Meet TCL Alcatel 3T8 4G Tablet - A great 8-inch 4G tablet for students?

The TCL Alcatel 3T8 4G tablet arrived in PH last October. It is an affordable tablet option for students looking for a homeschooling companion.

TCL Alcatel 3T8 4G tablet

Meet the TCL Alcatel 3T8 4G tablet

What's inside the box?

The TCL Alcatel 3T8 looks and feels like a well-built machine out of the box. It has an 8-inch IPS screen up front with a 1280 x 800 HD resolution at 189 ppi pixel density. At the back, the back panel is made out of a textured plastic material that feels grippy and durable. The screen features bezels that are fairly thick but can be expected from a tablet at this price point.

The textured back gives added grip

Bottom

Right side

Left side

Top side

At the top of the device, you will find a USB-C charging port and a 3.5mm audio port. You get the power button and volume rockers at the right side, the SIM tray at the left, and two speaker grills at the bottom. The camera bump at the back is found at the top left part.

Multimedia Experience

I did enjoy watching My Hero Academia even at 720p

The 8-inch HD IPS screen works well for web browsing, reading, and watching videos. That is what I used it for during my time with it since I tried to simulate the usage of a student. 

YouTube plays 720p 60fps videos seamlessly with no lags or stutters. The speakers are loud enough to be enjoyable in a quiet room but can be drowned in busier, louder areas. The 3.5mm headphone port is useful in these cases especially during conference calls or meetings.

The benchmark scores

For performance, it has a 1.3GHz MediaTek MT8766B quad-core processor, PowerVR GE8300 GPU, 2GB RAM, and 32GB expandable storage. It was able to get 75,092 points in AnTuTu, 130 points Single-Core score, and 435 points Multi-Core score in Geekbench 5.

Multitasking is decent at best. Opening productivity apps such as Gmail, Chrome, and Google Docs is fast enough to be usable. I highly suggest using Go or Lite versions of apps if available since the Alcatel 3T8 4G only has 2GB of RAM. Old games will run well like Candy Crush, Temple Run, and Angry Birds but newer titles will either struggle or just force close when I tried.

The 4,080mAh battery is a beast in my experience. It lasted me around 5 hours in continuous video playback at 75 percent brightness. But, in sporadic usage, I managed to extend the battery life to almost two days. WiFi connection and 4G LTE are both strong and stable during our tests as well. It charged for 1 hour and 45 mins from 5 percent to 100 percent using the charging brick.

The 5MP rear camera

The 5MP selfie camera

It also has a 5MP rear camera as well as a 5MP front camera. The rear camera can work well as a quick point and shoot camera during daytime scenarios. However, it struggles under subpar to low-light situations, The 5MP front-facing camera is functional for video calls as well as some selfies especially under good lighting. The camera app is very laggy though which can be improved through software optimization via OTA updates.

Rear Camera Samples

Daylight shot

Indoors shot, dim lights

Selfie Camera Samples

Lowlight selfie sample

Selfie with daylight

TCL Alcatel 3T8 4G Specs

Display: 8-inch IPS screen w/ HD 1280 x 800 resolution at 189 ppi

CPU: 1.3GHz 28nm MediaTek MT8766B quad-core processor

GPU: PowerVR GE8300

RAM: 2GB

ROM: 32GB expandable via microSD card slot

Back Camera: 5MP

Selfie Camera: 5MP

Battery: 4,080mAh

OS: Android 10

Connectivity: WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n, 700MHz 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, micro SIM

Sensors: Accelerometer

Others: USB-C, Colors: Prime Black, Agate Green

Dimensions: 209.5 x 125 x 8.29 mm

Weight: 279 g

Price: PHP 5,990

Quick thoughts

For just PHP 5,990, the TCL Alcatel 3T8 4G tablet is a good option for those looking for an affordable laptop to use for homeschooling. It has a great screen, good speakers, decent performance, and strong battery life.

Things to improve for me is camera app optimization and maybe an upgrade to 8MP sensors. But, overall the TCL Alcatel 3T8 4G is very recommendable. Check it out if you are in the market for a tablet.

What do you guys think?