Why this $220 Android tablet is my new favorite device to travel with

Blackview Link 8 12.9-inch Android 15 tablet

ZDNET’s key takeaways

• The Blackview Link 8 is available now for $219.
• It’s a thin and light 13-inch Android tablet with all-day battery life.
• The screen isn’t bright enough to deal with direct sunlight.

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While the iPad is arguably the best-known and best-selling tablet, Android users do get the benefit of selecting a tablet from a wide range of manufacturers. 

One of those manufacturers is Blackview, a company best known for making ruggedized smartphones with thermal cameras. But since tablets are essentially upsized smartphones, it’s a natural market for Blackview to get into. 

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And that’s a good thing, as the company makes some very good tablets. I know, as I’ve tested and reviewed quite a few of them over the past few years. The latest in the line — the Link 8 — continues that pattern. 

The Link 8 is a 12.9-inch tablet that’s built from the ground up to be thin and light. It measures 8.4 x 11.1 x 0.3 inches (214.2 x 282.98 x 8.4mm) and weighs 1.5 pounds, or 25 ounces. This makes the Link 8 a highly portable unit, perfect for throwing in a bag to take to work or take traveling. It’s light enough to hold comfortably in the hand for extended periods during longer browsing or reading sessions. 

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At its heart is the 12.7-inch, 2160 x 1600 resolution IPS display that runs at a 90Hz refresh rate. Big enough to get absorbed into whether you’re browsing your socials or watching movies. 

The 300 nits brightness is fine for most indoor environments, such as homes and offices, and is good for extending battery life, but it might not be bright enough to use comfortably in direct sunlight or very bright environments. 

I found the display on the Link 8 to be adequate and comfortable on the eyes on the whole, but I have been spoiled by the 1,000 nits of sustained brightness offered by the iPad Pro (but that’s a tablet well over $1,000). 

The display supports Google’s Widevine L1 Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology, allowing the tablet to handle premium content from outlets such as Netflix, Disney+, and YouTube in full HD.

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HD content is nothing without decent speakers, and Blackview has once again turned to the tried-and-tested quad-box Smart-PA stereo speakers it’s used in other tablets. These deliver rich, clear sound whether you’re on a video call or watching the latest action movie. 

Powering the tablet is an octa-core MediaTek Helio G100 processor at 2.2GHz, paired with 18GB of RAM (6GB of physical RAM and 12GB of virtual RAM — and I recommend you set the virtual RAM to maximum to get the best bang for your buck for very little cost) and 256GB of storage. 

The processor isn’t going to win any benchmarking competitions, but it can run the DokeOS_P 4.2 operating system (a custom Blackview OS based on Android 15), along with all the Google apps smoothly enough, and switching between apps or even opening large video files doesn’t faze the tablet. 

And don’t worry, DokeOS has full access to the Google Play Store and all the latest Google AI wizardry that standard Android users can access.

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When it comes to capturing moments, on the back you’ll find a 16-megapixel main camera along with a 2-megapixel depth sensor, perfect for snapping shots for social media, capturing HD video, scanning documents, or being an eye into the world for Google Lens. On the front is a 13-megapixel camera that does a good job of handling selfies, video calls, and face unlock. 

The battery inside the tablet is an 8,400mAh unit, which is comparable with the current iPad lineup, and good for about six hours of sustained runtime, which translates into “all-day” of regular use. And if the battery does start to get a bit low, you can charge it up rapidly thanks to its 18W fast charge capability.  

To complete the tablet, it comes with a selection of basic accessories: a folio case, a stylus, mouse, and keyboard.   

ZDNET’s buying advice

Having used the Blackview Link 8 for a few weeks, I have to say that it’s a very decent tablet for the price — currently $220. It’s not the fastest, it doesn’t have the brightest displays, and it’s not the thinnest and lightest, but it’s a great tablet that can handle the sorts of workloads that people want to do at home, school, or the office. 

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I threw a lot of different apps and workloads at the Link 8, and it took it all in its stride. The tablet not only runs well but also looks stylish, although the accessories are somewhat plasticky and cheap, and if you end up needing to use a keyboard and mouse long-term, I’d suggest upgrading to something better (like this or this). 

But for those looking for a decently priced tablet with a large display, the Link 8 is hard to beat.