14 DAY TRIAL // Tablets usually follow a pretty standard hardware formula, with all parts built around a central system-on-chip so that various things, up to borderline PC performance, may be possible. Many of them lack SIM support though, which is why models with not one but two SIM card slots are so rare.
If you have trouble counting the different dual-SIM tablets in history on the fingers of one hand, we don't blame you. Very few of them were ever made. In truth, tablets often don't have SIM card slots at all.
ZTE felt that this left the small market sector easy pickings, so it put together the ZTE K70 tablet, which will probably compete against Sony's Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact.
That aside, the device is quite curious. If not for the size of the screen, it might even be hard to differentiate between it and a superphone.
The ZTE K70 tablet
Having two SIM card slots means that you will be able to use two mobile phone numbers on the same device, like on dual-SIM phones.
ZTE hasn't really introduced the device, but a listing of it did show up on the Federal Communications Commission website.
The display seems to be of 7 inches or 7.5 inches in diagonal, so you might, in theory, be able to hold it up to your ear to talk. We'd still recommend a hands-free headphone setup though, for the sake of not looking ridiculous if nothing else.
Using a tablet as you would a phone also carries a greater than normal risk to drop it, which is never a good thing. Especially as we don't see any mention of Gorilla Glass anywhere.
The K70 supports both WCDMA and GSM connectivity, plus 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi and (probably) Bluetooth as well. You can't really have a mobile gadget without it these days.
Finally, the ZTE K70 dual-SIM tablet will run the Android 4.4.x KitKat operating system, with subsequent updates bound to upgrade it once the option becomes available.
Availability, pricing and competition
Rumors place the price of the device at $200 / €200 (so it won't be all that powerful in the grand scheme of things), but we can't say for certain when sales will begin. They could start by year's end, they could be postponed for 2015. It depends on how quick the Chinese company moves.
The main competitors will be Sony's Xperia Z3 tablet and the ASUS Fonepad 7 which has two SIM slots of its own.
