Insignia™ - Flex - 8" - 16GB - Silver/White

I have owned my Insignia Flex 8 Android Tablet about two months. It is an easy-to-use, basic Android tablet. Color resolution and clarity are very good. Sound quality is not Bose/Bang-Olafsen level but it is somewhat better than average for a tablet (use with a Bluetooth speaker for greater listening pleasure). Screen loads are reasonably fast for standard use but may not be considered impressive by serious gamers. Users of all ages should find this tablet is great and reliable for general use. I bought this as a replacement when my original tablet finally stopped working and I have been very satisfied with my purchase. What I didn't anticipate was how convenient it would be to have my tablet syncing with my smartphone (my previous tablet was not Android). It made setup of the Insignia much easier as most of the apps on my phone were added to the tablet in moments. Synchronizing of my calendar is quick and easy, also. The only reason I give this 4 out of 5 stars is that it is not a large storage/muscle tablet that I would use as my primary computer. That said, I did not buy it for use as my all-around computer. If it were possible to award half stars, I would add a half star (or even 3/4 star) to give it a higher rating.

I purchased two Insignia tablets and within one month the charger wouldn't stay in and the tablet wouldn't hold a charge even when the cord was held in place. The tablet was slow and didn't work well.

Considering I have several tablets, Samsung and some high end ones. I knew not to expect anything grand from this tablet. When it's on sale for $80 or so its very worth the money, normal $100 price its not bad. This is a great tablet for simple things, watching movies, playing games etc and that's exactly why I bought it. Also to have extra storage or whatever you need. IF you need high performing results, don't expect it. The battery life when Wifi is on + combined while playing say, clash of clans will drain the battery in a matter of 2 hours if not less. Its a power hog. So my use is, keep it at home, use wifi in short periods and mostly have stuff downloaded on it to play games or watch videos etc. Sometimes the wifi is iffy, it's not that it loses connection, it's more or less that is seems to have trouble with data transfer on certain games (buffering, lagging etc). So get it on sale for $80 or so, and expect an average tablet that will do a lot of basic things and most medium tasks. But if you want crisp graphics/video, long lasting battery you should invest in a $300 tablet.

I bought 2 of these for a great price for my twins. The tablets have a lot of space, which allows more room for game apps. The 8 inch screen is larger than average tablets or kid tablets. So they love the tablets. However, there is a down side to the product. With the Insignia, we found that once you switch to a new game, the old game is still running in the background. This eats up the charge, draining the battery quickly and pretty soon the tablet can't hold a charge like it first did. I constantly go into the tablets to manually close down open apps. My son's tablet seems to drain from 100% to 0 within an hour these days. Now, my kids are sitting by an outlet so they can maintain a charge while playing. I had to replace one tablet after a month and it appears I may have to replace the other one soon. Fortunately, the warranty allows us to get a new one with no questions asked. I'll keep it going but just wanted to forewarn you if you do purchase the tablet.

OK, I admit that I didn't buy the phone I went to Best Buy to purchase because it wasn't in stock so I just started looking at other things. My grand children all have and love their tablets. This Insignia brand happened to be on sale and, since it was a color other than black or gray, it attracted me. We have 2 insignia brand television sets and have had other insignia products in the past so I find it to be a worthy brand name. Another customer, waiting for someone who was engaging the salesman was actually the person who sold me on this particular tablet based on what I told him I would be using it for. Dear Lord, I love young people who are kind! By the time the salesman was free, I just told him which one I wanted and bought it. I am delighted with this purchase! I've used this device every single day since I bought it. I download and read books, download and use various music clips and meditations, check my e-mail and use it to keep up with Facebook. This old Granny doesn't let much grass grow under her feet and this tablet is just the ticket!

Hopefully nobody is purchasing this tablet in hopes of it being as efficient and fast as say an iPad or Samsung tablet. And with that being said, in my opinion this is a great basic starter tablet for kids, or the older person who doesn't know much about computers/tablets. It is also efficient enough for those of us who just need it for basic everyday things such as surfing the web, checking email, Facebook, etc. It's capable of opening/closing/loading apps just fine, not slow or sluggish, I've not had any issue with lag. I haven't tested the camera because I don't really ever plan on using it since the one on my phone is far superior anyway, just going off of the specs. I have no issues with it holding a charge, nor do I have issues with the charging cable staying connected. The wifi also works fine, I've not been disconnected once. The only "con" I'd say about this tablet is the amount of time it takes to turn on. You have to hold the button for about twenty seconds before it actually powers up, but after that it loads up pretty quickly and you're on your way. Sound is average, nothing special, but would probably sound a lot better when using earbuds or headphones. The whole tablet is pretty sturdy feeling and I don't worry much about dropping it because it's plastic and not glass. I myself wanted this tablet mainly for reading, and it works out just fine. The screen is clear and words are crisp, although not technically HD, it works just fine for watching Netflix and YouTube. I haven't run into any buffering or lagging issues with either of those apps. I've also not had any issues with any of the games I use, though sometimes I feel the tablet get warm (but only when I run some of the more demanding games). So the bottom line is, for $70 (it's what I paid, it was on sale) and 16GB, which can be expanded up to 32 GB with a Micro SD, I'd say this is a steal. It's nice to look at, not too heavy or bulky, and would be fine for most people who don't have to have the most high end stuff based off a brand name.

This tablet is a nice little piece of equipment for the price, but with one major flaw: there has been no OS update for it at all. It runs Android 5.0.1, which was released in November 2014. For a mobile OS this is not very good as there are security patches which come out, and there have been reports of some flaws that Android does have in the Lollipop version. My first call to customer support to get the source code so that I can develop for this device didn't go very well. My second call to them though went a lot better than the first and they are working on getting me the source so I can work on developing. The resolution is pretty nice and does well with streaming services such as Amazon Prime Video. It's lightweight and easy enough to handle. I usually like larger variants but this one suits me nicely for being a small form factor. Now just to get Android 6.0.1 on it.

When my previous tablet finally stopped working, I did what most people seem to do these days - I went to the Internet to search for a replacement tablet. I read reviews of the Flex 8 at various sites, including Best Buy's collection of reviews. The Flex 8 is pleasantly responsive in almost all senses. It quickly synchronized with my Android phone, required almost no set-up steps or registration, and even charged faster than expected (for an initial charge). Battery life is reasonable: a full charge seems to last for most of my normal day. If I run the battery level down to about 30%, recharging takes about 2 hours to complete. Searching via Chrome is sufficiently fast although not dazzling. Most screen loads are quickly done (or at least a lot faster than my old tablet loaded). This is true whether launching an app, reading a book, or surfing the Internet. I like the clarity and color of the screen and the speakers are decent for a thin tablet. Sound quality is not at a Bose or Bang & Olufsen level but the thin sound typical of a thin tablet is nothing that can't be compensated for by an auxiliary plug-in or Bluetooth speaker or headphones. My previous tablet was a 4-year-old device that was significantly heavier compared with the Flex 8. I really, really appreciate the much lighter weight of the Flex 8! I rarely stream movies or play online games as challenging as The Elder Scrolls and Pillars of Eternity, I can't comment (agree or disagree) with gamers who feel the Flex 8 is speed-wise adequate but not able to meet their more extreme gaming demands. My new Flex 8 more than meets my current tablet needs and the price (at either full or sale price) can't be beat!