Lenovo Idea Tab Plus

The Lenovo Idea Tab Plus is a tablet that offers several interesting features to its users: a large, high-quality screen, a cinematic audio experience, and all-day battery life, all for those who do not want to spend the price of an iPad. The starting point is a price tag of around 300 euros, including the pen in the package, a choice that makes a difference in the entry-level segment, especially after the price increases from Apple's counterpart.

We used it for over a week as a study, reading, and entertainment companion, alternating between writing with the pen and watching streaming content. The result is a product with a clear identity, built around two or three solid qualities while being aware of the compromises accepted elsewhere.

Index:

• Technical Specifications
• Design
• Software, Hardware, and Performance
• Display
• Battery Life
• Camera
• Price
• Final Considerations

Technical Specifications

For its entertainment and productivity tablet, Lenovo has chosen the MediaTek Dimensity 6400, an octa-core organized into two Cortex-A76 cores at 2.5 GHz paired with six Cortex-A55 cores at 2.0 GHz, with an integrated Arm Mali-G57 MC2 GPU. It is an entry-level platform designed to ensure smoothness in everyday operations rather than to chase benchmark numbers. The unit we tested combines 8GB of LPDDR4x memory and 256GB of UFS 2.2 storage, but the top version goes up to 12GB of RAM.

Storage can be expanded via microSD up to 2TB in exFAT format, a rare flexibility that is beneficial for those who archive a lot of offline multimedia content. On the software front, the tablet comes with Android 16 and a stated update policy of two major OS releases and four years of security patches, which is not a given in the budget segment.

The panel is a 12.1-inch IPS display with a 2.5K resolution (2560x1600), a refresh rate of 90Hz, and 96% coverage of the DCI-P3 color space, offered in either glossy or matte finish. The camera setup is limited to a 13 MP rear camera with autofocus and f/2.2 aperture, and an 8 MP front camera with fixed focus and face unlock, while a fingerprint reader is absent. Completing the package are four Dolby Atmos-optimized speakers, connectivity with Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.2, and a 10,200 mAh battery with support for 45W charging, though no power adapter is included in the box.

Feature	Description
Operating System	Android 15 (2 major updates, 4 years of security patches)
SoC	MediaTek Dimensity 6400 (8C, 2x A76 @2.5 GHz + 6x A55 @2.0 GHz), GPU Arm Mali-G57 MC2
Memory	Up to 12GB LPDDR4x, 256GB UFS 2.2, microSD up to 2TB (exFAT)
Display	12.1" IPS 2.5K (2560x1600), 90Hz, 600 nits typical / 800 nits HBM, 96% DCI-P3
Rear Camera	13 MP with autofocus, f/2.2
Front Camera	8 MP fixed focus, with face unlock
Audio	Four Dolby Atmos-optimized speakers, dual microphone
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac 1x1), Bluetooth 5.2, GPS/GLONASS/Galileo, USB-C 2.0
Battery	10,200 mAh
Charging	Wired 45W (adapter not included)
Dimensions	278.8 x 181.05 x 6.29 mm (8.55 mm on camera bump)
Weight	Approximately 530 g
Colors	Luna Grey, Cloud Grey, Sand Rose

Design

The first impression given by the Lenovo Idea Tab Plus is that of a product built with care far exceeding its price. The chassis is made of unibody aluminum with a dual-tone finish, and despite the generous diagonal, the frame conveys an immediate sense of solidity: no creaks, no flexing, a structure that appears robust to the touch.

What stands out is the combination of surface and thickness. The body measures only 6.29 mm and weighs around 530 grams, values typically associated with high-end tablets, coexisting here with a 12.1-inch screen. In hand, the balance is excellent and the weight is distributed well, to the point that the significant diagonal does not translate into an uncomfortable device to handle. Even under prolonged stress, we did not perceive flexing of the chassis, a result that is anything but trivial given its size and thinness.

On the back is a single camera module with a slight bump that brings the actual thickness to 8.55 mm, alongside the Lenovo logo positioned for horizontal use. The pen attaches magnetically to the back, while the three-pin pogo connector on the bottom edge serves to connect the optional Folio Keyboard. The port selection remains typical for the category, featuring a USB-C limited to standard 2.0 and the microSD slot.

