HP Slate 7 HD review

The low cost of the Slate 7 HD doesn't help it overcome its flaws

HP Slate 7 HD review
It's cheap, but is it cheerful?

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Two cameras have been fitted to the HP Slate 7 HD, a 2MP front camera in order to cater for those Oscar-style selfies and for Skype-style video calls, and a 5MP rear sensor to help you film those all-important moments.

This is an area that I can't see being all that important, given that many mobile phones now come with far superior snappers, but it might come in handy to record a party while you're at home.

HP Slate 7 HD Review

The HP Slate 7 HD has front and rear cameras

The camera's positioning was pretty frustrating. Holding the Slate 7 HD in order to take pictures that didn't include at least some portion of my digits felt unnatural.

In terms of the app, the HP Slate HD 7 offers nothing more than the Nexus 7, coming with the same stripped-down app with very few features on offer.

Some may think this is a blessing, as it means the focus is on shooting the photo, but a little more would have been nice.

HP Slate 7 HD Review

The camera's position quickly became an irritation

One problem I found with the camera app is that it decided it wanted to freeze and stop taking photos. Despite rebooting the app, the camera still refused to play ball until I had completely shut down and restarted the Slate 7 HD.

Thankfully, during my time, this was a problem I encountered only once, so I'm chalking it up as a one-off.

The biggest downside to the camera on the Slate 7 HD is how poor it is. It's on a par with the original Nexus 7, meaning that unless you have the right lighting your photos will be washed out.

Low lighting leads to some really poor shots, and taking the camera outside to shoot in bright daylight is nigh-on impossible, as the screen becomes a massive mirror - that's not the forward facing camera, that's your reflection.

HP Slate 7 HD Review

Even with a brightly-coloured subject, the colours still appear a little washed out. Photo is a little too bright, and there is little detail captured in the centre of the flower.

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HP Slate 7 HD Review

The front facing camera produces a clear image that is ideal for taking selfies or for video chat

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HP Slate 7 HD Review

Bright colours are overly bright and there is a lot of glare on camera. Very little detail captured all-round

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HP Slate 7 HD Review

A well lit scene really helps, and the 2.9x digital zoom works well enough, although there is still little detail captured in darker areas

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