I had been interested in a 7" Android tablet for some time - using the Google Nexus 7 (2012 1st gen) as a sort of benchmark.
I bought a cheap tablet - ICOO D70 Pro II as a kind of try out -
although it did very good benchmarks - and was pretty quick/responsive in usage -
the negatives were -
short battery life (only just over 2 hours usage)
non IPS screen which had fairly poor angles of view.
Since then Google Nexus 7.2 has come out - again putting together some really outstanding specs - fullHD resolution screen 1920x1200 @323ppi and class leading performance with long battery life - all for $229+Tax+Shipping for the 16GB model - that's simply amazing.
For those more earthbound and satisfied with the original 1st gen Nexus 7(2012) performance/specs - there were two offerings both with 1280x800 screens and quad core processors that seem to cover the Nexus 7.1 - but with some nice enhancements.
ASUS MeMO HD 7 (ME173X) (not to be confused with the MeMO pad ME172V the lesser sibling) this seems like the 2012 Nexus 7 with extras like microSD support, and rear camera - battery life is claimed to be 10hours.... $149 for 16GB shipped
Then there is the WalMart exclusive HiSense Sero 7 Pro (again not to be confused with the lesser Sero 7 LT) adds miniHDMI in addition to the Asus extras, rear camera adds LED flash, front camera is also 2MP (vs Asus 1.3MP), - but only 8GB NAND memory (but also has microSD card slot) - $129 from local WalMart +tax......battery life claimed 7 hours for video playing and 10 hours for web.
I risked it and bought one from my local WalMart - purchased with site-to-store from their website and saw a $20 off purchase over $100 sign up for a WalMart credit card at the checkout, did that - so mine cost $129 + tax = $138.09 - $20 = $118.09 - this is cheaper than an equivalent "unknown" Chinese tablet - and although HiSense is not known to me - I at least have the no fuss return policy with WalMart.
I ran some standard benchmarks - they seem very much in line with the reviews out there -
Benchmarks
Antutu

Quadrant Standard

Vellamo HTML5

Vellamo Metal

All the benchmarks were run in Performance Priority Mode -

Antutu using Balanced mode - which under-clocks the CPU to save battery

Device Info -

So that's the essentials out of the way -
the Hisense Sero 7 Pro matches and slightly betters the 1st gen Google Nexus 7.1 (2012) in the standard benchmarks.
Screen
It is 1280x800 and IPS - so it looks great, with great viewing angles - in the same class as the Nexus 7.1 (2012)
the front is glass - but it shows fingerprints easily- this is simply solved with a screen protector, I used matte, which also helps reduce reflections.
Battery Life
Battery standby gets some mixed reviews one claims substantial losses in standby (eg: 33% loss in 24hours) - yet others say good standby, with one review claiming 19 days with 43% remaining!
I have now had 3 full to shutdown cycles (my tablet shuts down at 3% and not 0% battery) -
the first lasted 3 days 7 hours - that is with pretty heavy usage (for me) because of the benchmarks
Benchmarks are heavy users of battery -

with nearly 10 hours Awake, and nearly 7 hours Screen On time.
Second cycle lasted 6 days 20 hours -
first day - standby only drain; second day was light/moderate use (but WiFi was inadvertently left On for 11.5hours); rest of time was my normal usage, e-mail, reading eBooks, general surfing searching, and checking for apps and updates.
The third and most recent cycle - which is really my typical usage -
lasted 8 days 11 hours from Full 100% to Shutdown at 3%

Battery level graph -

Usage Stats -

Estimates based on Usage from Android Tuner -

Android Tuner estimates from this discharge cycle that standby time would be 24d12h, average use 13h26m - these would be slightly lower since the tablet shuts down at 3% instead of 0% - so the figure should be adjusted by 0.97x - therefore standby estimate = 23d18.4h; average use estimate = 13h02m.
These figures look good to me and being able to use the tablet for nearly 8.5 days between charges (for my light/frugal - but typical usage) is pretty darned good.
Updates
Being a lesser known brand what are updates and support like?
Only time will tell - but there was already one system update before I even bought the tablet - OTA (over the air) maintenance update.
Also I got notification of a system update this morning when I turned on WiFi:

