TechLife Pad Plus 12″ Review: The Tablet That Feels More Expensive Than It Is

In a nutshell, The Techlife Pad Plus 12” made me forget that I have a more pricey tablet. Why? Read this in-depth review.

I often feel nostalgic and romanticize the past, especially the 90s, but there’s one thing today that surpasses those bygone eras: the experience of “budget luxury.” A lot of things were expensive in the ’90s, and stuff that our parents thought would lead to overspending is now much more affordable. From Nordic furniture and Japanese home essentials to international flight tickets and Instagrammable boutique cafes, the middle class can now enjoy a more beautiful, comfortable, and enriched life.

However, those accessible luxuries can’t compare to what the TechLife Pad Plus 12″ can bring to people’s lives.

I’ve been using the TechLife Pad Plus 12″ for about a week now, and I’m impressed. Describing my experience with it as a budget luxury would be an understatement, as this tablet has offered me more than I would expect for a ₱9,999 physical store or ₱7,699 online price point (be sure to read ’til the end to see its exclusive promo and freebies).

TechLife Pad Plus 12″: Design and Display

Upon opening the package, I was enamored by the tablet’s lightweightness and sleekness at 7.6mm thin. I’m the type of person who struggles with carrying heavy items, and I found the tablet portable, unlike other tablets that feel cumbersome. It is perfect for students and professionals who already carry a lot of stuff for school or work.

As Filipinos, many of us care about how people perceive us, and having the TechLife Pad Plus 12″ will make you feel like you’re keeping up with the Joneses. Its design is so classy and luxurious that it could pass up as a tablet worth at least ₱25,000. Its three available colors, Moonlight Silver, Storm Grey, and Sky Blue, scream exclusivity and elegance. And its magnificent display intensifies that.

Many people today purchase tablets to stream their favorite series and movies online, and the TechLife Pad Plus 12″ is built especially for that, with its 12-inch, 2k display. TechLife Pad Plus 12″s high-resolution display of 1200 x 2000 and 85% screen-to-body ratio with good viewing angles allow an immersive viewing experience. Plus, it has four loudspeakers to ensure excellent audio quality while streaming movies/series on the tablet.

I have a tablet that’s way more expensive, but honestly, I am now using the TechLife Pad Plus 12″ for streaming videos, browsing the web, and reading e-books because it’s larger and has more screen space.

As a premium YouTube user, I want to get the most out of my membership, so a tablet that can support a 2160p resolution with excellent color accuracy is a must for me, and the TechLife Pad Plus 12″ delivers. It’s impressive that a tablet at the price of ₱9,999/₱7,699 can offer that resolution, which is quite rare.

Apart from that, its brightness is more than sufficient for indoor use. Peaking at a respectable 450 nits, it’s also great for outdoor use in non-harsh daylight conditions. The photos above and below were taken at around 4:30 PM on a sunny day, and as you can see, the screen visibility remains clear.

Beyond the size and resolution, the TechLife Pad Plus 12″ display shines in its responsiveness and usability. With a 180Hz touch sampling rate, navigating the tablet feels smooth and responsive, which is great for casual gamers and multitaskers. More about this later.

Battery

Aside from series and movie streaming, the TechLife Pad Plus 12″ works wonders in terms of battery and storage. Its massive 8000mAh battery lasted me a lot of hours while bingeing my favorite 90s series. It was able to keep up with the weekend “Netflix and Chill” demands of a single person like me.

The tablet also boasts up to 30.1 hours of talk time and over 12 hours of music playback, with a standby time of more than 23 days, depending on usage.

The tablet supports 18W charging, which takes around 3.2 hours to fully charge with the screen off. The tablet also includes 5W reverse charging, which means that you can use it as a backup power bank for your other gadgets. Despite housing such a large battery, its dual-cell design helps maintain a slim 7.6mm look to balance power and portability.

Related Read: Experience Cool Tech All Summer with the brand new TechLife Pad Plus 12” for only P9,999

Storage, Software, and Performance

When I first powered on the TechLife Pad Plus 12″, I was delighted by how easy it was to connect with other devices and transfer files and apps using just a Type-C to Type-C cable. The setup was quick and seamless, so I was able to start using the tablet right away with my usual apps and an additional RAM-intensive game to test its performance.

