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  • Introduction

  • Design & Usability

  • Performance

  • Conclusion

  • Science Introduction

  • Battery

  • Screen Performance

  • Other Tests

  • Introduction
  • Design & Usability
  • Performance
  • Conclusion
  • Science Introduction
  • Battery
  • Screen Performance
  • Other Tests

Introduction

Design & Usability

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Contrary to popular belief, bigger isn't always better.

Within the very environmentally-unfriendly mess of cardboard and plastic that is the box for the {{product.name}} is a charger, a micro-USB cable, an individually packaged US-specific plug to mount on the charger, and assorted documentation. There's also a tablet in there, but you probably already guessed that.

This tablet is heavy. Not only that, but it's huge as well. Couple those detriments along with the fact that the device is a half-inch thick and a bit angular, and this tablet ranks up there with the most difficult to hold that we've reviewed thus far. If you plan on using this Lenovo for a long time, expect arm fatigue, depending on the endurance of your forearms.

If you plan on using this Lenovo for a long time, expect arm fatigue.

Quite possibly the biggest thing that sets the {{product.name}} apart from the rest of the pack is the fact that it is fairly versatile with pieces of office equipment. Not only can it export video and other media via HDMI, but it can also hook up to a peripheral like a keyboard or mouse using the hidden full USB port. This is very beneficial, as the tablet comes with a word processor, as well as other office programs pre-installed.

The {{product.model}} can be operated much like any other tablet can through the capacitive touchscreen. Things like tapping to open files and apps, pinch to zoom, and flick to turn a page/switch homescreens all work on the {{product.name}}. In addition, there are physical volume controls, a physical power button, and four other buttons on one side of the tablet, including a back button, a home button, a browser button, and an auto-rotate on/off button.

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Performance

Middling performance in nearly every category

The {{ products(50fa2df996ab5860160c6ed6).name }} is built around an 8.625 x 5.325 inch IPS LED backlit LCD display with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. Aside from the IPS (in-plane switching) screen, this is about par for the course as far as tablets in this price range go. The IPS screen enables users to have a fairly wide viewing angle, but there's only a very small chance that this would become a big deal unless you were showing your friends something on the screen.

With the commonplace screen size of 10.1 inches and the equally commonplace resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels, you should not want for a bigger screen. The resolution also nets the {{products(50fa2df996ab5860160c6ed6).name }} a DPI (dots per inch) of 149. While not the best in the world, that's not too far behind what other tablets in its price range and size give us.

LIke most tablets with an LCD screen, the {{ products(50fa2df996ab5860160c6ed6).name }} doesn't fare so well outdoors. Because LCD screens require a backlight to make their image seen, direct sunlight often drowns out the light emitted by the tablet itself, resulting in a picture that is difficult to see at best (especially considering the high reflectivity). Tablets with LCD screens typically disappoint here, and the {{ products(50fa2df996ab5860160c6ed6).name }} is no different.

The battery is firmly in the "bad" category for tablets.

Unfortunately, even with its huge surface area, Lenovo couldn't ship its flagship tablet with a decent battery. Providing just over 5 hours of video playback or eBook reading, the battery is firmly in the "bad" category for tablets. Perhaps it's due to the big screen, but for whatever reason, this tablet will leave you high and dry on long trips.

Conclusion

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If you can find the {{product.name}} on sale, it may be a buy. Otherwise, take a pass on this tablet.

It's no surprise to us that one of the major computer producers has released a tablet under the name of its iconic laptops, but what is surprising is just how bad the {{product.name}} is. Relatively speaking, the battery and screen performances aren't too far off the "average" range for tablet performance, but little things like the accelerometers lagging significantly, as well as frequent crashes and severe battery drain while asleep make the {{product.name}} a less-than-ideal purchase.

If you can find this tablet on a firesale, it may not be such a bad investment if you would like to use peripherals that require a USB port, but if that's the case, you're probably better off going with a Toshiba Thrive instead. Beyond that small advantage, there is very little reason to get the {{product.name}} over another similarly priced Android tablet.

Science Introduction

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The {{product.name}} is large tablet that gets the job done. However, its larger-than-average screen draws a lot of power. This tablet has a poor battery life of around five hours.

Battery

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Not exactly leading the pack

The {{product.name}} will allow users to read an eBook with the Kindle app for just over 5 hours with the backlight cranked and all wireless connections turned off. This is on the low end of "acceptable" for a tablet its size and will lead to several situations in which you'll be left high and dry without battery charge, especially if you use Wi-Fi (which rips down battery life).

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Screen Performance

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If this Thinkpad was cheaper, it'd be a good buy

Like most tablets, the {{product.name}} disappoints in color gamut, with significant color error matched up against the rec. 709 standard. Most notably, it shifts blues to a more cyan-ish color.

Tablets typically fall short of competing with TVs in terms of contrast performance, but the {{product.name}} falls very short by virtue of its disappointingly bright black level. If you're wondering why a bright black level is bad, know that a dark black level is important for a high contrast ratio and more accurate lighting in your pictures and movies. Because the deepest black it can produce is 0.6 cd/m2, the {{product.name}}'s contrast ratio is severely narrowed, even though it has a very high peak brightness.

Similarly, the {{product.name}} does nothing to set itself apart from other LCD tablets, as it has an extremely reflective screen. Though it has a high peak brightness to combat the intensity of direct sunlight, the reflective screen is incredibly distracting and annoying, so do what you can to avoid direct light on the screen.

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Other Tests

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Meet the tester

Jonathan Chan

Jonathan Chan

Senior Manager of Lab Operations

@Jonfromthelab1

Jonathan Chan currently serves as the Lab Manager at Reviewed. If you clean with it, it's likely that Jon oversees its testing. Since joining the Reviewed in 2012, Jon has helped launch the company's efforts in reviewing laptops, vacuums, and outdoor gear. He thinks he's a pretty big deal. In the pursuit of data, he's plunged his hands into freezing cold water, consented to be literally dragged through the mud, and watched paint dry. Jon demands you have a nice day.

See all of Jonathan Chan's reviews

Checking our work.

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