Comments
So it would seem if this Hisense Sero 7 Pro at $129 from WalMart is one of the value leaders at the moment - matching and sometimes bettering the 1st gen Google Nexus 7.1 (2012) in performance.
Battery life - my one area of doubt - seems to be actually really good - my last cycle lasting me nearly 8.5 days from full 100% to shutdown @ 3%
--
Vincent
Picasa Web Albums - UnknownVincent
http://UnknownVincent.Shutterfly.com
http://UnknownVT.Shutterfly.com
I bought a cheap tablet - ICOO D70 Pro II as a kind of try out -
although it did very good benchmarks - and was pretty quick/responsive in usage -
the negatives were -
short battery life (only just over 2 hours usage)
non IPS screen which had fairly poor angles of view.
Since then Google Nexus 7.2 has come out - again putting together some really outstanding specs - fullHD resolution screen 1920x1200 @323ppi and class leading performance with long battery life - all for $229+Tax+Shipping for the 16GB model - that's simply amazing.
For those more earthbound and satisfied with the original 1st gen Nexus 7(2012) performance/specs - there were two offerings both with 1280x800 screens and quad core processors that seem to cover the Nexus 7.1 - but with some nice enhancements.
ASUS MeMO HD 7 (ME173X) (not to be confused with the MeMO pad ME172V the lesser sibling) this seems like the 2012 Nexus 7 with extras like microSD support, and rear camera - battery life is claimed to be 10hours.... $149 for 16GB shipped
Then there is the WalMart exclusive HiSense Sero 7 Pro (again not to be confused with the lesser Sero 7 LT) adds miniHDMI in addition to the Asus extras, rear camera adds LED flash, front camera is also 2MP (vs Asus 1.3MP), - but only 8GB NAND memory (but also has microSD card slot) - $129 from local WalMart +tax......battery life claimed 7 hours for video playing and 10 hours for web.
I risked it and bought one from my local WalMart - purchased with site-to-store from their website and saw a $20 off purchase over $100 sign up for a WalMart credit card at the checkout, did that - so mine cost $129 + tax = $138.09 - $20 = $118.09 - this is cheaper than an equivalent "unknown" Chinese tablet - and although HiSense is not known to me - I at least have the no fuss return policy with WalMart.
I ran some standard benchmarks - they seem very much in line with the reviews out there -
Benchmarks
Antutu

Quadrant Standard

Vellamo HTML5

Vellamo Metal

All the benchmarks were run in Performance Priority Mode -

Antutu using Balanced mode - which under-clocks the CPU to save battery

Device Info -

So that's the essentials out of the way -
the Hisense Sero 7 Pro matches and slightly betters the 1st gen Google Nexus 7.1 (2012) in the standard benchmarks.
Screen
It is 1280x800 and IPS - so it looks great, with great viewing angles - in the same class as the Nexus 7.1 (2012)
the front is glass - but it shows fingerprints easily- this is simply solved with a screen protector, I used matte, which also helps reduce reflections.
Battery Life
Battery standby gets some mixed reviews one claims substantial losses in standby (eg: 33% loss in 24hours) - yet others say good standby, with one review claiming 19 days with 43% remaining!
I have now had 3 full to shutdown cycles (my tablet shuts down at 3% and not 0% battery) -
the first lasted 3 days 7 hours - that is with pretty heavy usage (for me) because of the benchmarks
Benchmarks are heavy users of battery -

with nearly 10 hours Awake, and nearly 7 hours Screen On time.
Second cycle lasted 6 days 20 hours -
first day - standby only drain; second day was light/moderate use (but WiFi was inadvertently left On for 11.5hours); rest of time was my normal usage, e-mail, reading eBooks, general surfing searching, and checking for apps and updates.
The third and most recent cycle - which is really my typical usage -
lasted 8 days 11 hours from Full 100% to Shutdown at 3%

Battery level graph -

Usage Stats -

Estimates based on Usage from Android Tuner -

Android Tuner estimates from this discharge cycle that standby time would be 24d12h, average use 13h26m - these would be slightly lower since the tablet shuts down at 3% instead of 0% - so the figure should be adjusted by 0.97x - therefore standby estimate = 23d18.4h; average use estimate = 13h02m.
These figures look good to me and being able to use the tablet for nearly 8.5 days between charges (for my light/frugal - but typical usage) is pretty darned good.
Updates
Being a lesser known brand what are updates and support like?
Only time will tell - but there was already one system update before I even bought the tablet - OTA (over the air) maintenance update.
Also I got notification of a system update this morning when I turned on WiFi:

Comments
So it would seem if this Hisense Sero 7 Pro at $129 from WalMart is one of the value leaders at the moment - matching and sometimes bettering the 1st gen Google Nexus 7.1 (2012) in performance.
Battery life - my one area of doubt - seems to be actually really good - my last cycle lasting me nearly 8.5 days from full 100% to shutdown @ 3%
--
Vincent
Picasa Web Albums - UnknownVincent
http://UnknownVincent.Shutterfly.com
http://UnknownVT.Shutterfly.com