What’s the first thing that comes to mind when someone says Tablet? I bet you thought iPad, right? Well, at least that’s what my kids tend to think. So its easy to forget that there are plenty of excellent Android tablets out there, many of which are a whole lot cheaper than Apple’s offering. Case in point is the new Lenovo’s Idea Tab Pro.
Priced starting at just $499 with Lenovo’s discounts($699 is the regular price), the Idea Tab Pro is a surprisingly capable 12.7-inch Android tablet that promises a “budget flagship” experience: a spacious 3K 144Hz display, quad JBL speakers tuned with Dolby Atmos, a bundled Tab Pen Plus stylus, and a MediaTek Dimensity 8300 chipset that benchmarks ahead of pricier competition. But does the Idea Tab Pro truly punch above its weight, or does it buckle under its midrange roots? After weeks of daily use—productivity sessions, reading, video streaming, note-taking, and even some light gaming—here’s why Lenovo’s latest tab is both impressively bold and quietly flawed.
Design & Build: Sleek Metal, Practical Heft
From the moment you cradle the Idea Tab Pro, its premium aspirations are clear. An all-metal unibody cloaked in “Luna Grey” lends a near-flagship polish, while the matte finish resists fingerprints better than cheaper tablets. At 6.9 mm thick, it’s remarkably slim for a device packing a 10,200 mAh battery, yet its 624 g weight means extended one-handed use can tire your wrist.
Compared to the iPad Pro, the Idea Tab Pro’s design holds its own in terms of premium feel, though Apple’s tablet edges ahead with its sleeker 5.9 mm thickness and lighter weight at 468 g for the 11-inch model. Both devices feature all-metal builds, but the iPad Pro’s aluminum unibody feels slightly more refined, with sharper edges and a smoother finish. Bezels on the iPad Pro are narrower, enhancing its modern aesthetic, while the Idea Tab Pro’s uniform bezels prioritize grip and practicality.
Lenovo went the extra mile with IP52 splash resistance—a rarity in this price class—so accidental dribbles or a stray raindrop won’t send you scrambling for a towel. Button placement is intuitive and includes a very fast fingerprint scanner for biometrics. The USB-C and the magnetic pen holder on the bottom edge, with power and volume buttons on top and right, respectively. The magnetic attachment on one end not only works for keyboard attachment but also securely holds the pen.
The chassis is stunningly thin, giving off an iPad Pro vibe and rightfully so. Lenovo has killed it with the design and build quality. My only gripe is that given the sheer size of this tablet, Lenovo really should have included the Folio case in the box instead of the Pen. As you’ll read later, that is a far more practical accesssory for most people’s use case.
Display: Vibrant 3K Canvas with IPS Limits
The 12.7-inch 3K (2944 × 1840) IPS panel is the Idea Tab Pro’s crowd-pleaser. Blacks are surprisingly deep for an IPS display, and colors pop with a richness that rivals more expensive Android tablets. Text is razor-sharp, making the tablet excellent for reading, web browsing, and productivity apps. Lenovo’s factory calibration errs slightly warm, but a quick color-temperature tweak in settings brings the screen to neutral territory.
The matte coating on the Idea Tab Pro’s screen is a double-edged sword. On the positive side, it significantly reduces glare, making it easier to use in bright indoor environments or under artificial lighting. However, the downside is that it slightly dulls the vibrancy of colors compared to glossy screens, which may be noticeable during media consumption or photo editing. It’s also a lot harder to see outdoors in bright sunlight.
That said, writing on the matte display feels natural and responsive. The 360 Hz touch sampling rate is excellent for drawing and writing but it won’t win against the 1000Hz touch sampling of flagship devices. I I also like the Reading Mode which turns the display monochrome and even lets you play background sounds for focused reading.
