HTC announces the A101 tablet. Launching first in Russia

HTC recently launched its first phone for “metavers”, a mid-range that doesn’t seem to include anything special, either in hardware or software. The company has been largely absent from the mobile device market in recent years, releasing one entry or mid phone a year. But now, just a week after the launch of the Desire 22 Pro phone, we get the announcement of an HTC tablet, the A101.

The HTC A101 is a modest tablet with a big price tag for what it offers

As we’ve seen with the new smartphone, the new HTC A101 tablet won’t turn many heads. Not only are we talking about a tablet with a generic design, but it’s also part of a lower performance class.

We’re dealing with a mobile device with a 10.1″ widescreen display that only displays Full HD (1080p) resolution, just like other tablets of this size. At least the construction seems to be of higher quality, using aluminium for the back cover instead of plastic.

On the inside, HTC chooses a Unisoc T618 processor, usually found in very cheap Chinese smartphones. It is built on a fairly old 12 nm node already, and is consequently cheaper to produce. Despite the outdated processor technology, however, the HTC A101 benefits from a fairly modern configuration: 8 GB RAM and 128 GB internal storage. Also, the 7,000 mAh battery should provide good battery life given the specs. Unfortunately, charging at 10W is a bit slow for such a large capacity, so charging will take a long time.

A magnetic accessory port can also be seen at the bottom of the tablet, but it’s not clear what accessories will be able to be connected there. Chances are slim that accessory manufacturers outside of HTC will produce devices like keyboards compatible with a niche tablet from a brand that hasn’t released tablets in years.

The HTC A101 tablet launches first in Russia with Android 11 pre-installed. Given the war situation in Ukraine, it’s strange to see a device manufacturer launching new products in this market. The tablet costs 19,890 rubles, or around 1,700 lei, a price close to that of the iPad 9.

Source: GSM Arena