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If you’re in the market for a new tablet that won’t break the bank, may I recommend the Lenovo Tab Plus? This is one of Lenovo’s most portable tablets, capable of doubling as a mini-home theater. It has everything you could want in a mobile entertainment system, and it’s on sale through Black Friday for $195.
The Lenovo Tab Plus is compact, measuring 11.5 inches and weighing about 1.4 pounds. It’s similar in size to an iPad Air, but unlike Apple’s device, this tablet doesn’t have a smooth back as the bottom half juts out.
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The lower section measures 13.58 mm thick, while the upper half is only 7.7mm. There’s a good reason Lenovo designed its tablet with this unique look, as the bottom half houses two of the model’s outstanding features.
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First, the integrated kickstand sits flush with the tablet’s rear. Popping it out provides a stable base and lets the device tilt up to 175 degrees. Praising a kickstand may seem silly, but remember that most tablets — without the addition of a protective case — don’t have a way to prop themselves up. It’s a great quality-of-life feature that enhances the viewing experience, and one I wish other manufacturers would capitalize on.
Additionally, the Tab Plus can also serve as a powerful Bluetooth speaker when paired with a smartphone.
Speaking of audio, the sound system is my favorite feature of the Tab Plus. It features eight JBL speakers, with four serving as tweeters and four as woofers, all fine-tuned by Dolby Atmos. In comparison, the M4 iPad Pro, Apple’s current premium tablet, only has four speakers.
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I found the system’s audio performance outstanding. As part of the testing, I watched the entire second season of Arcane on Netflix. From the first episode to the last, I enjoyed crystal-clear sounds powerful enough to fill a room. That said, the bass is a little lacking — it’s nowhere near as punchy as the bass from a soundbar.
The screen quality is great, too. It features a 2K display running at a 90Hz refresh rate, delivering bright colors and smooth animations. It performed well across most applications. However, I didn’t like how dim it looked. The screen’s brightness peaks at 400 nits, which is suitable for indoor viewing but insufficient for outdoor use. The display struggled to shine in a bright environment.
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Under the hood is the MediaTek Helio G99 SoC (system-on-chip), along with 8GB of RAM — hardware typically found in budget devices. The G99 isn’t a very powerful chipset. It’s a few years old, but it gets the job done. I never experienced performance drops while casually browsing with Google Chrome or playing mobile games.
The Lenovo Tab Plus functions decently well as a work tablet. You can connect accessories like keyboards via Bluetooth. Thanks to Android 14, there’s a desktop mode for mimicking desktop setups.
The operating system also delivers engaging gesture controls. My favorite is where swiping up sends you to a carousel of open apps, and you can hop between any one of them. Smartphones have similar functionality.
Android 14 brings with it years of updates. Lenovo has pledged to continuously roll out security patches to the Tab Plus until June 2028.
Multiple accessories are available, but even with all those gadgets equipped, don’t expect Lenovo’s machine to be a powerhouse. At the time of this writing, the Tab Plus currently ranks 45th on UL Solutions’ Best Smartphones and Tablets list for April 2025. It outperforms many midrange models but falls behind contemporaries like the Google Pixel Tablet and OnePlus Pad 2.
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These numbers suggest that the Tab Plus may not excel at handling demanding tasks like video editing, but it won’t be terrible either. Hardware performance may be middling, but the battery sure isn’t. On average, the tablet lasts 15 hours on a single charge. I left it running one afternoon and was pleasantly surprised to see it still playing the test livestream the following morning.
The storage space is unsurprisingly small, at 256 GB. It would’ve been nice to have access to a bigger drive, but with a tablet this cheap, you have to expect some cuts. Luckily, you can expand storage by inserting a 1TB microSD card into the slot at the top.
ZDNET’s buying advice
The Lenovo Tab Plus, with 256GB of storage, typically retails for $330 at Best Buy and Lenovo’s official website however, it’s currently discounted to $195 through Black Friday. For the money, it’s a fantastic device for those who enjoy watching the latest shows on Netflix or want a multimedia tablet.
The MediaTek Helio G99 isn’t the best work device, but it’s sufficient for completing most clerical tasks. Those looking for a tablet with more muscle should check out Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S10 Plus. The OnePlus Pad 2 is another solid, midrange option for those who don’t mind spending extra cash.
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