Another thing to note is how good this tall(or wide depending on orientation) display is for side by side multitasking. It’s such a great way to be more productive, or even less productive if you choose to have TikTok and Instagram side by side for infinite doomscrolling. But getting work done with say Google Docs on one side and Gemini on the other for research is fantastic. However, to really get your best work done, you’ll need the keyboard attachment which Lenovo sells seperately for $199.
Audio: Quad JBL Speakers That Roar
Lenovo outfits its tablet with four JBL speakers, each tuned by Dolby Atmos. The result is a soundstage that feels expansive and balanced, with surprisingly punchy bass for this form factor. Dialogues in movies remain crystal-clear, even when you crank the volume for a mini outdoor cinema vibe. Mids retain warmth and clarity, while highs are crisp without veering into sibilance.
Gaming on the Idea Tab Pro is elevated by its audio prowess. Explosions, footsteps, and ambient sounds come alive with a richness that enhances immersion, making it a joy for casual and competitive gamers alike. The tablet’s landscape orientation further amplifies the audio experience, delivering a more balanced and enveloping soundstage compared to portrait mode.
Stereo speakers are impressive, with great left-right separation, but they mainly shine in landscape mode. In portrait mode, the audio experience suffers. Two speakers on either side sound fantastic, making the Idea Tab Pro an ideal living-room streamer or presentation device.
Tab Pen Plus: A Stylus That Surprises
Most tablets at this price skimp on a stylus, so bundling Lenovo’s Tab Pen Plus is a stroke of generosity. With 4,096 pressure levels, near-zero latency, and a comfortable cylindrical barrel, it offers a sketching and note-taking experience that feels more premium than many separate-purchase pens. Lenovo’s “Easy Jot” feature lets you capture screenshots, web clippings, or handwritten notes with a button tap, exporting directly to PDF or JPEG—handy for students and professionals alike.
Latency hovers around 9 ms, which artists will find acceptable for casual doodles and diagrammatic work, though power illustrators might chafe at its slight delay compared to iPad’s ProMotion. Palm rejection and tilt functionality work admirably, making handwritten lecture notes or quick mockups smooth and precise.
Writing is a genuine pleasure with great response and pressure sensitivity, and the pen offers impressive handwriting recognition—even for messy handwriting. However, handwriting doesn’t work everywhere; certain fields don’t respond, and the cursor sometimes jumps back to address fields in emails when you’re trying to write the body, which can be irritating. The pen feels good in the hand, and its Bluetooth functions allow quick access to features. Gestures for formatting, spacing, and paragraphs are intuitive. The pen charges via USB Type-C and lasts several days on a single charge.
Performance: Snappy on Paper, Reality Check
Under the hood, the MediaTek Dimensity 8300 chipset and 8 GB RAM promise desktop-class multitasking. Geekbench single-core and multi-core scores leap roughly 40% ahead of Lenovo’s previous Tab P12, and GPU tests show triple the graphics performance, even challenging tablets costing 50% more. In daily use, app launches, web scrolling, and split-screen multitasking feel fluid. Chrome with multiple tabs, Google Docs edits, and video calls all sail along without noticeable lag.
Yet, this chip isn’t a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 or Apple M4 rival. Complex UI animations can stutter, and occasional frame drops pepper Android’s gestures—particularly when switching between resource-hungry apps. Gaming benchmarks mirror this: Fortnite on the “Epic” preset averages around 30 FPS, dipping as low as 15 FPS during chaotic fights.
Genshin Impact runs at medium settings with occasional frame judders. For casual gamers, Lenovo’s chipset holds its own; hardcore mobile gamers chasing consistent 60 FPS should look elsewhere. However, Diablo Immortal run smoothly with no stutters at a seemingly consisten 60FPS. Regardless, the combination of great display, size and awesome sound makes gaming on the Idea Tab Pro a true delight.
The MediaTek Dimensity chipset is quick and snappy, and games run very well with no stuttering or throttling. Multitasking is a joy, allowing up to four apps to run simultaneously. Gestures make it easy to start multitasking with split-screen or three-way split-screen setups.
