Neocore N1 Tablet Review. The Neocore N1 10.1" (2019 model) appears to closely resemble Neocore's E1 model, which has been out for a number of years now. Don't worry, that's a good thing. Although it's not quite on the same level as the E1 in terms of overall specification, it does share many of the same features. One of those being a real glass screen.
To make up for what the N1 has slightly less of when compared with the E1, the price is slightly lower to reflect the differences. One of the best things about Neocore tablets is how stable they are. They are very reliable and offer superb value for money. Now, on to the quick review. The new Neocore N1 is a strange, mixed bag of tricks, combining some great features with a few that raise an eyebrow or two.
Some of the good features include: Great build quality for the price, snappy Quad Core Processor, GPS, Bluetooth, twin speakers, 1GB RAM, mini HDMI port, Micro USB and an excellent battery life. Android 8 (Go edition - much more efficient for devices running small amounts of RAM) comes pre-installed. This may not be the latest operating system, but it is very stable, fast, and seems to run extremely well with the framework of this device.
It's fairly slick for only having 1GB of RAM. The N1 can hold its own where multi-tasking is concerned, so it makes a good purchase for the day-to-day basics like browsing the Internet, checking emails, Kindle, YouTube, catch up TV and playing games to a certain extent.
Read reviews on the official Neocore website for this model. Or check out the latest E2 model that's just been released here [November 2021]. The specification is better than all previous models.
Just be aware that while it can handle low to medium resource demanding games (it has a Mali- PowerVR GE8300 Graphics Processor), be careful running any overly demanding, power-hungry games, as they will most probably slow the system down and cause some annoyance.
Like the E1 [
Latest E2 model here], the N1 also has the ability to hold a big amount of extra storage space via the SD card slot. The new, now older E1 (
review) can hold up to 512GB [E2 holds 1TB], and the N1 can hold up to 400GB of additional storage space. The back of the device is more sticky / grippy than the usual smooth backed examples. It's been rubberized, meaning the chances of dropping it are lowered considerably.
While the 1024x600 screen is not terrible by any means, being an updated model (2019) it has been kitted out with a nice, sharp IPS display. The older N1's had a rather standard screen resolution, where the quality is still good, but nothing spectacular.
And needless to say, without IPS, viewing the screen from different angles can provide quite poor visibility, with the washing out of colours and definition. Thankfully the 2019 model does have IPS.
Again, a "New" model really should have come with more than 16GB of internal storage space. That's all this model comes with. Thankfully, as mentioned above, it does have the feature to add much more space (up to 400GB). But, because of its minute 16GB, the purchase of a memory card will be needed almost instantly to prevent running out of space (10GB - 11GB free).
This is an extra expense that some people might not be happy to shell out for straight away. Going on current trends, whether the tablet comes with 16GB or 32GB, most people do purchase a memory card when buying their tablet.
So, to some people this might not be that much of a big deal. Like on many tablet devices, the speakers are a bit tinny. This one suffers from the same issue. The camera is listed as HD quality, and it's a damn sight better than the usual grainy camera quality we see on so many devices in this price range. It doesn't really look like true "HD".
Instead it seems very similar to the standard quality we see on devices one or two price jumps above this. Although, make no mistake, it's certainly not better than the average iPhone or Samsung Galaxy, but its good enough to notice a difference from the usual laughable quality we see for this type of money.
Taking the price into account, this mixed bag of some good and some bad is to be expected. There has to be a bit of a compromise in some areas, and it's up to the potential buyer to make the final decision on whether they can do without, or work around certain aspects that may be lacking.
It really depends on what's more important to you. Where reliability is concerned, you're chances of getting sent a faulty product are minimal with Neocore as they have impressive quality control.
If you do happen to receive a product that has a problem Neocore really put the customer first and offer an excellent two-year warranty should anything go wrong. You won't find a better warranty deal anywhere else for this kind of money. An exception is made with the Alba 8 Inch 16GB being sold over at Argos. Most other competing brands only offer 1 year.
Although it should be noted that some customers have claimed the total duration of the warranty does not fully cover the battery, and that the batteries' lifetime is only covered for 6 months. These comments were left some time ago, so that could have changed by now.
If you want a solid, reliable performer for little money, and are prepared to give a pass to the compromises talked about above, the new N1 is an excellent choice for those on a tight budget. Issues with any model are never totally eliminated, but like with the brand Fusion5, problems seem to be much less frequent with Neocore tablets. There is the choice between buying a brand new or refurbished N1. The price difference is minimal, so brand new is the best choice.
