Kogan Unveils £119 Android Tablet

An Australian company is looking to take on the tablet big guns such as Apple and Samsung, with a remarkably cheap set of Android tablets from as little as £119.

Kogan.co.uk claims to be able to sell these devices this cheap because it delivers these tablets straight to customers, allowing the company to “cut out all the middlemen, trim the fat, and keep prices extremely low.”

Tablet Specs

So what exactly do we get for these prices? Well, Kogan is offering two Agora tablets, an eight inch model starting at £119 and a 10 inch model that starts at £149 (on pre-order). Both are powered by Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

The company also offers a seven inch model which it launched earlier this year.

According to the company, both the eight inch and 10 inch model come with “bright, 4:3 ratio capacitive touchscreens, revamped lightweight designs, a wealth of input and output options, and will ship direct to customers with a bundled protective pouch.”

Kogan claims that the Agora eight inch device, which offers 480×800 resolution, is the best value Android tablet in the world.

This model has a Cortex A8 1GHz processor, as well as 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage that can be expanded with a microSD card. In addition it comes with built-in Wi-Fi, HDMI video output, and one miniUSB. It also has a 3600mAh battery cell.

It has a media player for videos, photos and music, and it supports 720p HD playback. In addition the tablet offers illuminated soft keys so that users can write emails, and of course there is access to the thousands of apps and games in the Android Market.

Finally it also includes a headphone jack, a microphone, and built in Webcam, so portable video calling via Skype is possible.

The Kogan Agora 10 inch model appears to sport exactly the same features, but with a bigger capacitive touchscreen with 768×1024 resolution. It also has a larger 5500mAh battery.

No Middlemen

The Australian founder and CEO of the company, Ruslan Kogan, said that his business’s ability to design, create, and deliver the tablets meant that it could cut out traditional middlemen, resulting in extremely low prices for British shoppers.

“There’s a lot of hype around tablets and the so-called post-PC era of consumer electronics. It’s difficult to leave your house these days without seeing someone using a tablet,” said Kogan. “But a lot of people are still concerned about the expense of the tablets on the market, and can’t justify spending up to $1,000 (£650) on an entertainment device.”

“We’re now entering the tablet wars in a concerted way and ensuring that we have the best value option,” he said. “The Kogan Agora 7” tablet we launched earlier in the year was a roaring success, selling out multiple production runs within days. But we have had a lot of constructive feedback over the past few months in the Kogan community that have resulted in direct changes to the new range.”

“As a result, we know we’re creating a device that will be loved by anyone wanting to own their own tablet without feeling guilty for forking out an arm and a leg,” Kogan said.

Apple Dig

Kogan took the opportunity to have a dig at Apple’s legal onslaught against its tablet competitors, most notably Samsung and its Galaxy Tab.

“It is true, the Kogan Agora range of tablets does have a screen and a battery,” said Kogan. “Our tablets also happen to look like a tablet. I hope this does not aggravate Apple and cause further legal proceedings.”

Amazon has also sought to undercut most of its tablet rivals with its Kindle Fire tablet, with US prices starting at around the US$200 (£127) mark.