TCL’s upcoming Note A1 tablet features a paper-like display

Anybody can make a tablet, but as we’ve learned in the years since this form factor really took off, not everybody wants just a giant phone. Some manufacturers have sought to differentiate their offerings with an emphasis on screen quality — instead of a blaringly bright, glossy, laptop-like display, something more eye-friendly and pleasing to the touch. That’s just what TCL has been pursuing with its NXTPAPER tech, and now the company is getting ready to introduce its latest tablet based on one of these panels.

Right now, TCL has a landing page up for the Note A1 NXTPAPER, and is getting ready to launch a Kickstarter campaign. The tablet features an 11.5-inch NXTPAPER Pure Display that aims to reproduce the look and feel of real paper.

The Note A1 measures just 5.5mm thick and weighs about 500g. As you’d only expect from the name, there’s stylus support, and TCL places a big emphasis on how well-equipped the tablet is to handle that. In addition to fast response with “zero ghosting,” the Note A1 promises handwriting beautification and AI-assisted one-stroke input.

Those AI features extend to note taking and meeting transcription, as well as just general writing assistance. You can wirelessly cast what you’re working on to a larger screen, and back everything up in real time with support for major cloud storage providers.

Intrigued? TCL says that it plans to start up that Kickstarter soon, and while it hasn’t shared all the details on the options and perks that may be available, we do know that the Note A1 NXTPAPER is set to start at $419.

For users who don’t need a full-blown Android tablet, and place a priority on their stylus experience, it sounds like there should be a lot to appreciate here. It looks likely to face competition from devices like the Amazon Kindle Scribe Colorsoft or Boox Note Air 5C, and we can’t wait to go hands-on for ourselves and see how they manage to measure up.