Cubot Tab 50 review – The speedy budget tablet with an LTE modem and a Full HD screen

The Chinese manufacturer Cubot charges around US$200 for the Tab 50, but you will likely be able to find it even cheaper online. Within this price class, lots of tablets fight for the attention of potential buyers, so we want to take a closer look at this affordable device.

Its case feels pretty high-quality for its price: It has a gray metal back and a metal frame. Only the top of the back features a shiny blue plastic insert to help improve the antenna's connection for WLAN and cellular data. The back also houses two camera lenses, whereby one of them is just decor and doesn't have an actual function.

At 10.4 inches, the tablet offers an interesting in-between size: It is slightly lighter and more compact than 11-inch tablets but at the same time, it offers slightly more display surface than the Oukitel OT8, for example, with its 10.1-inch screen.

The bezels around the tablet's screen are nicely sized, resulting in it looking modern while still being comfortable to hold without accidentally activating the touchscreen. The tablet is stable and can barely be twisted.

With 256 GB, you get quite a lot of storage and its 8 GB of RAM is generous, too. The vast majority of users should find this enough but if it isn't, you still have the option to activate 8 GB of virtual RAM. This is created as swap files within the significantly slower data memory, so it is unlikely to provide a major advantage.

Internally, the USB-C port is connected via USB-2.0, so it doesn't enable particularly fast data transfers to other devices. If you want to connect external audio devices, then you can do so using the 3.5-mm audio jack situated on one of the corners of the tablet. Unfortunately, it doesn't support NFC for contactless payments. 

The microSD card reader occupies one of the two SIM card slots. In turn, it works quite fast: We measured data rates of 42.5 MByte/s during our copying test. Although our Angelbird V60 reference microSD card's maximum possible data rates were in no way taken advantage of, the Cubot Tab 50 still did a much better job than a lot of similarly priced tablets.

We measured relatively stable data rates between 300 - 350 MBit/s during our WLAN test. This suggests a WiFi 5 modem and a quick look at the tablet's spec sheet and our system information app was able to confirm this. 

As a result, the tablet is about class-average but it managed very stable and even slightly faster transfer rates than some similarly priced devices. Its signal quality was still okay even when situated far away from the router and with three walls in between—however, pages loaded much slower than when situated right next to the router.

The Cubot Tab 50 can also use cellular data to access the web and make phone calls. This requires a nano-SIM, eSIMs are not supported. Our test device's LTE network variety is limited and is only sufficient for Central Europe, where this test was carried out. So if you want to take this tablet with you on a trip, you should find out exactly whether you can access the internet at your destination.

Android 13 comes pre-installed and has hardly been changed by the manufacturer. At the time of testing, its latest security update was from November 2023, so quite old. The manufacturer hasn't promised any updates, so you should only expect irregular security patches. At least you get very pure Android without any potentially annoying third-party apps.

Its touchscreen isn't super responsive, but it is easy to use. It is also sensitive right in the corners. The Tab 50 doesn't give you the option to unlock it via a fingerprint sensor or facial recognition. This means that this option is also not available for authentication in banking apps, for example.

The Cubot Tab 50 uses the Mediatek Helio G99 as its SoC, which is quite a powerful chip for the price range. It is therefore not surprising that its benchmark scores were significantly higher than those of the comparison devices and that the device offers significantly higher performance when it comes to its processor and when dealing with graphics.

This means that the system can be used quite smoothly, and the UFS 2.2 storage with its good transfer rates also contributes to this.

The tablet's case only heats up to a maximum of 33 °C even under prolonged load and can therefore still be used without any problems. The SoC also isn't throttled under prolonged load, as the 3DMark stress tests revealed.

The Cubot Tab 50 has four speakers and, as a result, achieves a good maximum volume. However, their sound isn't particularly full. Low mids or basses are barely audible, resulting in a rather flat sound.

External audio devices, which can be connected via a 3.5 mm audio jack or Bluetooth, sound much better. All important codecs are available for wireless audio transmission, including hi-res ones such as LDAC and aptX HD.

At 7,500 mAh, its battery is of average capacity. The Cubot Tab 50 managed 14:04 hours in our WLAN test, meaning it can easily be used for a rainy day of entertainment at home. Thanks to its included 18-watt power supply, charging doesn't take forever, but you do have to wait 4 hours for a full charge if the battery was completely empty before.

The Cubot Tab 50 should be available to purchase from the manufacturer's Amazon store soon. It will likely retail for around US$200.