Tesco has announced its new Hudl2 tablet. It's a follow-on to the massively successful first-generation device which Tesco told us has sold 750,000 units since it was launched and is the fastest-selling tablet on Tesco's shelves. Obviously, the company would like to sell lots of Hudl2s as well, so does the new device have what it takes?
Well, from our short hands-on time we'd say that indeed it does. It follows the same likeable formula as before, so there are a choice of bright colours and similarly bright cases. There are eight colours in total, and you can mix the case colour with a different Hudl colour, to get some nice personalisation options. Some of the cases have holes in them too, so the Hudl's colour shows through.
In terms of performance, there is a switch to a 1.8GHz Intel Atom quad-core processor, and 2GB of RAM. Storage on the device is 16GB and is expandable with microSD cards. Again, as with the first Hudl, the second-generation keeps its HDMI output - this is great news because it's rare to find on a tablet and can be great for watching video or playing games. The screen is now full HD too, at 1920x1080, and audio gets a boost too, with Dolby sound optimisation.
There's a 5-megapixel camera on the back of the tablet, and a 1.2-megapixel camera on the front, for video calls and, god forbid, selfies. Tesco uses the Google camera app too, so there is no problem with functionality here, but Android has loads of third-party camera apps should you care to update.
In the hands, the Hudl2 is a great device. It's still light, even though it's now bigger than its predecessor. It has the same solid feeling of the first device, which is impressive considering its bargain-basement retail price.
Android remains largely unchanged, with Tesco saying that it isn't looking to follow Amazon down the route of forking. Instead, Tesco wants to offer useful services to its customers. One of these is its parental controls, which allow you to restrict not only content, but the hours and duration your kids are able to use the device. Tesco says that parents will find this useful because so many children are using the device to do homework and relax with games.
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Tesco was also asked if it had any plans to shut the Blinkbox streaming service after a week of rumours and the closure of Clubcard TV. The answer was "no comment" but Blinkbox remains tightly-integrated with the Hudl, and it seems very silly to kill it off when it's a part of a wider strategy.
The Hudl2 is available next week and will cost £129, or £65 on Clubcard Boost.
