Although it must be said, both the E1 [Info] and N1's review scores have started to fall over the past year, going from almost five stars on Amazon to just over four, so the timing was right for a new release.
The new version is basically a revamped E1. That's a good thing, as the E1 is / was a capable tablet. But the new and improved E2 has had some significant upgrades.
E2 Improvements
In a nutshell those are - a more powerful Quad-Core Processor, extra TF card space (now sitting at being able to handle up to 1000GB), higher resolution Full HD screen, higher quality back camera, slightly longer battery duration, stronger WiFi and an aluminium rear housing. The rest is practically the same as the E1. Same RAM @ 3 Gigabytes and an equal 32GB built-in storage as standard. Next: Review Video.
Neocore E2 Specification Run Down
- Android 10 OS
- 10.1" HD Display
- MediaTek Quad Core Processor [2Ghz]
- 32GB built in storage
- 3GB RAM
- Dual Band WiFi
- Micro SD slot (max 1000GB)
- Front + Rear Cameras
- Twin Stereo Speakers
- Headphone Connection
- HDMI
- Bluetooth
- GPS
- 7000mAh battery
- 2-year Warranty
2K Screen?
Neocore claim their new screen resolution is 2K, but technically this isn't correct. 2K must be, at minimum, 2000 pixels in width [horizontally]. The E2 falls a little short of that at 1920x1200. Still a very good screen though. But more like 1200p, not 2K.
Upgrades That Should Have Been In The E2
Neocore really should have bit the bullet with the E2, by not adding a bigger SD storage, as 512GB is enough, but instead they should have evened up the amount of RAM to 4GB. 3GB is a strange amount really. While 3GB is still an odd but good amount, 4GB RAM is what the the best sellers in this price category now have, unless they're called Samsung, Lenovo or Huawei.
Verdict
All in all the E2 is well kitted out in virtually every department, and will serve most people well regardless of whether they are buying it for general everyday use, for light to medium gaming, or as a device soley used for media related activities thanks to it's upgraded WiFi for smoother, faster online streaming, and huge SD capacity for storing an entire library of films to watch on the go.
July 2022 Update
A quick update. Overall, all models of Neocore tablet seem to have been on the receiving end of some fairly bad review feedback. Now, all models, that were hovering around the 4.8 out of five stars on Amazon are all now more closer to a solid 4 out of 5 stars. The E2 is no exception.
Couple that with the ratio of reviews, and E2 not really having that many when compared to the other models, it's clear to see that the future review score doesn't appear to be heading in the right direction for the new E2. What are the reasons. Is it more choice / competition, more expectancy from buyers, or just lapses in quality control that result in batches of devices that end up with faults more quickly. I don't know for sure. Who knows, feedback might start to improve as time goes by.
However, looking through some of the reviews, of both the latest model [E2] and previous models, the main areas of complaint are no doubt with performance issues. Slow / laggy performance, incompatibility with apps and other devices, and overall lack of quality. Add to that, there are a concerning amount of complaints regarding the support, or lack of it. I've read many instances of Neocore just outright ignoring buyers who have had problems with their device and want to return it.
In terms of performance issues, I think one of the main issues here is that most buyers purchased a Neocore tablet because of their marketing slogan, which is something like a "great British brand". From review comments, those buyers thought they were buying a British made tablet, and more than likely thought it would be much more reliable than something Made in Asia somewhere on the cheap.
But the truth is, regardless of where a tablet brand claims to be "made" / put together, open up any tablet, regardless of brand (Samsung, Lenovo, Huawei, Neocore, and even Apple), and I would bet you significant money that practically every major component in that tablet was made somewhere in Asia [Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, China etc]. From the processor to the RAM, the motherboard and everything else.
Reality is, almost everything that goes into a tablet these days is made somewhere in Asia. So what is so "British" about Neocore if everything inside it is made in Asia. Is it the outer plastics? It's possible, but I don't think so, as that would mean that Neocore would have to order tablet components separately and then build the tablets in the UK somewhere.
That's a big stretch as its very time consuming and not very cost effective. No. In all honesty I would say the whole process of manufacture / building the tablets is all done in Asia somewhere, and then shipped to the UK.
What else is so "British" then. Not sure how British that makes anything. Neocore would never be able to sell tablets at the price they do and still make a healthy profit if they didn't, at the very least, source all internal components from Asia. They would not be able to compete with practically every other company / tablet brand that does this, because they all do.
In fact, so much electrical manufacturing has been outsourced to Asia, that I find it very hard to believe that any of the building process for any Neocore tablet is completed in the UK. If it is, and they are happy to show proof, I would be more than willing to accept an invite to their facility where all these "British" computers are made and inspect the internal components for their level of "Britishness" [tracking all serial numbers + reading product supplier documentation] and oversee the building process of each device. I would video the whole process of course so I can show all my visitors.
And it would be a great selling point for Neocore. To have someone actually confirm, with video proof, that what they sell really is totally British. I suspect I'll be waiting a long time for that invite. Anyway, I just wanted to clear that up for anyone who thought they were buying something that was truly British. My opinion. It's just a marketing tactic. Playing on the patriotism of the English. And by the looks of their selling figures, it's worked well over the years.
Quick little update. On
the back of the new E2 it says - "Designed and Engineered in London,
United Kingdom". Designed. What does that really mean. A design /
prototype sketch was made up in the UK and then sent to manufacturers in
Asia. Not sure how much relevance that has to anything. I mean, it's
just a very generic, run of the mill tablet, that looks the same as
practically every other cheap tablet. Give or take the possibility of a different button or camera location here or there, I can't see any significant differences in design from the rest of the budget models currently out there for sale. They're all basically the same.
