Toshiba AT200 review

The Toshiba AT200 has got the body – its sleek curves, slender build and lightweight shell means that it certainly catches the eye.

As we all know though looks are not everything, what's on the inside counts as well, and we're not sure if the AT200 delivers in this department - especially at £399/£499 (around $635-$800) for the 16GB/32GB versions.

We liked

There's no denying it, the Toshiba AT200 certainly looks the part. We're super impressed with its 7.7mm case and the AT200 won't hurt your arms if you hold it during a movie.

We're also impressed with the number of ports Toshiba has provided, as all too often we see tablets lacking in the connectivity department.

The Toshiba AT200 packs a decent camera, for a tablet, and the 1080p video recording is certainly a bonus – along with some of the bundled apps Toshiba has pre-installed for us.

We disliked

The Toshiba AT200 is still running Android Honeycomb and we're now in the days of Ice Cream Sandwich, which is similar to Honeycomb is many ways, but brings with it a slicker interface and useful additional features such as being able to close apps from the multi-tasking menu.

There's no doubt Ice Cream Sandwich will, when Toshiba finally provides it, give an extra layer of polish to the AT200.

The new iPad has set the bar extremely high when it comes to screen quality and as the AT200 falls into the same price bracket we're disappointed that the screen isn't a bit brighter and more colourful.

It's all very well sticking loads of connectivity ports onto the AT200, but there are no additional cables or headphones in the box, meaning you will have to fork out more money if you want to make use of these.

In a world of mobile computing it's a shame that Toshiba has not included a 3G model, for those of us who like to surf the web on the train to work and stream music in park – especially as the AT200 is so darn portable, it seems like Toshiba has missed an obvious trick.

Verdict

The Toshiba AT200 is a good, solid and portable device, delivering everything you'd expect from an Android tablet. However that's all it delivers - another Android Tablet in an already crowded market.

We can't help thinking that Toshiba has only done half a job with the AT200. It looks great, we love its thin, lightweight and well connected body – but when you get to using it you're not wowed by anything.

Toshiba has made a competitive tablet, a marked improvement on the AT100, and it will certainly give the likes of the Sony Tablet S and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 a run for their money.

However, if you are going to price a tablet inline with the iPad it needs to offer something special, a unique experience... and we just don't get that with the AT200.