There are no new iPads, no Surface Pro 5 or Galaxy Tab S3 for loyal tablet fans to purchase this holiday season, but obviously, Verizon sees a future for traditional Android slates, refreshing and considerably upgrading its own-brand Ellipsis 8 released way back in 2014.

Since then, Big Red came out with a jumbo-sized, big-battery-packing Ellipsis 10 last fall, which still sells for $300 outright or $150 on-contract. The just-unveiled and already available Verizon Ellipsis 8 HD is fortunately a little cheaper, at $100 with two-year pacts, $250 full retail or $10.41 a month on device payment plans.

It’s really pointless to compare the Full HD (1,920 x 1,200 pixels)-capable new 8-incher to its 800p-limited predecessor, as the RAM count is also beefed up to 3GB, while a more than respectable octa-core Snapdragon 617 processor promises to “provide speed and performance for all your favorite apps, games and videos.”

Other $250-fitting features include an 8MP rear-facing camera, 5-megapixel selfie shooter, pre-installed Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, 16GB internal storage, microSD support, 4G LTE connectivity, and a 5,100 mAh non-removable battery. But Verizon thinks it can seal the deal by throwing in two years of free unlimited and instant access to Tech Coach support, which would normally cost $7 a month outside Total Mobile Protection plans. What do you say?

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