Replacing the cracked screen on a Blackview Tab 10 tablet

Blackview Tab 10 (in its protective case) with original touchscreen.

In a previous post I mentioned that the LCD touchscreen of my Blackview Tab 10 tablet had partially popped out of the tablet’s plastic housing and had developed a crack when I tried to push it back in, as can be seen in the photograph below.

Crack in top right corner of screen of Blackview Tab 10 (in its protective case).

I decided to try to replace the damaged screen, so in April 2022 I contacted Blackview’s customer support department in China to ask if they sell spare parts. They pointed me to the Blackview accessories section of online retailer AliExpress. AliExpress listed a replacement screen specifically for the Tab 10, which cost me just over GBP 87 including postage in May 2022. However, when I tried to remove the tablet’s original screen I damaged the FPC (flexible printed circuit) FFC (flexible flat cable) connecting the tablet’s PCB (printed circuit board) to the screen, shown in the photographs below.

Original FPC attached to PCB of Blackview Tab 10.

Damaged original FPC of Blackview Tab 10.

Basically, I was not careful when removing the part of the FPC that was attached to the back of the screen by a double-sided self-adhesive pad, and the tiny connector socket soldered onto the FPC cable broke off, as shown in the photograph above.

In December 2022 I decided to have another go at repairing the tablet so I contacted Blackview again to ask if they would be able to supply me with a replacement FPC cable for the Tab 10, which they kindly agreed to do. Thumbs up to Blackview for great service.

By the way, when I popped out the original screen from the tablet’s housing I discovered why I had been unable to push the corner of the screen back into the tablet’s housing. There is a row of small rectangular metal blocks along the inside top edge of the original screen, as shown in the photographs below. I assume they were intended to attract a magnetic flap on a cover for the tablet. Anyway, the metal blocks are glued into recesses in the back of the plastic surround of the screen. The block in the top left corner of the screen (looking at the screen from the back) – which I have indicated with a red circle on the second photograph – had come unstuck and had fallen between the back of the screen and the tablet’s PCB. When I tried to press the corner of the screen back into the tablet’s housing, the metal block prevented the screen from being pushed back in and the pressure cracked the screen.

Back of original screen of Blackview Tab 10.

Rear view of top right of original screen of Blackview Tab 10.

To complicate things further, when I removed the original screen I discovered that the replacement screen AliExpress had listed as a Tab 10 component is not exactly the same physically as the original screen; it does not have the same plastic surround as the original screen (see above two photographs) and it could not be clipped into the tablet’s housing. Furthermore, the overall dimensions of the replacement screen are very slightly smaller than the overall dimensions of the original screen, leaving a tiny gap between the edges of the replacement screen and the inside edges of the tablet’s housing, as shown in the photographs below. My solution was to use three double-sided self-adhesive pads to affix the back of the new screen to the inside back of the tablet. Initially I thought about using a silicone sealant or a very thin nitrile rubber cord to plug the gap between the edge of the new screen and the tablet’s housing, but the lip of the protective case that came with the tablet covers some of the gap and it is not very noticeable, as shown in the photographs below. Of course, the only thing stopping the screen falling out of the tablet’s housing is the double-sided self-adhesive pads attaching the back of the screen to the inner back of the tablet, but I am confident that is adequate.

Top left corner of Blackview Tab 10 (in its protective case) with replacement screen fitted.

Bottom right corner of Blackview Tab 10 (in its protective case) with replacement screen fitted.

Blackview Tab 10 (in its protective case) with replacement screen fitted.

Flap of protective case closed on Blackview Tab 10 with replacement screen fitted.

After clumsily damaging the original FPC flat cable last year, this time I was very careful when connecting the replacement FPC cable to the tablet’s PCB and to the replacement screen, and the new screen worked perfectly as soon as I powered up the tablet. In my earlier post I mentioned that the detection of taps was a little slow for the Blackview Tab 10, however the response is now as good as the response of the touchscreen of the Blackview Tab 11. Apart from replacing the Tab 10’s screen, the only difference from the as-bought Tab 10 is that it no longer has a SIM inserted, but I cannot see how that would have any impact on tap detection. Therefore I assume the new screen itself is somehow more responsive than the original screen fitted to the Tab 10.

