Tesco’s Hudl tablet has proved a strong success, with sales of 750,000 units since it was released late last year. Those sales figures have prompted Tesco to follow up with an upgraded version, the Hudl 2, which goes on sale later this month. Let’s have a look at what’s new this time around.
The Hudl 2’s basic design remains unchanged, but the screen has grown and bezels have shrunk – granting the tablet a much more premium look. The display is now 8.3 inches along the diagonal and has a Full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution, with decent colour reproduction and good viewing angles.
The tablet’s body is also thinner, and now comes in eight colours: black, blue, purple, red, aqua, pink, orange and white. The new colours are complemented by a large range of new Hudl 2 accessories, including plenty of Hudl 2 cases in various colours.
Internally we find the most substantive changes. The tablet has a 1.83GHz quad-core Intel Atom processor, backed with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage (plus up to 32GB added via microSD). In terms of optics, we’re looking at a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 1.2-megapixel front-facer.
The software looks surprisingly good too, with the tablet running a near-stock version of Android 4.4. The only differences are a few added apps from Tesco, intended to make shopping their online and offline offerings easier. There are also some child-proofing additions, which allow parents to set limits upon playtime from the tablet’s initial setup procedure.
The Hudl 2 costs £129, but this already budget price point can be lowered by using Clubcard vouchers… every £5 of Clubcard vouchers is worth £10 towards the tablet. If you can pay for the entire thing with Clubcard vouchers, you’re looking at an outlay of just £65 for the tablet, making it by far the strongest tablet for the money. The original Hudl tablet will continue to be sold until stocks are exhausted; the old model will move to a £99 price point.
What do you think of Tesco’s new Hudl? Let us know in the comments below, and stay tuned for specialised cases and other accessories for the tablet in the weeks ahead!