HP launches the Pro 8 Android tablet for business in India

HP tablets might be a thing of the past in most markets, but India has just received a new HP slate that targets business customers. The "Made for India" HP Pro 8 features 4G voice calling, a rugged body, and a few optional features aimed at business customers such as a bar code scanner, iris and fingerprint reader for Aadhaar-based biometric authentication, as well as a thermal printer and a magnetic-strip reader for financial transactions.

This slate has a MediaTek MT8735 processor under the hood, 2 GB RAM, 16 GB internal storage, and microSD support up to 64 GB. Its 8-inch IPS display has 1,280 x 800 pixels and has been optimized for outdoor use: thanks to its 500 nits brightness level, it can be easily read in direct sunlight. The two cameras only have 2 MP (front) and 5 MP (back). On the bright side, the 6,000 mAh battery is replaceable and provides up to 15 hours of autonomy when playing video content and 8.5 hours when browsing the web.

The HP Pro 8 only comes in black and runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow with typing support for 11 regional languages and reading for 22 languages. It weighs at least 1.07 pounds, depending on the optional modules installed. This slate is exclusively available in India for a price that starts at INR₹19,374 or around US$302.

HP decided to stop making affordable tablets for the consumer market in late 2015. Since HP's local branch unveiled that "tens of thousands of such devices" will be delivered to the Indian government, maybe the time has come for them to give a new chance to the consumer market.