Spice Mi – 720 Review

The war of Tablets is on. Every week you see a new entry in this category. Every manufacturer is trying to get ahead in the race but in the end consumer comes out as winner. The reason is the competition between manufacturer’s which has dropped the tablet price and have made it affordable. Right now you can get a decent tablet at around 15k. When iPad was launched, I wanted to own one. If not, at least one tablet. Last month, HP Touchpad went on fire sale. I was very disappointed as I couldn’t get one. So I started looking for a tablet and I found Spice Mi-720.
Like every gadget, This has it’s pros and cons. But it’s pricing and features makes you forget the cons. This is a very decent tablet priced at Rs 11990/- on Flipkart. It was delivered in 3 days flat. Let’s look at it’s features and accessories.

Package contents:

The package includes one tablet. You’ll have to charge it before you use. Don’t search for the battery. It’s already in the tablet. A two pin DC 5V charger. Three pin charger would have been nice. There is a stereo headset for music and calling purpose. One Micro-USB cable to transfer contents from and to PC. No need to install any software. One leather pouch which was white in color. And lastly, User manual and service center list.
I expected the tablet to come pre-charged. It will just vibrate when you try to switch it on. It takes around 2-2.5 hours to charge. Stereo headset were disappointing. If you are an audiophile then throw the headset into trash and get another one. Maybe the manufacturer’s intention was to provide this for calling purpose only. In that case, it’s fine. The leather pouch, Well.. Who provides a white leather pouch in a country like India? It’ll get dirty quite easy. Tablet fits quite comfortably in the pouch. Flip it and you can use the pouch to dock the tablet. Useful when typing or using maps. It has got magnetic lock to ensure safety of tablet. It’s designed well except one thing that you can’t use the secondary camera for video calling when it’s in pouch.

Features and Performance:

Note: When you boot for first time it will ask you for your gmail ID and password. This account will be attached with the device and cannot be removed unless you reset the device. I suggest creating a new gmail ID just for the device.

This tablet is packed with features. The best part of this tablet is the 7″ Capacitive screen. It’s difficult to find a tablet at this price with capacitive screen. Screen is highly responsive and works smooth. Resolution of screen is 800*480 which is pretty decent. It has got 155MB internal memory with 32GB expandable memory via MicroSD card slot. When checked on Spice Tablet site it says 2GB RAM+ 4GB ROM. This is misleading. One of the things was this 2GB memory which tempted me to buy this tablet. After using 3-4 system information tools, I found that it has 161MB memory. Frankly speaking, I had no problem using apps, Playing games(Mostly Angry Birds), Watching movies.
When it comes to connectivity, This tablet has got everything. 2G, 3G, usb, Wifi, Bluetooth, AGPS what more do you want? You can share the mobile data connection with other devices via usb and WiFi. In other words it can act like WiFi hotspot. I tested this with BSNL 3G and got good speed. I was able to download 6MB file in just a minutes time. I suggest using headset for calling as the speakers are loud. Speakers are good and you can enjoy a movie with that sound. You can watch video (DVD quality) for more than 3 hours. It can play non-stop music for 6 hours via headphones. Battery lasted for about 32 hours while I used it for calling, downloading apps and files, tweeting, Facebook and music.
Next comes Camera. Tablet comes with dual camera so that you can video call or video chat. Front camera is 0.3MP and Back camera is 2MP. Back camera is pretty good at capturing images in daylight but fails indoors and night time due to absence of LED flash. One thing I miss here is the dedicated key for camera. Your finger goes to the power button which is where the camera key should have been. Check the quality of image below. Also check some screenshots of the tablet.

 

Applications:

Now this is where I was disappointed the most. 12k is not so cheap. There should have been some licensed apps. All the apps bundled with tablet are crapware. Yes that’s the word. Crapware. Whats more.. you can’t uninstall them. There is no PDF reader and twitter app. You’ll have to download them from market(Adobe reader and Seesmic). The default browser doesn’t have tabbed browsing. Download Opera. Default video player doesn’t play movies smoothly. Download BSplayer. No app pre-installed for blogging. Download WordPress or Blogger. The default keyboard is no good and doesn’t come with Indian languages. Download Anysoftkeyboard + Devnagari plugin. For those who have not used android, let me tell you one thing. All the apps from market are FREE. But almost all of them display ads. That sucks. Options you are left with, Find app which is ad free or buy the app. One thing I did was to turn off data connection so that my apps are ad free. Here is the list of Crapware bundled with the tablet.

