Alcatel makes its first foray into the local tablet market is with this entry-level but very functional 7-inch Alcatel One Touch Tab T10. While the specs are pretty basic, the T10 turned out to be a worthy everyday tablet. Find out why in our full review after the break.
When the folks from Sun Cellular gave us this unit a couple of weeks ago, we tested it internally and gave them our initial feedback about the tablet.
Design and Construction
The Alcatel One Touch Tab T10 looks like your typical Android tablet at first glance. Found on the front is the 7-inch glass display with a front-facing camera on the upper right corner. The microUSB port and the DC charging port with an LED light are located on the right side and the headset jack and speakers are on the left.
On the right top side are the power button and volume rockers. Flip it and you’ll see the microSD slot and a pinhole for the mic/reset. The T10’s entire body is made of plastic with a silver color trim surrounding it while the non-removable back has a matte black finish with a dotted design that helps make the device look good and the feel allows for a comfortable and stable grip.
Display
The Tab T10 has a 7-inch TFT display with a resolution of 800×480 with an aspect ratio of 16:9 (comes down to a pixel density of around 133ppi). Expect some pixelation, narrow viewing angles and glare especially against bright light sources and in outdoors settings.
Like most tablets, the T10’s display is a fingerprint magnet so you might want to wipe it every now and then. The T10’s display is decent to use on a regular basis.
OS and UI
The T10 comes with Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich right out of the box. The system looks like the stock Vanilla flavor except for the large weather widget on the main home screen which can be removed and replaced anytime (it appears to be running the stock/Vanilla Android).
The UI and navigation are simple, very responsive, with smooth transitions and 100% of the touch gestures register correctly on the display. Like most devices, the T10 experiences minor UI lags as well but are only noticeable on UI animations that run for the first time. After a few repetitions, the lag fades away.
One of the things that we love about the T10 is the TouchPal keyboard. It shows large keys at full size that are accurate and very easy to type on. If you have certain keyboard preferences, the T10 offers five different layouts: Split, Full, Center, Left and Right. It also has its own Swype-like feature called the TouchPal Curve as an added treat.
Multimedia and Apps
As expected of a device that runs on Android Ice Cream Sandwich, the T10 handles multimedia very well. Watching movies and listening to music are not a problem. If there are any file formats that the device cannot run, just simply access the Google Play Store and download the necessary app for it. The sound from the speakers are great. The quality of sound is crisp and clear but the volume has to be low. Crank up the volume to its maximum level and you’ll notice some distortion so I suggest using a good pair of headphones instead.
As for the games, the T10 can play Bad Piggies, Temple Run and Fruit Ninja with no problems. Swipes always register on Fruit Ninja and the animations are fluid. However, lags occur while playing Temple Run. Swipes register but sometimes you’ll notice split second delays but it doesn’t always hinder your game play. Nevertheless, we find no major issues. The games installed are very easy to play and the Gyro works accurately.
Performance and Benchmarks
Benchmark scores with Quadrant Standard (1,459) and AnTuTu (2,358) placed the Tab T10 at the bottom of the charts while NenaMark rated its GC800 graphics processor a 25.3fps.
The T10 can play HD movies quite well and runs the majority of the apps in the Google Play Store just fine and that includes most of the popular apps like Temple Run, Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja. Don’t expect it to perform well on graphics-intensive games though.
Battery
As for battery life, the T10 has a 3000mAh Li-Ion battery that lasted three days with moderate use that consists of casual WiFi internet browsing and eBook reading.
However, if you frequently play games and watch videos, it will still last almost two days.
Conclusion
The T10 is an entry-level tablet with basic functional specifications. It is designed for light usage and simple tasks and the T10 does those things very well. There are some tablets out there with better specs but sadly, they can’t even handle simple tasks properly.
Nevertheless, we think the Alcatel One Touch Tab T10 is a very simple yet capable tablet. It’s not for high-end usage but it gets simple and basic things done well.
Alcatel One Touch Tab T10 specs:
7-inch TFT display @ 800×480, 16:9 aspect ratio
1.0GHz ARM Cortex A8
GC800 core GPU
Rockchip RK2918
1GB DDR3 RAM
4GB internal storage
up to 32GB via microSD card
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
1 x microUSB port USb 2.0
0.3MP front-facing camera
3.5mm headphone jack
OTG function: Support, an external wireless mouse and keyboard
DC Jac 2.5; 12V/2A charging interface
3000mAh 3.7V Li-Ion battery
340g (weight)
What we liked about it:
* Great build
* Matte back texture is a plus
* Feels solid with decent amount of heft
* Quick and responsive on normal tasks
* Good for web browsing, movies, music and light gaming
* Speaker is loud, crisp and clear
* Good battery life
What we didn’t like about it:
* Few lags on games, no major hiccups
* Low resolution display
* Front-facing camera placed on upper left instead of in the middle
* Slow portrait to landscape (vice-versa) transition
The Alcatel One Touch Tab T10 tablet is exclusively available from Sun Cellular. It is bundled with the Alcatel One Touch 903D phone and are both offered for FREE starting with Sun Plan 600! You can also get them for free with the Sun Broadband Wireless Plan 999 bundled with a mobile WiFi or with the Sun Call & Surf 999 to enjoy Sun Unlimited Calls & Texts plus unlimited mobile internet.
This bundle is one of the first we’ve seen from Sun Cellular. The tablet, smartphone and unlimited services combination is very compelling package starting at Php600/month.
You can sign up and apply here.
totally agree!