In conclusion, I am happy to be able to use the Blackview Tab 10 again a year later, as I do not like throwing things away if there is a chance to repair them, albeit the repair cost me about GBP 96 for the replacement screen and FPC cable. My main regret is that, if I had popped out the original screen rather than trying to push it back into the tablet’s housing, I would have noticed the loose metal block and been able to glue it back in place and thus avoided cracking the screen. Still, I suppose I learned about FPC and FFC connectors, and the improved tap response is a welcome outcome.

Blackview Tab 11, a good budget tablet

Blackview Tab 11 tablet with optional wireless keyboard.

Last year a family member told me that her compact mobile phone’s screen is too small to show family photos properly to her friends. She said her friends use tablets to show their family’s photos, and she asked me if it would be possible to access her existing WhatsApp account via a tablet. I explained that, without guaranteed access to Wi-Fi in public areas, it would not be feasible to use WhatsApp Web on a tablet, so a tablet would need to have a SIM card. As the tablet’s SIM card would have a different phone number she would need a different WhatsApp account on the tablet but that account could be a member of the existing WhatsApp chat groups of which she is a member on her mobile phone. Additionally, she could forward to her tablet’s WhatsApp account any photos she receives in her mobile phone WhatsApp’s account.

Coincidentally, a few weeks later we changed our home Broadband provider (the previous provider’s service was terrible), and the new package included a mobile phone SIM card with 5 GB data monthly at a very cheap price. We already have good SIM-only packages for our mobile phones, so the new SIM card was available to be used in a tablet. Therefore I decided to buy a budget tablet, and plumped for a Blackview Tab 10, which had a good specification for a budget tablet. It came in September 2021 with Blackview firmware version Tab10_EEA_TP717_V1.0.0_20210429V07 containing some bugs: the System Manager app did not work after I inserted a 128 GB microSD card and the tablet’s microphone did not work in WhatsApp, Signal and Skype. I was able to fix the bugs by upgrading the tablet’s firmware to version Tab10_EEA_TP717_V1.0_20210824V09 with the help of Blackview’s customer support department. I assume a Tab 10 purchased since September 2021 would already have the newer firmware. Anyway, after upgrading the firmware everything works well. The tablet’s camera performance is not stellar, but who buys a tablet for its cameras? I would summarise the Blackview Tab 10’s features as follows:

• It has 4 GB RAM and 64 GB storage.
• It was supplied with a charger, USB C earphones (including microphone), OTG (on-the-go) adapter (USB C plug on one end, USB A socket on the other end), and a protective case which can be folded to make a kickstand.
• It does not have a 3.5 mm jack socket for earphones, so you have to use earphones that have a USB C plug.
• In the UK it works well to make and receive phone calls (4G), send and receive SMS messages (4G), and send and receive mobile data (4G). The SIM card for a mobile network that also supports 5G works with 4G too. I had to enter the APN (Access Point Name) parameters of my mobile service provider, which I found by googling.
• According to Blackview the Tab 10’s mobile phone functionality does not work in the USA. only Europe and Asia.
• It comes with Blackview’s Doke OS_P 1.0 using Android 11.
• It has a bright, crisp screen, albeit without automatic brightness adjustment.
• It can be connected to a magnetic keyboard designed for the Tab 10 (see Blackview’s online shop).
• Wi-Fi and Bluetooth work well.
• It is fine for browsing the Web, viewing photos, watching YouTube videos and other videos, reading documents, chatting via WhatsApp, Signal and Skype.
• The tap detection is a little slow, but fine for normal use.

There is a very comprehensive review of the Tab 10 on the NOTEBOOKCHECK Web site.

By the way, since I bought the Tab 10 Blackview has released a Tab 10 Pro with 8 GB RAM and 128 GB storage, with handwriting support. The additional memory, storage and handwriting support make the Tab 10 Pro a better choice than the Tab 10 for an extra GBP 30 or so.

Anyway, the Tab 10 filled the brief I had been given.

This post would have ended here except that, last week, I noticed that the Tab 10’s screen had partially popped out of its plastic housing. I suspect one of my family had either dropped the tablet or sat on it on the sofa. When I tried to push the screen back into its housing a crack formed in a corner of the screen. The crack appears to be in the LCD screen under the touch screen. I asked a local repair shop how much they would charge to repair it and they quoted me nearly half what I paid for the tablet, so I decided to buy the latest Blackview tablet model instead, the Tab 11. The Tab 11 has a higher specification than the Tab 10 and I paid less for it than I paid for the Tab 10 (although the Tab 10 is now being discounted by Blackview and some online stores and can be purchased for less than the Tab 11).