  • Default browser
  • Default movie player
  • Free SMS
  • Free Video
  • Economic Times
  • Hindustan Times
  • ibibo
  • ibibo Farms
  • ibibo browser
  • mGurujee
  • mig33
  • Naukri
  • Reuters
  • SMS Directory
  • Spice gang
  • Sulekha
  • Teenpatti
  • Times of India

Not everyone needs those. They should be optional. Spice should have done some research to bundle the apps. After all, Apps are what makes the hardware useful and productive.

Summary:

Pros:

  • Affordable at Rs 11990/-
  • Capacitive touch screen
  • Awesome connectivity
  • Expandable memory
  • Video calling enabled
  • Good battery life

Cons:

  • Poor bundled apps – Crapwares
  • No LED flash for camera
  • Poor quality headset

Verdict:

Buy it as soon as you find one. This Spice Mi 720 tablet is complete value for money. I’ll give it 8/10 🙂

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63 Comments

  1. Hey there just wanted to give you a quick heads up and let you know a few of the pictures aren’t loading correctly. I’m not sure why
    but I think its a linking issue. I’ve tried it in two different internet browsers and both show the same outcome.

  2. sir.i.brought.this.tab.4.days.back.but.today.all.of.sudden.tab.was.looks.dead.i.charged.through.charger.and.also.tried.through.data.cable.but.problems.remain.the.same.lights.also.does.not.glow.please.any.one.have.solution?

  3. Hi guttu
    have u used it while charging on invertor
    touch doesn’t respond properly
    sometimes it does
    sometimes does in wrong manner
    but when i unplug the charger or charge it on regular power(no invertor)
    it again works good
    wats wrong
    Help plz

  4. Dear Guttu
    After factory reset Flash Player is missing now i am not able to install Flash Player APK , when i installing it it says Application not installed. Some Flash Player APK install but it crash the browser…….no any luck till this time…..please help!!!

  5. Hi Guttu
    Gud morning!

    1. does it have proximity sensor?

    there a problem when phone goes to sleep after a minute or as the time specified
    we need to press the power button to wake
    but a lot of people reporting their power button sinking in
    and i haven’t found solution to this other than (if i have proximity sensor, which can save your power button)
    according to saholic.com it has proximity sensor but i think it doesn’t
    i checked the hardware
    even
    used a software to clarify the point

    tried to find alternate solution (volume key can be used to replace power button)

    but nothing helped

    is there a way?

    like double tapping menu or back key serve the purpose (though i know phone is in sleep state)

    2. Now this one is intresting (not about first topic)

    as we know our tab can’t play hd videos
    but theres an app called vlc direct which connects to laptop/pc (wi-fi) and can play videos from laptop
    intresting thing is
    imagine i can even play 1080p hd videos without stutter
    though it takes about 5 seconds to buffer the video
    i don’t know how this software works
    but
    this is what is think about it

    1. any other player like bs player or something else doesn’t recognise adreno 200 gpu but vlc direct somehow does bcuz tab has 800 MHz processor + about 150mb’s RAM (i remember myself used to work with windows xp using 256 mb RAM ) + GPU which i think isn’t that bad

    2. vlc is converting the video in real time thats why it is taking its time(about 5 seconds) to buffer a video (though bs player and alike software also does but vlc clearly shows it is buffering)
    what makes me think this is that the video quality isn’t that great as it is on my laptop
    but on the other side we know that our tab isn’t that rich when it comes to display (it has 262k colours)

    god i wish it has proximity sensor (fingers crossed)

    looking for your answer

    Nice day…

    1. 1) As far as I know, there is no proximity sensor. I’ll confirm this and let you know.
      2) I am not sure what you are trying to tell about vlc player. The hardware for this tab isn’t enough to play HD videos. Software support for decoding video files is not that great. Some low res files don’t play properly due to this.

