I’ve by no means actually been one to blare music out loud on a pill, however the older I get, the extra I understand my values don’t mirror these of the broader populace. There are many individuals who love to do simply that, and I suppose in the event that they’re house alone or they merely don’t care about irritating anybody of their direct neighborhood, then extra energy to them. It’s laborious to say what’s so irritating about sound popping out of a pill, but when I needed to take a stab, I’d say it’s typically the standard of the audio that makes it really feel extra like noise and fewer like music or dialogue in a film. And whereas I’ll nonetheless by no means condone polluting the air with pill noise, if you happen to’re going to do it, I’d desire it to be as crisp and clear as doable. That brings me to the purpose, and by “the purpose,” I imply Lenovo’s Tab Plus.
The Tab Plus, as you would possibly’ve pieced collectively, is a pill made by Lenovo that focuses on one thing particular—leisure. The truth is, Lenovo’s advertising and marketing even goes so far as to explain the Tab Plus as an “leisure pill.” What makes a pill an leisure pill, you ask? By Lenovo’s estimation, it’s a bunch of audio system and a kickstand that pops out the bottom so you may prop it up on a desk (or your chest if you happen to’re lazing in mattress). These audio system could also be one of many first stuff you discover if you examine the Tab Plus for greater than 10 seconds, since they’re fairly clearly jutting out from both facet of the glass slab. When you’re taking a look at them and considering, this stuff higher have some juice, then you definately’ll be comfortable to know that they undoubtedly do, each on paper and in apply.
Lenovo Tab Plus
Strong pill with a one-of-a-kind speaker system.
Execs
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Tons of audio system -
Dolby Atmos tuning -
Strong efficiency
Cons
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Display screen is not very shiny -
Focuses extra on audio and fewer on show
Let’s begin with the on-paper half, although. There are a grand complete of eight JBL speakers on this factor, which feels extreme to an extent, however that’s additionally type of the purpose—that is an leisure pill, in spite of everything. Particularly, Lenovo contains 4 tweeters and 4 woofers for a mixture of highs, mids, and lows, and a complete of 26W of energy. To place that into context, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab A9+, which is comparably priced, solely has 1W audio system. It might appear unfair to check Lenovo’s Plus-branded pill versus the Galaxy Tab A-series, but it surely’s laborious to not, given the deep low cost working from Lenovo proper now, which marks this pill down from $350 to $200.
It’s additionally value noting that the entire Tab Plus’ audio system are additionally tuned by Dolby Atmos, and, consequently, the pill carries among the digital encompass sound branding on the facet. Dolby has gone a little bit wild with throwing its branding on all types of merchandise over the previous few years, but when the Tab Plus is any indication, it nonetheless means one thing.
Which brings me to the opposite facet of this speaker-filled coin: how does all of this truly sound? In brief? Fairly rattling good for a pill. I ran the Tab Plus via a couple of checks, which actually simply concerned cranking up the amount and both watching or listening to issues, and I feel all of that overkill on the speaker stuff paid off from an audio perspective. I listened to a Japanese funk combine on YouTube and was capable of choose up on some nuances—there’s clearly not a lot low-end, however the pill speaker bar is so subterranean, and the truth that there’s any in any respect is a feat.
For Netflix viewing (I watched an episode of Our Planet), the audio system are greater than enough, however relying on what you’re watching, chances are you’ll not wish to crank the amount on max for dialogue-heavy audio. I watched a YouTube video concerning the historical past of bread and observed that the creator’s voice began to get a little bit grating after a couple of minutes, however I suppose you might say the identical for many YouTube movies being watched at full quantity. Talking of cranking to max quantity, you can do this with the Tab Plus if you happen to so select, however clearly, the upper quantity you hear at, the extra distortion creeps in. However even when there’s extra distortion at max quantity, there’s nonetheless far lower than different tablets, which might be totally unlistenable whereas maxed out.
So, the audio facet is a standout on the earth of tablets, however what concerning the different piece of the puzzle? What about what you ingest along with your eyeballs? Display screen-wise, there’s nothing luxurious occurring right here. The Tab Plus comes with an 11.5-inch 2K LCD display screen with a 2,000 x 1,200 decision. The height brightness is 400 nits, and it has a 90Hz refresh charge. Once more, this isn’t going to blow anybody away (there’s no OLED show), but it surely’s serviceable, and the display screen feels pretty fluid when you’re mindlessly scrolling via it.
My most important criticism, if we’re evaluating to the competitors, is that it’s not extremely shiny, which may make watching content material in full mild or outside type of… meh. Particularly, the Tab Plus’ 400 nits of brightness falls wanting aforementioned opponents just like the Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+, which comes with a peak brightness of 570 nits. That being mentioned, the Tab Plus does have the next decision and an LCD show in comparison with the Galaxy Tab A9+’s 1,920 x 1,200, so relying in your priorities in a pill, that battle could even out.
When you’re going to be watching plenty of movies and listening to a whole lot of stuff on this pill, you’re most likely questioning about battery life since video playback has a pesky tendency to eat up battery. The Tab Plus, in response to Lenovo, is rated for 11 hours and 50 minutes of HD video streaming at full brightness, and whereas I didn’t sit and watch Netflix for 12 hours straight, my testing undoubtedly corroborates that. Efficiency-wise, the Lenovo Tab Plus comes with a MediaTek Helio G99 processor and 8GB of non-upgradeable RAM. Android 14 is preinstalled, although you may set up Android 16 if you happen to so select. This isn’t a tool you’re going to wish to mine Bitcoin on, however for doing all of the stuff the Tab Plus is definitely constructed for, like searching the online and watching stuff, it felt to me like greater than sufficient energy.
It’s value noting there are two cameras on right here, too, however like with any pill, they’re hardly the purpose. Each the front- and rear-facing cameras are simply eight megapixels, which is ok as a result of all you’re going to wish to do with them is use face unlock or scan a QR code, respectively. I can affirm that for utilizing face unlock, the front-facing digital camera works simply superb.
In the end, although, the Tab Plus is designed to do one factor, and that’s play issues at satisfactory volumes with a top quality that doesn’t suck and offer you a pleasant sufficient display screen to take mentioned content material in via your eyeballs. And if that’s the aim right here, I’d say that Lenovo accomplishes it. Once more, a pill that’s centered totally on leisure isn’t for everybody, but when it appears like one thing that is likely to be for you (like, if you happen to spend plenty of time mindlessly scrolling YouTube in your mattress), then I’ll have you recognize that Lenovo delivers on its promise of a tablet-sized leisure machine.
