XPPen Artist 16 3rd Targets New Creators
XPPen Artist 16 3rd combines dual X-Dial controls, a 15.4-inch display, and a 16K stylus for a more intuitive entry-level drawing setup.
Tag Archives: Tablets
ONEXPLAYER X2 Mini is a power-packed compact PC, tablet and handheld in one
We’ve been ranting all year long about the rise of the handhelds and the choices spread across a wide spectrum. This diversity is attributed to many variables, including the use case, the genres of games the device is expected to play, and, most importantly, the price segment a gamer is looking at.
ONE-NOTEBOOK has more often than not shown what a premium gaming rig or a powerhouse handheld is supposed to be like, going beyond the utility of simply enjoying your favorite titles. The ONEXPLAYER G1 laptop, the ONEXPLAYER X1 tablet hybrid, and the ONEXPLAYER Youxia X1 Pro EVA Limited Edition handheld gaming PC proved it all right.
Designer: ONE-NETBOOK
The Shenzhen-based electronics company is back with another powerhouse gadget that should solve your gaming, work, and entertainment needs. ONEXPLAYER X2 Mini is the latest teased handheld by ONE-NETBOOK, and it packs some real power for playing AAA titles. Despite the “Mini” in its namesake, the device features a slightly larger 8.8-inch OLED screen compared to the Apex handheld’s 8-inch display shown off at CES 2026. The display supports VRR and HDR modes, along with the superior 144 Hz variable refresh rate for demanding titles. This pits it directly in competition with the Lenovo Legion Go 2.
Powering the guts of the handheld is the power-packed AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 APU, and there is no word yet about the RAM or storage on the gaming device. The beefy processor with 16 Zen 5 CPU cores is mated to the Radeon 8060S integrated GPU. That kind of hardware requires active cooling, and ONE-NETBOOK has an optional external water cooling pack in the mix. That amount of processing power can be overkill for a handheld, but it makes sense since the device doubles as a potent mini laptop. The screen is completely detachable and connects to a magnetic backlit keyboard for your work routines on the go.
To power the demanding machine, they’ve decided to go with a user-detachable 85W battery to make swaps quick, in case you want to extend your gaming sessions on a long flight. The detachable controller has swappable face buttons (with micro-switches), a capacitive joystick, casing, and a vibration motor for haptic feedback. Thus, making the handheld mini PC easy to replace with new components. D-pad will also be user configurable in two options – the standard cross version, or the octagonal setup similar to the Xbox Series Elite controller. For better control in-game, the two-stage analogue trigger provides micromovement and linear freedom in switching. The controllers can be connected to the independent wireless connection base, which turns them into a capacitive touchpad for mouse-level precision while working.
ONEXPLAYER X2 Mini will likely have 128GB of storage and ultra-fast LPDDR5X RAM to go with the Strix Halo APU, which should put it flush in the premium handheld category. That should carry a premium price as well, somewhere around $4,000 or more. Add the price of accessories to that, and you have a handheld-PC hybrid poised to attract power gamers and users who have always wanted a modular device for multi-functional needs.
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Tank Pad Ultra is a rugged tablet that doubles as a short throw projector
8849tech introduced the Tank Pad last year, leaving the tech world in awe. With the ability to double as a projector, the rugged tablet leapt beyond the already highlighted multitasking capabilities of a normal tablet. Now the beast is back in an improved version to polish out the kinks of the OG version, adding more capabilities for users who demand that little extra.
The Tank Pad Ultra has the same promise of all-weather performance, reliability, and durability as its predecessor. If you’re hoping to buy a sleek, lightweight tablet, this one, weighing 1,345 grams and measuring 170.3×268.3×23.6 mm, is not for you. The device is targeted towards professionals and power users who are constantly exposed to challenging environments. Slated to launch two days from now, the rugged tablet is designed for a niche audience with a specific set of needs.
