It’s cheap, but still not worth the money
Tablets can be all-powerful business tools, but they can also be simple gadgets to read e-books, watch videos, and do other small tasks. This is the core mentality behind the recently-launched TCL Tab 8 LE. This is an 8-inch tablet that’s meant to cover the basics and get you through the day.
Android Headlines was given the opportunity to review this device and see if it’s worth the money. It’s available for $168 at T-Mobile. A price like that is hard to resist, but let’s see if this device should be your next tablet.
Display
Now, this is an inexpensive tablet, so you shouldn’t expect a spectacular viewing experience. When it comes to the display quality, it’s serviceable. We’re looking at an 800 x 1280 resolution, so it’s just north of 720p. You won’t be wowed by a high refresh rate, SDR upscaling, saturated colors, or anything of that nature. It’s a display… that’s it.
Using the tablet indoors, you won’t have any issue seeing the display. However, its utility takes a nosedive when you enter more well-lit environments. Even using this tablet in a well-lit coffee shop, I started having trouble seeing details, especially when I caught the overhead lights. Taking it outside in the sun rendered this tablet’s screen useless. This is an inside tablet for sure.
The size and aspect ratio makes the TCL Tab 8 LE good for reading e-books. It’s only slightly more slender than my iPad Mini 4. This makes pages look pretty close to how they would look in an actual book. So, if you’re into reading, this might not be a bad device.
Speakers
I was actually surprised with the speaker quality on the TCL Tab 8 LE. Now, they’re not exactly the kind of speakers that would knock your socks off, and they definitely won’t fill the room with sound. But, there’s a nice amount of depth and nuance to the sound.
They’re perfect for personal use like watching movies. If you want to use this tablet to listen to music, you won’t have any problem doing so. From a hardware perspective, I’d say that the speakers are the best part of this tablet.
Battery
When it comes to battery power, you won’t really be disappointed. This tablet comes with a 4080mAh battery. That’s about average for a phone, but it’s paltry for a tablet. However, this tablet was able to last a pretty good while on a single charge.
I’m typically able to use it for casual reading and hold off on charging it for a few days. When it comes to using it consistently, it managed to power through pretty well.
I put the battery through a test where I watched videos, gamed, and scrolled through social media without stopping. All in all, I was able to get north of six hours of screen-on time. That’s not spectacular, but it’s pretty good for how small of a battery you’re getting.
There’s no fast charging with this tablet, so charging it up will take more than two hours to complete. Fortunately, you do get a charger in the box.
Software
This tablet uses TCL UI version 4.0 running on Android 12. It’s not the newest version of Android, but it’s not far behind. This is a heavily customized version of the operating system.
TCL brought a very unique take on Android, and it offers its own perks. There are interesting features. You’re able to swipe an app to the top right of the multitasking screen to pop it out into a window. That’s among the more interesting features of the software.
What’s unfortunate is that, while it’s based on Android 12, you don’t get the Dynamic color feature. This is the feature that takes the colors in your wallpaper and crafts a custom theme in the software. So, you’re confined to the default theme.
Performance
So far, this tablet looks pretty middle-of-the-road; decent display, nice speakers, pretty good battery, nice software. So, why is this tablet not worth the money, as stated in the title? Well, it comes down to the performance. The performance of this tablet is without a doubt, the worst aspect of this tablet. In all honesty, it almost makes this device unusable. Now, I’m not talking about a little lag here and there. There are stutters in just about every corner of the software.
It didn’t matter which app I used, it felt like I dug up a phone from 2015, installed modern software on it, and tried using it. The tablet could not keep up with anything that I did. Rotating from portrait to landscape typically takes 5-6 seconds. YouTube videos played at about 10FPS when I bumped the resolution to 720p, and so on.
Not only do downloaded apps lag, but pre-installed and core apps do as well. That’s the sad part, as, ostensibly, you’d think that the tablet would be powerful enough to run the software that comes with it! Even apps as simple as the Calculator app and the Clock app take a second to load.
It doesn’t stop there, as the lagginess is consistent throughout the software. You can see noticeable frame drops in the app opening animation. Exiting apps, reopening apps, entering the multitasking screen, opening the settings, and just about everything shows noticeable stutters and takes a second to do. These are basic system functions and animations, that this tablet is struggling to complete.
Gaming
Of course, you’ll want to stick with simple 2D titles with this tablet. I tested some simple 2D platformers and rhythm games. They’re more than playable, but the tablet still stutters while playing them. If you get games on this tablet, just know that it will not be smooth.
Should you buy this tablet?
Honestly, no, you shouldn’t. Don’t get me wrong, TCL knows how to leverage a less-powerful processor to make a smooth experience. The TCL Stylus 5G ran like butter. But the performance of the TCL Tab 8 LE is terrible. It’s bad to the point where I can’t even recommend it for its low price. You’d be better off spending a bit more money on a more capable tablet.
