Tablets have never quite become must-haves. While I know some people manage to work on iPads or other premium tablets, for most of us, tablets are a second device that’s nice to have but ultimately not necessary.

This is why I like TCL’s new Tab A1 Plus. It’s a budget tablet that doesn’t feel low-rent. TCL wisely recognizes that the most important part of a tablet is the screen, and it has delivered an impressive display at an equally impressive budget price. The company kept the price down by cutting corners on things that don’t matter as much to most tablet users, such as the onboard cameras and the less-than-cutting-edge chip.

Keep It Simple

The Tab A1 Plus is built around a very nice 12.2-inch, 2400 x 1600 pixel LCD panel. It’s not an OLED, but it’s sharp, colorful, and bright. The 12.2-inch is a nice size too: not so big that it’s hard to hold but not so small that you feel cramped working in split-screen mode. Like the OnePlus Pad 3, the A1 Plus has a 3:2 aspect ratio, which makes it feel a bit bigger when in split-screen mode. Everything you do is nice and buttery smooth, too, thanks to the 120-Hz screen refresh rate.