Which is Better, the nabi Elev-8 or the Orbo Jr?

The nabi Elev-8 and the Orbo Jr are both tablets designed for children, so how do the two measure up? The Elev-8 is an 8″ tablet whilst the Orbo is the more typical 7″. The resolution of the nabi is higher, at 1280×800 pixels compared to 1024×600 pixels on the Orbo. Each tablet has a protective bumper intended to reduce the chance of damage if the tablet is dropped; that of the Orbo comes in several different colours whilst the nabi only comes in its signature red.

Each tablet is an Android tablet, with the Orbo Jr running 4.1.2 Jelly Bean out of the box and the nabi running the more up to date 5.1 Lollipop. The Elev-8 also comes with the Blue Morpho OS overlay; an overlay of the Android system intended to make the tablet more suitable for children. Both tablets have access to Google Play.

The Orbo Jr only comes with 4 gigabytes (GB) of internal memory – the Elev-8 comes with 32 GB, eight times as much memory. Each will also take memory cards up to 32 GB in size, allowing the available storage to be increased.

Both tablets come with dual speakers, a microphone and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The Orbo has a standard micro USB port whilst the nabi comes with the custom nabi Connector, which requires custom cables to use. Each has two cameras, the Jr has a front facing 1.3 megapixel (MP) camera and a 2.0 MP rear facing one. Those on the nabi are both superior, with a 2.0 MP front facing camera and a 5.0 MP rear facing one.

Each tablet has WiFi but the Elev-8 also comes with Bluetooth and Near Field Communication. The Elev-8 is an octo core processor whilst the Orbo is only a dual core.

The Orbo lacks any parental controls and can be used as a standard Android tablet. The Elev-8 does come with extensive parental controls and can also be used as a standard Android tablet outside of the children’s mode. Third party parental controls of some type will probably need installing on the Orbo.

The Elev-8 is technically superior to the Orbo in almost every way. It has much greater internal memory, a much faster processor, parental controls and higher resolution cameras and touchscreen. It is slightly larger, more expensive and the custom nabi Connector is a nuisance, as it means that a standard micro USB cable cannot be used if there’s a problem, but overall the nabi Elev-8 is a far superior tablet to the Orbo Jr.