Before I went out and spent a lot of money on an iPad (already having an older iPhone) I wanted to try android and also wanted to see how little I could spend and still get something decent, so when the Hudl was announced with almost unmolested Jellybean and Google Play store (take note Kindle Fire) I ordered one the day they came out and picked it up from my local store a few days later together with the case/stand, total cost ?134.
First impressions were nice packaging and a general quality feel. There's a screen protector on the Hudl when it when it comes out of the box which is preprinted with directions to the various buttons and sockets. But it could be a bit clearer, meaning that I spent several minutes trying to turn it on by pressing the volume control. Sorting that out led me to a closer look at the buttons. The layout is very similar to the iPhone with a small on/off switch (on the phone it has another function) with a two-way volume control below. The switches on the iPhone are actually bigger, despite the device being about 1/3 of the size of the Hudl. Also they are prouder from the body, meaning they are better defined and easier to find by touch. And finally my Hudl is black. The buttons are also black and so virtually invisible. The body in the iPhone is also black but the buttons are chrome. Aha. This is why Apple has queues for their products.
Another related issue is that because the device has no home button, or other clear feature you can use to orient it (OK there is an almost invisible front facing camera) you never know which way round it is. So you never know which 'corner' has the on/off switch. I've resorted to sticking a small yellow dot from a flowchart on the screen near the switch to save endless groping around.
The screen itself seems fine. I was a bit concerned because a lot of the android devices I had seen like my friend's Samsung Galaxy had horrible bright lairy colours, but this is very clean. It's perhaps not quite as good as the Apple devices but these can seem quite muted, so a good balance. I can't see pixels on the screen unlike my old iPhone 3GS but most of the stuff I on YouTube and iPlayer is much lower res than the screen could manage anyway. Google friendly apps (such as YouTube and Maps) of course work really well.
The Hudl has a pair of small speakers in the back (perhaps one of the reasons its a bit heavier than some) and produces almost decent sound quality - way better than my iPhone (well it is tiny) and I presume iPads. But there is a problem. I can barely get sufficient headphone volume out of it. I cranked the YouTube volume up to max and then went into the system settings and cranked that up to max as well and all done it was just about slightly louder than I would normally use. To check the cans I connected them to the iPhone and there's plenty enough volume there to blow my ears off if I want to. So either I have a faulty unit or the headphone amplifier is just weak. Or there's another android setting I don't know about.
Similar problem with Wi-Fi. My iPhone works in my bedroom connecting to my router which is downstairs - well it is a bit marginal - say 90% of the time it's OK. The Hudl is the other way round - ie it works 10% of the time. Worse, once its given up it won't automatically reconnect, even if you move it right next to the router. You have to go into 'settings' and give it a poke to wake it up.
Overall I am quite pleased with the Hudl and it is a good starter for an android newbie. Assuming there is no cure I can live with the volume issue as even on max it doesn't distort.And I will have to rejig my wi-fi to get a better signal upstairs. In the meantime unless I am near my router I am back to my iPhone as although the screen now looks a bit weeny and low-res at least I can hear it and the wi-fi works.
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