Hands-on with the smaller, less expensive 7-inch Wikipad

<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;" trbidi="on"><div class="copy post-body" dir="ltr" itemprop="text" style="text-align: left;"><div class="image-container" style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Handson with the smaller, less expensive 7inch Wikipad" data-src-height="411" data-src-width="619" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/04/wikipad7inchhedimg.jpg" /></div>When the Wikipad went from 10.1-inches to just 7-inches earlier this year, subsequently cutting its price in half alongside the size reduction, the gaming-centric Android tablet went from riskily priced potential failure to affordable item of interest in one swift move. $500 for a 10.1-inch tablet with a proprietary gaming controller peripheral? With a Tegra 3, no less? That already sounds outdated, and at $500, it sounds outright <i>crazy</i>. Though Wikipad promises a 10.-1-inch version is still in the works, the 7-incher is headed for retail in the coming weeks, with the aforementioned Tegra 3 quad-core SoC, a 1,280 x 800 IPS screen, Jellybean 4.1, and that enormous detachable game controller (<i>12</i> buttons in all!). At last week's Game Developers Conference, we had a chance to check out the latest version of the Wikipad just ahead of its retail launch -- for more on that meeting, join us beyond the break.<br /><div class="post-gallery" style="text-align: left;"><h3 class="title"><b>Wikipad hands-on (7-inch, GDC 2013)</b></h3><br /><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/04/dsc06434_95x95.jpg" /> <img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/04/dsc06398_95x95.jpg" /> <img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/04/dsc06401_95x95.jpg" /> <img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/04/dsc06403_95x95.jpg" /> <img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/04/dsc06404_95x95.jpg" /> <img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/04/dsc06406_95x95.jpg" /> </div>There is no way to not feel awkward holding the Wikipad when its paired to its controller. With the 7-inches of screen real estate, the Wikipad controller has your hands stretched apart by 8-inches or more -- a real issue if you plan on holding the set for longer than a few minutes. Resultantly, juggling between the controller's many buttons has us worried we'd end up accidentally dropping the handheld.<br />The bulky controller attachment pairs up the 7-inch tablet easily via micro USB plug, and the mapping worked fine on the few games we played. While the buttons aren't what we'd call high-quality, they're workable enough to <i>far surpass</i> the virtual button offerings otherwise employed in many mobile games. That is admittedly a low bar to surpass. The change from black to chrome buttons isn't an aesthetic choice we embrace, but it doesn't heavily affect the already cheap look of the controller.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"></div>Wikipad's central thrust -- the 7-inch tablet -- is ... fine? It's a fairly standard 7-inch tablet, from specs to build quality. There's an expandable memory slot for SD cards (up to 64GB, we're told), a single front-facing camera, and the aforementioned 1,280 x 800 IPS screen in the middle (all of which runs Jelly Bean 4.1) -- nothing thrilling, but all the boxes are ticked. The most thrilling aspect of the tablet is its rubberized back with a grippy ridge, meant to both be grabbed and to amplify the device's speakers. We're just glad it won't go sliding off our laps.<br />Based on our brief time with it, the Wikipad is hard to recommend. Both the $250 price and the not-so-exciting set of features are working against it, but we'll give it a full review in the weeks to come.<br /><iframe frameborder="0" height="349" id="viddler-5dc0592f" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="//www.viddler.com/embed/5dc0592f/?f=1&offset=0&autoplay=0&secret=14217561&disablebranding=0&view_secret=14217561" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="545"></iframe> </div></div>

Hands-on with the smaller, less expensive 7-inch Wikipad

When the Wikipad went from 10.1-inches to just 7-inches earlier this year, subsequently cutting its price in half alongside the size reduct...

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