The Dragon Touch K8 Kids is an 8″ children’s tablet from Tablet Express. The tablet has a 1280×800 pixel resolution touchscreen, one with a 178-degree viewing angle that can be easily watched from many angles. The tablet comes with a protective case in yellow and blue. The case has an adjustable stand built into it, allowing hands-free viewing, and this stand can also double as a carrying handle. The case also has an attached stylus, which can be used to draw directly onto the screen.
The K8 Kids is an Android tablet running 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box. Google Play comes pre-installed on the tablet, allowing access to apps, games and other content from the greater Android content ecosystem. The K8 comes with 16 gigabytes (GB) of internal memory and a memory card slot that will take memory cards up to 32 GB in size. The K8 has two cameras, one front facing and one rear. The front facing camera has a 2.0 megapixel (MP) resolution and the rear a 5.0 MP resolution.
For wireless communication, the K8 Kids comes with the essential WiFi and it may also come with Bluetooth – this has not been definitely confirmed one way or the other by the manufacturer; a not uncommon situation with Tablet Express. The tablet is stated as being capable of connecting to a Bluetooth keyboard, so the assumption is that it does come with Bluetooth, and purchasers have stated that it does.
The tablet has a single rear-mounted speaker and a micro USB port for connecting to other devices and charging, a built-in microphone and a headphone socket. It also comes with 2 GB of RAM and a quad core processor. The K8 Kids has a battery life of 3 hours.
At 1280×800 pixels the tablet’s resolution is around standard for the size; some tablets will have higher resolution but few if any 8″ tablets will have less. The front facing camera’s resolution is pretty standard these days; few current tablets have either more or less resolution than this. The rear facing camera, at 5 MP, is at the higher end. Such rear camera resolutions are becoming more common in children’s tablets, but many rear cameras still have a significantly lower resolution.
At 16 GB, the internal memory is about standard for a modern child’s tablet; again some have more than this but by now only lower-end or older tablets tend to have less. The memory card slot and ability to take 32 GB cards is also pretty standard. The stated battery life of the tablet, at 3 hours, is fairly poor. Battery life does vary a lot depending on what the tablet is used for, but only 3 hours makes such as an in-car charger essential if the tablet is used whilst on the move.
Does the Dragon Touch K8 Kids Have Any Parental Controls?
Parents will want to ensure that they have control over what their children do online and the K8 Kids does come with parental controls, which are provided through KIDOZ, a third party provider of parental safety to users and manufacturers. Using KIDOZ, parents can block ads and in-app purchases, and they can also set time limits and control downloads and what websites their child can visit.
KIDOZ Mode is COPPA-certified as being child-friendly. In KIDOZ Mode, children do not have access to the K8 Kids’s settings or device data. KIDOZ also adjusts to the individual child.
Can Children Play Games on the Dragon Touch K8 Kids?
Some of the content that comes with the KIDOZ parental controls includes games. These games will have been selected so that they are only appropriate to children. Games can also be installed on the K8 Kids through the Google Play Store, which comes pre-installed on the tablet. There is a lot of content available on Google Play, some free and some paid, so games can definitely be added. Parents should add such content themselves, both because children won’t be allowed to and so that a parent can ensure that their child only plays games that they approve of.
Does the Dragon Touch K8 Kids Have Any Educational Uses?
Educational purposes are frequently cited as being a major reason why parents buy their child a tablet. The K8 is not a purely educational tablet, but it does have some educational uses. KIDOX also includes content, some of which is educational, and are not just parental controls. There are educational and learning apps suitable for children up to 12 years old and the content personalizes to match the child and their abilities.
There are other educational sources too. As well the content that is available through KIDOZ, educational apps can be found on Google Play, some free and others paid, and there are a variety of educational sites on the internet that can be visited.
What is the Included Disney Content on the Dragon Touch K8 Kids?
The K8 Kids comes with some Disney content pre-installed on it. This does not include any films, though. There are 20 ebooks, which a parent can read with their child, and four audio books, which a child can listen to. These ebooks and audios include well-known Disney properties such as Toy Story, Beauty and the Beast, Frozen and Finding Nemo.
Summing Up the Dragon Touch K8 Kids
At 8″, the K8 Kids is a slightly bigger than most tablets designed for children, as 7″ tablets are more common, but not enough larger to be a big negative if size is a concern. The screen resolution is perhaps at the low end of typical for the tablet’s size; it is a more common resolution with 7″ tablets but some 8″ tablets have a slightly higher resolution, due to the larger screen size.
At 16 GB, the internal memory is decent and the RAM is more than on many tablets, with 1 GB still being common. The ability to increase the storage with memory cards is useful for such as user created content, including photos and videos. 32 GB is still standard for the majority of children’s memory cards. The front-facing camera has a fairly typical resolution but that of the rear-facing one is higher than that of many children’s tablets.
The low stated battery life is a larger problem. As with all battery lives, this time does vary depending on how the tablet is used and some uses put more strain on a battery than others, and turning off such as WiFi if it isn’t been used can lengthen battery life. Still, 3 hours is pretty low for any electronics device and does tether the K8 Kids more to power sources than is usual.
One problem with this tablet is not directly related to it but to the manufacturer, as their customer service, and knowledge of the specifications of their own products, can sometimes leave something to be desired. The Dragon Touch K8 Kids is an improvement on the previous Dragon Touch children’s tablets though, and the range does see regular improvements.
Find out more about the Dragon Touch K8 Kids.