Apple has its Spring Loaded event lined up on April 20 where it is widely speculated to launch its new 2021 iPad Pro. The competition too isn’t sitting quietly and has announced new tablets for launch soon and will be taking the battle to the Apple device.
Here is a quick recap of the tablet devices expected to launch in the coming weeks and months and whether those are going to be iPad killers in any sense of the term.
Huawei MatePad Pro 2
Huawei is keen to pitch it’s MatePad Pro 2 as an alternative to the upcoming iPad Pro, so much that the Chinese company is also known to have advanced the launch date to April 20 to match that of the iPad Pro. However, the Huawei offering is going to be unique in that it will be running the company’s new Harmony OS out of the box.
The MatePad Pro 2 otherwise is rumored to come powered by the Kirin 9000 processor along with a 12.2-inch OLED panel, and 5G connectivity. Reports currently available also state the display has been sourced from Samsung. Unfortunately, that is almost all that we know of the tablet at the moment. We will have to wait till April 20 for the full details.
Lenovo Yoga Tab 13
The Yoga Tab 13 is going to be a high-end performance-oriented tablet from Lenovo that will come powered by the Snapdragon 855 chipset. Plus, there is going to be 8 GB of RAM, as has been revealed in a Geekbench listing of the device where it is identified by the model number YT-K606F. The tablet will be running Android 11 right out of the box.
Further, given the usual convention of the display size finding mention in the device name, the upcoming Lenovo tablet will most likely feature a 13-inch display. Now, as per a Google Play Console listing, it is going to be a 2K display having a resolution of 1350 x 2160 pixels. That makes for a 240 DPI, which should be more than a decent figure.
More details of the tablet are awaited.
Lenovo Tab P11
The Lenovo P11 will come with an 11-inch IPS LCD display having a resolution of 1200 x 2000 pixels. That makes for a pixel density of 212 PPI and a screen-to-body ratio of 81.77 percent, which isn’t bad by tablet standards.
The tablet though will feature the mid-range Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 processor with Adreno 610 providing graphics support. There is going to be 4 GB of memory along with 64 GB of native storage, the latter being further expandable to 1 TB via micro SD cards. There is going to be a model with 6 GB of memory for enhanced gaming pleasure. The tablet will also offer a single SIM card slot and will be 4G-ready. The Dolby Atmos speaker onboard should provide for a rich audio experience.
For optics, there is going to be a 13 MP camera at the rear along with an 8 MP front shooter. The tablet will run Android 10 right out of the box. A 7700 mAh battery will be providing the power and will be supported by a 20W fast charger. Connectivity options include Bluetooth 5.1, GPS, 3.5mm audio jack, and a USB port for charging and data syncing roles. There is going to be no fingerprint sensor though.
The Tab P11 is expected to launch around end-April and should make for a nice mid-range tablet when launched.
Xiaomi Mi Pad 5
Xiaomi is expected to expand its tablet portfolio with the Mi Pad 4, which again is believed to comprise of three models – the Mi Pad 5 Lite, Mi Pad 5 Plus, and the Mi Pad 5 Pro. Among the key specs of the tablet that has leaked online include a Snapdragon 870 chipset and a large 8000 mAh battery. Also, the tablet is tipped to come with an 11-inch 2K LCD display having a max refresh rate of 120Hz and a touch sampling rate of 480Hz. User authentication will likely be via a side-mounted fingerprint sensor.
There are also reports of the Mi Pad 5 Pro likely being codenamed Enuma and will have the model number K81. The tablet will come with a 48 MP primary camera. The Mi Pad 5 Plus, on the other hand, carries the model number K81A and is codenamed Elish. The Mi Pad 5 is speculated to come with a 12 MP primary cam.
Lastly, the Mi Pad 5 Lite is codenamed Nabu while having the model number K82. The tablet is known to come with a massive 12,400 mAh battery and will have a 12 MP primary camera.
Unfortunately, no other details of the tablet devices are available at the moment.
Teclast T40 5G
Telcast recently announced it will be launching its first 5G tablet, the T40 5G sometime soon. Also, apart from its 5G capability, the other highlight of the upcoming tablet is the 6nm UNISOC Tiger T7520 chipset that it will come powered with. The processor has 18 percent more transistors compared to its 7nm counterpart while being 8 percent more power-efficient as well.
Also, the company has launched the T40 4G tablet just last month which comes with a 10.4-inch 2K display, a UNISOC Tiger T618 processor, 6 GB of RAM, and 128 GB of storage. Also, it’s an 8000 mAh battery that would be keeping everything moving, besides also featuring a quad-stereo setup. The 5G version of the tablet is expected to come with largely the same specs but with a T7520 chipset with an integrated 5G modem.
More details are expected to emerge soon.
In the end…
These are just some of the tablets that are expected to arrive soon while more are awaited later in the year. However, the biggest question at the moment is whether any of these has the capability to take on the iPad Pro. Well, that’s something that manufacturers have been on to ever since the first-gen iPad was launched more than a decade ago. While some of them drifted into oblivion – the HP TouchPad running WebOS is perhaps the best example of that – the fact is, the iPad has only managed to consolidate its position as the tablet to beat every time.
The 2021 iPad Pro is expected to take things to a new level altogether with its advanced specs. That includes a mini-LED display, a new chip that is touted to match the MacBook’s M1 processor, and 5G capability. Couple to that the stellar reputation it has built over the years and all of that combines to make the upcoming iPad a formidable competitor in its segment. That is not to undermine the competition but it’s just that the iPad has been able to hold sway each time.
That makes it interesting how things shape up in the coming weeks, what the competition has in store and how Apple responds to the scenario, more so as the Chinese will be keen to play the price card to the hilt.
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.
