Back in May, Huawei unveiled a new tablet to compete with Amazon’s popular Fire 7: the MediaPad T3 7. At $90, the 7-inch Huawei offered a solid alternative to Amazon’s budget darling, with a few small improvements in specs and build quality to justify a slightly higher price. Now, Huawei has returned with two more tablets in the T3 line — 8-inch and 10-inch models — as well as a moderately more powerful series known as the MediaPad M3 Lite. They’re now available online from Amazon and Newegg.
First, let’s talk about the new T3 models. Both the 8-inch and 10-inch variants receive Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 425 system-on-chip alongside 2GB of RAM. It’s a worthy improvement over the MediaTek MT8127 and 1GB RAM found in the 7-inch T3. Both tablets come with 16GB of storage on board, 4,800mAh batteries, and 1,280 x 800 LCD displays. They’re wrapped up in a Space Gray anodized aluminum chassis, and run $140 and $160 for the 8- and 10-inch versions, respectively.
If you need a bit more of everything, the M3 Lite might be a better fit. Huawei has upgraded the processor in these tablets to a Snapdragon 435, and added an extra gigabyte of RAM for a total of 3GB. If you opt for the 10-inch model, you’ll get a significantly larger battery, too — 6,600mAh, versus the 4,800mAh unit in the 8-inch M3 Lite. The 8-inch will cost you $200, while the 10-inch is priced at $250. Both benefit from the inclusion of full HD displays — a step up from what you’d find in the T3 series.
Huawei is also touting improved sound in the M3 Lite, thanks to a partnership with Harman Kardon. Like the standard MediaPad M3, these devices feature Huawei’s SWS 3.0 Smart Sound technology, which differentiates between music and video to deliver the proper audio experience for the content on screen. Each one of these tablets runs Android 7.0 Nougat, though Huawei isn’t specific as to the revision. On top of that, you’ll find the company’s EMUI 5.1 interface.
The budget tablet market is a very busy one, and four new models within the space of $200 might seem like overkill. Fortunately, at the very least it means you’ll have a plethora of choices in finding the device that ticks all your boxes. For more info, check out our always-updated guide on the best inexpensive tablets on the market right now.
