Think of tablets and you are likely to have names of companies like Apple, Samsung, or Microsoft on your minds before anything else. All of that can be attributed to the sheer popularity of devices such as the iPad, the Galaxy Tab, or the Surface range of tablets or two-in-one devices. So far so good but here is another company that too has shot into prominence of late and has some nice tablet devices on offer as well. Take for instance the Blackview Tab 11 which not only looks and feels good but is loaded with the most up-market specs and features. It has got a brilliant display, boasts of fast performance, a large battery, and plenty more, all of which make for the right recipe for the perfect tablet. Or is it? Let’s find that out.
Design and build
The tablet is slightly longish in its shape having a slim bezel all around. Also, it’s an 11-inch LCD IPS display that the tablet comes with – 10.36-inches, to be exact – having a 5:3 aspect ratio. Further, the 1200 x 2000 pixels that the display comes with translates to a quite decent 225 PPI pixel density. The display also has a layer of Asahi Glass on top for added protection.
Flip it over and you will get to see a gunmetal grey color scheme that looks nice and strong. The other highlight of the rear is the dual camera setup arranged in a vertical stack at the top left corner with the LED flash at the bottom. The camera bump too is hard to miss as there is a lot of it protruding out. Now, this makes for an intriguing scenario as shooting images with a tablet is both ungainly as well as impractical, more so with a tablet this big. Perhaps a more practical application of the rear camera could be to scan documents to convert them to PDF and other such office applications. The front camera though is essential for video conferencing or for that occasional selfie as well.
The bottom of the tablet is where a pair of stereo speakers are located while in the middle you get a five-point copper pin connection. At the top left lies the volume rocker button as we as the power button. There is a 3.5mm headphone jack at the top left edge as well while at the top right lies the USB-C port. On the right lies the SIM card tray which is of the hybrid type. So, the options here are either a SIM card and an SD card or a pair of SIM cards but not all three together.
Specifications
Coming to hard-core specs, the tablet comes powered by a 12nm octa-core Unisoc Tiger T618 that is coupled to a Mali G52 MP2 GPU. There is 8 GB of RAM onboard along with 128 GB of native storage. The tablet runs Android 11 and features a large 6580 mAh battery, which is easily one of the largest you can have in the segment. Connectivity options the tablet is compliant with include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, and GPS. Plus, there is support for FM radio as well.
Coming to camera specs, the rear features a 13 MP wide-angle sensor having f/2.0 aperture which is capable of shooting HD-quality videos at 30 fps. The other sensor is unspecified though. On the front lies an 8 MP camera having a wide-angle lens of f/2.2 aperture which is also capable of shooting HD quality videos at 30fps. The image quality is also good enough though, as already stated, it might be unwieldy to hold aloft a tablet for shooting videos or still pictures. Still, if you want, the Blackview Tab 11 won’t disappoint you.
User interface and functionality
Switch on the tablet and its familiar stuff that you are going to be greeted with. That’s because the tablet runs Android and the company didn’t add any layer of UI on top so it’s a stock feel that you will be getting all through. Swipe down from the top and you will be getting the usual notification bar having shortcuts for various features such as Wireless, Bluetooth, Location, Flashlight, Night light, and so on.
Fortunately, there is no bloatware pre-loaded while the tablet being compliant with Google Play Store ensures there is no dearth of apps that you can’t have onboard. There is also the usual suite of Google apps such as Gmail, Photos, and Maps. and so on already preloaded which means you can get started with the device right away. Interestingly, with the SIM card inserted, the Blackview Tab 11 supports calling function and can serve as a giant smartphone as well. Apart from apps, there are books, audiobooks, and games that you can have access to. If you already have a Google account and own an Android device, you can have instant access to all the e-books, audiobooks, apps, and games that you already own and are associated with that account.
Reading e-books
The stock Google Books e-book reading app offers a nice feel when it comes to e-book reading. The page turn animation is really cool though the same can’t be said of the bluish tinge that the display takes on when rendering e-books. While that is quite common with LCD panels, the same can be customized to desired levels by invoking the Night light option. You can do that by tapping on Night light from the options shown after swiping down from the top. That takes away much of the blue light and replaces that with something that looks yellow with a greenish tinge.
Fortunately, the tablet offers a way to adjust the color effect. You can do that by long pressing on the Night light tab which opens up the Eye Comfort window. Here you get the Intensity slider option where you can set the balance of blue and yellow light that you feel most comfortable with. That way, you can be sure to have the best reading experience possible.
The app also provides various convenient features like pinch and zoom effects. There are other controls available as well that allows you to change the font, font size, and such. Long pressing on a word will let you highlight the same for which you have different color options as well. Plus, there are options like Translate, Copy, and such along with the option to download additional dictionaries as well. Then there is the Text-to-Speech option too which is great if you wish to listen to an e-book being read out instead of reading it yourself. Plus, you can always install the e-reader app of your choice, either from the Play Store or sideload them if you want.
That said, at the end of the day, it still is an LCD panel that you will be staring at, which means there is no escaping the glare that befalls your eyes. That can be imperceptible if you are reading for a shorter span of time but the effect on your eyes can be telling during longer reading sessions.
PDF and Manga
Here is where you will be reaping the benefits of reading off an LCD panel. The colors are vibrant and eye-catching and can easily beat even the best color e-paper displays notwithstanding all the advancements it has made over the past decade or so. The pinch and zoom effect is instantaneous which is unlike what you have in an e-reader or an e-note where you might be required to set higher refresh speed settings for the same.
The same applies to manga as well as you can devour the content in all its colorful glory. The one nice thing here is the way manga or other graphic novels are laid out on the tablet so that nothing looks out of place. The content makes the most of the screen real estate that the Blackview Tab 11 has to offer with no black bars and such to format the content. In short, you will love the way the tablet is able to render comics and manga and related stuff, which might even seem better than reading e-books off of it.
Multimedia content
There is no denying the Blackview Tab 11 is a great multimedia device. The large display which is naturally oriented to be viewed in landscape mode is also just right for watching videos. The speakers are great and there is no crackling or distortion even at the highest setting. The excellent quality audio makes for the perfect complement to the HD-quality visuals that the display offers. It is for the same reason that playing games on the device are going to be equally exhilarating, much of which owes it to the capable processor that the device comes with.
Conclusion
The Blackview Tab 11 comes across as a decent package. It has a great HD display, performance is good for most purposes, if not exceptional, audio quality is excellent, and so on. In fact, there are a lot of positives with the device which makes it just right for a variety of tasks. Those can be like watching videos or playing games. Plus, it can be a decent e-reader as well while PDFs or manga, comics, and other graphic novels simply come alive on the device thanks to the excellent HD-quality display it comes with. On the whole, the Blackview Tab 11 is a definite allrounder of a device that you won’t lament investing in.
Blackview Tab 11
$299.99Pros
- Android 11
- Octa-Core processor
- 8GB of RAM
- Dual Cameras
- Google Play
Cons
- Only Bluetooth 5.1
- No SD Card
- Does not support Widevine L1
- Netflix and Amazon in SD
With a keen interest in tech, I make it a point to keep myself updated on the latest developments in technology and gadgets. That includes smartphones or tablet devices but stretches to even AI and self-driven automobiles, the latter being my latest fad. Besides writing, I like watching videos, reading, listening to music, or experimenting with different recipes. The motion picture is another aspect that interests me a lot, and I'll likely make a film sometime in the future.
