Tesco

Tesco's Hudl tablet has undergone a complete makeover and has emerged as the thinner, lighter and larger Hudl 2.

The original tablet launched last year at a very low price point and has sold 750,000 units since launch. It was Tesco's fastest selling tablet ever, which even took the retailer itself by surprise. It's now hoping to replicate that success by offering a much-improved device at a similarly attractive price.


Tesco says the Hudl 2 is optimised for entertainment thanks to a 1.83 GHz quad-core Intel Atom processor, which makes it three times faster than the original Hudl. Intel has been working directly with Tesco on this latest version of the tablet, and despite the superior chip technology inside it, Tesco has still managed to keep the price down.

Katie Collins

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It hasn't compromised on build quality either -- the colourful tablets have a slim shell that curves all the way around the sides to meet the edges of the screen. The soft-touch plastic makes it a pleasure to hold and on the rear are two Dolby speakers with oversized grille holes that complement the playful yet premium look of the tablet.

In our brief hands-on time with the Hudl 2 we checked out the most recent Hobbit trailer and had a quick play on Asphalt 8. We're pleased to report that the 8.3-inch screen with a resolution of 1920x1200 pixels -- that's Full HD -- was clear, crisp and bright and the graphics rendering seemed spot on. Tesco claims the Hudl 2's cameras are also much improved -- one of our gripes with the original tablet. On the rear is a 5-megapixel snapper, and it has a 1.2-megapixel counterpart on the front, both of which we look forward to putting to the test in our full review.

Katie Collins

Like other retailer-branded tablets, such as the Kindle Fire, the Hudl is designed to make it as simple as possible for Tesco customers to use its own services. On the left-hand homescreen, which ever since the advent of HTC's Blinkfeed has been dominated by manufacturer-built software -- usually in the form of news aggregation service -- is a rolling collection of widgets that users can scroll down through in order to access everything from Blinkbox to finding out when their next grocery delivery is due.


Unlike Amazon, which uses its own Android-compatible software called Fire OS, Tesco has not chosen to fiddle with the software too much. You get a pretty standard Android 4.4.2 on-board, just with the addition of some carefully researched consumer services that Tesco believes its customers may appreciate having access to.

Many original Hudls were bought by parents for children or to share with their children, and as such Tesco has pre-installed an app that manages profiles for up to seven different users. It can also put a time limit on use for each profile, meaning that you can limit the amount of time each of your children spends using the device.

The Hudl 2 goes on sale in a range of eight jaunty colours with a range of accessories for £129 on 9 October. Tesco Clubcard holders may be able to purchase the tablet for as little as £65 using Clubcard Boost -- a downright bargain.