Designer: 8849tech
Specifications are the key here as the tab boasts a 10.95-inch, 1920 x 1200 pixel display, which is better than the previous version. Powering the gut is a MediaTek Dimensity 8200 processor, which is a tad slower than the Tank Pad, which has a Dimensity 8300 processor. To support multiple open apps, the 16GB RAM and storage capacity of 512GB (expandable via a microSD card) make things easy for users. Coming onto the integrated DLP projector, it has a 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution. 260 lumens of brightness and auto-focus support. These numbers are technically better than the Tank Pad, which has a 854 x 480 pixel resolution and 100 lumens maximum brightness.
The battery also gets a bump up to 23,400 mAh from the previous 21,000 mAh in the original model. However, both have support for 66W charging, which should be enough to juice up the device for short bursts or power usage in case charging options are limited out in the wild. The Tank Pad Ultra comes with a USB 2.0 Type-C port and the ability to reverse charge your other gadgets. For people who are all-in for a wired multimedia experience, the 3.5mm audio jack is a welcome addition. Since the tablet is going to be used out in unknown environments, it comes loaded with a gyroscope, accelerometer, compass, ambient light sensor, and distance sensor. It also comes with an independent camping light built in to explore in the dark hours.
Of course, a mobile device needs to have shooting capabilities, so the Tank Pad Ultra has a 50MP primary camera (with Sony IMX766 sensor) for daylight shooting and a 64MP night vision camera (OV64B) for more awareness of the environment in the dark hours. In the mix is a 32MP front-facing camera (IMX616 sensor), which is potent enough to take video calls in high quality. 8849 has included dual nano SIM card slots with support for 5G NR and 4G LTE networks, which is essential in inhospitable conditions. For a more laid-back connectivity when you arrive back home, the tab has WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, and NFC support.
There’s no word yet on the pricing of this rugged tablet, but going by the price of the previous model, it should be around $550. That information should present itself in a couple of days when the tablet is finally launched.
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moto pad – 2026: 5G Tablet With 2.5K Screen, Quad Dolby Atmos
Motorola has introduced the moto pad – 2026, a new Android tablet that expands the company’s device lineup beyond smartphones and into a more connected cross-screen experience. Announced alongside the moto g stylus – 2026, the tablet is positioned as a larger-screen companion for productivity, entertainment, and everyday multitasking. Based on its specs and overall appearance, the device also appears to be a rebranded version of the Moto Pad 60 Neo, which launched in India last year.
That resemblance matters because the moto pad – 2026 does not arrive as a dramatic reinvention of the Android tablet formula. Instead, it looks like Motorola is leaning on a familiar hardware base and repositioning it for a wider audience under a simpler product name. In that sense, the story here is not just about a new tablet, but about how Motorola is continuing to build out a broader ecosystem around its existing devices.
Designer: Motorola
The moto pad – 2026 centers on an 11-inch display with 2.5K resolution and a 90Hz refresh rate, giving it a hardware foundation aimed at streaming, reading, and light productivity. Motorola says the screen reaches up to 500 nits in High Brightness Mode, which should make it usable in a wider range of lighting conditions. The tablet’s 6.99mm profile and roughly 480g weight also suggest a design meant to feel portable rather than bulky, whether it is being used on a desk, on a couch, or on the go.
The spec sheet also points to an anti-fingerprint finish and a PANTONE Bronze Green metal design. Those details give the device a cleaner and slightly more refined visual identity than many budget-focused tablets that tend to settle for plain plastic shells. Even if the overall hardware looks familiar, Motorola is clearly trying to make the tablet feel more polished and lifestyle-friendly in the way it is presented.
Performance is handled by the MediaTek D6300 5G processor, paired with 8GB of LPDDR4x memory and 128GB of built-in storage. The tablet also supports microSD expansion up to 2TB, adding flexibility for users who want to keep more video, downloads, apps, and documents locally. That combination should be enough for everyday streaming, browsing, reading, casual gaming, and light multitasking, even if it is not positioned as a high-end productivity machine.
