Why I use this $200 Android tablet more than my iPad, and I don’t regret it

ZDNET Highlights

• The Blackview Link 8 is available now for $219.
• It is a thin and light 13-inch Android tablet with all-day battery life.
• The screen is not bright enough to deal with direct sunlight.

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While the iPad is arguably the best-known and best-selling tablet, Android users have the benefit of choosing tablets from a wide range of manufacturers.

is one of those manufacturers blackviewA company known for manufacturing rugged smartphones with thermal cameras. But since tablets are essentially larger-sized smartphones, it’s a natural market for Blackview to get into.

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And that’s a good thing, because the company makes some pretty good tablets. I know, because I’ve tested and reviewed many of them over the years. Latest in Line – The link 8 – That pattern continues.

The Link 8 is a 12.9-inch tablet that’s built thin and light from ground to top. It measures 8.4 x 11.1 x 0.3 inches (214.2 x 282.98 x 8.4 mm) and weighs 1.5 pounds or 25 ounces. This makes the Link 8 a highly portable unit, perfect for taking to work or throwing in a bag for travel. It is light enough to be held comfortably in the hand during long browsing or reading sessions.

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At its center is a 12.7-inch, 2160 x 1600 resolution IPS display that runs at a 90Hz refresh rate. Big enough to accommodate whether you’re browsing your social media or watching movies.

The brightness of 300 nits is fine for most indoor environments, such as homes and offices, and is good for extending battery life, but it may not be bright enough to use comfortably in direct sunlight or very bright environments.

I found the Link 8’s display to be perfectly adequate and comfortable on the eyes, but the constant brightness of 1,000 nits bugged me. ipad pro (But this one tablet costs more than $1,000).

The display supports Google’s Widevine L1 digital rights management (DRM) technology, allowing the tablet to handle premium content from outlets like Netflix, Disney+, and YouTube in Full HD.

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HD content is nothing without good speakers, and Blackview has once again turned to the tried and tested quad-box Smart-PA stereo speakers, used in other tablets. Whether you’re on a video call or watching the latest action movie, these deliver rich, clear sound.

Powering the tablet is an octa-core MediaTek Helio G100 processor clocked at 2.2GHz, paired with 18GB of RAM (6GB of physical RAM and 12GB of virtual RAM – and I suggest you set the virtual RAM to maximum so you get the best out of it at very little cost) and 256GB of storage.

The processor isn’t going to win any benchmarking contests, but it can run the DokeOS_P 4.2 operating system (a custom Blackview OS based on Android 15) as well as all the Google apps quite smoothly, and switching between apps or even opening large video files doesn’t cause the tablet any trouble.

And don’t worry, DokeOS has full access to the Google Play Store and all the latest Google AI wizardry that standard Android users can access.

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When it comes to capturing moments, on the back you’ll find a 16-megapixel main camera paired with a 2-megapixel depth sensor, perfect for snapping shots for social media, capturing HD video, scanning documents or keeping an eye on the world thanks to Google Lens. On the front there is a 13-megapixel camera that does a good job of handling selfies, video calls, and face unlock.

The battery inside the tablet is an 8,400mAh unit, which is on par with the current iPad lineup, and is good for about six hours of continuous runtime, which translates to “a full day” of regular use. And if the battery starts getting a little low, you can charge it faster thanks to its 18W fast charge capability.

To complete the tablet, it comes with a selection of basic accessories: a folio case, a stylus, mouse, and keyboard.

ZDNET’s shopping advice

after using blackview link 8 Having had it for a few weeks, I have to say it’s a pretty good tablet for the price – currently $220. It’s not the fastest, it doesn’t have the brightest display, and it’s not the thinnest and lightest, but it’s a great tablet that can handle the kind of workloads people want to do at home, school, or the office.

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I threw a lot of different apps and workloads at the Link 8, and it took them all in its stride. The tablet not only runs well but also looks stylish, although the accessories are somewhat inflexible and cheap, and if you need to use a keyboard and mouse for long periods of time, I’d suggest something better (e.g. it Or it).

But for those looking for a reasonably priced tablet with a large display, the Link 8 is hard to beat.