Teclast X5 Pro

Microsoft’s Surface devices are an inspiration for other 2-in-1s

Nothing in tech stays the same for long, so it was only a matter of time before Chinese vendors, buyoed by success at the budget end of the market, started pushing their products upstream towards more profitable sectors.

What started as a flood of cheap knockoffs has slowly turned into a steady stream of better quality products that tend to get their inspiration from Microsoft rather than Google or Apple.

Chinese vendors are now bolder and no longer as hesitant when it comes to taking on the big brands. The Xiaomi Air 12 is one of many devices that have attempted to carve a niche at the top-end of the market with mixed results. But that won’t prevent others, such as Teclast, from trying. This little known manufacturer impressed us with the Tbook 16 Power earlier this year – a powerful device aimed at the Surface 3, but at a fraction of the cost of its Microsoft rival.

But the Tbook 16 Power isn’t the top-of-the-range model from the company – that honour belongs to the X5 Pro, a Kaby Lake-powered tablet that goes head-to-head with the Microsoft Surface Pro 4.

However, at £474 (around $585) at the time of writing at Gearbest (www.gearbest.com), the X5 Pro isn’t cheap, although it is often available for less in one of Gearbest’s frequent flash sales. These costs, though, are exclusive of any taxes that may be levied by HMRC or the courier companies used by the vendor.

The cheapest Surface Pro 4, meanwhile, costs around 60% more with a worse set of components – although it does come with a free Surface pen and Windows 10 Pro.

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