One of the more practical additions is 5G connectivity, which gives the moto pad – 2026 an advantage over Wi-Fi-only tablets that lose some of their usefulness away from home or office networks. That makes the device easier to imagine as a portable screen for students, travelers, or anyone who wants a larger display without constantly relying on hotspot connections. It also helps reinforce the idea that this is meant to be a flexible everyday tablet rather than a stay-at-home media slab.
Audio appears to be one of the stronger parts of the package. The moto pad – 2026 includes quad speakers with Dolby Atmos, which should give it a better foundation for movies, streaming, and casual gaming than entry-level tablets with simpler speaker setups. A 3.5mm headphone jack is also included, which remains a practical feature for users who still prefer wired audio or want an easy connection for older accessories.
The software story here is less about reinvention and more about ecosystem fit. Motorola says the moto pad 2026 supports Smart Connect, allowing it to work more closely with phones and PCs for multitasking and content sharing across screens. It also includes Circle to Search, extending one of Android’s more useful recent features to a larger display and giving the tablet a more modern software feel.
Battery life is backed by a 7,040mAh cell, while charging tops out at 20W. The spec sheet also lists an IP52 rating, along with a 5-megapixel front camera and an 8-megapixel rear camera, reinforcing the sense that this is primarily a media and productivity tablet rather than a device built around photography or premium flagship ambitions. Taken as a whole, the moto pad 2026 looks like a practical addition to Motorola’s lineup, even if its strongest selling point may be how familiar it already seems.
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Xiaomi Pad 8 Review: The $310 Tablet That Feels More Expensive
PROS:
- Bright and smooth 11.2-inch display
- Solid accessory ecosystem
- Long battery life
CONS:
- No microSD card slot
- No official IP rating
Xiaomi Pad 8 is built for casual buyers who want a fast, good-looking tablet without paying flagship prices. It keeps the familiar Pad design, but pairs it with a sharp 11.2-inch 3.2K class 144 Hz display, strong quad speakers, and a noticeably more powerful Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chipset. The result is a device that feels premium for streaming, browsing, and gaming, even if it is not trying to reinvent what a Xiaomi tablet looks like.
What matters is how complete the package feels in daily use. HyperOS 3 keeps the interface smooth and adds useful multitasking tools like split screen and desktop mode for light productivity. Xiaomi also supports the tablet with practical accessories, including two keyboard options, a cover that doubles as a stand, and the Focus Pen Pro for notes and sketches. If you want one tablet that can handle entertainment and occasional work, Pad 8 is designed to fit that role.
Designer: Xiaomi
Aesthetics
From the outside, the Xiaomi Pad 8 looks almost identical to its predecessor, the Xiaomi Pad 7. The design follows a flat edge language with soft rounded corners that soften the overall silhouette and keep it friendly in the hand. The rear panel is simple and uncluttered, with a single camera island and a centered Xiaomi logo that does not shout for attention. This minimal approach gives the Pad 8 a calm and almost understated personality that feels more premium than its price suggests.
The camera module itself is neatly integrated into the back design. It sits in a small rectangular island that reads more like a design accent than a visual interruption. Edges transition smoothly between the back and the frame, so the tablet looks like a single continuous piece rather than a stack of separate parts. Xiaomi offers the Pad 8 in three colors, Pine Green, Blue, and Gray, and all of these variants are tuned to look subtle and refined rather than loud. All of these add up to a device that feels stylish enough for a café table or a meeting room, without ever looking like a toy or a purely budget gadget.
Ergonomics
While the design focuses on clean lines and visual calm, the build of the Xiaomi Pad 8 focuses on comfort and practicality. Pad 8 measures 241.2 x 173.4 x 5.8 mm and weighs either 485g or 494g, depending on the variant, which makes it slightly slimmer and lighter than Xiaomi Pad 7. The difference on paper may look small, yet in the hand it translates into a tablet that feels more refined and easier to hold for long stretches. For casual users who spend evenings streaming or reading, this gentle reduction in bulk becomes a quiet but meaningful upgrade.
