Microsoft and its partner OEMs took their own sweet time for making 8-inch Windows 8 tablets mainstream as the OS is focused more on productivity than on content consumption. However, as consumer demand for compact tablets catches up, both don’t want to miss the bus.

While Microsoft has been trying to make the Windows experience as touch friendly as possible, device makers are bundling keyboards to make small Windows tablets as attractive to tablet users as possible.

With the Stream 8, HP also attempts to offer a compact Windows tablet which is relatively affordable and packs in a number of features including 3G connectivity and GPS. Is the Stream 8 a good buy? We try to find out in our review…

Build & design
HP Stream 8 is a good looking tablet which is also easy to lug around mainly due to its light weight (410gram) body and slim form factor (8.9mm). Made from plastic materials, the tablet features rounded corners and a black coloured, plastic glossy front panel along with a smooth back that sports a matte finish. The front panel is dominated by an 8-inch capacitive IPS touchscreen display with a resolution of 1280x800p.

There’s a capacitive touch Windows Start key at the bottom of the display (in portrait mode) and a 2MP camera lens at the top right. The right edge houses the power button and a volume rocker key while the left edge is barren. The 3.5mm headphone and the micro-USB ports sit at the top edge and two speaker grills are placed at the bottom edge.

The tablet’s removable back cover hides a sealed battery, a sim card slot and a microSD card slot. Overall, we like the build quality and portability of the tablet.

Display
HP Stream 8 sports an 8-inch WVA IPS anti-glare, LED-backlit display with a resolution of 1280×800 pixels. Colours look vivid and viewing angles are good. Text and graphics look crisp and sharp. Black levels were also good.

However, the display is reflective, hampering outdoor use as this issue affected sunlight legibility. Also, it’s a fingerprint magnet. So you’ll often need a cleaning cloth.

The tablet’s touch panel features only 5-point multi-touch control but we did not experience any issues with touch response.

Software

HP Stream 8 comes with Windows 8.1 with Bing, the new iteration of the Windows 8 for small devices. The tablet doesn’t run Windows RT, Microsoft’s tablet optimized OS that doesn’t offer the ability to run legacy Windows desktop apps. Thanks to Windows 8.1, you can run all applications that can be run on a regular Windows PC or notebook, including Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop or Tally.

The latest version of the OS features a search button, ability to pin Modern UI apps to the taskbar, and boot directly to Desktop, among others.

The tablet comes with some pre-installed apps, including Connected Music, HP Support apps, Skype, and Amazon Kindle among other HP apps and casual games. These apps can be easily uninstalled if you don’t require them.

The tablet also offers one year subscription to Microsoft Office 365. The inclusion of Office is a big value-add.

Windows 8.1 offers a number of new features and improvements over Windows 8. You can read more about these here.

Camera
HP Stream 8 features a 5MP rear camera and a 2MP front-facing camera. The cameras are nothing home to talk about but can click average quality shots in both daylight and artificial light.

The rear camera does not come with an LED flash so it’s not possible to click acceptable pictures in low light conditions.

The camera is capable of recoding HD videos, but again the quality was not that great.

The front camera can be used for video conference calls and does a decent job but don’t think about clicking a selfie.

Performance
HP Stream 8 is powered by a 1.8GHz Intel Atom Z3735G quad-core processor (Bay Trail), integrated Intel HD graphics and 1GB DDR3 RAM.

In terms of performance, the tablet is good for moderate use and for web browsing, casual games and multimedia, and for apps like office suites, and simple imaging editors, among others.

We did not encounter any issues while playing casual games like Jetpack Joyride and Angry Birds which we downloaded from the Windows Store.

However, if you open too many tabs and multitask between many apps, it becomes a little sluggish due to the low memory. Graphics-intensive 3D games don’t run smoothly. Having said that, the tablet runs Modern UI apps and games without any hiccups.

HP Stream 8 comes with a 4000mAh battery and offers decent backup. In our tests, it lasted about 6 hours while using Microsoft Word, a picture editor, a music streaming service and playing some YouTube videos, keeping the screen at full brightness. In our video loop test, it lasted about 4 hours.

HP Stream 8 has 32GB storage out of which about 20GB space is available to the user. With the microSD card, storage can be expanded up to 64GB. You can also use a USB on-the-go adapter to connect flash drives and hard disks.

The tablet supports 3G data via a micro-SIM card slot but doesn’t offer voice calling.

HP Universal Keyboard case
We also tested the HP Universal Keyboard case T800 that can be purchased as a bundle with the Stream 8 at Rs 2,990 or separately for use with any tablet at Rs 3,290.

The case has four flexible hooks that let you fit any 7-inch or 8-inch tablet to secure it. The case, when closed, looks like a folio folder that can be lugged easily around.

It also features a detachable magnetic keyboard that can be used across multiple viewing and typing angles. You can also mount the upper fold of the case on the lower one to use your tablet as a mini notebook with the help of the supporting fold.

However, we found the keyboard to be a little cramped and the tactile feedback was not as good as a real laptop keypad. It’s only good as long as you use it for casual tasks like responding to emails or jotting down quick notes at a meeting.

The keyboard has a rechargeable battery that will last you 2-3 days with occasional use and can be charged via any micro-USB charging cable.

Verdict

So should you buy the HP Stream 8? At Rs 16,990, the device is a good mid-range Windows tablet. You can run almost all Windows 8 apps and most legacy Windows apps, so it’s essentially a portable PC. The tablet would certainly appeal to road warriors who need to use Windows apps for work.The wireless keyboard offers an almost PC-like experience.

However, it still lags behind the iPad and Android tablets when it comes to tablet (and touch) optimized apps. Despite Microsoft’s efforts, the Windows Store still doesn’t boast of quality Modern UI apps. Also, legacy apps including Microsoft Office are not built for touch screens and you’ll have a hard time using menus and controls on a small 8-inch screen. If you’re willing to spend a few thousand rupees more, you can get a compact touchscreen Windows laptop.

If you’re looking for a cheaper 8-inch Windows tablet and don’t mind settling for a relatively less premium brand, the other option is the Notion Ink Cain 8 which is priced at Rs 9,990 but comes with 16GB storage.

Source: Times of India