Alldocube iPlay 50 Mini (review): 8.4-inch tablet under $100

Review unit provided by Alldocube

Alldocube iPlay 50 Mini is a 8.4-inch Android tablet selling just USD 109.99 with one year warranty. At the time of this review, you can get additional $20 less with a coupon on AliExpress that brings the price down to just $89.99.

The tablet comes with a USB-A charger, USB-A to USB-C charging cable, SIM ejection tool and user manual.

Bottom line

This is an incredibly affordable portable tablet but this is a budget tablet so you will have to manage your expectations.

Colours on the display looks good enough and brightness is adequate. General performance is quite smooth without any annoying lag. This tablet is meant for light usage such as web surfing, emails, social media, watching videos and some light gaming (nothing too graphics intensive).

Main downsides for me is the lack of finger/face unlock, and the so-so audio quality from the speakers.

This is tablet is great for those who want a decent small tablet but don't want to spend too much.

Specs

• Dimensions: 202.7 x 126 x 7.5mm
• Weight: 292g
• OS: Android 13
• Chip: Unisoc T606 (Octa-core(ARM-A75×2@1.6GHz + ARM-A55×6@1.6GHz)
• RAM: 4GB
• Storage: 64GB
• MicroSD card slot: Yes
• Display: 8.4-inch IPS LCD
• Resolution: 1920 x 1200 (270 PPI)
• Brightness: 320 nits
• Front and back camera: 5MP
• SIM: Dual SIM (one slot shared with microSD card)
• Connectivity: Wifi, cellular, Bluetooth
• Port: USB-C
• 3.5mm jack: Yes
• Battery capacity: 4000 mAh

Physical dimensions of the tablet is 202.7mm x 126mm x 7.5mm. This is a tablet that can be held in one hand comfortably. The weight is 292 grams.

The tablet is quite slim. Design looks modern with the thin bezels and flat sides. I can see this being mistaken for the Apple iPad mini 2021 which is four times more expensive.

The tablet comes with a screen protector already applied so you don't have to worry about scratches. However the clear glossy does affect image quallity slight but only if you scrutinise what you see.

Resolution of 1920 x 1200 on an 8.4-inch display provides sharp visuals with no noticeable pixelation.

Colours on the LCD display look good and vibrant enough. The colour support and contrast ratio cannot compare to more expensive tablets but at Alldocube's low price point, this display is considered pretty good. Brightness is marketed as 320 nits and from what I can see, brightness is adequate for use in a bright room environment.

When tablet is viewed from the side, there's slight drop in brightness and minimal colour shift. You will get the best visual quality when looking at the tablet straight on.

There's some light glow at the top edge near where the camera is. That glow is only visible when tablet is viewed from an angle so it's mostly a non-issue.

The 8.4-inch display has a surface area that's almost two times larger than a 6.7-inch phone even though it may not seem like it. If you find your phone too small, having a larger tablet can be more satisfying to use.

Build quality of the tablet is solid. The back looks and feels like metal even though it could just be plastic, or as Alldocube calls it "high quality material". There's a 5MP main camera and 5MP front camera.

Unfortunately, there's no fingerprint or face unlock so you'll have to use pin or swipe unlock.

The USB-C charging point is located at the top for some reason, off centred because there's a camera there. Data transfer speed is USB 2.

It takes slightly more than 2 hours to charge the 4000mAh battery fully. Battery life is 7-8 hours.

There's only one speaker and it's not powerful so the audio isn't loud, lacks bass and fullness.

Power and volume buttons are located by the right side.

There's a sim tray on the other side which can take 2 nano sim and microSD card (2 of 3). Yes, this tablet has cellular connectivity so you can make calls -- there is a mic. Obviously to get better call experience you should use a headset.

There's a 3.5mm audio jack that's located at the corner of the tablet. Why the corner?

Performance

The tablet uses the Unisoc T606 entry level processor with 8 cores at 1.6Ghz. There's 4GB RAM and 64GB storage which is expandable via microSD card.

The UI provided by Alldocube is quite lacking in features so you may want to install your own launcher. And there's Google Play Store so you will have access to a huge variety of apps. The tablet runs on Android 13 and there isn't any bloatware installed.

There's Widevine L1 so you can get 1080P video streaming with Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and Disney Plus.

General performance is smooth. This is a fast-enough tablet. This tablet is not slow.

Apps are able to launch fast enough. Webpages and videos load fast. Switching between apps is smooth.

Light gaming is fine but not graphics intensive games. There are frequent stutters with Genshin Impact.

The main limitation with performance comes from the internal storage speed which so loading huge games will take time. The internal storage speed also affects download speed for huge apps but doesn't affect web browsing speed.

This tablet can be used as an eReader due to its compact size.

You can think of this tablet as a large Android phone. Most apps designed for Android phones will look alright in vertical orientation. Webpages are best run in mobile rather than desktop mode which will make everything look much smaller.

Conclusion

My user experience with the tablet is mostly positive. This tablet looks good and performs well given the limitations. This tablet provides a lot of value with its affordable price point.

The only things that affected my user experience is the lack of fingerprint unlock and the so-so quality of the speakers.

This is a tablet I can recommend to those who want a small tablet and have a limited buget.

Pros and cons at a glance
+ Beautiful design
+ Compact, lightweight, portable
+ Solid build quality
+ Display colours look good at its price point
+ Screen protector already applied
+ Sharp visuals with FHD+ resolution on 8.4-inch display
+ Brightness adequate for use in bright environment
+ Wifi and cellular connectivity
+ 3.5mm audio jack
+ Android 13
+ Widevine L1
+ No bloatware
+ Decent smooth performance from entry level processor
+ MicroSD card slot for storage expansion
+ Extremely affordable
- Weird placement of 3.5mm audio jack at the corner
- Weird placement of USB-C port at the top
- Screen protector affects image quality slightly
- So-so audio quality from low power speakers
- Alldocube custom UI has limited features
- Not good for graphics intensive games
- No fingerprint or face unlock
- 4GB RAM

Availability

You can find the Alldocube iPlay 50 Mini tablet on AliExpress and there should be global shipping included with the price.

It's also available on Amazon