Toshiba Encore 2 WT10-A review

The tablet’s 10.1in display isn’t anything special. Its 1,280×800 resolution is typical of low-cost 8in Windows tablets but as the pixels are this time stretched across a larger display the pixel density suffers; 149ppi makes for some fairly blocky text. The display appears slightly grainy and has a subtle blue colour cast, making images appear colder than they should. Our calibrator showed that the display could only display 63.9% of the sRGB colour gamut, which is below average. Its black levels were better at 0.34cd/m2, but an overall contrast ratio of 891:1 is nothing to shout about.

There’s a 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera that will be useful for video calls, and a 5-megapixel camera on the back. In outdoor test shots the camera’s performance was surprisingly respectable, showing decent sharpness and colour accuracy; the camera managed to expose the scene correctly and maintained plenty of highlight detail with minimal noise in the shadows. The 10.1in size makes the Encore 2 a somewhat unwieldy camera, but it does a good job if you have nothing else to hand. The display was sufficiently bright enough to be seen outdoors, and made for a large viewfinder.

CONCLUSION

The Toshiba Encore 2 WT10-A is a very respectable 10.1in Windows 8.1 tablet. It has strong performance, so you’ll get away with running desktop Windows applications as well as tablet apps from the Windows Store. The display isn’t the best we’ve seen, but the tablet’s camera is surprisingly good. If you factor in the year’s subscription for Office 365 Personal, it becomes even better value. If you’re looking for a more elegant Windows tablet-cum-laptop, however, the Schenker Element (Shopper 320) with its keyboard case is a great alternative.