The metal frame feels sturdy in the hand and gives the tablet a reassuring sense of solidity. Button placement feels thoughtful as well, with the power and volume keys sitting where your fingers naturally land when you hold the tablet. You do not have to stretch awkwardly to adjust volume during a show, which keeps the experience relaxed and natural. The stereo speakers are positioned so that your hands are less likely to block them when you grip the device in landscape, which helps maintain clear sound without forcing you to change how you hold the tablet.
Performance
The display remains largely unchanged from Pad 7. You get an 11.2-inch IPS panel with a sharp 3.2K class resolution and a very fast 144 Hz refresh rate. Brightness peaks around 800 nits, which is strong for an LCD in this range and helps keep the screen readable near windows or outdoors on bright days. It supports DCI P3, HDR10, HDR10+, HDR Vivid, and Dolby Vision, so movies and shows benefit from richer colors and better contrast when the content is mastered for it.
Like most tablets with a glossy front glass, the Pad 8 screen is fairly reflective, so you will notice glare near bright windows or under strong indoor lighting. It is not worse than what you will see on most competing tablets. Xiaomi will also offer a Pad 8 Matte Glass version globally, and that option should be the better pick if reflections annoy you.
Audio quality keeps pace with the visuals. The Pad 8 uses a four-speaker setup that creates a satisfying level of volume and a well-balanced soundstage. Voices stay clear in dialogue-heavy scenes, while music and effects have enough presence to make games and films feel more immersive. This means you can comfortably watch or play without always reaching for headphones.
The biggest upgrade comes from the chipset. Xiaomi Pad 8 runs on the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 processor, and the GPU delivers plenty of power for modern titles and smooth animations across the interface. Even when you play graphically demanding games for long sessions, the device does not stutter, and it keeps its temperature under control, so performance remains stable, and the tablet stays comfortable to hold.
That performance is backed by a straightforward set of memory and storage options. You can choose between 8 GB and 128 GB, 8 GB and 256 GB, or 12 GB and 256 GB. The 8 GB model uses LPDDR5X memory, while the 12 GB model steps up to LPDDR5T, and storage is either 128 GB UFS 3.1 or 256 GB UFS 4.1, depending on the version you choose. There is no microSD card slot, so it is worth picking the capacity you will be happy with long term. The USB-C port also supports display output, so you can connect Pad 8 to an external monitor when you need a bigger screen for work or entertainment.
Xiaomi Pad 8 runs HyperOS 3 based on Android 16, and it feels quick and modern. The interface is clean, and it makes the large screen feel purposeful rather than like a stretched phone layout. It stays out of your way and keeps everyday tasks feeling smooth.
It supports split-screen multitasking, including a vertical split view that makes better use of the display. Xiaomi also keeps its desktop mode here, letting you open up to four floating, flexible windows at once for light productivity. This is handy when you want to browse, chat, and reference a document without constantly switching apps.
If you already own a Xiaomi phone, the ecosystem integration works very well. You can transfer calls and files between your phone and tablet seamlessly, and you can even mirror your phone screen directly on the Pad 8. For users who live in the Xiaomi ecosystem, this kind of connected experience makes the tablet feel like a natural extension of your phone rather than a separate device.
Cameras are not a headline feature on most tablets, and Xiaomi Pad 8 follows that familiar pattern. You get a 13 MP rear camera and an 8 MP front camera, which is enough for scanning documents, grabbing reference photos, and handling video calls without fuss. Image quality is best in good light, but for casual use, it is perfectly serviceable and convenient.
Battery size sees a modest upgrade, now with a 9200 mAh cell instead of the 8850 mAh unit in Pad 7, and it matches the capacity of the more expensive Pad 8 Pro. In real use, that means a full day of mixed activity is easy to achieve, even if you spend several hours streaming video and browsing. Light users who mostly read, check email, and watch a bit of content in the evening can often stretch the tablet across multiple days between charges.
Charging speed is unchanged from Pad 7 at 45W, so you still get reasonably quick top-ups when you plug in. Pad 8 now also supports 25W reverse charging, which lets you use the tablet as a power source for other devices when needed. This is especially handy for phones, earbuds, or accessories that are running low, and it adds a practical bonus to that large battery that casual users will appreciate on trips or long days out.
