First up, the price.
As with most of their hardware, Pine64 want the PineTab 2 to be affordable. So they’ve priced the PineTab 2 from $159 (minus shipping/import changes). Though it costs more than the first-generation model (a mere $99), build-quality and performance are said be hugely improved.
Pine64 has designed the PineTab 2 to have a modular, easily-repairable design. Battery, camera, and display can be replaced quickly, and the eMMC flash storage is located on its own removable board.
Exposed PCI3 connectors allow users to connect additional hardware (though space issues inside mean most, e.g., an SSD, won’t “fit” gracefully. Pine64 say the tablet is the “most refined Linux-capable hardware” they offer and that the quality is a step-up from the original”.
“There’s no creaking, no bending, no rough edges and there’s no doubt in my head that the PineTab2 could easily be passed off as a device twice the price.”
Lukasz Erecinski, Pine64
PineTab2 Specs & Launch Date
As we’ve previously reported, the Pinetab 2 is built around the peppy Rockchip RK3555. This boasts four ARM Cortex-A55 cores and ARM Mali-G610 MP4 graphics. On paper this delivers more than enough horse power for the sort of casual computing tablets are often used for.
The PineTab 2 is fronted by a 10.1-inch IPS touch display, and it is equipped with a pair of USB-C ports, a micro-HDMI out, 3.5mm audio out, and a microSD card slot — more than enough expandability for most. A 5MP rear camera and 2MP front-facing camera are also present.
The entry-level $160 model offers 4 GB RAM and 64 GB internal eMMC storage; the $209 model offers 8GB RAM and 128 GB eMMC storage. Both models come with a matching detachable, backlit keyboard case-come-stand included in the price, which is a really nice boon.
So when can you get your eager paws on one? Tentative hope is sometime in April, though Pine64 say “no promises” they’ll meet this. Still, it looks to be well worth the wait whenever it does arrive.
More details in in the Feb update on the Pine64 blog.
