Have many of us even heard of the tech company, Lava? Actually an Indian mobile handset maker based in Noida, Delhi NCR, Lava International was born in 2003, and launched the world’s first Intel chip-based smartphone, under the brandname XOLO in 2012. The company has since entered the tablet business, with its latest launching in India, dubbed the Ivory Pop, with some lower-end specs and an even lower price tag.

The company must have pretty darn high hopes for this piece, as it’s promising to provide a “next generation experience” to consumers. This is a little bit of a conflicting statement to whom its target audience is- those who are first time tablet users, “like students and mobile gaming enthusiasts”. So I guess for someone who has never picked up a tablet, this is of course a super new experience? The 7-inch Ivory Pop tablet sports a metal back, a resolution of 1024 x 600 (171 ppi) dual “Twisted Nematic” multi-touch capacitive display. It is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core Intel Atom processor, a.k.a. ‘Sofia 3G-R’, paired with an ARM Mali 450 GPU and 1GB of DDR3 RAM. As far as storage, Lava offers 16GB of onboard storage, with the option of expanding that to 32GB via microSD card slot. It runs Android 5.1 Lollipop, packing dual-SIM slots, and its cameras include a 5 megapixel rear-facing, and a 2 megapixel front-facing.

As for how long the Lava Ivory Pop lasts on one charge, its 3,000mAh battery has an 8 hour testimony, or more less. There is no 4G connectivity, a little bit of a surprise when even most current budget phones have it. It doubles as a phone, but in all honesty, I don’t know many who would want to two-handedly hold a 7-incher up to their cheek. Well, to each thy own.

Lava International Ltd. Head of Tablet and IT Products, Raman Sharma, has noted that with Intel’s particular Chipset, “exceptional multi-media feature, and economical price point, we are confident that Lava Ivory Pop will become a favourite of consumers”. Well that’s a nice thing to say and to hear, but that surely isn’t is how quickly and easily popularity among consumers takes place. Retailing for just Rs 6,299, or $93.00, what we should suspect is the lower-end specs to be accepted and understandable. However, that 1GB of RAM and no 4G are both huge downsides as far as functionality. I am sure the Indian marketplace will take it as a great option for some.