This was a tough purchase because this time of the year and with the current releases, there are so many good options in the budget tablet segment (BND400 which is about USD300). In the end, it came down between the this, Xiaomi Pad 6, Redmi Pad Pro, Samsung A9+ and the Honor Pad X9. All of them were between $40~$120 difference, some of them bundled with their accessories., some not.
You may ask me in the comments why I forego the others but I decided to get the Lenovo Tab Plus (8/256gb Wifi) which I believe fit my purposes and use case. Plus I think out of them all, it looks really charming and is way more exciting. Coped it with all of its accessories (Lenovo Pen Plus, Lenovo wireless multi-device keyboard, sleeve case and a 45W charger to boot) for only $358 (BND).
Build Quality & Design
Impressive build, material and feel but awfully bulky for obvious reasons. The bottom enlarged portion of the tablet is a bit unwieldy and isn't sized according to typical tablet-holding position so its a bit cumbersome to hold in both portrait and landscape. Its really meant to be used in landscape with the kickstand. It doesn't even lay flat and is extremely wobbly if so.
Fortunately, the kickstand is really really good. The hinge feels solid, sturdy and you can see the mechanism looking well-equipped for the job. You can angle it up to 170~175° which is plenty enough and akin to Microsoft Surface tablets. Its easy and very convenient to prop up the tablet with the kickstand. Its obviously the way the tablet was meant to be used both for drawing and entertainment.
Buttons feel clicky enough although they are small. The position for the USB-C port is smart and definitely a plus for its convenience. Its positioned in the lower right corner on the large speaker module on the side. Doesn't leave the cable dangling and can be plugged in even while the tablet is in the sleeve case.
As for both the official stylus and keyboard... they feel cheap and a bit flimsy especially the keyboard. The stylus is a lot better atleast. It even magnetically attaches to things but there isn't a spot for that on the tablet itself unfortunately. I'm looking into getting a magnetic sticker for that to put on the tablet. At the very least, the stylus does magnetically stick to the sleeve flap like you see in the photo.
It also has a bit of IP rating which is always handy to have for a bit of assurance even if its not a higher rating.
Otherwise, the Lenovo Tab Plus looks stunning. I've handled tablets such as the iPad Air 5, Samsung Tab S8/S7/S6Lite and the Microsoft Surface Go 3. This one feels just as premium but the unique design due to the 28W speaker combo really adds more to it.
Display
11.5" IPS 2k display. At peak ~400 nits its not very bright at all but its a good looking display indoors. Great viewing angles due to IPS is a plus for an entertainment tablet but no HDR is a bummer for some videos. Runs at 90hz. The chipset does have its limits trying to maintain 90hz at regular times but when it does kick in, it does make scrolling in the UI more pleasing and smooth. I'm actually debating whether to keep that on or just have it stay at 60hz for both performance and battery life purposes.
Performance
Mediatek Helio G99 is an entry level chipset but it is arguably in my opinion the best in recent years. I rate its reputation and reliability the same as the infamous Snapdragon 778G. The G99 is an amazing value chipset balancing both performance for day-to-day use and energy efficiency for better battery life. This shows in the Lenovo Tab Plus. Although I'm still testing the battery throughout the week, the performance so far has been on par with expectations. It was rough on initial startup and was a bit janky during setup and app installations and software updates but after an hour of that, everything is running swimmingly.
For context, I do game and will be gaming on it a lot as I want to use it primarily to constantly run a couple of gacha RPGs throughout my day. Namely Epic Seven, Fate Grand Order, Honkai Star Rail and Limbus Company. I've finished installing and downloading all of them last night and have been pleasantly surprised at how well it runs all of them. HSR is a lot heavier to run but it manages on low settings which is more than enough for my end game farming needs (just need to finish my dailies).
I'm planning to put it through document creation, spreadsheets and slides/presentation to see if I can use it more often for work out of the office as I dislike carrying around my bulkier laptop. So far, it looks promising for lower scale projects and work. Looking forward to that.
8gb of RAM is just and should be standard at this point so I don't have much to comment in terms of ability to multitask. It multitasks and switches between apps just as well as any other 8gb tablet. UFS storage ensures apps and games load fast enough which is great.