Software & AI: Android 14 Meets Google Gemini
Out of the box, Android 14 rides alongside Lenovo’s light utility suite—nothing too intrusive. What sets the Idea Tab Pro apart is integration with Google’s new AI toolkit. “Circle to Search” lets you highlight any on-screen text or image and summon real-time web results, translations, or AI-powered summaries via Gemini. In practice, this is a neat party trick for research or language learners, though it remains more novelty than daily-use workhorse.
Lenovo promises two major OS upgrades and three years of security patches, which places it ahead of many budget tablets but still shy of Apple’s five-year longevity. Bloatware is limited to a handful of Lenovo utilities, easily uninstalled if you crave a pure Android experience.
Lenovo’s desktop mode transforms the Idea Tab Pro into a versatile workstation when connected to a monitor. This mode offers a familiar desktop-like interface, complete with resizable windows, a taskbar, and multi-window multitasking. It’s ideal for productivity tasks, presentations, or even light creative work, making the tablet a compelling choice for users seeking a hybrid device.
Camera: Average Shoots, Above-Average Convenience
With a 13 MP autofocus rear shooter and an 8 MP front-facing camera, the Idea Tab Pro covers basic photo and video-call needs. In good lighting, rear captures are serviceable—detail is decent, colors are accurate, though dynamic range lacks refinement. Night or low-light shots turn noisy fast. Video calls via the 8 MP front lens yield crisp, well-exposed faces, making the tablet a solid choice for Zoom lectures or remote work meetings.
If camera prowess ranks high on your tablet checklist—say, for mobile photography—this isn’t your best bet. But for the occasional AR app, barcode scan, or video-conferencing clarity, it gets the job done without fuss.
The cameras are best avoided for photography, as their quality matches that of cheap phones. They’re good for scanning documents but suffer from noticeable lag in the camera viewfinder.
Battery Life & Charging: Marathon Stamina
That 10,200 mAh battery isn’t just a spec line—it translates to real endurance. With moderate mixed use (web browsing, streaming, note-taking), I routinely saw 10–12 hours of active screen time. Lenovo’s 45 W fast charger juiced the tablet from 0 to 50% in about 45 minutes, and a full refill took roughly 1 hour 45 minutes.
Standby drain is impressively low, too—leaving the tablet asleep overnight, even several nights barely dents the battery. For digital nomads or students hopping between classes, this endurance frees you from the daily charger tether. If you’re planning on gaming, expect that number to drop significantly but hey, you can always keep it plugged in for a marathon session.
Verdict
The Lenovo Idea Tab Pro is a hidden gem in the midrange tablet market, offering a large, high-resolution display, top-notch speakers, stylus support, and long battery life for far less than $1000. It’s a bold statement that midrange devices need not feel cheap. While its aspirations sometimes overshoot its capabilities, the Idea Tab Pro delivers exceptional value for its price.
At its AUD 699 price point—including the Tab Pen Plus—Lenovo signficantly undercuts even entry-level iPads and Galaxy Tab S9 FE models. For comparison, the iPad Pro 11″ starts at AUD 1,399, and doesn’t even come with the Apple Pen which makes the Idea Tab Pro a significantly more affordable option for budget-conscious buyers.
Yet, features like an IPS not-OLED panel, a non-flagship chipset, and middling cameras remind you it’s no true flagship. Will that matter for everyday use, entertainment and consumption? Unlikely. I also think Lenovo could have easily afforded to include the much needed Folio Keyboard accessory for $100 more and it would still be a better value tablet than most.
But if you’re an Android enthusiasts, students, and budget-savvy creatives, Lenovo’s Idea Tab Pro is a breath of fresh midrange air—ambitious, mostly accomplished, and undeniably fun. It dares to blur the line between budget and flagship, and in many ways, it succeeds.
Lenovo Australia kindly loaned the Idea Tab Pro to PowerUp for the purpose of this review
