Teclast T40 HD tablet review – The budget tablet with lots of fast storage and mobile data

The tablet has a metal unibody case in the color Space Gray — when it comes to colorings, the manufacturer has clearly taken a leaf out of Apple's book. Its brushed back gives it a high-quality feel and a small plastic strip along the top next to the cameras allows for adequate signal strength for the antennas.

Its case is built nicely and can repel pressure well. However, you can hear a clear creaking noise when you twist the device — almost as if connections are opening and snapping back into place. With a weight of 460 grams, the Teclast T40 HD does well within the comparison field. For its size, it is neither extraordinarily heavy nor is it as light as a feather.

Its footprint is also average for its size. The tablet's bezels aren't terribly slim, but this allows you to hold it without accidentally activating the touchscreen.

The Teclast T40 HD accepts microSD cards with up to 1 TB of storage. We tested the reader using our Angelbird V60 reference card.

During the copying test, whereby 250 photos are transferred from the SD card onto the tablet's internal storage, the Teclast T40 HD did quite well, achieving 34.3 MB/s. This makes it easy to store data, as it can access the microSD card quickly.

The reader also showed itself as being quite speedy in the CPDT benchmark.

WiFi 5 is the fastest WLAN standard mastered by the Teclast tablet — in our test using the Asus ROG Rapture AXE11000 as a reference router, it achieved values of around 306 to 358 MBit/s, making it average for this class. All-in-all, its transfer rates remained quite stable.

Close to the router, websites are loaded quickly and with a distance of 10 metres to the router with 3 walls in between, you still have access to 3/4 of the original signal. Websites are still loaded quickly but you can feel that its transfer rates aren't quite as high.

You can also make use of cellular networks up to 4G in order to access the internet on the go or to make calls. The Teclast T40 HD has good reception, however, it can't keep up with high-end phones. Within the city, we managed to connect to the network for the entirety of our test.

We analyzed how accurate the Teclast T40 HD's satellite location services are, as the tablet supports all major locating networks. If you step outside, you are faced with rather long waiting times before being located with an accuracy of 9 metres. This hints at the Teclast pad not being the most accurate at locating.

This was confirmed during our practical test — a bike trip — during which we took the Garmin Venu 2 smartwatch with us to compare. The Teclast T40 HD may have managed to record the turning point relatively accurately, however, it showed major deviations when it came to tight alleyways and crossing the bridge. As a result, the test device is only suitable for navigation purposes if you don't have to rely on good accuracy.

In our photo lab, we photographed a test chart and color chart under controlled lighting conditions and using the main camera on the back of the device. We did this once in full studio lighting and once at only 1 lux. In low light, the camera can barely capture any image information and in good lighting conditions (as seen earlier), we noted color tints and some areas aren't depicted very cleanly.

The tablet's scope of delivery includes a power supply, USB cable as well as a tool for opening the SIM/microSD slot. Teclast also offers a folio case which can be purchased on its website.

The manufacturer only gives this device a 12-month warranty and it has recommended to refer to the point of purchase.

The graphics unit, on the other hand, is barely good enough even for simple 3D uses and using the screen's full resolution. It only starts to appear smoother when you reduce the resolution.

When surfing the web, our test device isn't actually all too bad — it often loads pages quite quickly. You may have to wait for images to load sometimes but in total, the Teclast T40 HD is a speedy surfer.

Its 128 GB UFS 2.0 storage is something special for this price class — in terms of size as well as speed. Data transfers are accelerated thanks to the fast flash and loading times are kept shorter than on many other devices within this price range.

Even under longer periods of processor load, the device's case barely heats up and it isn't noticeable at all.

Subsequently, it is no wonder that the SoC had no issues keeping its performance stable and high during the 3DMark stress tests.

The Teclast T40 HD's stereo speakers don't get particularly loud and at maximum volume, the sound pierces your ears a little uncomfortably. 

Sound seems a little imprecise but voices are played back clearly. The same can be said for singing which is very present and clear. However, playback precision leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to quite a few instruments — but for casual listening, the speakers are usable.

External headphones or speakers can be connected using Bluetooth or the 3.5-mm jack. This works perfectly and the tablet has access to HiRes audio codecs for wireless connections (aptX HD & LDAC).

Its battery with a generous capacity of 7,200 mAh proves to be very long-lasting and it managed to beat the similarly priced comparison devices. It lasted 15:02 hours when surfing via WLAN and you can play movies from the flash memory for almost 18 hours before the screen goes out.

If you like gaming, you can still get 4:24 hours of runtime under very high load if there is no power socket nearby.

While the Teclast T40 HD is not yet available to purchase on Amazon, you can find the manufacturer's other models here. The T40 HD retails for just over US$200.