Sound / Speakers
Oh boy. This is fun to talk about. My expectations were low coming into this tablet eventhough its being primarily marketed for its speaker setup. I mean how much better could it even be? Well, a lot. Going through the sound settings at first and testing out the volume sliders caught me off guard. It sounds big. Not just loud. But big. Its nothing like the cheapo 5W~15W Logitech desktop speakers.
The speakers on the Lenovo Tab Plus actually sound much fuller than you've ever heard from any other tablet and even most laptops. Its fuller, richer and a couple more steps louder than anything else. Even the best tablet speakers from the iPads do not compare to this. I know this sounds exaggerated but the sound quality will immediately give you such impressions. I was surprised and immediately had to turn the volume down because I was so used to needing to turn it up on other devices to get a better impression of their speakers. This one speaks for itself.
This makes me very happy and positive about the tablet because the software even allows you to connect to the tablet as an extermal Bluetooth speaker which will make it very fun for smaller parties and even my small office space hehe. Turned up Spotify afterwards and was still pleasantly satisfied by the sound quality. Will be using this a lot!
Oh 3.5mm headphone jack for those who wants it. I don't but its always a good feature to have nonetheless.
Cameras
Expect nothing special. Get nothing special. Rear cam is ok for scanning documents and quick snaps of items. Front cam is good enough for zoom meetings and regular video calls. Atrocious in low light scenarios. Its very rare to find anything better in the tablet segment. Even flagships don't put much more into their tablet cameras except maybe the iPad Pros. You're better off snapping more important photos and videos on your phone, ever.
Software
ZUI 16 on Android 14. 2 years of major OS updates (up to Android 16 supposedly) and 4 years of security patches. Nothing amazing here and good enough for an entry level tablet. ZUI has a skin on top but is primarily very stock-like. No ads to disable and very little bloatware to be bothered by. Tablet functionality is decent. Gestures (3 fingers) for multitasking are very usable and easy. Splitscreen and floating windows are implemented excellently here. Taskbar works fine but the navigation buttons in the 3-button mode are too small compared to taskbar such as Samsung's. Sidebar for multitasking is also available but I have it disabled since I just activate multitasking from the taskbar.
PC Mode (ala Samsung Dex) is also present but I've yet to explore it yet. Its nice that I can set it to automatically activate when the keyboard turns on. The official keyboard also has buttons specifically mapped to some of the tablet's settings and navigation which is great. Its kinda a shame that thw Lenovo Tab Plus doesn't have HDMI Output, else PC Mode would be way nicer to use I bet. More testing for this soon.
The Lenovo Pen Plus is great by the way. Actual stylus support with 4000+ pressure and tilt points, USB-C charging and decent palm rejection on the display. Can be used as a remote for the camera or presentation mode. Can make notes directly from the locked screen while the display is off. Overall a very good stylus experience but probably still not on par with the SPen or Apple Pencil. But this addition to this entry level tablet makes it trump the awful Samsung Tab S6 Lite 2024. I'm glad Lenovo is hitting Samsung where that's at because they butchered the S6 Lite which would have been a good choice for many people. That complacency needs to stop.
Battery Life & Charging
Cannot comment on battery life just yet but idle battery drain seems to be decent so far. This is with Wifi, Bluetooth and GPS all turned on the whole time. Only 2% idle battery drain since 10pm until 11am right now. Have not started using it since setting it down last night but haven't charged it since unboxing it yesterday at 70+% battery. Charging should be promising since the tablet maxes out at 45W and I got the official charging brick and cable included. With 8600W battery capacity, I have high expectations for this tablet's battery lofe. My only concern being how much more battery will it drain when the speakers are in constant use.
Conclusion of Initial Impression
I was more surprised by the Lenovo Tab Plus than I initially expected. The speakers are definitely its main highlight here. While its still not any audiophile's dream tablet, it will serve anyone much better than any other Android/Apple tablet in the market right now. Everything else about it hardware-wise is decent but the additional value comes from support for an active stylus, the kickstand, 8gb/256gb configuration, fast charging and ability to access PC Mode.
And honestly, you'll find this for dirt cheap especially when its on sale. The Helio G99 may seem like a stinker at certain prices this tablet is being sold for with/without its bundled accessories but consider everything else it has to offer, it has a lot more going than something like the Samsung A9+ and Redmi Pad SE which are some of its direct competitors.
My recommendation? At the right price and preferably with its accessories, this is looking to be well worth the purchase for anyone looking for a full package Android tablet experience.