  6. Hi

    I bought a new SPICE MI 720 tablet from Saholic 2 days back. It worked fine but today all of a sudden it refuses to even boot. Charging does not seem to work, and looks like the tablet is dead, although I leave it for charge the light does not glow on the tablet. I’m a little worried and not sure how to go about fixing it.

    Any one knows how to fix this issue, It would be great.

    Thanks, Sendil

    1. Check the charger light. Maybe it’s not plugged in properly. Tablet doesn’t come charged and so you’ll have to charge it fully before using. Also try Hard reset if you have installed new apps which might not be compatible.

  7. actually when the phone is on idle mode then this prblm comes….and while browsing its use wifi data…while browsing its work well…only when the phone is in idle mode then only its use 3g data..plz help me…

  8. Hello,Guttu
    i bought this tablet a week ago…nd now facing some prblm…actually this is my first time i am using android…i connected it from wifi but still its using 3g data i dont know why….but after every few minutes i got a message that 30-40 mb used from 3g data…..i tried to stop its 3g then still its using 2g data…please help me out…By this way
    in few days i have to sell my tablet for making payment of my airtel mobile bill 🙂 :)…

  9. guys also share your experience with apps and games

    i tried gangster miami vindiction hd (it stutters, kinda playble)

    mozilla firefox can’t be installed

  10. Hi Guttu
    gud morning

    thanks for the reply

    n

    plz let us know when you get the solution

    to “HW mode failed using SW mode”

    Bye!

  11. Dear Guttu
    I purchased this ta few days ago.
    I would like to know

    1)How to video call to other 3g phone ?
    2)How to d video chat using skype?

    is the front camera of any use ?…i am not able to use it..please help
    …sumeet

    1. Hi Sumeet, Wise decision of buying the tablet.
      1) Right now there is no way to call. Skype did work once but no luck after that.
      2) It doesn’t support skype.

      Use the front camera to take your picture or as a mirror. No use as of now.

  12. Hi Guttu

    help plz

    i bought this tab 3 days back and want to know

    1. how to connect it to pc as there is no pc suite or something?

    2. why can’t i install adobe flash player 11? it says “application not installed”

    3. what is the use of adreno 200 gpu as the video still stutter (using bs player)

    4. when playing video in bs player lite it says “HW mode failed using SW mode” why is it not using adreno when the player itself says it can use hardware capabilities

    Plz answer these (along with solutions, if any)

    Thanks!

    1. Hi Vicky, God questions.
      1) There is no PC suite required. It connects as Mass storage device and you can only copy to SD card.
      2) Tablet doesn’t support Flash player. I am trying to use older version.
      3) Thats because of high quality video. Don’t try to play videos higher than dvd resolution
      4) I am trying to find the solution for the same. I think it’s because of the incompatible drivers.

  13. Thanks Guttu
    I got My SPICE TAB just couple of days ago….Internet access and other features are fantastic on Spice Tab.
    From my Airtel Mobile office connection net access and speed is fantastic…But looks like I am not able to connect to my Wifi..Although the setting shows I am connected to Wifi….. Wifi symbol is also displayed on the desktop….Can you help me on the settings to get Wifi access ..I have NETGEAR Router…On my laptop, wifi connectivity very good
    ……

    Thanks & Regards
    Krish Sammy

  14. Hi Dude…

    Need ur help…gettng a mixed bag review for this tab..can u pls upload video review of this tab….waitin for ur positive response…thnx in advance…..

  15. Thanks for your feedback…..Can i find any free Excel and Word down loads …since its not bundled in the apps…..I use spread sheets, and of course Word Document is a must for the nature of my work.

    Further is there any scope for upgrading the OS in future days.

    Thanks once again for being a helpful guide for first time android users like me.

    Best Regards
    Krish Sammy

    1. You can use Documents To Go for Word and Excel files. Lite version is bundled with the Tablet.
      I doubt Spice will take any effort to update the OS. And Frankly speaking, Froyo is the best OS for tablet. Less cluttered screens keeps you focused.

    1. It is not internal memory. That is the RAM. If you are playing High quality videos, Games then you may have problem. Otherwise it works fine. I use it mostly for Social networking, Notes, Reminder, Casual gaming (Angry Birds, Fruit ninja) and surfing net. I never had performance issues. Unfortunately, You can’t upgrade the RAM. You can upgrade storage upto 32GB via microSD slot.

