Kogan Agora Mini 3G Hands-On: Your Mum’s New Tablet

We’ve all been there. Your parents will ask you that question you always dread getting at parties and out at the pub: “which tablet should I buy?”. Honestly, this new Kogan tablet should be high on your recommendation list.

Announced at CES this morning, the tablet is packing a quad-core 1.2GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage (expandable to another 32GB via a microSD card) and a 4500mAh battery.

Rather than stick with an all-plastic construction, the back of the device is all aluminium, which makes the tablet feel better all round despite adding a bit of extra weight.

The new Kogan tablet is also the first in the Agora line-up to include a 3G SIM slot. Sadly, Kogan won’t be packing SIM cards in with purchase. We all know how that ended up last time.

The screen is still slightly low-res, but it’s better than other Kogan tablets we’ve seen in the past.

You won’t notice any lag from the 1.2GHz quad-core processor though. It’s fast and pre-loaded with a bunch of entertainment apps like Flixster for example.

Unfortunately, it runs Android 4.2.2 which is disappointing considering that other manufacturers are releasing tablets with Android 4.4 Kit Kat, but at $199, we’re not complaining too loudly. On the plus side, the ROM is stock out of the box, however, which means you won’t be wrestling with crappy skins all day.

The only other downside we can find is that it’s crazy heavy. That’s probably due to the new aluminium panels on the back of the tablet weighing it down. For a 3G tablet, portability is a big deal. You don’t want something that’s meant to be small and portable weighing down your bag as you travel.

The new Agora Mini sells for $199 on Kogan’s website. Shipping kicks off from early-March.

As per usual, it’s great value with a whole lot of power under the hood. It should definitely be on the list as a tablet you recommend to your parents for something simple and usable.


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