I tried this 25-inch Android tablet for a week - here's how my buying advice changed

2 days ago 7

KTC 25-inch Android tablet

ZDNET's key takeaways

KTC's 25-inch Android display is currently selling for $349.
Its unique form factor allows it to serve several use cases.
Although the resolution and camera aren't the best, everything else is spot on.

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I love that Android makes it possible for companies to create devices for various scenarios. For example, you might want to have a large touchscreen display powered by Android in your kitchen for recipe viewing (without having to be up close and personal), in the office for presentations, or in the kids' room for games and fun.

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Such is the case with the KTC 25-inch Portable Touchscreen Monitor. It's a full-blown Android-powered display that can be used for several purposes. It's not the most powerful tablet in the world, but that's not the point. It's large, well-built, and ready for action.

The XTC 25" tablet next to a waffle maker.

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My experience

After unboxing the display, I attempted to power it on, only to find that the battery was depleted. I plugged it in (with the included cable) and waited for it to charge beyond 20% (required for setup). Once it was ready, I went through the setup process, which included creating a passkey with the help of my Pixel 9 Pro phone.

Yeah, Google's really forcing passkeys on us at this point. Love them or leave them, they are here to stay. With the setup complete, I placed the display in my kitchen and gave it the once-over.

First off, the display includes a nice built-in stand that can be used in either vertical or horizontal mode. That's a nice touch because sometimes you might want to use it in one configuration, and another time in the other. It's nice to have options.

The back side of the KTC 25" display showing the stand.

After I had the display up and running, I decided to do something fun and install the minimal Olancher home screen launcher, just to be different. The launcher installed perfectly, and I found it well-suited to the tablet. In fact, I found the minimal launcher made the device perform faster, which comes as no surprise given its lightweight nature.

With that taken care of, I ran the display through the gauntlet of apps, such as YouTube, Gmail, Chrome, Keep Notes, and more. Everything performed well, and having the larger display made interacting with them even better than on a phone. Take Keep Notes, for example. Using it on the large screen in the kitchen was great for managing shopping lists and to-dos.

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I didn't bother installing any games because most of the ones I play require using both hands, and this display is far too large to hold. I could have used the included mouse, but the batteries were dead. My curiosity got the better of me, so I installed Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition to see how well it would play.

I shouldn't have been surprised that the game played smoothly, and the display's size made it far easier to enjoy than when venturing forth on a quest on a phone or smaller tablet. Even the sound felt more immersive.

This is fun.

Of course, the device isn't all about fun and games. When using it as a productivity tool, it was quite nice. I would say, however, that if you want to do much in the way of typing, you'll want to purchase a Bluetooth keyboard because typing on a 25" display is not exactly efficient.

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As for the camera, it's fairly basic but works well with Zoom and other video chat apps. The only issue you'll have to deal with is that it doesn't perform well in low-light situations. Because of that, you might want to invest in a ring light or just make sure you have plenty of ambient light (natural light is your friend). As long as you don't expect high-definition images, you'll be fine.

Everything else about this 25-inch Android display was all good. I felt it was a great addition to my home and was able to use it for several scenarios. In fact, while writing this review, I watched Ozzy Osbourne's Live at Budokan concert and found it to be quite good (although the resolution was nearly that of my MacBook or desktop monitors). The sound, on the other hand, was huge. Anything above 50% was far too loud for my kitchen.

ZDNET's buying advice

It boils down to this: if you need a massive Android tablet to serve multiple purposes, this $349 device is a great deal. The only caveat is that it runs Android 14, and it's unclear if the company will update it to 15. Even with that small nitpick, the display performs very well and should please just about anyone.

As long as you don't mind missing out on hi-def videos on YouTube, there's very little to disappoint here. I was thrilled to try the KTC 25-inch Android display in several rooms for several different purposes.