A powerful tablet doesn’t have to drain your bank account – meet the Huawei MatePad T8 tablet

Tablets have long been desirable pieces of tech, even if you’re not exactly sure why you want to own one. That used to be a problem, back in the early days – tablets had a lot of screen but weren’t good for much else. In 2020, however, that’s all changed. Improvements in processing power, improved features and greater app choice make tablets a compelling choice as laptop replacements. The trouble is some tablets can get awfully expensive. If you’re looking for something powerful and versatile but would still like to pay your rent, there’s only one place to look: at Huawei’s MatePad T8 tablet.

Light on weight, not on spec

Huawei’s slate is light enough that you’ll barely notice you’re toting around an 8-inch screen packed full with all the specs you need to make the most of it. The whole thing weighs in at just 310 grams, allowing for comfortable one-handed use for extended periods – perfect for gaming on the go or browsing your various social media platforms or sipping a drink while you watch a TV series. The possibilities are endless. Well, extensive.

But the light weight and easy handling conceal Huawei’s octa-core processor, from the fine folks over at MediaTek. It combines power with efficiency, balancing both so you can run the things you want to run without having to spend all day connected to a power outlet. It’ll even multitask, should you be a tablet-toting overachiever.

Stored potential

That processor works hand-in-hand with Huawei’s gigantic 5,100mAh battery. Want to watch 12 hours of video in a stretch? That’s awfully ambitious but you can do it, but if you’re less of a heavy user, you can stretch a charge to three days – handy because there are likely loads of other devices in your home that need that wall-socket more. Standby is even longer, with up to 600 hours available from the MatePad T8. You’ll always have at least some charge, unless you completely forget to plug it in after a movie marathon. That error’s on you, buddy. 

Onward!

The Huawei MatePad T8 tablet is the perfect travel companion. You can take it literally anywhere because… well, see that whole bit about being lightweight. It fits in just about any bag or backpack (or even a pocket, if you’re a bit of a weirdo), meaning you can use it anywhere. That might not mean a whole lot right now but it will. Best you be prepared for when the world opens and you still wanna watch your series’ instead of talk to people.

Speaking of media, the MatePad T8 features an 80% screen-to-body ratio, making it ideal for consumption of media of all sorts. Okay, so audiobooks look like audiobooks everywhere but if you’re watching movies you want a large, bright display. Guess what this tablet has? Exactly.

Not quite a babysitter (but not far off either)

Huawei’s MatePad T8 isn’t designed to watch the kids but it’ll do it anyway. There’s a baked-in Kid’s Corner app that’ll gate off the device so your little ‘uns can use it unsupervised. And, because kids have a tendency to fold themselves into weird shapes when you’re not paying attention, there’s also a feature that’ll detect when they’ve been sitting with poor posture for too long. Added to that are built-in parental controls, so parents can limits screen time without having to resort to constant gatekeeping.

These are just a couple of features native to Huawei’s EMUI 10 operating system, which also does things like: offer facial recognition for screen unlocking, while the newest version of the OS also tweaks system speeds so that, in conjunction with that excellent hardware, you can get into your apps as fast as you have to. 

Huawei’s MatePad T8 tablet is available for just R2,999, is available in Deepsea Blue and comes with a free MatePad case cover, whether you’re grabbing it from one of Huawei’s partners (Game, Makro, MTN, Cellucity, Telkom, Incredible Connection, Vodacom, or Takealot) or direct from the official South African Huawei Store.