CES 2021: TCL unveils a super affordable LTE tablet with stylus support

TCL Tab 10S in silver and black
(Image credit: TCL)

The high-end Android tablet market has been largely abandoned by all but Samsung, however, the competition remains in the budget space. The latest entrant into that fray is TCL's Tab 10S.

While the 10.1-inch tablet isn't going to compete against the likes of the iPad Air or even the standard iPad on the specs front, it will start at below €199 for the Wi-Fi version and €249 for a version that includes Wi-Fi and LTE, so price-conscious buyers will want to take a look.

The TCL Tab 10S offers a compelling feature set for its price point with a 10.1-inch FHD+ display and the TCL T-Pen stylus for note-taking or sketching. Internally it offers a MediaTek MT8768 Octa-Core processor paired with either 3GB RAM and 32GB of storage or 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. Either model does also feature a microSD slot that will allow for up to an additional 256GB of storage.

On the rear of the tablet, you'll find a single 8MP camera, which isn't going to launch your photography career but will handle document capture or quick snapshots just fine. Around the front, you have a 5MP front-facing camera that should make for better video conferencing resolution than most modern laptops offer.

Battery life should be excellent with an 8,000 mAh battery inside with TCL claiming an impressive 400 hours on standby, which is always nice for a tablet that doesn't often see the constant use of our smartphones.

The Tab 10S will be launching in March and will be running Android 10, no word at this time on an update to Android 11.

Sean Riley

Sean Riley has been covering tech professionally for over a decade now. Most of that time was as a freelancer covering varied topics including phones, wearables, tablets, smart home devices, laptops, AR, VR, mobile payments, fintech, and more.  Sean is the resident mobile expert at Laptop Mag, specializing in phones and wearables, you'll find plenty of news, reviews, how-to, and opinion pieces on these subjects from him here. But Laptop Mag has also proven a perfect fit for that broad range of interests with reviews and news on the latest laptops, VR games, and computer accessories along with coverage on everything from NFTs to cybersecurity and more.