Alcatel is reportedly planning to launch an all-new entry-level tablet called the Alcatel A30. The company already sells a budget smartphone by the same name, and that one’s currently available exclusively on Amazon for just $59.99. As for the upcoming tablet, detailed hardware specifications of the device are still officially under wraps, but a report recently published by TechnoBuffalo seems to suggest that it will ship with fairly modest hardware that should help the company price the device attractively. It’s worth noting here that Alcatel had released a budget tablet on T-Mobile last year that was priced at just $130, so it will be interesting to see if the upcoming device will match that price-point or maybe, even undercut it in an attempt to gain a bigger market-share. Alcatel already has a number of super-affordable tablets in its lineup, including the Pop 7 LTE that is currently sold by all major Canadian carriers, including Rogers, Telus and Bell, for just CAD 150.
Taking a quick look at the rumored tech-specs of the upcoming tablet, the Alcatel A30 is expected to ship with an 8-inch IPS display protected by Asahi’s proprietary screen-protection technology – Dragontail. The device will reportedly be powered by a Qualcomm chip with an integrated 1.1GHz quad-core CPU, which very likely points towards the Snapdragon 210 that can already be found under the hood of the aforementioned Alcatel A30 smartphone. The tablet is believed to come with 2GB of RAM and only 16GB of internal storage, but will apparently have a microSD slot that will support cards of up to 32GB in capacity. The device will offer 5-megapixel cameras on both the front and back, while Android Nougat will come pre-installed.
Interestingly, the device is also said to have an IR Blaster that should allow users to use it as a universal remote. There will also apparently be a SIM card slot for cellular connectivity, so it will be interesting to see if the device supports 4G LTE. While there’s no word currently on the availability and pricing of the upcoming tablet, reports seem to suggest that it will be launched sometime next month, most likely as a T-Mobile exclusive. Going by the rumored tech-specs, the device won’t necessarily be the fastest, most cutting-edge Android tablet on the market, but that’s not what Alcatel is looking for anyways. As long as the price is right, the upcoming tablet could very well offer an inexpensive option for browsing, reading and casual gaming.