There have been reports that this year, small tablets will experience a minor boom.However, it was unexpected that mainstream manufacturers have not yet joined the fray, while smaller companies have already made an early splash.Previously, Cube released the 8.8-inch Play Mini 3 Ultra. Now, Philips has just launched an 8.68-inch Play 3 AI Pad.
Yes, it’s the Philips that makes shavers, but this small tablet is probably not made by Philips itself.The Philips Play 3 AI Pad is an entry-level small tablet, but the promotional images look quite “high-end,” with a camera layout on the back that resembles the Samsung Galaxy S25 phone.The front is dressed in the guise of an iPad mini (A17 Pro), and I even suspect that the poster below ⬇️ directly uses the iPad mini’s design, as I can vaguely see the “Apple Pencil Pro” logo printed on the stylus…
In terms of specifications, the Philips Play 3 AI Pad features an 8.68-inch LCD screen with a resolution of 1280×720, supporting a 90Hz refresh rate.The screen does indeed resemble the iPad mini, one being a high-refresh screen with poor visual quality, and the other being a low-refresh screen with decent visual quality, representing two extremes!The processor is the UNISOC T615, with a CPU configuration of 2×Cortex-A75 + 6×Cortex-A55, with a maximum frequency of 1.8GHz. Clearly, this is a low-end chip, with AnTuTu scores around 250,000.
For storage specifications, the promotional images state two options: 12GB+64GB and 12GB+128GB. However, it should be noted that this 12GB is unified memory, and it actually only has 4GB. As for storage capacity, while not large, it supports a maximum of 1TB storage card expansion.Additionally, the Philips Play 3 AI Pad has a highlight: it supports 4G networks, which is quite rare in tablets nowadays. Other features include dual-band Wi-Fi, running Android 15, but the battery capacity and camera information have not yet been disclosed.
Finally, regarding pricing, the 64GB version of this small tablet has a launch price of 499 Yuan (regular price 599 Yuan), while the 128GB version has a launch price of 599 Yuan (regular price 699 Yuan). The first sales have already ended, and the second round of pre-orders is expected to start in late May.In summary, the Philips Play 3 AI Pad is an entry-level configuration, with both screen and performance being quite lacking, but considering the price of only 499, it’s hard to demand much. However, if you ask whether it’s worth it, the answer is definitely no, because there is a device that looks exactly the same, which was cheaper at launch…
Finally, everyone can also look forward to small tablets from mainstream manufacturers. Based on official teasers and leaked information, the following models are expected to be released soon:
- Lenovo Y700 4th Generation, 8.8 inches + Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, releasing in May
- Red Magic Tablet, 9 inches + Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, releasing in May
- Redmi Small Tablet, 8.8 inches + Dimensity 9400+, releasing in June
- Huawei Small Tablet, 8.8 inches OLED screen, releasing in the second half of the year