The top end of the tablet market is a hotly contested corner requiring a lot of investment and research for which only a few can compete. At the lower end though, there's still a lot of interest from people who want quick internet access with streaming video and music on a budget. Enter the Vodafone Smart Tab II with its bullet-proof build quality, 7-inch screen and 2-megapixel camera -- but can it deliver the necessary?

It's available for £29 on a £20 per month contract from Vodafone.

Design
Made by Chinese manufacturer Lenovo, the Smart Tab II is reasonably slim at just under 12mm but weighs a shockingly heavy 420g -- this isn't a comfortable tablet to read ebooks on, especially when you've got the likes of the Nook from Barnes & Noble coming in at over 100g lighter at a similar price point.

It feels solid enough though, with metal surround and a hard plastic backing. The top of the backing slides off to reveal ports for the SIM and micro SD cards.

Features and performance
It's powered by a single-core 1GHz processor backed by 1GB RAM, but the Smart Tab II's rather staid performance still comes as a bit of a letdown. Lag between apps is standard and can occasionally get irritating, especially when you're playing games, with the likes of Blood & Glory proving more frustrating than fun.

It runs on the not-quite-latest 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich version of the Android operating system and aside from its red Vodafone on-screen colour scheme, it's pretty much pure stock Android, with barely any tweaks from the network.

The 7-inch screen has a so-so resolution of 1,024x600 pixels (165 ppi), so less than HD. It's not bad to look at, but there are better out there in this price range and it's a shame there doesn't seem to be any sort of oleophobic coating on it -- it soon greases up from contact with your fingers.

The screen isn't the most sensitive either, often requiring several presses to get the desired results -- something that doesn't happen with the Nook orGoogle's Nexus 7 for instance.

The 2-megapixel camera has autofocus and an LED flash but the quality isn't great and it's really only suitable for the roughest of quick snaps. It might have been more use on the front for video calls rather than the 0.3-megapixel snapper Lenovo actually used.

On the plus side, it's already loaded with Docs To go, so you can create and edit Word, Excel or PowerPoint documents. You also have full access to the now huge supply of apps and games available from Google Play and the battery stood up well enough, delivering a day's worth of regular use.

Conclusion
The Vodafone Smart II isn't bad as such, but it's certainly a disappointment. The screen in particular is a letdown, partly for its relatively low resolution but mostly for its lack of sensitivity. The underpowered processor is a bit of a pain too. Still, if you're on a budget, £20 a month might just be enough to tempt you.