Special Price: $129.90 , earlier price was $159.90

As well as could anyone confirm what kind of After Sales Service will be provided like who will bear the charges of sending the tab to their SC?

You could go with the Ainol Flame too.

Now, regarding the ASS, I am not sure how that will work. I bought mine from MP4nation, and they sell some Chinese stuff with warranty, like the Brainwavz, Fiio products. The tablet would have to be mailed to them in case there is a hardware failure, in which case they might have it repaired, or replaced. For software issues you have a growing community which helps to iron out all the issues and bugs.

E

aniket.cain said:
From what I have read:

You could go with the Ainol Flame too.

Now, regarding the ASS, I am not sure how that will work. I bought mine from MP4nation, and they sell some Chinese stuff with warranty, like the Brainwavz, Fiio products. The tablet would have to be mailed to them in case there is a hardware failure, in which case they might have it repaired, or replaced. For software issues you have a growing community which helps to iron out all the issues and bugs.

Thanks Aniket.cain

Has anyone had a chance to check out Fronix tablets? they are going to launch AuroraII [not Ainol as they claimed on FB :wink:

] with different configuration like :
Jelly bean 4.1
Rockchip RK3066, 1.6GHz Dual core +4 Gpu ,Mali 400 MP4.
Dual camera,1gb DDR III ram,1024*600 Resolution

Does anyone know about its approx price as its not mentioned on their official website

Since they have not provided the charger, what charger do you use? Does it have USB charging?

6Diablo9 said:
Since they have not provided the charger, what charger do you use? Does it have USB charging?

was that directed to me? Aurora II does come with AC Charger.

RCuber said:
was that directed to me? Aurora II does come with AC Charger.

Oh I thought you were not provided with a Charger. Anyways can you check weather it charges via USB.

6Diablo9 said:
Oh I thought you were not provided with a Charger. Anyways can you check weather it charges via USB.

I mentioned it in the first post as "Travel Adapter"

But I charge it via iPod USB Charger. for the charger one required a universal/UK socket adapter(I lost mine so not using that)

what price can I expect for this tab in Delhi , within October 2012. ? I am planning for a good performance and durable tab within 2 months. Will this be god enough , screen quality and touch response is primary factor.

B

Rishi. said:
what price can I expect for this tab in Delhi , within October 2012. ? I am planning for a good performance and durable tab within 2 months. Will this be god enough , screen quality and touch response is primary factor.

Roughly 9200 from ebay india... The deal breaker is IPS panel,... Else you can also opt for Elf II which has same specs no IPS Panel, resolution same though.... 8200 Rs

It'll be very difficult finding Ainol tabs in India. You can try Ainol India - Sellers of Ainol Novo 7 Tablets in India though.

@bsb1709 the product has to be bought online. there are many ecommerce sites which are selling these. price varies from site to site. The screen/display quality is great, but there is a issue in touch. some apps doesn't respond well to touch, but its not a deal breaker either.

^so is it an issue with the application support , or is it some hardware glitch ?? The IPS panel , 1.5ghz dual arm and 1gb DDR3 is what I am looking for.

^^ I feel its more of a software glitch rather than hardware as some touch apps work flawlessly.

how is the sound output in earphones ?? Specially with IEMs ??

I haven't tested much on earphones, cause my dad uses the tablet. will test it tonight with my Twinwoofers

^Thats great , because I too have TW. Waiting for the results.

^^ any specific songs/video you want me to evaluate?

well , thanks for asking.
If possible , "Someday-Flypsyde" , "FireFlies-Owl Cities" , "Let It go- Linkin Park : Transformers 3 " , "Hush-Fired Up : NFS Most Wanted SoundTrack" .

You can check these sound tracks for the sound quality reproduction in earphones. Since , they sound quite good in my TwinWoofer and N95-2[died yesterday].

Thanks , again.

Audio output is okay, I watched the "High Quality" youtube videos and only Someday and Fireflies sounded good, others were just fine.

A

6Diablo9 said:
It'll be very difficult finding Ainol tabs in India. You can try Ainol India - Sellers of Ainol Novo 7 Tablets in India though.