Xiaomi offers a solid accessory lineup for Pad 8, including the Xiaomi Pad 8 and Pad 8 Pro Focus Keyboard, the standard Keyboard, the Cover, and the Xiaomi Focus Pen Pro. Both keyboards are comfortable to type on, and the cover doubles as a stand for easy viewing. If you are coming from Pad 7, most of these accessories will feel familiar, since the Focus Keyboard, Keyboard, and Cover are largely unchanged from the previous generation.
The most interesting addition is the Xiaomi Focus Pen Pro. It goes button-free for a cleaner, simpler feel, and it adds pressure sensitivity with haptic feedback for more natural writing and sketching. Even if you are not an artist, pressure sensitivity makes note-taking feel smoother and more expressive than a basic stylus. You can squeeze to open a choice of three apps. In the drawing app, you can slide your finger through the Pen to change the brush size. It will take some time to get used to, and the sensitivity and responsiveness can be improved.
Sustainability
Xiaomi makes a solid commitment to longevity with Pad 8. The tablet is promised 4 years of OS updates and 6 years of security patches, which helps it stay secure and usable for much longer than many budget and mid-range Android tablets. For casual buyers, that means you can treat it as a long-term device rather than something you will quickly need to replace.
On the hardware side, the build feels solid and reassuring in the hand, but there is no official IP rating for dust or water resistance, so you still need to be careful around spills and rough environments. A decent case and perhaps a screen protector are sensible additions if you plan to carry it everywhere. In short, the software support looks built to last, the chassis feels robust, and the overall physical durability will still depend on how well you protect it.
Value
Xiaomi Pad 8 offers strong everyday value for casual buyers, with a sharp 11.2-inch 3.2K class 144 Hz display, quad speakers, Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 performance, and a large 9200 mAh battery. In China, pricing starts at CNY 2,199 for the 8 GB and 128 GB models, commonly quoted as about $310, with higher tiers at CNY 2,499, about $350, and CNY 2,799, about $390. US and EU pricing will differ, but the message is clear. Xiaomi is aiming for premium specs without a premium price.
The compromises are straightforward. There is no microSD card slot on the Pad 8, so you need to choose your storage tier carefully from the start. There is also no fingerprint sensor on Pad 8, so you need the Pad 8 Pro if you want that convenience. The standard screen is also reflective unless you opt for the Matte Glass version. If those points do not bother you, Pad 8 lands in a very appealing sweet spot for streaming, browsing, and gaming.
Verdict
Xiaomi Pad 8 is an easy tablet to like because it focuses on the basics and executes them well. The display is sharp and fluid, the speakers are loud and balanced, and performance stays stable even during longer gaming sessions. It also feels solid in the hand, and the slimmer, lighter body makes it comfortable for long reading or streaming sessions.
The downsides are straightforward, with no fingerprint sensor, no microSD card slot, and a glossy screen that can show reflections unless you choose the Matte Glass version. On the plus side, Xiaomi’s accessory lineup gives you room to grow, whether you want a keyboard setup for light work or a pressure-sensitive pen for note-taking. The overall package lands as a strong value, especially if your tablet time revolves around entertainment with occasional productivity.
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Samsung’s $400 Tab Keyboard Costs More Than Apple’s: Worth It?
The tablet-as-laptop pitch has been a hard sell for years, and a lot of the blame lands on the accessories. Keyboard covers for Android tablets have historically been thin on features and even thinner on build quality, which makes the whole productivity argument feel shakier than it should. Samsung’s $1,200 Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra is serious hardware, and for a while, its keyboard options weren’t keeping up.
The Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra Pro Keyboard is Samsung’s answer to that. Available in Gray and Silver for $399.99, it connects via pogo pins at the rear of the tablet, with no Bluetooth pairing or cables required. Opening the lid wakes the device, and closing it puts everything to sleep, so the whole thing behaves less like an accessory and more like a laptop right from the start.
