It is a persistent theme. Walk into an electronics shop, enquire about the newest options for truly affordable Android tablets (those around the ₹10,000 price range) and you’ll be shown the now-fairly-jaded list of choices. That is the reason Nokia’s latest, and even more affordable tablet effort after the T20, makes sense. The Nokia T10, despite fairly restrained in terms of specs, may still be a viable choice for many usage scenarios.
In the affordable tablet space, you need to make a choice about the display size. Do you want something up to 8-inches, or display real estate that’s larger than 10-inches? The former may be a good pick for many, for the needs of extreme portability. Also, if you are buying a tablet for the young crowd, for a heady mix of occasional online classes alongside some educational apps and a bit of downtime with YouTube.
To be fair, the most recent launch (this was in H1 2022, mind you) you could have considered pre-Nokia T10 would be the Lenovo Tab M7, now in its third generation (prices around ₹10,000). But is the Nokia T10 really able to add some amount of freshness and a new perspective to truly affordable Android tablets? The answer is a resounding ‘no’. None of it is the fault of the Nokia T10 though.
It is built well enough, though for this price, do not expect anything more than the basic portfolio of materials. The polycarbonate finish has a nice texture which adds something visually, while the thick enough bezels either side of the display (if you hold this in the landscape mode) are not something you’d be able to simply wish away.
For whatever it is worth, the IPX2 water resistance does give it something of a layer against splashes. But to be fair, nothing more.
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The 8-inch IPS LCD does give it something to work with, in terms of nice and rich colours. Yet, anything beyond that is limited by the 1200 x 800 resolution. There is a definite versatility about this screen, punching above what the specs would ideally betray, for web browsing, a bit of e-book reading and video calls. But this isn’t what you’d be found holding if top-notch Netflix in high definition is what you’re looking for.
There is enough power under the hood to keep you chugging along. The choice of the Unisoc T606 will definitely raise a few eyebrows. This line isn’t as common, or popular, as a chip from Qualcomm or MediaTek. There is a definite whiff of Nokia having to go as low as they could go to keep the costs in check.
Whether this compromises your experience, will depend on what you continue to expect from the Nokia T10 in terms of performance. Your choice is between 3GB and 4GB RAM (no-brainer, which one we would recommend) and that’ll dictate the internal storage too (that’s 32GB or 64GB, depending on RAM).
This isn’t a tablet for any sort of mildly serious gaming. Yet, it certainly does the job for video calls, online classrooms, web browsing, social media, and some video binging when there is not better screen to fall back on (sometimes the UHD TV at home can get monopolized, that’s a reality of most households).
And speaking of kids, this is one of those still rare tablets that integrate the Google Kids Space – that’s a more controlled space for apps, YouTube content, books, etc. for the little ones to consume during their allowed screen time. Not every tablet gets this Android feature.
Battery life is quite robust, and we wouldn’t have expected anything less, considering there isn’t a lot of horsepower or display pixels to drive. It’ll do, if you are careful with the screen brightness, about 9 hours of screen time on a single charge. That is not a bad return from a 5,250 mAh battery.
While the ₹11,799 onwards price positioning seems quite affordable, think of this as essentially ₹12,799 of your money being spent. You really shouldn’t go lower than 4GB +64GB, keeping even the slightest future-proofing in consideration. Add another ₹1,000 to this, if you also want the 4G connectivity option (with a SIM slot) in addition to Wi-Fi.
Suddenly, the really affordable Android tablet has taken a step or two forward. Yet, the freshness of a clean(er) Android still has its charm.