A tablet that can get online anywhere
EE is a mobile network, and the reason it wants to sell you a tablet at a reasonable price is to get you to spend more on a data tariff. Most people buy a tablet with Wi-Fi only, for when you’re at home or near a hotspot. But if you want to get online almost anywhere, the Harrier Tab connects to EE’s 3G/4G network.
You can buy it for just £30 if you sign up for a two-year contract, at £16 a month for 2GB of data or £18 for 10GB. With 10GB a month, you could watch BBC iPlayer for a couple of hours a day, although downloading HD movies from Google Play would gobble up data at a much faster rate. If you only need occasional mobile access for basic tasks like email, pay-as-you-go would make more sense. That means paying £200 up front then £10 per 2GB.
Either way, the Harrier Tab comes locked to EE. But it only costs £8.99 to unlock it for use on other networks, and on pay-as-you-go you can do this at any time. On contract, you have to wait until your 24 months are up.
So much for payment options, but what’s the Harrier Tab like? The brushed metal effect doesn’t disguise its plastic case. At 8in, its screen is a similar size to the iPad mini, with the same narrow bezel at each side, though its widescreen format makes it longer. It’s also slightly lighter. The screen isn’t particularly sharp or vibrant, but better than the Tab Prime 6 – Vodafone’s attempt at a similar device. The 8-megapixel camera is weak, giving dingy, purplish pictures.
Android 5.1 (Lollipop) runs smoothly on the Harrier Tab, although it’s not quite as powerful as the Nexus 9 or even the Tesco Hudl 2, which costs half as much. Complicated websites can make it judder, but basic games run well. Only about 10GB of the built-in 16GB of storage is available for your own stuff, but there’s a microSD card slot so you can add more quite cheaply. The battery lasted a reasonable 10 hours of video-watching.
If you only need Wi-Fi, Google’s bigger Nexus 9 is a better tablet for about the same price. You could also get the slightly smaller Asus MeMO Pad 7 for at least £50 less, or the much more advanced Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 for £50 more. But if mobile data appeals, and especially if you need a high data contract, the Harrier Tab is a decent buy.
VERDICT
Not the best-value tablet around overall, but a good deal if you need mobile data.
SPECIFICATIONS
1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 eight-core processor • 16GB flash storage • 8in 1920x1080-pixel touchscreen • 8-megapixel rear camera • 2-megapixel webcam • MicroSD card slot • 802.11n Wi-Fi • 3G/4G • Android 5.1 (Lollipop) • 213x124x8.5mm (HxWxD) • 338g • One-year warranty