Lenovo Tab Plus review

Tablets are versatile gadgets that can do a bit of everything. But the one thing they are good at above others is entertainment. Whether you’re at home on the couch or traveling, it is easy to cozy up with a tablet in hand and catch up on the latest OTT content. Lenovo’s latest tablet is for precisely this target audience.  

Enter the Lenovo Tab Plus – an affordable tablet with just the right-sized screen, a whole bunch of speakers onboard, and a kickstand at the back. I’ve spent the past few days with the tablet catching up on the missed episodes, watching the Hungarian GP, getting some office work done, and here’s our detailed Lenovo Tab Plus review.  

Lenovo Tab Plus design

The Lenovo Tab Plus’s design is what helps it stand (pun: unintended) out among the sea of other tablets. From the front it isn’t very different from other tablets in this price range, featuring an LCD screen and generous bezels on all sides. While design-wise the bezels could have been sleeker, thick bezels are more practical as they let you hold the tablet without covering the screen. 

It’s towards the back where things get interesting. There’s a bump right in the middle of an otherwise flat back, making the tablet thicker towards the bottom. And there’s a good reason for that. Lenovo has crammed in Hi-Fi speakers (more on that later), and also a kickstand.  

ALSO READ: Lenovo Tab M11 review 

This kickstand is not only a differentiator, but also tremendously useful when you want to prop the tablet on a surface for those long Netflix binge sessions. It is also convenient during flights, as you can easily place the tablet on the seat tray and sit back to watch or read stuff.  

Interestingly, the kickstand can flip to nearly 180-degrees, which means the tablet can be placed almost flat on a surface. This makes it easy to sketch and take down quick notes in class or during an office meeting using the supported Lenovo Pen Plus stylus.  

Lenovo Tab Plus display

On paper Lenovo’s tablet may come with an LCD screen, but you won’t find much to complain about in day-to-day usage. The 11.5-inch screen is just the right size for when you’re consuming content, reading articles or scanning through endless Excel sheets.  

The display may lack the punchy colours of OLED panels, but it’s not a huge letdown. Colour reproduction and viewing angles are good, and text look sharp. If there’s one complaint though it is that the screen is quite reflective. This became a problem when trying to watch or read content near windows or outdoors.  

Lenovo Tab Plus audio performance

Aiding the tablet’s visual performance is its audio prowess, which will remind you of a modified car with a huge sound system in the boot. Nestled in the bottom half of the tablet is a JBL-powered setup, which includes four woofers and four tweeters.  

It’s not just the number of speakers, but also their quality that makes this tablet worth considering. Thanks to support for Dolby Atmos and Hi-Res audio, the speakers offer top-notch experience when listening to music or watching a high-octane action movie.  

The speakers will also surprise you by just how loud they are, and the sound is loud enough to fill a decent-sized room. With this kind of output, you won’t need to connect the tab to any external speakers.  

Another feature worth pointing out is the ability to connect a smartphone and use the tablet as an external speaker. Such capabilities and the overall quality make this a far more attractive package than an affordable Bluetooth speaker. 

Lenovo Tab Plus performance

Lenovo’s tablet is powered by a MediaTek Helio G99 chipset, which is not what you’d consider a race horse. It is capable enough to handle day-to-day tasks with ease and bit of multitasking as well. I used the tablet to check emails, browse the internet, watch YouTube and other OTT content, and it all felt quite normal.  

But when you try to push it, you can feel the chip struggle. This was evident when trying to play games on the tablet. The likes of Subway Surfers worked as advertised, but graphic-intensive games like Asphalt 9: Legends don’t. There’s a lot of lags and frame-rate drops, and it was only when the graphics options were turned down a notch, when the game became playable.  

ALSO READ: Lenovo Tab P11 Gen 2 review

One department where the tablet certainly doesn’t struggle is the battery. Backing the tab is a massive 8,600mAh battery, which can easily last for a couple of days when used judiciously. This involves a bit of office work, browsing the internet and listening to music.  

The battery life does fall when you start consuming video content or playing games, but then too the battery was able to last an entire day before we had to hunt for the charger. Speaking of which, the bundled 45W fast charger can juice up the tablet’s battery in just above an hour.  

Unboxed Take: Who should buy the Lenovo Tab Plus?

The Lenovo Tab Plus is aimed at a very specific kind of buyer – someone who wants to a tablet to consume content. For them, the tab offers a comfortable design, a very useful kickstand, a good display, long battery life, and an amazing set of speakers on board.  

Beyond content consumption, the tablet feels a bit lacking in other departments. The chipset, for one, could have been a tad bit more powerful. This is also what stops the Tab Plus from being a complete package.  

At Rs 22,999, the Lenovo Tab Plus is perfect for those who want a comfortable device with a big screen to watch videos or listen to music. Those looking for a tablet that offers more power and performance, can look at the Xiaomi Pad 6 or the OnePlus Pad.

For this reason, we rate the Lenovo Tab Plus 3.5/5. Stay tuned to Unboxed by Croma for more in-depth reviews.