Tablets may well be content consumption devices, handy for reading and viewing and general intake of things happening around the world and the web, but that doesn’t mean they have to be limited to that.
You can write on a tablet. You can draw on a tablet. You might even write a novel on a tablet. This journalist has done all three.
The shift from consumption to creator for a tablet is one they’ve always kind of had the ability to do, but the tech is getting more interesting, and improvements are why. Faster chips, better screens, and updated software all adds to the package, with the idea of making them as interchangeable as pen and paper, but with the added bonus of being refreshed like a screen.
We’ve seen examples of this over the years, be it the paper-like eInk of Remarkable tablets or even Kobo’s eBook reader with a pen, all the way to simply using a pen on an iPad or Galaxy phone with a stylus. There are plenty of choices.
This year at Mobile World Congress in Spain, TCL is showing what its “Nxtpaper” concept will do in that regard, with the TCL Note A1 Nxtpaper using an LCD technology likely built like an electronic ink screen, and arriving in an 11.5 inch screen size with a 120Hz refresh rate for slick reading without lag.
The screen will support colour, while the glass covering it aims to be durable, anti-glare, and anti-reflection, coming in a 500 gram device measuring 5.5mm thin. TCL hasn’t revealed all the details, but says its pen technology covers up to 8192 pressure sensitivity levels, making it ideal for writing and drawing.
Interestingly, TCL has stopped short in saying what runs on the hardware, but the A1 Nxtpaper doesn’t appear to be an Android tablet in the sense of how we’d normally expect them. It could be more like an eReader and use a custom operating system, with apps to link it to your phone.
But TCL will have at least one tablet this year in the 12.2 inch TCL Tab A1 Plus, an Android model sporting a high-res display, 120Hz refresh rate, and an aluminium unibody design.
No word on pricing for either of these models yet, let alone for availability in Australia, but we’ll let you know if and when that changes.