Hello All,

I was glued on to this post and though of sharing my experience as I have gone through the complete process very recently. The item was delivered to me on 15th September by Ainol India (Ainol India - Sellers of Ainol Novo 7 Tablets in India) and have started to love this wonderful tab- Ainol Aurora II.

Pre-Purchase

I have been using Ainol Tornado from May, 2012 and always wanted to upgrade to dual core processor from Ainol only as they had a great community support. Initially I was confused between Aurora II and ELf II with their almost identical specs. After few days of research on internet and other user reviews I zeroed down to Aurora II. For prices I had compared many international and Chinese websites but the biggest issue was the ASS, although I had a issueless experience with Tornado but still ASS was tickling me somewhere.
The best price from the international website I got was USD 110 but on D-Day when I sat to complete the transaction I realized that it was just a teaser and shipping cost (DHL / Fedex) only comes in the last stage before making the payment, and realized that the price is USD 139 (with sleeve case + screen protector + shipping) - Oops, had to drop the idea at that moment and was back to square one as my calculations of only paying USD 109 went wrong. After a day or two, On my casual browsing I came across this site called (Ainol India - Sellers of Ainol Novo 7 Tablets in India) where the same was selling at Rs. 7990/- shipped + 1 year warranty with service support from Mumbai itself. I was little skeptical initially and decided to call them to confirm, post my discussion with them and little negotiation on OTG and Sleeve, I went for it. I received the item on Saturday, 16th September and have again fallen in love with Ainol.

Purchase

I guess, was a little lucky there and got the item at the price compared to the international website that too without any custom hassles and 'assumingly' - no service issues from this seller in future. I was told that they will take 48 Hrs post the confirmation of the payment and the item was shipped as per the commitment through First Flight and got the item very next day around 6 PM. I liked the overall buying experience and would recommend the seller.
However, I am not sure how the service will be given but even than I would say it was a safe purchase compared to buying from international website where you live in uncertainty.

Post Purcahse
The chinese apps for non Chinese customers are very scary but once that is negotiated and perhaps disabled, it leaves the tablet open for a juicy experience. The resolution is awesome and the tablet itself is very sleek. For Indian users, it would help to know that it readily connects to the Huawei (E1731) Airtel dongle using the OTG cable and what more, if location services are enabled in settings, it can even show your current position on Google maps (perhaps using AGPS) and therefore one can manage basic navigation without needing an external GPS chip. Be sure to take a case for this tab to carry it whereever you want. More reviews will follow once I have an opportunity to download and install a few applications which I plan next weekend. Overall a 5 star experience and my love and trust in Ainol Tablets have doubled.

N

what version of firmware is used please post a link....

RCuber said:
Hey Guys,
I recently purchased a Ainol Novo 7 Aurora II Tablet as a gift for my dad and here is a quick review.

Sorry for Mr. Blurry Cam.. My camera was not with me at the time of writing .. also I promised to post this review by Sunday i.e., today

Price: Varies from site to site.. I bought it from MP4Nation at $149 (Rs. 8583.78) through sale. It came with free FexEx 2 day shipping. But currently MP4Nation had removed the sale and now its priced at $169. there are other sites which offer at $150 range..

Specs picked from MP4 Nation.

Box content.

*i.imgur.com/0vdlQ.jpg

Build Quality and feel:
Completely plastic. but doesn't feel cheap at all. Buttons are fine too. The body is a finger print magnet. The edged and corners are rounded and smooth so its comfortable to hold. I feel its a little heavy.

*i.imgur.com/MpAmi.jpg

Hardware:
Screen: What interested me in this tablet was the screen resolution. it was better than other tablets which I was shortlisting. It used a 7" 1024x600 LG IPS screen.
The text looks crisp and graphics looks quite good. The video quality is also crisp, I was very surprised with the screen and happy too. The viewing angle is excellent, previously when our family used to see some photographs on our laptop we always had to adjust the LCD screen. this is not the case in this tablet. Downside is that I am feeling it has a touch issue not major but it is annoying sometime , I suspect the screen protector which was pre applied, I will get a new screen protector and try..

Storage:
This has 1GB ROM(?) , 1GM RAM, 16GB internal memory (shows 13.2 GB on system) , also there is a slot to insert a MicroSD card up to 32GB.
Android differentiates these storage memory as Internal SD Card and External SD Card.