Tablets can be all-powerful business tools, but they can also be simple gadgets to read e-books, watch videos, and do other small tasks. This is the core mentality behind the recently-launched TCL Tab 8 LE. This is an 8-inch tablet that’s meant to cover the basics and get you through the day.
Android Headlines was given the opportunity to review this device and see if it’s worth the money. It’s available for $168 at T-Mobile. A price like that is hard to resist, but let’s see if this device should be your next tablet.
Display
Now, this is an inexpensive tablet, so you shouldn’t expect a spectacular viewing experience. When it comes to the display quality, it’s serviceable. We’re looking at an 800 x 1280 resolution, so it’s just north of 720p. You won’t be wowed by a high refresh rate, SDR upscaling, saturated colors, or anything of that nature. It’s a display… that’s it.
Using the tablet indoors, you won’t have any issue seeing the display. However, its utility takes a nosedive when you enter more well-lit environments. Even using this tablet in a well-lit coffee shop, I started having trouble seeing details, especially when I caught the overhead lights. Taking it outside in the sun rendered this tablet’s screen useless. This is an inside tablet for sure.
The size and aspect ratio makes the TCL Tab 8 LE good for reading e-books. It’s only slightly more slender than my iPad Mini 4. This makes pages look pretty close to how they would look in an actual book. So, if you’re into reading, this might not be a bad device.
Speakers
I was actually surprised with the speaker quality on the TCL Tab 8 LE. Now, they’re not exactly the kind of speakers that would knock your socks off, and they definitely won’t fill the room with sound. But, there’s a nice amount of depth and nuance to the sound.
They’re perfect for personal use like watching movies. If you want to use this tablet to listen to music, you won’t have any problem doing so. From a hardware perspective, I’d say that the speakers are the best part of this tablet.
Battery
When it comes to battery power, you won’t really be disappointed. This tablet comes with a 4080mAh battery. That’s about average for a phone, but it’s paltry for a tablet. However, this tablet was able to last a pretty good while on a single charge.
I’m typically able to use it for casual reading and hold off on charging it for a few days. When it comes to using it consistently, it managed to power through pretty well.
I put the battery through a test where I watched videos, gamed, and scrolled through social media without stopping. All in all, I was able to get north of six hours of screen-on time. That’s not spectacular, but it’s pretty good for how small of a battery you’re getting.
There’s no fast charging with this tablet, so charging it up will take more than two hours to complete. Fortunately, you do get a charger in the box.
Software
This tablet uses TCL UI version 4.0 running on Android 12. It’s not the newest version of Android, but it’s not far behind. This is a heavily customized version of the operating system.
TCL brought a very unique take on Android, and it offers its own perks. There are interesting features. You’re able to swipe an app to the top right of the multitasking screen to pop it out into a window. That’s among the more interesting features of the software.
What’s unfortunate is that, while it’s based on Android 12, you don’t get the Dynamic color feature. This is the feature that takes the colors in your wallpaper and crafts a custom theme in the software. So, you’re confined to the default theme.
Performance
So far, this tablet looks pretty middle-of-the-road; decent display, nice speakers, pretty good battery, nice software. So, why is this tablet not worth the money, as stated in the title? Well, it comes down to the performance. The performance of this tablet is without a doubt, the worst aspect of this tablet. In all honesty, it almost makes this device unusable. Now, I’m not talking about a little lag here and there. There are stutters in just about every corner of the software.
It didn’t matter which app I used, it felt like I dug up a phone from 2015, installed modern software on it, and tried using it. The tablet could not keep up with anything that I did. Rotating from portrait to landscape typically takes 5-6 seconds. YouTube videos played at about 10FPS when I bumped the resolution to 720p, and so on.
Not only do downloaded apps lag, but pre-installed and core apps do as well. That’s the sad part, as, ostensibly, you’d think that the tablet would be powerful enough to run the software that comes with it! Even apps as simple as the Calculator app and the Clock app take a second to load.
It doesn’t stop there, as the lagginess is consistent throughout the software. You can see noticeable frame drops in the app opening animation. Exiting apps, reopening apps, entering the multitasking screen, opening the settings, and just about everything shows noticeable stutters and takes a second to do. These are basic system functions and animations, that this tablet is struggling to complete.
Gaming
Of course, you’ll want to stick with simple 2D titles with this tablet. I tested some simple 2D platformers and rhythm games. They’re more than playable, but the tablet still stutters while playing them. If you get games on this tablet, just know that it will not be smooth.
Should you buy this tablet?
Honestly, no, you shouldn’t. Don’t get me wrong, TCL knows how to leverage a less-powerful processor to make a smooth experience. The TCL Stylus 5G ran like butter. But the performance of the TCL Tab 8 LE is terrible. It’s bad to the point where I can’t even recommend it for its low price. You’d be better off spending a bit more money on a more capable tablet.
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