Is it a tablet, a radio or the ideal combination of both? That is our first question abour Medion Soundpad P7401 tablet radio. An eye-catching device that will look out of place in many a kitchen, bedroom or study. But, do you also get value for money?
Medion Soundpad P7401 tablet radio
What is the Medion Soundpad P7401 tablet radio exactly? Simply put, it is a radio with a tablet as a display. Or vice versa; a tablet with large speakers and a stand. You can use the tablet, running on Android, like any other tablet but with a better sound. The display has the size of 7-inch and around the screen we see two stereo speakers of 5 watts each back. Summarized the specifications look like this;
- 7-inch ips LCD display
- 1,024 x 600 pixels
- Android 5.1, Lollipop
- Rockchip 3128 quad core processor (1.3 GHz)
- 1,600 mAh Li-Ion battery
- 16 GB of storage
- MicroSD Cardreader (max 32 GB)
- 1 GB of DDR3 RAM
- 2 MP camera
- Stereo speakers (2 x 5 Watt RMS)
- Microphone
- WiFi WLAN IEEE 802.11 b / g / n
- Bluetooth 4.0
- HDMI
- microUSB 2.0
The Medion Soundpad P7401 is for sale via the Medion webshop .
Design
As far as the design is concerned, the Medion Soundpad P7401 tablet radio is, in our opinion, a successful product. The speaker and tablet combined have an oval shape, with a black speaker grill and a black bezel. The stand is silver-colored and ensures that it remains firmly and stably in place. The back has a gray finish, with three buttons on top and at the bottom an HDMI port, a microSD card reader, a USB port and a line-out. There is also a white version available. It must be said that it is all plastic, so no high-end finish.
Installation and use
The commissioning of this device is exactly as you would use any other Android tablet. You start the device, connect to your WiFi network, log in with your Google account and download the apps of your choice. A child can do the laundry, of course. The only thing that differs from a normal tablet is the appearance and the audio quality.
But, the use is not always very comfortable. Although the setup and startup is still reasonably smooth, the tablet is not one of the fastest. Navigating apps and starting apps sometimes takes a while. The tablet is not equipped with the fastest processor and also comes with only 1GB of memory. You also have to deal with Android 5.1, an already older version of Android. The performances are therefore not impressive. Playing a game or running a graphically advanced app is not really possible, but is that the purpose of this speaker? Certainly not.
Incidentally, the speaker can be connected to the power socket as well as working on its own built-in battery. If you use the tablet intensively (watching video, etc.), you can take a maximum of three / four hours. Listen to your music this runs up to a maximum of four / five hours. You can also use the device as a media player for your TV. With the HDMI output you can connect an external screen and you can, for example, view Netflix or YouTube on TV.
The target
There are several scenarios to think about which the Medion Soundpad P7401 tablet radio comes into its own, provided that the use of the tablet is not too intensive. It is a great device as a media player for your desk, you can read comfort recipes on it (a handy recipe app is included) and at the same time listen to some music in the kitchen, you can use it as a network media player with your TV, and is it a fun device to watch a YouTube movie or Netflix series on your bedside table. The latter we were planning as we were looking for a replacement for the clock radio. Unfortunately, this was not a great success because the clock radio app that Medion delivers crashes only and a decent clock radio app for Android (which is compatible with this version) we have not found. But, we did come across another scenario in which the Medion Soundpad P7401 tablet radio was also very handy; as a smart home assistant. We now have so many smart devices in house that need to be operated with an app and we all have our own smartphones for this. One central place to control everything, for example when you do not have a smartphone at hand, was still missing. The Medion Soundpad P7401 offered a solution and was transformed into a hub in no time. However, here too the problem of the somewhat older Android version surfaced. The latest apps are not suitable for this so sometimes it is not possible and sometimes you get an older app.
The goal will be different for everyone, but the downsides of this device probably come to a greater or lesser extent for every purpose. The lesser performance is something you can use when you take it into account (if you know what you are buying), but unfortunately you do not do anything about the older Android version. All in all, we would say that the goal is quite simple; an Android media player that can provide every room with sound and image, plus you can occasionally open your mail, social media or another simple app.
Audio quality
What distinguishes the Medion Soundpad P7401 tablet radio from a normal tablet is of course the design with the speakers on the sides. But, do these speakers really add something and can you fill a small space with it? To immediately fall in with the door; a small space is easy to fill and the audio quality is, considering the price, reasonably good. For 179 euros you can not expect top performances and you actually get what you pay for.
The speakers provide a reasonably good sound, especially when it comes to some background music in the kitchen, the bedroom or in the office. The smaller space – say 4 by 6 – is easy to fill. The midtones are warm and convincing, there is even quite a bit low and the highs are present but not impressive good. A stereo image is missing, but that is not surprising given the distance between the speakers. What is a surprise is that the volume can still be opened quite nicely without much distortion. But, the speaker shows his best side on a normal volume, as background music. For films and series it depends on what you are looking for. An action movie is not recommended if you really want some action in the sound, but dialogues are very easy to understand and an audio track comes forward. So if you stick it to a Homeland-like series, it’s comfortable looking.
Conclusion
All in all, Medion is able to put a great device on the market for 179 euros, especially for those who want the freedom of Android to play media and at the same time look for a better audio quality than the built-in speakers of a smartphone or tablet. The audio quality is pretty good, provided you keep it in background music, movies and series. The design is fun and the speaker can be placed firmly on a worktop or a bedside table. The tablet itself really needs to be seen as a navigation and (static) display because the combination of the processor, the memory and a somewhat older Android version leave the performance a bit to be desired. Whether the Medion Soundpad P7401 tablet radio is highly recommended really depends on what you want to do with the device. Are you not an intensive Android user and do you just want some music to fill a small room, use simple apps, play media from your network or from your smartphone, and watch some videos? Then this device is a great choice for 179 euros.