The tablet is offered in three sober colors (Luna Grey, Cloud Grey, and Sand Rose) and comes with TÜV Rheinland Flicker Free and Low Blue Light certifications, in addition to an IP52 dust and splash resistance. The aesthetics are clean and contemporary, without excesses, and the overall impression is that of an object that looks and feels like it delivers more than its price tag suggests.

Included in the package is the Lenovo Tab Pen Plus, which comes with 4096 levels of pressure, tilt detection, and palm rejection. It magnetically attaches and also allows you to control the front camera shutter.

One detail to consider is its battery-powered nature, which requires recharging and monitoring its charge status, unlike passive induction pens.

Software, Hardware, and Performance

The software is Android 16 in a clean form, close to the stock experience, with the addition of productivity apps that Lenovo pairs with the tablet form factor. The platform is stated to be AI-ready, and in cloud-based tasks such as generative assistants and Google Gemini, responsiveness is not an issue: the load is managed by remote servers, and the tablet acts primarily as a terminal, performing well.

On the local side, the narrative changes, and here the entry-level nature of the platform emerges. In daily multitasking, the Lenovo Idea Tab Plus performs well, effortlessly managing transitions between browsers, email, notes, and streaming. However, responsiveness drops when opening heavier applications, where some hesitation in loading times is noticeable, and demanding gaming remains outside the reach of this hardware: for more intensive titles, compromises on detail and fluidity are necessary.

The numbers gathered in our tests accurately reflect this positioning. In Geekbench 6, the Dimensity 6400 scores 771 points in single-core and 2047 in multi-core, with the GPU stopping at 1224 points: values that tell of a platform designed for everyday use, far from the solutions of higher-end tablets. The UFS 2.2 storage performs adequately, while on the web front, Octane 2.0 scores 29,822 points, sufficient for smooth browsing.

The reading of these data is consistent with the real-world experience: power calibrated for basic activities, where the tablet responds fluidly, and reduced margins when the computational demand becomes serious. For studying, reading, writing, and entertainment, the specifications are sufficient, as long as you don't expect it to perform like a high-end device.

We particularly liked the multi-window management: upon opening an app, a kind of dock appears at the bottom of the screen, including icons of apps chosen by the user, along with a selection of those used most recently. Dragging one of the icons to either horizontal end of the screen activates the split-screen view, allowing two apps to be used simultaneously.

A boon for productivity, with Lenovo's approach proving very convenient during our testing.

Display

The screen is the reason for this tablet's existence. It is a 12.1-inch IPS panel with a 2.5K resolution (2560x1600), a refresh rate of 90Hz, and a density that renders texts and icons clearly on such a large surface. Lenovo claims 96% DCI-P3 coverage and 600 nits typical brightness, which rises to 800 nits in HBM mode, with our unit available in glossy finish and a matte alternative also listed. TÜV Flicker Free and Low Blue Light certifications aim to reduce eye strain during long sessions.

In daily use, outdoor legibility proved good, with perceived brightness more than adequate for consuming content in daylight. The only recurring limitation comes from reflections on the glossy glass, which under some conditions of direct light can make reading less comfortable. Still, it's an excellent display relative to the market segment, one of the few that at this price offers this combination of diagonal and definition.

For instrumental analysis, we used the X-Rite i1Display Pro colorimeter and the HCFR software suite, after calibrating the instrument using the X-Rite i1 Pro 2 spectrophotometer.

In terms of brightness, the measurements confirm the usage impressions: the panel approaches 540 nits at full white screen and nears 515 nits in scenes with a low percentage of lit area, with HBM mode allowing additional leeway under intense light up to the declared value. Being an IPS technology, the native contrast ratio sits around 1150:1, a figure in line with the category: blacks do not reach the absolute depth of an OLED panel, where each pixel turns off independently, but they remain acceptable in everyday viewing.

The tablet offers two main color profiles, Standard and Vibrant (the software translation here is not quite perfect), which effectively share the same gamut extent: in both cases, the measured triangle covers about 96.7% of DCI-P3, far exceeding the smaller sRGB space (around 130%). The benchmark for evaluation is thus DCI-P3, the widest color space adopted in digital film production. The difference between the two profiles doesn’t lie in the breadth of reproducible colors but in their accuracy and the calibration of the white point.

Battery Life

Battery life is one of the pillars of the project, and the 10,200 mAh battery meets expectations. In our