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The best new tablets of CES 2021: Lenovo, TCL

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While foldables and rollables could eventually turn your phone into your tablet, too, for now, it’s probably still a good idea to buy separate phones and tablets. Thankfully, tablets still have a little pull at CES 2021, and while we didn’t quite see as many as we thought we might, there are still a few solid options to come from the show.

Here’s a rundown of the tablets we saw at CES 2021.

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Lenovo Tab P11

The Lenovo Chromebook Duet was a relative hit when it launched, and now the company is bringing Android to the same form factor. The new Lenovo Tab P11 may well be the productivity-focused Android tablet for those who don’t want to shell out too much cash.

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The new tablet has an 11-inch display with a 2000 x 1200 resolution, making it a great choice for playing games and watching movies. It’s all powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 processor, with 6GB of RAM, which should make it more than powerful enough for most. Lenovo says you’ll get battery life of up to 15 hours.

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The keyboard and pen that work with the tablet don’t come with it out of the box, but if you do get them, they’ll likely help make your device a whole lot more productive.

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The Lenovo Tab P11 comes at an impressive $230, and will be available later this month.

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TCL NXTPaper

More innovative is the new TCL NXTPaper, which is an 8.88-inch tablet that uses a new e-ink-like display technology that’s focused on reducing eye strain. The technology offers a full-color experience, and a 30Hz refresh rate, which is a dramatic improvement over e-ink or e-paper, while still working without a backlight. That reduces energy consumption and keeps the tablet thin and light, which is nice, but the real win is that it is easier on your eyes because it doesn’t emit any light — you use the room’s ambient light to read.

The tech does have its downsides. The resolution sits in at 1220 x 1080, which isn’t great for this screen size. In well-lit conditions you’ll be able to see content pretty well, as it reflects light back to show whatever it’s displaying. At night, however, you’ll need some kind of light source, like a bedside lamp, and that may introduce its own issues. TCL sells a clip-on light to use with the device in those situations, though.

The tablet runs Android 10, has a battery capacity of 5,000mAh, and is powered by a MediaTek MT8768e processor with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. It will be available in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Central and South America, and Asia, for 349 euros, starting in April.

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TCL Tab 10S

Last but not least is the TCL Tab 10S, which is a slightly more traditional device. It offers a 10.1-inch display with an octa-core processor and a hefty 8,000mAh battery. It also comes with POGO pin connectors for third-party accessories, and TCL’s T-Pen stylus.

Apart from that, the Tab 10S has a MediaTek MT8768 processor, and either 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, or 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. It will be available in Europe, North America, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Central and South America for 199 euros or the equivalent. North American pricing has yet to be released, but it will likely be around $199.

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Christian de Looper
Christian de Looper
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Christian de Looper is a long-time freelance writer who has covered every facet of the consumer tech and electric vehicle…
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