If you managed to score a cheap HP TouchPad following the company’s shuttering of webOS, you may have tried installing Android on the tablet. Since then, we’ve seen HP branch out into Windows 8 tablets, but today we’re headed back to Android territory, with the company announcing a native Android device (no custom ROM hacking this time around), the seven-inch HP Slate 7.

It’s clear that HP has its sights set on the budget-conscious consumer, because while the Jelly-Bean-running Slate 7′s specs are a little weak, its launch price of just about $170 is pretty hard to ignore.

The Slate 7 runs a dual-core 1.6GHz SoC, its seven-inch screen has a resolution of just 1024 x 600, and the tablet arrives with 1GB of RAM , 8GB of flash, and expansion available via microSD.

HP is taking a cue from HTC’s playbook, and the Slate 7 will feature Beats Audio. There’s also a three-megapixel main camera with VGA front-facer.

Sales of the Slate 7 will kick-off in the US sometime in April. For now it sounds WiFi-only, with no word on any possibility of a cellular-connected version.

Source: HP
Via: Android Central