Tablet Comparison: nabi Elev-8 vs Kurio 7S

The nabi Elev-8 and the Kurio 7S are both tablets designed for children, so what are the differences between the two? The first difference is size; the Elev-8 is an 8″ tablet whilst the 7S has the more typical 7″ screen. The resolution of the nabi’s touchscreen is higher; 1280×800 pixels compared to the Kurio’s 1024×600. Both have a removable protective bumper intended to reduce the likelihood of damage if the tablet is dropped; that of the 7S is available in several colours whilst the nabi only comes in the company’s signature red.

Both tablets are Android tablets with access to Google Play and the full Android content ecosystem The Kurio runs 4.2 Jelly Bean out of the box whilst the Elev-8 runs the more up-to-date 5.1 Lollipop. The nabi tablet also comes with nabi’s Blue Morpho OS overlay, an addition to the Android operating system that comes with over 400 kid-friendly features including the Wings Learning System.

The Kurio tablet comes with a fairly typical 8 gigabytes (GB) of internal memory whilst the nabi comes with a very unusual, in a children’s tablet, 32 GB of memory, four times as much. Each does come with a memory card slot which allow the available storage to be expanded using microSD cards up to 32 GB in size. The Kurio has a dual core processor whilst the Elev-8 has an octo core.

Both tablets come with twin speakers, a headphone jack and an integral microphone. The 7S has a standard micro USB connector for charging and connecting to other devices whilst the Elev-8 comes with the non-standard nabi Connector port instead – inconvenient if a cable breaks, as it requires the purchase of a custom cable. Both tablets naturally come with WiFi but the nabi also comes with the less common Bluetooth and the highly unusual Near Field Communication.

Both tablets have front and rear facing cameras but those on the Elev-8 are far superior. It has a 2.0 megapixel (MP) front facing camera and a 5.0 MP rear facing one, compared to 0.3 MP and 2.0 MP respectively on the 7S.

Both tablets come with custom parental controls, Kurio providing those on the 7S and nabi those on the Elev-8.

Technically, the Elev-8 is superior to the 7S in almost every way. It has a faster processor, far more internal memory, a better screen resolution and better camera resolution. The battery life on the nabi tablet is also improved over the standard. The biggest drawback for the nabi is the use of nabi’s custom port rather than a standard micro USB connector. The size may or may not be a consideration; the Elev-8 is larger but not that much larger than the 7S. Overall, the nabi Elev-8 is a far more technically superior and up to date tablet.