Apart from the higher specification CPU and GPU than the Tab 10, the Tab 11 has double the RAM and double the storage. The Tab 11 housing is aluminium alloy rather than the plastic housing of the Tab 10, and it weighs less than the Tab 10. The NOTEBOOKCHECK Web site does not yet have a comprehensive review of the Tab 11, but the TECHXREVIEWS Web site has a fairly comprehensive review. The Tab 11 is noticeably snappier and responsive than the Tab 10 and I like it a lot so far. Unlike the Tab 10, the Tab 11 has a 3.5 mm socket for earphones with a 3.5 mm jack plug, which I prefer.

The Tab 11’s mobile phone functionality does not work in the USA, only Europe and Asia according to Blackview. I can confirm a UK SIM card works perfectly in the Tab 11 in the UK. The SIM card I am using supports the mobile provider’s 5G network but the Tab 11 supports up to 4G LTE, which works fine with the SIM card.

There is significant commonality between the Tab 11 and Tab 10 as they both use Android 11. The Tab 10 has Blackview’s Doke OS_P 1.0 on top of Android 11, whereas the Tab 11 has Doke OS_P 2.0 which has several additional features (split screen functionality, for example).

I have seen a YouTube video review that claims the Tab 11 does not support Widevine L1, despite Blackview’s specification for the Tab 11. I have not tested that feature as it is not something I am particularly interested in. However, I read Blackview’s blog post ‘How to enable or check out Widevine L1 Certification on Blackview Tab 11?‘ and I installed the third-party Android app ‘DRM Info‘ which indicated the Tab 11 supports Widevine L1, although that is as far as I have checked. I installed the BBC iPlayer app on the Tab 11, and programmes play perfectly; video looks great to my eyes, and audio is also excellent. YouTube videos also play well and sound great. I’m not interested in playing games, so cannot comment on that aspect, although the reviews of the Tab 11 I have watched on YouTube claim games performance is good.

I would summarise the Blackview Tab 11’s features as follows:

• It has 8 GB RAM and 128 GB storage.
• The housing is made of aluminium alloy and is strong and rigid.
• The tablet weighs less than the Tab 10.
• It was supplied with a charger, OTG (on-the-go) adapter (USB C plug on one end, USB A socket on the other end), and a protective case which can be folded to make a kickstand.
• It has a 3.5 mm jack socket for earphones.
• In the UK it works well to make and receive phone calls (4G), send and receive SMS messages (4G), and send and receive mobile data (4G). The SIM card for a mobile network that also supports 5G works with 4G too.
• According to Blackview the Tab 11’s mobile phone functionality does not work in the USA. only Europe and Asia.
• It comes with Blackview’s Doke OS_P 2.0 using Android 11.
• It has a bright, crisp screen with automatic brightness adjustment (‘adaptive brightness’).
• It can be connected to a wireless keyboard designed to work with the Tab 11 (see Blackview’s online shop).
• Wi-Fi and Bluetooth work well.
• It is good for browsing the Web, viewing photos, watching YouTube videos and other videos, reading documents, chatting via WhatsApp, Signal and Skype.
• The tap detection is good, and response is snappy.
• Audio is good.

In summary, if you’re in the market for a budget tablet, in my opinion the Blackview Tab 11 would be a good choice; I am very pleased with it. At the time of writing, Blackview’s online shop lists the Tab 11 at GBP 168.44 and the Tab 10 at GBP 145.47. Unless your budget is tight, I would forget the Tab 10; the Tab 11 is the way to go. If you want a tablet that supports a UK SIM card as well as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, the Blackview Tab 10 and Tab 11 are good budget choices in the UK, although the Tab 11 is a much better choice if you can afford the extra GBP 25 or so. However, US residents should note that the tablets do not support mobile networks in the USA (Wi-Fi and Bluetooth work fine in any case). Blackview’s Web site states “This tablet’s 4G [mobile] network connection can only work in Europe and Asia area, please pay attention before purchasing or consult us.”