There's a more useful, powerful Kindle Colorsoft alternative – and it's a lot cheaper too

There are no shortage of Android tablets around these days. Samsung just announced another two in the form of the Galaxy Tab S11 and Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra, while OnePlus, Oppo and Google all have their own options. But they are all on the larger end of the scale when it comes to screen size, as well as quite pricey in some cases.

However, an alternative is coming that could give other Android devices a run for their money, while also catering for the Kindle crowd. 9to5Google reports that TCL has announced the Tab 8 NXTPAPER, which is an 8.7-inch compact tablet with the company's matte display tech on board.

What does the Tab 8 NXTPAPER offer?

We covered the leak of this tablet at the beginning of September so it's good to see it now official, offering something a different at the smaller end.

The TCL Tab 8 NXTPAPER is the first tablet to feature the NXTPAPER display tech, which is designed to be better for your eyes. It has a paper-like texture, not too dissimilar from the iPad Pro's nano texture display option, but also sports some other clever features.

The NXTPAPER tech is able to improve exposure to blue light and optimise low light viewing, as well as switch to a black and white e-reader display mode with a dedicated key.

The tablet is said to run on an unnamed octa-core processor, as well as 4GB of RAM and 64GB storage, though there is microSD support for storage expansion.

A 6,000mAh battery is under the hood and the Tab 8 NXTPAPER runs Android 15 out of the box.

Elsewhere, there's 5G connectivity so you will be able to use it on the move when you're not near a Wi-Fi network, though this will be exclusive to Verizon in the US at the moment.

The TCL Tab 8 NXTPAPER is available today through Verizon in the States and it costs $199.99. There is currently no word on if it will be released outside of the US or on other networks.