Our Review of the nabi 2S

Fuhu‘s nabi 2S is a 7″ Android tablet designed for children which comes with a protective bumper with strengthened corners, which is intended to reduce the likelihood of damage to the tablet should it be dropped or knocked. The bumper is only available in red. The tablet runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean as its operating system. The nabi 2S is an upgraded and improved version of the older nabi 2 model.

The internal memory of the tablet is 16 gigabytes (GB) – high for a child’s tablet and better than many adult tablets – and it has 1GB of RAM. There is a micro SD card slot which will take memory card of up to 32GB in size, potentially increasing the maximum storage of the nabi 2S to 48GB. The multi-touch capacitive touch screen has a resolution of 1280×800 pixels. There is one camera, a front-facing one with 2.0 megapixel resolution, stereo speakers, a 3.5mm headphone jack for plugging in external headphones and a built-in microphone. Also built into the tablet are a power button and up/down volume controls.

The nabi 2S comes with WiFi for internet connection, and in addition has Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC – Near Field Communication, a wireless radio communication technology that allows it to communicate at short range with other devices that have that, which will probably be other nabi 2Ss. The tablet has a nabi Connector for connecting it to other devices, such as laptop and desktop computers, rather than a micro USB port. Built into the case are volume and power controls. The processor is quad core and in addition it has a fifth, battery-saver core.

The 2.0 MP camera is at a pretty standard resolution and is sufficient for the photographic and video needs of most children. The 2S comes with a number of pre-loaded apps in both modes, Mommy/Daddy Mode and nabi Mode, with those in the latter mode being suitable for children. The tablet will also play music and videos and with the addition of a memory card, the already fairly sizeable storage capacity of the tablet is increased even more.

Does the nabi 2S have any Parental Controls?

Fooz Kids limits the content that children can visit to approved sites. Parents can add or remove approved sites themselves from the parental dashboard in Mommy/Daddy Mode. The apps available for children in nabi Mode are all hand-selected ones suitable for children. More can be added from other sources in Mommy/Daddy Mode and made available for children in nabi Mode.

Also in the parental dashboard, parents can set daily limits on both individual app and on tablet usage, and create rules for earning more time. The contents of a child’s account can be managed, too. In addition, using the Chore List, parents can set goals – such as chores to complete around the house (“Tidy your room” for example) – by which children can earn nabi Coins.

nabi Konnect is an included suite of instant messaging, photo-sharing and email which is kid friendly and allows parents to both create and manage safe one-to-one connections for their children, between friends and family members.

Does the nabi 2S Have Any Educational Uses?

The Wings Learning System is intended to teach maths, reading and writing, and it adapts to the user, so that a child gets questions appropriate to their abilities, which will help build confidence as well as teach them. There are more than 300,000 questions at a variety of levels, from Pre-K to 6th grade, on the subjects of maths, reading and writing. By using Wings Challenge, children can earn nabi Coins, which can then be spent by them in the Treasure Box for games and other content.

With the N-site, parents can get reports in real time on how their child is progressing, how much time they are spending learning, and what areas there are for improvement. The educational content is aligned to Common Core State Standards (U.S.), and cover key areas and topics that children need to know in order to advance in grade.

Can You Play Games on the nabi 2S?

There are games available from different stores on the nabi 2S, such as Google Play, the Amazon Appstore, although the latter needs installing first, and Treasure Box. However, children do not have access to all of these stores, as some are only available in Mommy/Daddy Mode; in nabi Mode, children only have access to stores containing curated apps. However, desired games (or, indeed, other apps) that are not available in nabi Mode may be purchased by a parent in Mommy/Daddy Mode, and then made available for the child to use in nabi Mode. With all the stores available, there is no shortage of available content to get for the tablet.

Can You Watch Streaming Content on the nabi 2S?

Streaming sites such as Netflix and Lovefilm are large sources of content, both film and television, much of which may be suitable for children. The relevant apps can be added to the tablet in Mommy/Daddy Mode – or, in the case of YouTube, the site itself can be added to the list of approved sites if needed – and then access to the app can be allowed in nabi Mode. To watch streaming content, a WiFi connection will be needed, so this will only work when WiFi is available. Any content that has been physically downloaded to the tablet itself – which will primarily be content from other sites – will not be constrained by a lack of WiFi.

The Chore List, nabi Coins and the Treasure Box

Treasure Box is a kid-safe app-store that can be reached from nabi Mode. Children can purchase content from this store using nabi Coins. nabi Coins themselves are purchased by adults in Mommy/Daddy mode, using real money, so there is no worry about children racking up large credit or debit card bills, as children do not have access to this. Children can earn nabi Coins by doing chores from the Chore List, or by completing lessons.

Summing Up the nabi 2S

The new model nabi 2S is substantially improved over the prior nabi 2. The internal storage is, as mentioned earlier, at 16GB quite substantial for a child’s tablet, and is higher than that of many ordinary tablets. The processor is a quad core with a fifth battery-saver core, making this one of the more powerful tablets around as well, and the screen resolution is also higher than the current resolution of the typical tablet, at 1280×800 pixels.

There are a couple of noticeable disadvantages with the tablet. The camera, whilst it is sufficient for a child’s needs, and comparable to many cameras in children’s tablets, is front facing which does make use of it a bit awkward for taking photos and videos of anything other than the user. A rear facing camera would have been more useful, or the front and rear facing ones common to the majority of the tablets. Replacing the micro USB port with the nabi Connector is also a bit strange, and also means that the tablet won’t be able to use any other micro-USB cables lying around – and given that most electronic devices use them these days, it’s highly likely there will be some. This means that if a spare cable is needed, one will have to be purchased.

Having said that, the nabi 2S is one of the more powerful children’s tablets around, and it certainly has one of the largest memory capacities that can be found in tablets targeting children. Surprisingly, the estimated battery life at 8 hours is also above average, which is normally not the case with more powerful devices. Actual battery life during use will, of course, vary from this figure, depending on how the tablet is being used.

Find out more about Fuhu’s nabi 2S.