The tablet has a total of 16 GB RAM, with 8GB physical RAM and an additional 8GB virtual RAM through expansion. I swear, that’s more than the setup of my current laptop!

Powered by Mediatek Helio G91, I was able to multitask, keeping a lot of apps open and switching between them without lag and delay. It opens apps faster and manages background processes better than most budget-friendly tablets.

Under the hood, the tablet is powered by a 12nm octa-core processor with a peak clock speed of 2.0GHz. It pairs two Cortex-A75 cores for performance and six Cortex-A55 cores for power efficiency. The integrated Mali-G52 MC2 GPU is an entry-level gaming chip that is great for casual and semi-competitive mobile gaming. It also has a high frame rate and high graphics settings for games like Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, and it plays first-person shooters like Call of Duty: Mobile on medium settings without major slowdowns.

The expanded RAM boosts performance for other resource-heavy apps like photo and video-editing apps (Canva, Capcut) and productivity suites (Microsoft Office Suite).

On top of that, the TechLife Pad Plus 12″ offers 256GB of internal storage, which is enough to store around 59,000 photos or songs, plus a legion of apps and documents. Another great feature is that users can expand their storage up to 1TB via microSD, or even up to 2TB with OTG support through USB storage devices. If you’re someone who saves a lot of files or if you use your tablet as a workstation, then this tablet is for you.

If you also want to use the tablet as a phone, its SIM tray lets you choose between two nano SIM cards or one nano SIM and a microSD card.

Running on Android 15 with the TechLife Pad UI, the TechLife Pad Plus 12″ provides a modern and clean user interface with the latest security updates. It also supports Google Gemini for smarter interactions, improved productivity, and advanced voice commands. To enjoy that feature, you have to download Gemini yourself.

Camera

Many people I know (including myself) rarely use our tablet’s rear camera, as we have our phones for rear photography. Based on my experience, the 13MP rear camera was decent enough for a secondary camera. With an f/2.0 aperture, a 5P lens, and a 25.3mm focal length, it captures decent detail and light, perfect for snapping quick photos, scanning documents, or shooting reference material for school or work.

I was surprised by the quality of the 8MP selfie camera. The indoor photos I took on the selfie were much better than what the rear camera snapped. The photo quality was almost that of a, flagship phone.

I also tested the selfie video quality, and it was terrific; everything was as clear as a crystal.

Whether you’re holding the TechLife Pad Plus 12” vertically or horizontally, it handles Zoom meetings, online classes, and casual selfies with ease.

Takeaway

As I’ve mentioned, the TechLife Pad Plus 12” is more than budget luxury. It’s a practical and versatile choice for both productivity and personal use. The tablet is also future-proof with its updated OS and AI-integrated tools.

So, if you’re looking for a premium tablet without a hefty price tag, the TechLife Pad Plus 12” delivers on multiple fronts. It’s perfect for students, casual gamers, remote workers, Netflix and YouTube-streaming parents, or anyone who wants a reliable device.

What I love about the TechLife Pad Plus 12”:

• 1200 x 2000 (FHD+) resolution
• 85% Screen-to-Body Ratio
• 2160p resolution when watching YouTube videos
• 16GB total RAM + expansion
• Elegant and sleek design
• Lightweighness and thinness
• Massive 8000mAh battery
• The 8MP front camera is excellent

What I think were sacrificed for an affordable price point:

• 60 Hz refresh rate
• Battery charging takes a long time
• Outdated cable and adapter at 18W
• The 13MP rear camera needs improvement
• Not made for competitive gamers

TechLife Pad Plus 12” Exciting Discounts and Freebies

If you purchase the TechLife Pad Plus 12 from today until May 21, 2025, in TechLife Concept Stores (priced ₱9,999) around the country, you get a free keyboard case worth ₱1,999. From May 22-25, 2025, instead of the keyboard case, you still get a free TechLife Folio Case and Buds Classic 2.

You can get huge discounts on the official TechLife TikTok Shop and Shopee. Order the TechLife Pad Plus 12 until May 21, and it’ll be at ₱7,699 instead of the usual in-store price of ₱9,999. Plus, you still get the free keyboard case!

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