Lenovo is keeping its foot in the Android tablet market, even with their plans to release multiple Chromebooks this summer. The FCC recently approved two previously unknown Lenovo tabs, the A7600 and the A5500, but they still remain an enigma to us. Not much information is currently available about these devices, except that they are also approved in China. The A5500 is expected to sport an 8 inch, 800 x 1280 IPS display and uses a 1.3GHz MediaTek processor. It also, for you sound lovers out there, uses Dolby Mobile sound. It will also have an 8MP primary camera, and will ship with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. The A7600 looks to have the same display size as the A5500, but the higher model number implies that there is something different about it. Hopefully, it means that we will be getting either higher resolution, a more powerful processor, or maybe even a better camera. The only thing confirmed for the A7600 is that it runs on Android. Outside of that, it is all speculation. Personally, I want to see more tablets released with at least Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. I’m not sure why Lenovo is sticking with 4.2.2, but they should focus on getting more up to date. It is clear that they are looking to produce budget tablets, but they should put in the minimal internals in order to keep them eligible to receive updates for at least the near future.
The US versions of these tablets are only going to have Wi-Fi as a connectivity option, while the Chinese variant will have 3G cellular connectivity and can make voice phone calls. I’m not sure as to why an 8 inch tablet would need the ability to make telephone calls, but as the line between phone and tablet blurs even more, we can expect to see peopleholding massive slates up to their face quite more often. The release date for these tablets is currently unknown, but it is expected to be announced soon. Typically, the trend is that once we hear FCC confirmation of a device, the release date will be just around the corner. With budget specs like this, the sooner the better for Lenovo. With the advancement of mobile tech going as quickly as it is, even the more powerful devices of Q4 2013 are becoming obsolete. Hopefully, this means that ‘budget’ devices will get more and more powerful, thus giving more people the beauty of the Android experience. What do you think? Are you going to pick one of these up? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!