Verizon is gradually growing its range of tablets this year, having recently unveiled the Ellipsis Kids Android tablet, a tough spin-off of its existing Ellipsis 8 tablet. After rumors of its impending launch circulated, Verizon has added the larger Ellipsis 10 tablet to the line-up. Here’s everything you need to know.
Updated on 11-12-2015 by Williams Pelegrin: Added news of the Ellipsis 10 Android tablet launch.
The Ellipsis 10 stays true to its name with a 10.1-inch, 1,920 x 1,080 resolution display on the front. Above the display sits a 2-megapixel camera, while a 5-megapixel shooter sits around back, whenever you feel compelled to actually take pictures with the Ellipsis 10.
Powering the Ellipsis 10 is an unnamed 1.5GHz quad-core processor, while the massive 9,100mAh battery should keep the lights on for about 25 hours. While we’re peeking under the hood, you’ll find 16GB of internal storage, though the MicroSD card slot can provide up to an additional 32GB of memory. In addition, there’s 4G LTE connectivity, as well as the standard array of wireless connections. Finally, and a nice addition on Verizon’s part, the entire tablet is coated in an anti-fingerprint material.
Unfortunately, Verizon dropped the ball in two key aspects, the first of which being software. The Ellipsis 10 runs Android 5.1 Lollipop, though we’re not sure if it will be updated to Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Regardless, due to the latter’s current availability, this development paints us as somewhat disappointed.
Elsewhere, the pricing left us scratching our heads. You can pick up the Ellipsis 10 for either $12.49 a month for 24 months or $200 on a two-year contract. What has us perplexed is the on-contract pricing, which is only $100 less than the price to outright buy the tablet. As such, the only pricing schemes that make sense are the monthly installment payments and the $300 price of the Ellipsis 10.
Regardless, if these two aspects don’t bother you, then the Ellipsis 10 looks to offer a decent Android tablet experience for the price, but we’ll reserve final judgement until we review the device fully.
Next page: Read rumors of the Verizon Ellipsis 10’s launch
Verizon may have a new Ellipsis tablet in the works, if the latest leak from @evleaks ends up being accurate. Revealed on Twitter, the leak consists of a press-style image showing the front and rear view of a 10-inch Android tablet, which would be the largest member of Verizon’s own-brand slate range.
Sadly, there are no specifications to go with the images just yet, but the pictures reveal the device should have 4G LTE connectivity if it’s released. The tablet has both Verizon and Ellipsis branding, and the front view shows a familiar Android home page, complete with a Google Play icon.
Verizon launched the Ellipsis tablet range back at the end of 2013 with the Ellipsis 7, a $250 Android model with average specs for the day. This was replaced by the Ellipsis 8, which upped the screen size, with little change elsewhere. The unconnected, SIM-free price remained the same, and it’s still sold through the network today.
If you’re questioning why Verizon thinks we want another 10-inch tablet, particularly one covered in its own logos, the answer probably comes down to price. Check out the Verizon page, where the Ellipsis 8 can be purchased for just $50 with a two-year contract, way below any of the other devices on sale. Even if the 10-inch version costs twice that, it’d still be the most cost-effective large screen tablet the network sells. Average specs aside, this makes the 4G LTE Ellipsis models look like good value.
There’s no indication when Verizon will launch the Ellipsis 10 tablet, or even if it’s a model that’s destined for release at all — tablets don’t attract the same degree of interest as they once did, remember. When, or if, Verizon decides to make the 10-inch Ellipsis official, we’ll update you here.