T-Mobile SpringBoard Hands-on

As much as we’d like to say that Huawei is a powerhouse in the Android world, they’re still actually trying to make a good name for themselves in the US market – especially when it comes to the growing tablet category. Already, we’ve seen their presence on numerous occasions with various smartphones like the T-Mobile Comet and AT&T Impulse 4G. This time though, they’re coming to the Honeycomb world with their upcoming T-Mobile SpringBoard.

Right from the start, we're impressed to say the least that Huawei is moving the correct direction with the design of the T-Mobile SpringBoard. For starters, it doesn’t feel cheap at all, which is made obvious by its unibody brushed aluminum body. However, when compared to other recent 7-inch tablets, the SpringBoard is considerably very wide feeling when held by one hand – making it a tad difficult to grasp entirely. Nevertheless, with its balanced weight and solid construction, we’re feeling a bit optimistic about the SpringBoard already.

Much like the 7-inch crew out there, it features a resolution of 1280 x 800, which is the standard fanfare nowadays. Of course, it’s able to produce plenty of distinct details, but it’s a little bit washed out looking with its color production. On paper, you’d suspect that it should run fast with its 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, but we’re surprised to see some lag while navigating around its homescreen – and it’s also evident with a static wallpaper.

Obviously, the unit we checked out isn’t the final retail version, and we’re really hoping that they work out some of the kinks before it comes to market. As much as we’d like to say that it’s going to be priced very competitively, neither Huawei or T-Mobile are budging one bit in announcing pricing or release – though, it’s mentioned to arrive “in time for the holidays.”