Processor & GFX:
The tablet feels smooth and very responsive(except for some touch issues as mentioned above). apps load fast; no hiccups ,browsers render pages just fine. Games - well I haven't played any large games (shooters etc), but regular low footprint games play fine.

OS/Software
Out of box the Aurora II comes installed with Android ICS 4.0.3, Flash is present and works on browsers. the first thing you need to do when you buy this tab is to change the firmware.. There are many issues when it comes to Playstore. you wont be able to download much apps. IMDB for example didn't even allow me to download. I found one Firmware thanks to aniket.cain, and it worked perfectly. Play store works and what ever app I tried to install for installed and worked too. some Indian Apps kept crashing which I think is a issue with their own code and not of Aurora's.

Battery Life
I tested it on day two and it gave me 6 Hrs with WIFI on.. mixed usage.. like Browsing, watching videos, games, etc ..

Camera:
No comments.. its there just for the sake of it. 2Mp..

Issues Faced
Touch issues: some times touch doesn't register.. im not sure if its a software problem or a hardware problem or the problem of the screen protector. Touch works perfectly fine is some apps , but some apps its just a annoying.
WIFI: there is known wifi issue where the tablet doesn't pickup the signal at certain distance, there is a Hardware mod/fix for this but I am not gonna do it atleast for some time as two of my WIFI routers cover my house very well..
Software: on Stock firmware many apps say its incompatible with the device and wont even get downloaded from Play store. installing a custom ROM will fix these issue.
Heating issue: People have complained about heating issue on the left side of the tablet.. yes it does have heating issue, but its not uncomfortable. A future software update should fix it.

Things I need to test.
1. Charging time.
2. Video Chat
3. Heave graphics games.
4. HDMI test - I dont have a HDMI based TV

Overall Verdict: A very good buy. I am happy with the purchase. the USP of this tab is Dual Core CPU and the Screen.

I have written this review in a hurry, so please feel free to tell me what other information I need to include.

Special thanks to aniket.cain for helping me which choosing this tablet..

Site reference
SlateDroid- this includes all the info regarding ROM's and fixes.. this site really helped me a lot.

Benchmarks
Quadrant

*i.imgur.com/46C2j.png

Antutu

*i.imgur.com/Qp200.png

Nena Mark 2

*i.imgur.com/LRjEK.png

^ I guess he was on the default 0717 firmware. Anyways, I'd suggest to flash it with CM10 ROM by Christian Troy (find it on SlateDroid). It is a Jelly Bean ROM, and work extremely well (and it is so smooth - Project Butter at work

). It has even taken care of the 20px border issue!!

For Wi-Fi issues, change your Wi-Fi router's Channel to a higher value, so that it does not conflict with your neighbor's wi-fi. I changed mine to Channel 13 from Channel 6, and now the tablet has absolutely no problems with Wi-Fi anywhere in my house.

I havent used the tab for a couple of days, but if my memory is fine(

)then I am using this ROM Double Stuff Custom Rom (Aurora II Unofficial Repacks) - SlateDroid.com

P

How much did you pay for customs duty.

Price: Varies from site to site.. I bought it from MP4Nation at $149 (Rs. 8583.78) through sale. It came with free FexEx 2 day shipping. But currently MP4Nation had removed the sale and now its priced at $169. there are other sites which offer at $150 range..

^^ No Custom Duty.

RCuber said:
I havent used the tab for a couple of days, but if my memory is fine( )then I am using this ROM Double Stuff Custom Rom (Aurora II Unofficial Repacks) - SlateDroid.com

Yes, the one you are using is the most stable ROM currently for this tablet.

Heyy RCuber! I want to purchase a budget HD 10" tablet for this I checked for ainol novo hero tablet. It is costing me around 13k from a new ebay seller.
Is there any better tablet out there for this price range or I should get this?

^^ Cant really tell as I didn't check the recent developments in the 10" tablet segment. maybe create a thread and you will get more help

RCuber said:
^^ Cant really tell as I didn't check the recent developments in the 10" tablet segment. maybe create a thread and you will get more help

*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/buying-advice/168335-need-budget-tablet-great-display-jelly-bean.html

Is your Aurora II supports USB charging?