Software, Photographic camera

The Toshiba Encore comes loaded with Windows 8.one, then in that location are no surprises when it comes to the tablet's software. Features such as app snapping and gesture-based multitasking remain extremely useful parts of the Windows ecosystem, especially for power users such every bit myself that enjoy having Twitter open alongside a web browser on an 8-inch brandish.

Windows 8.1 comes with optimizations that enhance the experience on smaller-screened tablets. Many areas of the Os now have functional portrait modes, which is disquisitional for this sort of tablet that is more often than not held in a portrait orientation. Some apps, such as Bing News, are actually better to utilize in portrait than landscape, thanks to the work Microsoft has put in.

The applications available through the Windows Store will however exist an issue for those who aren't too fussed about Windows 8.1'due south powerful feature set. Each calendar month the situation does improve, merely the quality and range of apps available is still noticeably lower than the iOS App Store or Google Play Store. Occasionally I'll detect a actually solid Windows app in the Store, but not about often enough to put the platform on the aforementioned level as its competitors.

The desktop on an 8-inch tablet is something of an oddity. Yes, the x86 Intel Cantlet SoC volition give you access to the same desktop applications that yous use on your laptop or desktop. You can run Adobe Lightroom, you tin launch Steam games, you can edit videos in Sony Vegas, you tin can utilise a desktop browser; simply will y'all? Probably not. The Atom SoC isn't powerful enough to run intensive applications, the screen size is as well limited to be useful, and the touchscreen is likewise imprecise to control apps designed for a keyboard and mouse.

The Encore isn't meant to be your main PC that you apply for everything, but instead a companion to it. With this in mind, the desktop really doesn't fit in.

Toshiba has bundled a few actress applications with the Encore, the most annoying of which is a Norton Security trial that never ceases to notify you when your trial expires. In that location's also an interesting connected photo gallery app chosen NeroKwik and a music streaming service called Rara, although I don't see the point of using these apps over OneDrive and Xbox Music, which are included Microsoft services that offer similar functionality.

Luckily, all of these apps can be uninstalled with relative ease, returning the Encore to a stock Windows 8.1 feel.

Camera

On the back of the Toshiba Encore nosotros discover a Sony IMX175 ane/3.2" CMOS sensor with a resolution of viii-megapixels and an individual pixel size of i.4 µm, paired with an f/ii.2 lens. Interestingly this is the same sensor equally establish on some variants of the Samsung Milky way Southward Iii, which at the time had a pretty keen camera. On the forepart nosotros're looking at an Omnivision OV2722 2-megapixel i/half dozen" sensor, again with 1.four µm pixels. Both cameras are capable of 1080p30 video recording.

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the Encore'south rear camera, although it makes sense considering we're looking at a Sony-made sensor, which are usually very polished products. Images taken in good weather condition are abrupt, vibrant and color authentic, paired with fantastic clarity, detail and dynamic range. Automated controls seem to almost always get the white balance and exposure correct, which is something other cameras of this class struggle with.

Looking at 100% crops reveals pregnant postal service-processing, however photos taken are 3264 x 2448 so downscaling removes most artifacts. Information technology's not like you'll be using this tablet for your everyday photos (at to the lowest degree I hope not), and then 8 megapixels should provide plenty room for pocket-sized amounts of manipulation afterwards the fact.

one.4 µm pixels and an f/2.2 lens are a decent combination for photography in dimmer atmospheric condition, which allows the Encore to take respectable, but not fantastic shots while indoors. I expect a lot of tablet photography will exist in this type of lighting – for instance photographing whiteboards or lecture slides – so it'due south good to see you don't need to worry about mistiness or grain. Of course both blur and grain are a cistron when shooting at night, where the Encore struggles, merely this isn't a critical result.

The Encore comes with a dedicated camera app chosen TruCapture designed specially for photographing printed cloth, whiteboards, notebooks and the like. It supports reflection reduction, automatic cropping and whitening, all aimed at making photos of text easier to read. In my experiences it works well with a little fleck of manipulation in the app afterwards, and then it'due south worth using over the standard camera app in the aforementioned situations.