Toshiba Encore
Verdict
Key specs
Critic consensus
“Toshiba's Encore WT8-A-102 Windows 8 tablet is an all-around success. Its manufacturing quality is good, it offers a respectable range of connectivity options, and the included Microsoft Office Home & Students package gives it a great price-performance ratio.The tablet gains even more positive points for its combination of a frugal Intel Bay Trail CPU, IPS display with good viewing angle stability, and good mobility. In short, the overall package is very attractive. Not to forget, the device's unlimited compatibility with the Windows world should be very interesting for many potential buyers.”
“Just £250 for a portable PC that can run Windows may seem like an attractive idea, but our experience did not back up that proposition. Toshiba has used a cheap and slow processor to hit both price point and thermal design constraints, making a tablet that lurches rather than zips under your control. Battery life is usable if unremarkable. The familiar Windows interface is clearly not designed to work on this size screen through touch control, leaving you with just a moribund Metro interface.”
“It's with somewhat of a heavy heart that we have to report that our search for a Windows 8 tablet saviour continues, with the Toshiba Encore falling short of a number of expectations. While the fact that it can run full Windows programs is at first a nice feature, it's not much use if the underlying tech cannot handle more complicated tasks, and our time with the Toshiba Encore – especially in desktop mode – was plagued with system hangs and freezes. What could have been a nice handheld eight-inch tablet is also held back by a bulky design that makes it look and feel cheap. Still, it's not a bad price, and for simple tasks it will be fine. Just don't push it too much.”
“Toshiba’s first foray into the world of 8-inch Windows 8.1 tablets isn’t the fantastic product the company was hoping for. The drab, chubby design is particularly uninspired, failing to make an impression up against slimmer and more portable competition. The inclusion of an HFFS display is interesting, although its overall quality falls behind IPS-type panels, not to mention the disappointing resolution. It’s not all bad news for the Encore, though. Like all previous Bay Trail-powered devices, I was once again pleased with the performance from Intel’s low-power SoC, which competes well with offerings from ARM.”
Watch before you decide
In Depth
Following in Dell and Lenova’s footsteps, Toshiba released their own Windows 8.1 tablet dubbed the Encore. At 8 inches, the Encore was a bit too bulky for many reviewers to hold comfortably one-handed. Trusted Reviews goes so far as to call it “a cumbersome tablet.”
Unfortunately the display doesn’t make up for the general bulkiness of the device. With a resolution of 1,280×800 the tablet is only made up of 190ppi, well below the retina standard of 326ppi. Despite the lower pixel density, critics were pleased with the sharpness of image quality and viewing angles, finding it suitable for reading web pages and video streaming in tablet mode.
The biggest weakness of the screen, according to reviewers, is its responsiveness. They found simple tasks like selecting an app or locking the screen would often not register despite several tries.
The Encore’s one standout feature is its use of the full Windows 8.1 Pro software. Unlike Windows RT based tablets, this one has access to all standard desktop PC software so you won’t be limited to the small number of apps in the Windows 8 store. Unfortunately, critics discovered that most of the apps are unusable in desktop mode as the screen is too small to properly press the appropriate buttons or drop down menus.
The Encore can connect to a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, but Whistle Out noticed a significant amount of lag when using the peripherals saying, “Though it gets the job done, it is far more frustrating than we think it ought to be.”
Much of the lag issues are due to the tablets mediocre 1.33GHz quad-core processor and 2GB of RAM. While reviewers found the tablet experience smooth, the desktop experience was much jumpier with numerous slowdowns and hangs even when loading web pages. Critics do not suggest playing more recent 3D games on the device as the frame rate was fairly poor.
Aside from the processor and RAM, the tablet offers up to 64GB of internal storage, an expandable microSD slot and a micro HDMI port. According to Toshiba, the battery should last 7 hours of heavy usage, though Laptop Mag’s battery test clocked it at over 8 hours.
The Toshiba Encore garnered mixed feelings from reviewers. Wired says “Encore’s sluggish performance often makes it frustrating to use…” while V3 states it’s “an interesting device…and it could be a compelling companion device for a laptop or desktop.”
What people actually want to know
When was the Toshiba Encore released?
The Toshiba Encore was released on November 7, 2013.
How long does the battery last on the Toshiba Encore?
The Toshiba Encore has a 20 mAh battery.
Does the Toshiba Encore support wireless charging?
No, the Toshiba Encore does not support wireless charging.
Does the Toshiba Encore have NFC?
No, the Toshiba Encore does not have NFC. Contactless payments and tap-to-pair will not be available.
Where can I download the Toshiba Encore manual?
You can view and download the Toshiba Encore manual on our dedicated manual page.
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