Hisense, a company known for making low-cost HDTVs, teamed up with Nvidia on Thursday to unveil a pair of Android tablets. The Sero 7 LT and Sero 7 Pro will be the company's first tablets to feature Google certification and are equipped to compete with tablets like the Google Nexus 7 and Amazon Kindle Fire but priced to undercut both.

The Hisense Sero 7 Pro is the more compelling of the two devices, featuring specs that belie its budget-friendly $149 price tag. This 7-inch tablet comes equipped with a 1280-by-800-pixel IPS LCD, a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor, 1GB RAM, and 8GB of internal storage. The Sero 7 Pro will also run Android 4.2 "Jelly Bean." Sound familiar? It should, since that's essentially identical to Google's own Nexus 7 $223.31 at Amazontablet.

On top of that, the Sero 7 Pro offers microSD card expansion and mini HDMI out for mirroring the device's display onto bigger HDTVs—both of which are missing on the Nexus 7. There's a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera, which one-up the Nexus 7's single 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera. Also onboard are 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, GPS, and even NFC.

The lower-end Hisense Sero 7 LT is less intriguing on paper, but its $99 price tag is sure to garner some attention. Instead of aping the Nexus 7, the Sero 7 LT sets its sights on the Amazon Kindle Fire $199.00 at Amazon. The Sero 7 LT features a 7-inch, 1024-by-600-pixel display, a 1.6GHz dual-core processor, 1GB RAM, and 4GB of internal storage. Like the Pro, the Sero 7 LT will also offer microSD card expansion and mini HDMI out.

There's no rear-facing camera, but the Sero 7 LT will have an 0.3-megapixel front-facing camera. Unfortunately, the Sero 7 LT will be running the slightly older Android 4.1 as opposed to 4.2.

Both tablets offer solid specs at attractive price points, making them compelling alternatives to tablets like the $199 Google Nexus 7 and $149 Amazon Kindle Fire. It's not all about specs, though, as prospective buyers should also keep in mind that the Nexus 7 will always get more timely OS updates, while Kindle Fire owners enjoy Amazon's robust selection of media content and a user-friendly, Amazon-optimized Android interface.

The Hisense Sero 7 LT and Sero 7 Pro will hit retail shelves starting on Friday thanks to a partnership with Walmart. Stay tuned for a full review once we get a chance to fully test this tablet duo.

By: Docmemory
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