Alcatel Plus 10 review
Our Verdict
The Alcatel Plus 10 is cheap and plastic and doesn’t have very impressive specs. However, that means the price is lower than rivals and could be a good choice for those wanting a Windows 10 2-in-1 without breaking the bank. There’s lots of battery capacity and the keyboard dock has the unusual ability of being an LTE Wi-Fi hotspot.
Now just called Alcatel, the firm has introduced a Windows 10 tablet which features an LTE-enabled keyboard. Here’s our Alcatel Plus 10 hands-on review from MWC 2016.Also see:Best new phones, tablets, laptops & more at MWC 2016.
There’s been a wave of new Windows 10 devices since the launch of the Surface Pro 4 with many firms trying to copy the tablet. Alcatel has gone down a different route with the Plus 10 which is a more traditional tablet with a keyboard dock.
The Plus 10 will launch in June with a price of €349 which means it undercuts many of its rivals.Also see:Best new tablets coming in 2016.
Alcatel Plus 10 review: Design and build
At this fairly cheap price point we’re not surprised to find a pretty uninteresting plastic build on the Plus 10. There’s nothing overly interesting about the design of the tablet itself.
It snaps into the keyboard doc very easily with the help of magnets and connects to via metal contacts on the bottom so there’s no need to faff around with Bluetooth.
You can close the tablet onto the dock but there’s no hinge to hold it in place like a laptop. Magnets do the job instead and they don’t feel too strong so we’re worried the pair might come apart in a bag. It’s hard to tell as the keyboard dock was stuck down at the show.
The design means you can use the Plus 10 in three different modes. Using the tablet on it’s own and on the keyboard dock like a laptop are the obvious two, but you can also flip the tablet 180 into what’s generally called a display mode. This is handy when you’re on a train or plane with little space to work with.
Unlike the Huawei MateBook, which only has a USB-C port, the Plus 10 offers Micro-USB and Micro-HDMI. The keyboard dock then adds full-size USB should you need it.
Alcatel Plus 10 review: Hardware and specs
There’re some pretty unassuming specs for the Plus 10 including a useless 5Mp rear camera but something we’ve not seen before is that the keyboard dock has a SIM-card slot. This means that it can be used as Wi-Fi hotspot for up to 15 devices. The device supports LTE Cat 4 (up to 150Mbps download speeds).
Since the tablet is quite small, the keyboard is quite squashed so typing is pretty awkward. Somehow Alcatel ahs managed to fit a trackpad in but it’s got to be the smallest one we’ve ever seen. It’s better than nothing, though.
Alcatel has gone for a 10.1in screen which we think is really the minimum for doing proper work in Windows 10. However, the resolution is quite low at 1280×800 and brightness isn’t great either.
Powering the Plus 10 is an Intel Atom x5 processor which is supported by 2GB of RAM and there’s 32GB of storage. That’s not much for Windows 10 but the tablet does have a Micro-SD card slot so you can add more.
Based on the spec sheet, it’s going to be battery life which is a big selling point. The tablet has a 5830mAh battery and the keyboard has a 2580mAh which will charge the tablet when it’s docked. That’s a lot of capacity combined and the low screen resolution means battery life should be great.
Specs
Alcatel Plus 10: Specs
Author: Chris Martin, Reviews Editor, Tech Advisor
Chris got his break as a reporter at infamous site The Inquirer and has been at Tech Advisor for more than 12 years. With a BA degree in Music Technology, audio is his specialism, but over the years he has reviewed all kinds of gadgets, from smartwatches to mesh Wi-Fi to coffee machines.