Designer: Samsung
The build quality reflects the price in most of the right ways. The body is aluminum alloy, the hinge is reinforced metal, and a secondary kickstand at the rear props the whole assembly into a stable, laptop-like posture at whatever angle you prefer. The result looks noticeably more considered than Samsung’s Book Cover Keyboard Slim, which never really felt like it belonged on a $1,200 device.
The 80-key layout goes beyond a standard QWERTY arrangement. A dedicated DeX key switches the Tab S11 Ultra into Samsung’s desktop mode, where apps run in freely movable windows, closer in feel to Windows than Android. A Galaxy AI key gives you one-press access to AI tools without switching apps, and three customizable function keys can each be mapped to open whatever you need most.
For long stretches of writing or working across multiple documents, those shortcuts matter more than they might look on a spec sheet. The pogo pin connection also eliminates the Bluetooth pairing and dropout issues that plague most wireless keyboard accessories. And since the Pro Keyboard draws power directly from the tablet, there’s no separate battery to charge, and nothing to run out at an inconvenient moment.
The trackpad is 14.6% larger than the one on Samsung’s previous keyboard accessory, a small percentage that translates to real estate you’ll actually notice in DeX mode. The extra surface area gives you more room for precise gestures and window management, and that significantly reduces the number of times you’re forced to reach up and touch the screen during long work sessions.
At $399.99, the Pro Keyboard is nearly twice the price of Samsung’s own Book Cover Keyboard Slim and $50 more than Apple’s Magic Keyboard for the 13-inch iPad Pro. Adding it to the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra’s $1,200 starting price puts the total at around $1,600, which puts you in comfortable MacBook Air territory, minus the dedicated operating system and the convenience of a unified device.
There are also some obvious gaps at this price. The Pro Keyboard has no backlighting, a noticeable oversight for anyone who regularly works late or in dim spaces. It also doesn’t protect the back of the tablet, which is a curious omission for a $400 accessory. And since it’s designed exclusively for the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra, there’s no using it with anything else in Samsung’s lineup.
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Lenovo’s $60 Snap-On Turns the Legion Tab Into a Bartop Arcade
Gaming on a tablet is a strange kind of compromise. The screen is great, the hardware is often genuinely powerful, and the library is enormous, but you’re still holding a slab of glass with your thumbs smudging across virtual buttons. Controllers help, and dedicated gaming tablets like Lenovo’s Legion Tab have attracted a healthy ecosystem of accessories. None of them, though, looks quite like this.
Lenovo has quietly released the Legion Y700 Tablet Arcade Dock in China, a snap-on peripheral that turns the 8.8-inch Legion Tab into a miniature arcade cabinet. The tablet slots into the dock and connects through USB-C, at which point you have a joystick, eight colored action buttons, and five additional buttons along the top edge. That’s 14 physical inputs total, which covers most of what classic arcade games and retro emulators would ever demand from a player.
Designer: Lenovo
The concept is straightforward, and the appeal is immediate. Retro gaming on Android has quietly matured into one of the more compelling reasons to own a powerful compact tablet, and a joystick changes the feel of that experience in a way no gamepad quite replicates. Fighting games, run-and-gun titles, and classic beat-em-ups were built around a stick and a row of buttons, and playing them with a thumbstick always involves a small but nagging sense of compromise that this dock resolves without much ceremony.
The dock is listed on Lenovo’s Chinese store for ¥399, which converts to roughly $60 stateside. For an accessory with this level of novelty, that pricing is surprisingly restrained. The Legion Tab itself carries real gaming hardware, and the dock is essentially asking whether you’d like to occasionally use it standing upright like a bartop cabinet. At $60, the answer doesn’t require much deliberation.
The more practical question is whether the controls hold up to repeated use. Arcade joysticks and buttons sit on a spectrum from satisfying to mushy, depending almost entirely on the microswitches underneath, and Lenovo hasn’t published specifications on what’s inside this one. The snap-lock installation is designed for quick assembly, which is convenient, but a docking mechanism that flexes during aggressive joystick inputs would undermine the whole point.
