TCL is one of the most famous and best producers of electronic devices such as Tablets, Smartphones, etc. Since the review of the TCL TAB 10s which achieved great success by providing value for money, now the company has been working on improving its tablet series through the new upgrade under the name TCL TAB Max 10.4.
It’s promising with 10.36 inches FHD+ screen and the latest Android 11 and this is handled by Snapdragon 665 CPU, 6GB RAM, and 256GB storage, adding that there is more and more about the efficiency of the processor for gaming, size, and battery life, quality of the camera and streaming services, But the question arises, will you maintain the principle of value for money? all this I will talk about and more in this review So, Keep reading to find out.
TCL TAB Max 10.4 Features
- Android 11 System
- Snapdragon 665 Octa-Core
- 10.36-inch IPS FHD+ Screen
- 6GB RAM And 256GB ROM
- 8000mAh Battery, Fast Charging 18W
- Camera 13.0MP + 8.0MP
- Dual Band 2.4GHz / 5.0GHz WiFi
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Design And Build Quality
In terms of design, TCL TAB Max did not offer much, but it still looks beautiful and modern with some touches that make it really look professional, the body is built of grey aluminum alloy on both sides and I feel high quality not cheap. The frame, it’s thin with a thickness of 7.7mm, while the full dimensions of the tablet are 247.8*157.56mm and weigh 470g is lightweight compared to other tablets, despite its thinness and lightweight, it’s still very strong, it does not contain have any kind of protection but is durable, withstands shocks and rough use but don’t get excited about too much.
On the front, it has a large 10.36-inch screen and an 8.0MP front camera in the middle of the top for taking selfies and video chats. And the other side, as we mentioned, is a clean metal body with a 13.0MP rear camera with a flash in the upper left corner with a slight bump, and at the corner, there is the TCL logo.
As for the ports and buttons, there is the USB-C charging port, power button, volume up / down, microphones, a sim / microSD tray, and quad speakers. If you notice the 3.5mm audio jack is missing, that means either you have to use wireless headphones or a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter.
TCL TAB Max 10.4 – Display Screen
The TCL TAB Max has a 10.36-inch FHD IPS screen, and the best thing is that it’s with a high resolution of 1200 x 2000 pixels, so you can enjoy any content on the tablet with good color accuracy and brightness enough, in addition to improved response accuracy and that will not disappoint you. The bezels around the screen it’s not very thin but, deliver a good experience. This type of screen is the best you can get on a budget tablet and provides good color reproduction with no picture distortion for comfortable reading or watching.
Software
The TCL TAB Max 10.4 works on near-stock Android 11 with little bloatware pre-installed, full-screen gesture navigation controls, dark themes, split-screen view, and contains most of the features that come with the system, the most important of which is the presence of all Google services, Making the tablet experience smoother and more personalized.
As I always say, the stock Android system is best for cheap devices, with a simple and smooth launcher for better performance, especially it’s without pre-installed apps or games, I really hate this because of the large number of ads, but has only TCL Kids, designed for three to fifteen-year-olds that includes parental controls as well as cartoons, storybooks, audio stories, STEM lessons, and loads of puzzles.
TCL TAB Max – Performance
If we talk about performance, TCL TAB Max 10.4 offers great performance in most of its basic and entertainment uses such as browsing the web, watching videos on YouTube, using social media applications, and reading e-books, as everything worked efficiently and without facing any problems with stopping applications or high degrees.
Memory
Most of the applications ran very quickly and thanks to the eMMC 256GB storage capacity and it’s the biggest I’ve seen in a mid-cost Chinese tablet, it would be suitable for installing any application you need, with the ability to expand via a Micro SD card to 256GB. In short, the capacity it offers is very good and you do not have to think about choosing, and for this price, it’s a good deal.
And for multitasking, browsing between applications was smooth because it is equipped with a 6GB RAM LPDDR4X which is more than enough for most of the tasks that you can do with a tablet such as keeping many applications or large games running in the background. In Short, this tablet will give you a very positive experience.
CPU Performance In Games
Well, It is time to expose the TCL TAB Max 10.4 tablet to some tasks that need more effort and there is nothing better than playing games with high settings, the conditions here differ according to the application, game, or any type of program that needs large resources, and because the processor used is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 (SM6125) Octa-Core is a fast mid-range ARM-based SoC largely found on Android tablets and smartphones, designed by Qualcomm and introduced in early 2019. Fabricated on Samsung’s 11nm LPP process, the 665 features four Kryo 260 Silver high-efficiency cores operating at 1.8 GHz along with four high-performance Kryo 260 Gold operating at 2 GHz. Both clusters can also be used together.
Was one of the most powerful processors used in mid-range smartphones like Redmi Note 8 or Oppo A9 2020, everything was smooth even in high-graphics games like PUBG or COD Mobile or other requirements games, however, if you play on medium settings, You will enjoy smooth gameplay, decent frame rate, play these games and even video decoding.
and features an X12 LTE modem supporting Cat 13 uplink and Cat 12 downlink. In addition to supporting LPDDR4 memory controller (dual-channel) and supports Wi-Fi (802.11ac + MIMO, max. 867 Mbps), Bluetooth 5, and LTE (X12 LTE modem with up to 600 Mbps download and 150 Mbps upload).
