Onkyo GRANBEAT tablet: Hi-res everything! MWC 2018

As well as the interesting neck speaker, Onkyo was showing their GRANBEAT Hi-Res Tablet. I have so much want for this device.

There are some nifty tablets out on the market right now. The trouble is, deciding which one to go for. Usually, this means you have to prioritise. So, are you looking for something with great audio? Stereo speakers would be kind of cool, right? Or, is movie content your main thing? In that case, at least HD would be at the top of your list.

Onkyo reckons you shouldn’t have to compromise.

Onkyo GRANBEAT tablet

Let’s face it, most streaming services now offer at least HD. The better ones now have a decent array of 4K titles to choose from too.

Well, in order to do proper justice to the ever higher video quality available from today’s cutting-edge streaming video services, Onkyo has equipped their tablet debut with a 12.5-inch Ultra HD 4K display. This thing is literally breathtaking. I stood in front of it speechless until I was ushered away to allow some, I assume to be, important Japanese gentlemen to have the same reaction. Tis their less youthful hands you can see in some of the shots. Naturally, the sexier digits belong to me 😉

The tablet can sit in its own charging dock if you’re binge watching a Netflix boxset.

It’s not just the visuals that impresses either.

Audio

The GRANBEAT tablet is apparently also the world’s first to be equipped with DTS:X Premium 1.0. This means that you get a superior standard of multi-channel audio reproduction. Well, it would be a little bit daft to have that amazing video quality and naff audio, wouldn’t it?

The audio is pushed through 4 built-in Onkyo Dual Mold Diaphragm (ODMD) speakers. These are naturally fed by dedicated DAC and amp circuitry for Hi-Res audio. Furthermore, the GRANBEAT tablet also fully supports DTS Play-Fi.

Build

Also, this tablet has outstanding build-quality.

Furthermore, there are some rather nice design touches too; for instance the rotary volume dial on the left-hand side.

As you turn the dial there are diagonal vector lines displayed on-screen to show what level of awesomeness, I mean volume, the tablet is at.

You also get two 3.5mmm headphone jacks. One is for standard stereo ear-pleasers whereas the other is for balanced cans. Of course, these are gold.

Price and availability

I couldn’t get a hint about pricing, aside from “not cheap”, which I already assumed. It was intimated that the UK might not see this first outing of the tablet. I gather that the Japanese market is the initial focus for this device, and I totally get that. However, I want one!