There might be another player in the local notebook space soon, with Chinese manufacturer Tecno set to release its Megabook T1 in South Africa next year. Best known for their smartphones, TechSmart had the opportunity to play around with the new notebook at a recent Tecno showcase event.

The Megabook T1 is a smart looking unit in a slim (14.8mm) aluminium body that weighs no more than 1.50 kg. It features a 15.6” IPS FHD display, a full keyboard with numpad, a 70Wh battery that Tecno claims can last up to 17.5 hours, with a 65W charger for speedy charging thrown in for good measure.

In regards to specs, it looks like the Intel Core i5 processor version is coming our way, but the exact specifications remain murky. The unit on display at the Tecno event featured the 12th Gen i5-12450H running at 2.0 GHz, backed up by a strong 16 GB of RAM, and Windows 11 Home. Tecno also notes a cutting-edge holographic sound system developed by Tecno Audio Lab to help push the audio quality on the device.

The company could not be pinned down for an exact release date or price for the Megabook T1 i5 locally, but there was also talk of an Intel i3 unit perhaps also landing, with its price set to below R10k.

Also on display at the event were other products in the Tecno line-up, including the Tecno Sonic 1 Active True Wireless Earphones, Watch 2, Square S3 speaker, a Tecno 20 000 mAh portable power bank and the Tecno 4G Portable WiFi TR109 router.

TechSmart reviewed the company’s budget-friendly 5G unit recently, the Spark10 5G retailing below R5k, calling it “a solid offering from the brand, if you can forgive it a few sins”.