The Snapdragon 665 integrates the Adreno 610 GPU in our benchmarks is comparable to the ARM Mali G52 MP2 user in tablets like (Blackview Tab 11 or Alldocube iPlay 40H). However, games should not be the main reason for purchasing this tablet. Generally, the performance is good but not the best in this category.
Playing Content
To play the content on YouTube, was very smooth. You can play videos at a maximum of 1080p at 60 FPS without any problems or lag, and up to 2K at best with some slight stutter. Unfortunately, the TCL TAB Max 10.4 does not have Widevine DRM Level 1, so paid services like Netflix and Amazon Prime cannot be viewed in 4K, and this level maybe not be found on all Chinese tablets without exaggeration. However, you can still enjoy Netflix and all other streaming services in 480p resolution.
Sound Quality
The sound on the TAB Max is one of the strengths, the new built-in speakers with a high-quality sound system feature four speakers, two on the top and two at the bottom. The volume is a bit high and lacks bass, but it is acceptable for playing games and watching movies in high quality.
TCL TAB Max 10.4 – Cameras
So far, the overall rating of the TCL TAB Max tablet is more than great, but this does not mean that its ideal, especially when we are talking about a medium-cost tablet, in terms of the front and back cameras, you can say it’s bad, not big different from other tablets, the back contains a 13.0MP Sensor with 1080p video recording, this camera is working but you will only use it essentially because the quality is a low comparison of a smartphone released in recent years.
There is an 8.0MP sensor on the front for 1080p video calls or taking selfies, although I was disappointed because of its low quality with some noise while recording from the microphone, it’s okay.
In short, this tablet is not intended for photography and I cannot complain more because the cameras are expected to be this bad and this is common in this type of device, only I should have warned about that. However, lighting is very important to show the best result from both cameras.
Connectivity
Connectivity options for this tablet include a high-speed Wi-Fi network that supports 2.4GHz / 5GHz AC power that works well and provides your maximum internet speed, and it includes GPS not the best but it works in addition to not supporting a hardware compass. Also, has Bluetooth 5.0 and 4G LTE multi-band to offer good signal quality and coverage for making phone calls and accessing the Internet easily.
TCL TAB Max Battery And Charging Time
TCL TAB 10s has a built-in 8000mAh Li-Po battery that allows 8-9 hours of continuous use for surfing the Internet, Google, YouTube, and following social media, of course, the time is less when playing games and using 4G, it will stay with you for a whole day on one charge it mostly takes about 4 hours to fully charge 8000mAh using Type-C with Fast charging 18W, and the charging time seems long, but this capacity is not small. However, I can say that the battery was very good.
Conclusion
TCL TAB Max 10.4 is considered a mid-range tablet, and there are not many differences between other competitors, however, I think is one of the best budget tablets in 2022, with a good processor, abundant memory of 256GB, 6GB RAM, support fast charging 18W, and a 2k screen, but that does not make it flawless as it lacks a fingerprint reader, low camera quality and you cannot watch Netflix in HD resolution, but it gives you powerful performance but not at a low price, And this, as we mentioned, is compared to other tablets from well-known brands such as Alldocube iPlay 40H, Teclast T40 Pro, BMAX MaxPad I11, and it offers similar specifications and performance, or even superior to it in some cases. However, we find a price difference of 50 dollars or more. This is what I will explain in the next comparison table.
Difference Between TCL TAB Max VS Teclast T40 Pro
| TCL TAB Max | Teclast T40 Pro | |
| Processor | Snapdragon 665 Octa-Core | UNISOC Tiger T618 Octa-Core |
| GPU | Adreno 610 | Mali-G52 |
| RAM | 6GB | 8GB |
| Storage Capacity | 256GB | 128GB |
| Software | Android 11 | Android 11 |
| Screen | 10.36-inch IPS | 10.4-inch IPS |
| Resolution | 2000*1200 2k | 2000*1200 2K |
| Camera | Back camera: 13.0MP Front camera: 8.0MP | Back camera: 13.0MP Front camera: 8.0MP |
| Battery | 8000mAh | 7000mAh |
| Fast charging | 18W | 18W |
| Speaker | 4 | 4 |
| Price (The moment to write a review) | $277 | $190 |
TCL TAB Max 10.4 Price And Where To Buy
The TCL TAB Max 10.4 tablet is currently available on AliExpress Store. And to view its price or buy it, you can access the offer by clicking on the store icon.
Package Included
- TCL TAB Max 10.4 Tablet
- USB Type-C Cable
- 9V2A Charge Adapter
- Card Pin
- Quick Guide
- Product Safety Information
TCL TAB Max 10.4 Specifications
| CPU | Snapdragon 665 octa-core |
| System | Android 11 |
| Language | Multi-language |
| Camera | Front:8.0MP Rear:13.0MP |
| RAM | 6GB |
| ROM | 256GB eMMC5.1 |
| Memory Card | Support |
| Max Expansion Supported | Max support 256GB |
| Screen | 10.36 Inch |
| Resolution | 2000*1200 |
| Battery | 8000mAh |
| Weight | 470g |
| Size | 247.8*157*7.65mm |
| WIFI | 802.11 a/b/g/n |
| Bluetooth | 5.0 |
| 4G LTE | Support |
| Microphone | Built-in mics |
| Speaker | speakers |
| Audio | MP3,WMA,APE,OGG,AAC |
| Picture | JPG, JPEG, GIF, BMP, PNG, etc |
| Video | AVI,WMV,3GP,TS,TP,etc |