There’s also the matter of availability. This is currently a China-only product, compatible with the Legion Y700 Gen 4 and Gen 5 tablets. The Legion Tab Gen 5 is heading to the US and global markets at $849, but the dock has no confirmed international release alongside it. Lenovo launched a gamepad accessory for the same tablet at roughly the same time, and neither has been officially announced outside China.
For a tablet that positions itself as a serious portable gaming device, the arcade dock is either a genuinely clever extension of that identity or a fun novelty that will live mostly in social media posts and Chinese gaming cafes. The form factor has obvious charm, and the $60 price removes most of the financial hesitation. What’s less clear is whether the controls are built to survive a few hundred rounds of Street Fighter or just look great in product photos.
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$73 Lenovo Gamepad Turns the Legion Y700 Into a Switch Lite Rival
Gaming tablets have always lived awkwardly between two worlds. Hold one flat, and it’s fine for casual sessions, but the moment a game demands precise analog input, touchscreen controls fall apart fast. Clip on a generic third-party gamepad, and the fit is never right, the latency is noticeable, and the whole thing looks assembled rather than designed. Lenovo’s Legion Gamepad G9 2026 takes a more deliberate approach, built as a dedicated accessory for one specific tablet.
The G9 2026 attaches to the newly announced Legion Y700 Gen 5 via its side-mounted USB-C port, converting the 8.8-inch Android tablet into something that handles more like a purpose-built gaming handheld. The wired connection keeps latency out of the equation entirely. The combination creates a form factor that puts it in the same general footprint as a Nintendo Switch Lite, just with a brighter screen behind it.
Designer: Lenovo
The input hardware sees meaningful changes over last year’s iteration. Most practically, the 4-direction D-pad is replaced with an 8-direction micro-switch alternative, an upgrade that fighting game and platformer players will immediately feel. All 12 switches across the face buttons, D-pad, and shoulder positions carry a 5 million-cycle rating. The ABXY layout follows Xbox conventions and supports Nintendo Switch/Xbox button remapping through the companion app.
Four touch-switch macro buttons on the rear can record sequences of up to 12 steps each. Eight of the main buttons support rapid-fire at up to 20 presses per second, with shortcut combinations for volume, lighting, and screenshots available without opening any menus. The “Extreme Control” companion app, Android only, handles deeper customization, including per-side RGB color, saturation, brightness, and animation speed. The Gamepad G9 2026 retails for ¥499 in China, about $73.
The quick-release protective shell built into the accessory has a large rear cutout that leaves the tablet’s heat vents and rear camera unobstructed. For a device running demanding content at sustained loads, any restriction to thermal airflow translates directly into performance throttling. That Lenovo addressed this at the accessory design level, rather than leaving the user to manage the consequence, suggests a more complete engineering process than most clip-on controllers go through.
The obvious limitation is also the one hardest to ignore. This controller only works with the Legion Y700 Gen 5, a beefed-up version of the Legion Tab Gen 5 that was just announced for the Chinese market. There’s no confirmed global availability for either the gamepad or the new tablet. The original G9 never left China, which makes the 2026 version most relevant to buyers already committed to that specific tablet and region. For everyone else, it’s a clear demonstration of what tablet gaming hardware can look like when the accessory and the device are actually built for each other.
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Boox’s new Go E Ink tablet includes a 10-inch display and runs Android 15
There are many E Ink tablets out there, but most of them are basically digital notebooks. They are great for reading and handwriting notes, but not so great for doing all of that regular tablet stuff like checking emails and doomscrolling. Boox, however, has released a number of E Ink tablets that can access the Google Play Store, opening up users to the wide world of traditional smartphone apps.
The company's latest product is a refresh of the Go 10.3 tablet, called the Go 10.3 Lumi. This introduces plenty of new features and, as the name suggests, one is a front light. The tablet has been designed for both natural sunlight and low-light environments. The previous model was great, but it turns into a useless paperweight without access to ambient light.
