TCL has announced two new 11-inch Android tablets: the TCL TAB A1 at USD 189.99 (about KES 24,600) and the TCL TAB A1 NXTPAPER at USD 249.99 (about KES 32,300). Both went on sale the same day in the United States through Amazon and TCL.com, with launch discounts already running. The Chinese electronics maker is better known in Kenya for its TVs.
The two tablets are nearly identical inside:
- Each has an 11-inch 2112 x 1320 display running at up to 90Hz.
- Both use a MediaTek Helio G100 chipset, with 6GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage expandable by microSD up to 2TB,
- Both come with a 8,000mAh battery with 20W charging
- Both have a set of quad speakers, an 8MP rear camera and a 5MP front camera.
- Both run Android 16 out of the box, come in a 6.2mm metal unibody, and carry an IP54 rating against dust and splashes.
But why a USD 60 difference?
What separates them is the screen, and whether that screen is worth USD 60. The standard TAB A1 has a regular LCD at 500 nits. The TAB A1 NXTPAPER swaps it for TCL’s NXTPAPER 3A Crystal panel and bundles the T-Pen 2 stylus, with 4,096 pressure levels, plus a flip case in the box. On the cheaper tablet, the same pen is sold separately.
NXTPAPER is TCL’s paper-like display technology. It is LCD, not E Ink. A nano-etched matte layer scatters reflections so the screen reads more like paper than glass. Hardware-level filtering cuts blue light without the usual yellow tint. And software modes let you drop into Color Paper or a monochrome Ink Paper mode that mimics an e-reader. For anyone who mostly reads on a tablet, or is buying one for a student, the matte screen plus a bundled pen and case at USD 249.99 is a good deal.
The weak part is the chipset. The Helio G100 arrived in 2024 as a minor revision of 2022’s Helio G99. It will handle reading, video and browsing comfortably; but it is not a gaming chip. Heavier apps may feel sluggish.
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Where these sit in the market
At USD 189.99, the TAB A1 goes up against the Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ and the Lenovo Tab M11, the two default budget tablet picks. The TCL counters with a sharper 2.1K panel, where the Tab A9+ has 1920 x 1200, and a bigger 8,000mAh battery against 7,040mAh in both rivals.
The pair slots below the 12.2-inch TCL TAB A1 Plus NXTPAPER, a USD 399.99 tablet TCL announced on 3 August.
For now this is a US launch. TCL has not announced other markets, and neither tablet mentions an LTE variant, A unit shipped to Nairobi would cost more thanks to taxes.
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