Alcatel has announced the launch of a new 4G tablet which will be available exclusively from Telstra. The Telstra Essential 8" Tab, powered by Alcatel, will cost $129 outright.
That's an incredibly low price for a tablet with 4G connectivity. For comparison, an 8-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab A with 4G connectivity would set you back around $449. The trade-off, of course, is that the tablet is locked to Telstra prepaid mobile broadband. That means you have to connect over the Telstra network (which ain't the cheapest) or pay Telstra $80 to get it unlocked.
The Telstra Essential 8" Tab has been designed with young users in mind and comes with "Family Mode", a mode that features pre-installed games, cartoons and books, as well as parental controls which, Alcatel says, will allow you to "set parameters around app access and usage time".
And if you're worried about the strain of too much screen time on your son or daughter's eyes, you can enable Eye Care Mode which reduces blue light.
The Telstra Essential 8" Tab runs Android Oreo (Go edition), the second to latest version of Google's operating system, plus 16GB of storage which is expandable up to 128GB. Other key specifications an 8-inch 1280 x 800 display, a MediaTek MT8765B quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, and a 4,080mAh battery.
Telstra prepaid mobile broadband plans currently start at $30 per 28 days for 5GB. You'll also get a bonus 5GB on each recharge you make until February 25, 2019.
Jacqui Dent
Editorial Strategist