  16. My Spice Tab Mi 720 is just on its way subsequent to my order placed yesterday.
    Your Review is excellent. livid and educative for first time users like me.

    Have you tried using yahoo video chat, what your feed back..Does it support that…Thanks

  17. hi,

    i have taken spice mi-720 tablet 1 month before…it was working fine…but yesterday when i taken out headset from the tablet…it stucks on headset mode only…….i have done reset and factory reset both many time..but it is still showing in headset mode.now i can’t able to hear music from speaker…….

    can you help me on this problem?
    can i take out battery and put it again?…i didnt tried this….or have to go to service centre….

    1 more,can i upgrade this to latest android version? Thanks

    1. Weird problem. I suggest to visit service center. This looks to be hardware problem.
      You can’t update officially. But if you want to take risks you can try Android ROM’s available though I don’t suggest them if you don’t have experience using them.

  18. Dear Guttu,
    This is a very good review you have written and truly helps novices like me. You have even mentioned what to download to make this tab most effective. This is very helpful. Thank you so much.

    Just three questions, dear friend –
    Can we create, edit and save MS Word files on this?
    Can we save web pages like we do on our laptop and later access them without an internet connection?
    Can we access Internet radio like ‘Live 365’ on this tablet if we have a good 2G connection?

    Please pardon me if the questions sound dumb. I am very new to the Tablet and Android world, and don’t know much about them.

    Thanks in advance for your answers.

    Regards
    Spooky

    1. Sorry for late reply.
      1) Yes. You can create, edit and save MS Word files
      2) I haven’t tried this. I think it’s not possible. If I get a solution I’ll make sure to post it. here
      3) Yes. There are few free apps for internet radio in Android market.

      No question is dumb. Glad you asked the questions.

    1. I have not rooted this. I am experimenting with apps and softwares. But I won’t root it for 3 months at least. Don’t want to take the risk as of now.

  19. I would like to know the tablets which has the exact features like spice mi 720 (Sim support , capacitive , GPS etc) in the range of 10k – 15k

  20. Dear Guttu, pl help me out with a single word answer. I you were me, which one you would have choose? USED(purchased Dec2010) Apple Ipad (1st Gen) with wifi&3G (16GB) at Rs.12K or NEW Spice Mi 720 tab at the price Rs.13K. Thanks in advance.

  21. my mi720 gps got some problem… it says “waiting for location” all the time when i start navigation…. is there any solutions?

    1. Make sure you have turned on ”Use Assisted GPS” and “Use GPS Sattelite”. Also try moving in open area like terrace or open ground. GPS may fail to work in totally remote areas.

  22. @Guttu – Thanks for your reply
    Where is it availble now? im not able to see this in any online shop for rs 11990?
    Im so eager to get this. please do reply

  23. Yo Ninja worked in my tab.

    my friend made his laptop a hotspot, and i tried to access the wifi net from that, but it is not showing the wifi connection made by my friend, is it that i have to change some settings in my tab, if so please let me know, my friends laptop is perfect as other laptops detected that connection.

    1. No changes in settings are reuired on tablet. You just have to turn on Wifi. I was able to access net via BSNL router and was also able to use my tablet as hotspot.

  24. hi i also have a spice mi 720 tab….my tab is unable to perform a factory reset and it gets stuck on android logo screen wen trying to factory reset…r u able to factory reset or boot into recovery mode….plz help on this…..

    1. I had no problem performing factory reset. I did it to change my default email id. If you can’t perform factory reset then try
      1) removing the sd card or the sim card or both.
      2) make sure tablet has enough power. Plug it into charger.
      If both fail then get it to your nearest service center.

  25. Hi,

    are you sure that the RAM is only 161 MB and that there is no possibility of having more RAM?? In that case do you think reliance tab with 512MB RAM is better??

    Have you tried using skype for video calling??

    Have you made any video calls with this??

    I have come across some people having issues installing stuff from market on this as well as using video call.

    1. That’s what Android system Info shows. I have tried skype video call. Tablet doesn’t support it. Haven’t made any video calls. Installing apps is not a problem. I have been trying lots of apps from market. So far Yo Ninja and Brain Genius didn’t work. rest all worked without problem.

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