Since one of her friends purchased a Sony tablet, my half-sister has been wanting a tablet for herself. I remember when we visited the shopping mall, she would say to her father, "I want an iPad!" and then point to a Samsung Galaxy Tab. It's not good to reward bad behaviour, but learning how to use a tablet can have educational benefits and can allow the child to familiarise herself or himself with the latest technology. Not to mention that fact that nothing mutes a loud and reckless child as effectively as a tablet PC.
In my opinion, Apple's main innovation is in its marketing. Their marketing and brand recognition is so strong that many children (and even most uninformed adults) refer to all tablets as iPads, regardless of whether they powered by the Android or Windows operating systems or whether it is made by a company other than Apple, e.g. Samsung, HTC, Sony, Motorola, or even Microsoft. But given that the latest iPad 4 would cost around $600, it just seemed stupid buying an iPad 4 for a child when the child would likely drop, break, or spill food on the device.
My cousin, thinking that she was saving hundreds of dollars by not buying the latest iPad 4, purchased instead an iPad 2 for $400. Given that it is an iPad 2, it has a low-resolution display (NOT the iPad 4's high-resolution 264ppi Retina display) and it only had a measly 0.5 GB RAM and used an ancient and weak 0.8 Ghz single-core A5 CPU. Why would you spend $400 on an iPad 2 with ancient technology when you can spend less than half that much ($180) and get a Kogan Agora 10" Dual-Core Tablet? The Kogan Agora tablet is more than two times cheaper than the iPad 2 yet also has a dual-core processor, has two times more RAM, and has a bigger battery.
That being said, the Kogan Agora 10" is not the best of the best. I would argue that the best tablets out now are the Nexus 7, Nexus 10, iPad 4, and Asus Transformer Prime. But these tablets are generally quite expensive whereas the Kogan Agora 10" is $180 whereas the smaller 8-inch Kogan Agora Dual Core Tablet is only $120. The Kogan Agora 10" also has a respectable 1 GB RAM, which is equal to the amount of RAM in the iPad 4. When I looked at the screen of the Kogan tablet, I noticed that the display was pixellated and blurry compared to the crispness of the iPad 4 and the Nexus 7. Nevertheless, for a $180 tablet, what do you expect? For most people, the low-resolution 132ppi display on the Kogan Agora tablet it is not a huge issue. It is approximately equal to that of the iPad 2. If you want high-resolution on your tablet, you'll need to pay more. The iPad 4 has an impressive pixel density of 264ppi Retina display but will cost you $600. The Google Samsung Nexus 10, however, has an even better pixel density of 300ppi and will cost you $500.
How is the battery? According to Kogan's website, the Agora 10" Dual Core has 8000 mAh. The website does not give the actual battery life of the tablet in hours, and I was not able to test it given the children were playing on it. Nevertheless, the iPad 2 has a 6,944 mAh battery and goes for about 10 hours, whereas the new iPad 4 has a 11,666 mAh battery, which is roughly 70% larger, yet still goes for about 10 hours as well given that the iPad 4 has a high-resolution Retina display and dual-core CPU, it consumed much more power. Given that the Kogan Agora has a dual-core CPU like the iPad 4 but has a low-resolution display like the iPad 2, my rough guess is that battery life will be around 10 hours as well.
I went into the Kogan Agora's browser and also played some Angry Birds to see if the tablet could handle it. It seemed quick and responsive, so it is likely that the dual-core CPU is doing its job. The kids installed various games on the tablet and played them. There seemed to be no issues with performance. The Kogan Agora also runs the latest version of Android, i.e. Jelly Bean, which is supposedly much faster than previous Android versions. All in all, I was impressed. When they carry it around with them, the children keep referring to the tablet as the "iPad," and I keep telling them, "it's a Kogan!" but they don't seem to understand.
Given that I am used to the Nexus 7, what surprised me about the Kogan Agora 10" Dual-Core is that it is quite heavy. Furthermore, even though the Kogan website says the tablet uses USB, the Kogan Agora does not seem to charge with a standard micro-USB charger but has a completely different charging connector, so if you run out of batteries at a friend's house, chances are you will not be able to use his or her charger. I would prefer it if the tablet used micro-USB, but given it's only $180, I'm willing to forgive.
The Kogan Agora 10" Dual-Core has a premium feel to it, even though it is plastic. Although it is heavy, it is thin, black, and sleek. Carrying it around gives off a premium look, that is, until people notice the "Kogan" logo on the back.
If you go to Kogan's Facebook page, you will notice that Ruslan Kogan receives many complaints. Reading his Facebook page, you'd think the man is completely incompetent. But my experience with him (as well as my family's experiences) has mostly been positive. I have purchased a Nexus 7 from him and a car charger. The items took a bit of time to come (maybe a month) but this was fully disclosed on the website and I was happy that it eventually came. Furthermore, Kogan seems to be able to sell goods that are much cheaper than the brick-and-mortar retailers. For example, the Google Asus Nexus 7 sold on his website is cheaper than the same tablet sold directly from Google Play. Kogan also sells a Kogan branded 5" dual-core phablet smartphone for only $150, which is absolutely incredible given most good smartphones from Samsung or Apple cost $600. Kogan may be a controversial figure who has upset many, but there is no question that he delivers for the customer.
Update 9/2/13: I have performed the Antutu benchmark test on the Kogan Dual Core tablet. It received a score of 11505. This is very good.
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