The Stock OS – The Hero 2 runs Jelly Bean 4.1 and hopefully there should be an upgrade to 4.2 soon. Once you’ve installed 9 or 10 games and about a dozen apps, the OS does show signs of lag. Once in a while it’ll freeze but come back to life ten seconds later. Installing an app called seeder (available on the Play store) helped a bit. How this app works is a bit technical and you should just read the explanation on the Play store. The app is meant for rooted devices and Ainol, thankfully, has a habit of providing pre-rooted devices which saves you the trouble of mucking around on your own, if you’re a novice at rooting. That said, Clockwork Mod is not a part of the Ainol rooting process so you have to flash that to the device on your own. The stock ROM does not come with Google Talk or Google Chrome. The Play store will tell you that these apps are not compatible with your device. This is a little disappointing for those who use the Chrome sync between the desktop and mobile apps, or want to use the tablet to chat with/video call.
Rating: OS handling capability [8.5/10]

The Camera Quality – The front cam is reasonable enough for Skype calls but it’s nothing to write home about. The rear cam, supposedly built to take pictures and shoot video is quite a let down with excessive banding and colour fringing. I seriously doubt I’ll ever be using it to record moments. Even with programs like pixlr express you can’t cover up the poor quality of the images enough.
Rating: [2/10]

Sensor Sensitivity – The orientation sensor is a little slow to pick up changes in orientation but it works just fine for a tablet in this price band. The gyro is sensitive enough for games that require tilt like Asphalt 7 or Temple Run but the size of the tablet means you’ll probably prefer screen controls
Rating: [8/10]

App/Game Support – The one thing you want to be sure of when you buy a tablet with a quad core CPU is that it’ll run all your games without flinching. The Hero 2 falls short but that’s more likely because game developers code their games to support processors like the Exynos and Tegra range. Asphalt 7 shows significant lags on almost every level with the game freezing just long enough for you to crash your car, Amazing Alex doesn’t run, The Devil’s Attorney doesn’t run. I don’t play FPS games on tablets since I prefer consoles for that kind of gaming so I can’t comment on them. However, games like Star Wars: Angry Birds, Ski Safari, Zombie Highway. Traffic Panic, Fruit Ninja and Welder run flawlessly.
Rating: [6.5/10]

Bluetooth – While the specifications for the Hero 2 available on some sites (like ainolindia.com or uplaytablet.com) will tell you that the tablet is equipped with bluetooth (and I was really looking forward to this), the tablet does not have bluetooth capability, or at least the one I received doesn’t. There isn’t even an entry in the system settings for bluetooth so even if the chip exists, the OS won’t let you activate it. I’m hoping this is a problem with the stock OS and that the tablet actually does have a bluetooth controller hidden inside. The Venus which was also to have Bluetooth and GPS finally released without either so this is a bit of a low-blow to peopple who pre-ordered (like me)
Rating: NA

Feel and Design – I have to admit this is one of the finer tablets Ainol has designed and you won’t find much to complain about. It feels good in your hand even if the screen creaks a bit from time to time. It’s not as solidly built as an iPad but for this price you can have two Ainols for the price of an iPad and you wouldn’t have to put up with the limitations of iOS.
Rating: [8/10]

Screen – The screen is outstanding on the Hero 2. It’s clear and visible no matter how much you twist and turn it to logic defying angles. The size of the screen makes the tablet perfect for movies and reading comics. The CPU keeps up with these requirements perfectly.
Rating: [9/10]

In Conclusion – The Ainol Hero 2 is a good tablet but it stops short of being a great tablet. For the price you do expect a little more even from a budget tablet. The lagging OS and absence of bluetooth don’t help its case. Even so, in the 10 inch tablet category I’d still pick this tablet over any of the big hitters like Samsung or Apple if only because having the micro SD slot for my movies and music is something none of the bigger players offer me. Also, with tablet technology getting outdated every 6 months (optimistically) I’m not about to waste my money on a tablet that’s twice as expensive to do pretty much everything the Hero 2 can do from browsing to accessing media to reading comics/ebooks. And that’s why my final rating for the Hero 2 is a very fair 8/10