O+ Convertible Review

O+ USA is leveling their product line with a new Windows convertible that has a keyboard dock with 500GB HDD. While local competitors already has convertibles and the like under their sleeves, O Plus’ product stands out with its large storage capacity. Here is our review of the O+ Convertible.

Design and Construction

Like any convertibles in the market today, O+ Convertible doesn’t differ in design. It’s a rectangular device that is composed of two main parts, the tablet and the dock. The tablet contains all the paraphernalia needed to make the device work like the processor, memory, battery and display. The dock, on the other hand, has a 500GB HDD for additional storage and the physical keyboard with touchpad. The tablet itself can be used on its own since it has an ample 32GB internal storage to work on.

When the tablet is in landscape orientation, the volume rocker and the physical Start button is situated on the right, along with the micro-HDMI port and microSD slot. Its top has the 3.5mm jack, microphone pinhole, and power/lock button. The bottom of the tablet is where it gets busy. A full-size USB 2.0 and a micro-USB sandwiches the pins that connect the docks interface. Four magnetic latches and two fasteners keeps the dock bonded.

It is worth nothing that unlike some convertibles, the dock doesn’t add battery power, but it gives twice the USB port. Also, the trackpad is irksome to use due to its lack of multi-touch gesture support. You’re better off using the 10-point touchscreen.

Display

Speaking of the display, it features an 11.6-inch TFT LCD with a decent resolution of 1366 × 768 pixels. Viewing angles on both sides are okay but vertical angles are nothing to write about. Despite this, colors are all right, with a hint of bluish tint, plus well suited contrast for every computing. Brightness levels can be an issue especially outdoors. Display quality is no different from any other affordable notebook PCs in the market.

OS, Apps and UI

We have Windows 8.1 with Bing installed, a free version of Windows operating system that has a small catch. It is a bit disappointing to not see Office 360 subscription that comes free with other convertibles. O+ Convertible is bloatware free out of the box, which is a good thing to keeps it fresh and away resource hogs.

Camera and Multimedia

The two 2-megapixel shooter are mediocre at best. There are just suitable for video-calling thanks to its low-quality sensor plus, it hard to frame yourself for chatting, the camera is just not wide enough. Check out the samples below.

[fancygallery id=”215″ album=”258″]

If you are in need of instant video recording, it can go up to 720p with so-so quality. Keep in mind that there’s no autofocus feature and automatic exposure compensation.

In terms of audio, there is a stereo speaker behind the tablet which fires sound backwards. Even high volume levels doesn’t help to make it loud enough. A headphone is recommended when playing media content, just plug it in through the 3.5mm jack on top.

Performance and Battery

With a quad-core Intel Atom processor paired with 2GB of RAM plus the latest Windows 8.1, consumers can expect an up to scratch performance but nothing stellar. Everyday work can be done with a little web browsing effortlessly but once multiple tabs are already open, either Chrome or IE, things tend to choke a bit especially during a video playback. Hence, a user can play a 1080p video smoothly as long as nothing else is eating up its resources.

In our standard battery test which involves 1080p playback with 50% brightness and 0% volume using VLC player, the convertible can last up to 4 hours and 21 minutes. The 6,400mAh battery can be charged via the microUSB port on the tablet or with the DC-in on the dock using the included 40watt charger.

Conclusion

With a 500GB storage placed within its keyboard dock, that is the only thing special about the O+ Convertible. Its shortcomings are a bit hard to accept even for a media consumption, but it is still a capable Windows performer for those who wants a tablet and a portable PC. For Php 15,995, it can a hard sell for those who want a bang for their bucks.

O+ Convertible specifications:
11.6-inch TFT display (1366 × 768 pixels)
1.33GHz quad-core Intel Atom Z3735F CPU
Intel HD Graphics
2GB of RAM
32GB internal storage
500GB HDD (keyboard dock)
Supports up to 128GB microSD card
2-megapixel front camera
2-megapixel rear camera
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth
Micro HDMI port
USB 2.0 and Micro USB 2.0 ports
6400mAh battery
Windows 8.1 with Bing

What we liked about it:

• Generous 500GB HDD storage
• Responsive touchscreen
• Strong dock mechanism

What we didn’t:

• Display has bad vertical viewing angles
• Touchpad doesn’t support multi-touch
• Soft speakers