Boox
Despite the front-facing light, the Go 10.3 Lumi is still lighter than its predecessor, at 12.8 ounces. It's also on the thinner side, with a 4.8mm profile.
The basic specs are similar to the Go tablet, with an octa-core processor, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. It runs on Android 15, which is a massive improvement for both security and access to apps. The previous iteration ran on Android 12, and Google stopped officially supporting that OS last year. That means no more critical security updates.
In addition to beefed up security, Boox promises the upgrade to Android 15 offers users improved memory management, better multitasking and smoother UI interactions. E Ink devices can be sluggish so I'm all for anything that speeds things up.
It integrates with external keyboards and boasts integrated speakers, which will certainly come in handy when navigating apps downloaded from the Play Store. Despite the screen technology, this is an Android tablet. It should be able to run just about any app available.
However, the E Ink technology will likely run into hiccups with video-based apps and games. It's just not made for that. This could be a great little gadget for emails and text-based social media, but not for something like TikTok. It should be able to handle non-animated games just fine, like crossword puzzles and stuff like that.
Boox says the tablet gets "substantial battery life" and has been "optimized for extended usage cycles." The company hasn't announced detailed battery specs, but did say people "can work all day without looming battery anxiety." E Ink devices tend to last a good while, so I'm not worried about that.
The Boox Go 10.3 Lumi is available to order right now and costs $450. If you want to save a few bucks and have no interest in a front light, there's a stripped down version that also runs Android 15 but costs $420.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/tablets/booxs-new-go-e-ink-tablet-includes-a-10-inch-display-and-runs-android-15-020009621.html?src=rssSatechi Just Replaced 4 Travel Accessories With One Folding Stand
Packing a bag for a day of working away from a desk has become its own logistics puzzle. There is the hub for ports, the stand to prop the screen at a usable angle, the card reader for importing photos, and the charging cable to keep everything alive mid-session. Satechi’s OntheGo Foldable Stand Hub takes a direct swing at this by combining all of that into a single unit that folds flat to under 20mm and weighs just 187.5g.
The premise is simple. Unfold the stand, plug the attached 17 cm USB-C cable into a tablet or laptop, and the whole suite of ports is live: HDMI 2.0 output at up to 4K@60Hz, two 10 Gbps data ports (one USB-C, one USB-A), UHS-II SD and microSD slots at up to 312 MB/s, a 3.5mm audio jack, and 100W USB-C Power Delivery passthrough. That last feature delivers up to 85W to the host device, enough to sustain a MacBook Air or iPad Pro under a heavy session without draining the battery.
Designer: Satechi
For photographers working on location, the card slots alone justify the bag space. Slide in a UHS-II SD card fresh from a camera, and the 312 MB/s ceiling means a full card of RAW files clears quickly. Connect a monitor through the HDMI port, and a hotel desk becomes something closer to a proper edit station, with the screen raised to a natural viewing height and footage already importing in the background.
Compatibility covers the expected range: iPad Pro, iPad Air, iPad mini (2021 and later), and recent iPhones. Worth noting: the iPad mini (2021) tops out at 5 Gbps on the data ports due to its own USB spec, not the hub’s. Outside of Apple’s garden, it also supports select Microsoft Surface Pro models and USB-C Android devices, especially ones that support Samsung DeX.
That last point is an important one. A compatible Samsung phone connected to an external monitor through this hub activates DeX mode, turning the phone into a desktop-style interface without needing a laptop at all. That said, you’ll need to hook up an external monitor to actually activate DeX mode.
At $79.99, the OntheGo Foldable Stand Hub sits in a space where stands and hubs are almost always sold separately, each typically running $30 to $60 on their own. What a spec sheet cannot answer is how the folding hinge holds up after months of daily packing and repacking, and whether the fixed 17cm cable length plays nicely with every desk configuration or occasionally creates its own awkward workarounds.
The post Satechi Just Replaced 4 Travel Accessories With One Folding Stand first appeared on Yanko Design.