The market of Internet tablets got a new device from Japanese Fujitsu. Stylistic Q550 Oak Trail tablet with its 10.1″ touch screen, Intel Atom Z670 single core processor, Windows 7 OS and GMA 600 graphics is positioned as a business high-end tablet.
Design
Being a business-oriented device, Fujitsu Stylistic Q550 Oak Trail looks conservatively in its black-gray plastic body. The assembly is not so impressive as expected for the tablet of this class. When the device is twisted in hands, it is possible to hear how body parts ‘play’ creating squeaking noise. The display is surrounded with a black frame that has inner bezels where a dust is collected during the use. The screen does not glare that is a big advantage for a tablet. But if to press on it with a stylus little harder, it is possible to see conspicuous trace. As a result, in terms of assembly and workmanship Stylistic Q550 is comparable with consumer class of tablets. The hardware controls are also not perfect, they are not clearly felt, not very sensitive in feedback.
The tablet is rather big – 275x192x16.2 mm with the weight of 857 grams with 4 cell battery inside. Lets compare these dimensions with tablet’s competitors. Apple iPad 2 weights only 601 grams and has 8.8 mm in thickness. Motorola Xoom weights 730 grams and Samsung Tab 10.1 – 595 grams.
Display and Camera
Fujitsu Stylistic Q550 features 10.1″ touch screen with resolution of 1280×800 px, 16:10 screen proportions. He screen is company’s own model, FUJ5812 with matted surface. The illumination is provided by LED lights. In general the display leaves good impressions due to contrast image, comfortable lighting and proper sensitivity to touches. The maximum allowed brightness is 399 cd/m2 in the center, with good average value. There are 5 brightness modes, a user is able to choose the one comfortable for his eyes.
The black value is 0.53 cd/m2 that creates excellent contrast ratio (753:1) thanks to excellent background lighting. The picture seems very realistic, with true colours and excellent detalization. Being matt, the display surface doesn’t glare, but it is impossible to use the tablet on the direct sunlight – the image is almost illegible.
Being equipped with IPS, the display features excellent viewing angles. The picture is easily viewed from any side, stays stable on both vertical and horizontal planes.
There are two cameras in Stylistic Q550 tablet. The flipside camera is 1.3 MP, it is intended for shooting photos and videos. Front one that is 0.3 MP is here for video chatting. Chatting in landscape mode will be problematic, as the front camera is placed at the side, near the screen.
Performance
There are two ways of handling Stylistic Q550 – manually or with the help of stylus. When tested, the virtual keyboard showed itself completely unadjusted for fingers. It is much more convenient to type with stylus. By the way, the device has quicker response on stylus than on finger touches. Windows 7 supports multi-touch up to 4 fingers at a time. But the finger controls require improvement. Compared with x86 OS facilities, Windows 7 lacks user-friendliness. Windows 8 that was recently released is much more interesting in this aspect.
A stylus is powered by one AAA battery. It offers precise navigation and data input. There is an integrated mouse button that is comfortable in use, playing a role of a mouse navigator. There is an auto handwriting recognition feature that allows making freehand notes, password input and other things. You can use either a virtual keyboard or handwriting text input. The only shortcoming with stylus is that the table body has no special storage for stylus that is rather bulky. All a user can do is to tie it to the tablet with thin cord. HTC Flyer tablet that also has such a big stylus and no place for it in the tablet body offers a special protective bag in the package with a special room for a tablet.
Stylistic Q550 is the first tablet working on Intel Oak Trail platform. This platform is specifically developed for Internet-tablets and other devices that require maximally thin construction, so the platform works without separate cooling system. Single core processor with Lincroft core has 1.5 GHz frequency and 512 KB L2 cache.
The second major system part is the chipset. SM35 model features Intel GMA 600 graphics, HDMI support, SATA 2, DDR2 memory and HD audio.
Stylistic Q550 shows quick performance with no delays in executing users’ commands. No serious bugs were noticed during practical tests, all provided features are supported by suitable hardware resources, and it seems the manufacturer thoroughly optimized the tablet software for proper work.
Memory is provided by solid state drive (SSD) of two variations – 30 and 62 GBs. Both models are available.
One of the advantages of this tablet is its silent work. Due to the ability to cool the system directly over the case without separate cooling system, Q550 produces no noise when working. The case is heated not more then to 32.6 degrees Celsius when standing idle. The tablet may produce more heat when works more actively. During tests maximal temperature of the case was 35.4 degrees Celsius. Tablets covered with aluminium provide better temperature comfort, compared with plastic Q550 cover.
As for the battery life, the tablet consumes as much energy as a standard netbook. On heavy use with maximal screen brightness one battery charge is enough only for 3.5 hours. In the work mode with WLAN enabled and average load the device will work little more than 6 hours. In the idle mode that implies no WLAN and minimum brightness the battery lifetime is 10.5 hours.
General Impressions
Fujitsu Stylistic Q550 tablet doesn’t leave definite impression. Among the advantages there is powerful operating system, bright IPS display and acceptable energy consumption. The disadvantages are plain and conservative design, not perfect assembly, the lack of optimization for finger touches (in some features).
