T-Mobile SpringBoard Review

Interface:

Running on the T-Mobile SpringBoard is Android 3.2 Honeycomb. This is pretty much a stock version, as there’s no extra user interface layer over top of it, such as what Samsung does with their TouchWiz UX interface. It has the basic 5 home screen layout and a modest assortment of widgets, though T-Mobile does include a few of their MobileLife widgets, which includes a calendar and shopping list.


Response is good on the tablet, as it’s running a 1.2GHz dual-core MSM8X60 processor with the Adreno 220 GPU and 1GB of RAM. There is also 16GB of internal memory, and you can install microSDHC memory cards up to 32GB in size, which would provide plenty of room for your pictures, music, and video collection.


Internet:

The main area where the SpringBoard shines is with its web browser. Thanks to the tablet using T-Mobile’s 4G network, web pages are quick to load, as our PhoneArena.com site was up in 20 seconds. Adobe Flash is also supported, allowing you to view sites as they were intended. Scrolling around is fast and fluid, though we did notice a few stutters when using pinch-to-zoom.

When using the SpeedTest.net app, our download speed averaged around 5 Mbps, and uploads were at 2-3 Mbps. Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n is also on board, as is Bluetooth 2.1+EDR.


Camera:

The camera interface is basic, and only allows for a few adjustments, such as the white balance, color effect, resolution, and zoom level. When pressing on the shutter icon, it takes about 2 seconds for camera to focus before capturing the shot.


Unfortunately, pictures that we took with its 5MP shooter look below average when compared to most other tablets. Outside images have unnatural colors and look murky, which makes them unattractive to view. Inside images share these characteristics and lower-light images appear out-of-focus.

Videos can be recorded at 1280x720p resolution, but the image looks blotchy instead of being clear and sharp, and once again color reproduction is poor.

T-Mobile SpringBoard Sample Video:




Because of this, we really can’t see using the camera or video capture on the SpringBoard despite its low price, considering that the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus with its 3.2MP camera does a bit better here.