A tablet and smart speaker with display in one, Lenovo has managed to inject more life into the tablet concept
Key Specifications
- Review Price: £249
- Snapdragon 450 CPU
- 32GB storage
- 3GB RAM
- 1920 x 1200 pixel IPS screen
- Android 8.1.0
- 8/5MP cameras
- Quad speakers
- Fingerprint scanner
What is the Lenovo Tab P10?
The Lenovo Tab P10 gives the traditional tablet concept fresh life. It isn’t an iPad rival and is more or less a standard Android tablet on its own. But, the gadget transforms into a big-screen Alexa smart speaker when connected to the speaker dock that is included.
In the kitchen is a smart home hub, while in the living room is a traditional time-wasting iPad.
The Lenovo Tab P10 is a viable option due to its well-executed design, even though neither component sets any new benchmarks in their respective fields. However, for its asking price of $250, you could spend the extra £100 on a better-sounding wireless speaker and a Kindle Fire HD. You would, however, be missing out on the area’s relative elegance. Additionally, the tablet offers a number of capabilities that the Kindle Fire HD 10 does not.
Lenovo Tab P10 – Design
The Lenovo Tab P10 has a more premium appearance and feel than its Amazon counterpart. Its front and back are made of flat glass panels with an aluminum sandwich in the center. Build resembles the far more expensive Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 in terms of design.
Lenovo’s tablet also has significantly thicker screen surrounds than the Samsung and another clear competition, the much disregarded Huawei MediaPad M5 10.8, giving it a little more dated appearance. The Lenovo Tab P10 avoids the cheap feel of other sub-£200 rivals even though it doesn’t have a cutting-edge appearance.
This is a traditional widescreen tablet that should be held horizontally when using it rather than upright. There is nothing preventing you from using it in portrait mode, therefore you should do so if you want to read articles or graphic novels on the Lenovo Tab P10. But, observe that, in contrast to an iPad, its heaviness doesn’t feel as natural in this position.
Don’t expect an iPad, like with most Android tablets, and you’ll be able to appreciate the Lenovo Tab P10.
But it also has another charm that an iPad can’t match. Although Lenovo offers the tablet as a standalone item, the majority of UK merchants sell the tablet along with a speaker dock. This appears to be a little soundbar, and the majority of its front is covered by an attractive fabric grille.
Inserting the tablet into the top. The Lenovo Tab P10 is kept at a small angle by a plastic guide, and the speaker dock is kept from tumbling over by a plastic rest on the bottom. This might have run the risk of becoming a clumsy gimmick in different hands, but Lenovo has the most expertise when it comes to fusing digital assistants with tablet-like gadgets. It created a Google Assistant center on the Smart Display.
The Lenovo Tab P10 transforms to an Alexa display when you dock the screen, which cycles over the most current news and activates the dock’s microphones to listen for voice requests. It can be used in the same way as an Echo smart speaker. Functioning perfectly are Alexa skills, which are basically apps for the Amazon voice assistant. Of course, typical requests for music and trivial information also work.
Using a trio of far-field microphone arrays, Lenovo has attempted to mimic the sensitivity of an Echo speaker. You must talk quite loudly and clearly because it isn’t nearly as sensitive as an Echo.
But, it functions, particularly if you plan to use the Lenovo Tab P10 as I have, which is set down on a kitchen work surface, to listen to podcasts and music while you prepare. Although the sound quality isn’t great, it performs better than an Echo Dot and has the strength required to support music.
Lenovo Tab P10 – Display
The screen on the 10.1-inch Lenovo Tab P10 measures 1920 by 1280 pixels. If you get even slightly close, you can clearly notice pixelation at this scale. Nevertheless, without investing significantly more, you can’t become any sharper.
The same resolution is used by the aging Samsung Galaxy Tab A10, Huawei MediaPad M5 Lite, and Amazon’s Fire HD 10. Get the non-Lite Huawei MediaPad M5, which has a 1600p display, if you want something sharper. But if you don’t want the speaker and have the money to spend, you’ll be close to the price of a 9.7-inch iPad.
Android tablets find it difficult to compete with iPads on their own merits.
Yet for a mid-range tablet, this is a rather excellent display. The crimson of the YouTube logo appears almost cloyingly brilliant due to the rich color. The maximum brightness is also quite good. Although I would classify this tablet as a “home” device, the backlight is sufficiently bright to function pretty well outside.
The Lenovo Tab P10 has no problems with angled viewing because to the sturdy IPS display. Below the display, a fingerprint scanner enables secure login without a pin or password.
Lenovo Tab P10 – Software
Lenovo has managed to refresh the tablet concept by merging it with a smart assistant. However, the Lenovo Tab P10’s software isn’t all that fresh. It runs Android 8.1.0 rather than the current Android 9.0.
This doesn’t seem a huge loss for a tablet, though. Digital Wellness features that let you monitor how long you use apps are the most striking additions in Android 9.0. And the issue with tablets is more that people have stopped using them, not that we use them too much like our phones.
At the outset, the Lenovo Tab P10 appears to use a simple, if uninspired custom interface. It’s simply Android as you’d see it on a phone, with no exploitation of the bigger screen area. However, dig into the Settings menu and you’ll discover a tablet-specific mode.
It is known as productivity. As a result, a thin bar is added to the bottom of the screen. It contains all of the apps that are displayed in your multitasking menu as icons, along with thumb-friendly soft keys. Android is not significantly altered by this. Just another UI is pasted on top of it. However it does speed up and simplify moving between apps.
Verdict
The Lenovo Tab P10 wouldn’t necessarily seem that desirable in a thriving and dynamic tablet industry. The speaker dock audio is adequate but not outstanding, and it could use a little more strength. The fact that it surprisingly successfully switches between being a tablet and a smart display makes this one of your finest options at the price.
