Review » Skytex Primer Pocket media tablet is on Team Android

I guess it is more or less a given that the iPod touch is the undisputed portable media player, taking over the regular iPod’s reign many years ago. Since the iPod hit the market and catapulted right to the top of the food chain, nothing else released since then by other manufacturers actually managed to dislodge the iPod from its lofty position. That is just the way some of the things are in the world, but perhaps things might change in the future. For the moment, even Skytex’s Primer Pocket media tablet is no match, never mind that it runs off the Android operating system from Google.

The Primer Pocket will be a 4.3″ media tablet that does blur the line between a smartphone and a portable media player. While it is far too small to be considered as a tablet, we don’t think the 4.3″ display on this without cellular capability qualifies it for being a smartphone, either, letting it remain within no man’s land, so to speak. What else can the Primer Pocket hold that might just increase your interest level in it?

You will just have to wait until August 18th arrives as the Primer Pocket will hit store shelves by then, costing you $99 in the process. Sounds like an affordable figure, although this is one case where you do get what you pay for – a 4.3” multi-touch display, wireless 802.11b/g/n connectivity, a built-in G-sensor, as well as Android 2.2 Froyo right out of the box. I’m still stumped as to why there is not Android 2.3 Gingerbread released for this, perhaps Skytex thought it wasn’t necessary to do so.

Hardware specifications of the Primer Pocket include a 4GB internal flash drive, while you can top that up by another 16GB if you decide to throw in a microSD memory card of that capacity. Overall, the Primer Pocket is slim in nature and ought to fit into most pockets. This seems to be a smartphone that has its cellular functions turned off.