Verdict
A gorgeous cover makes the Lenovo Tab P12 a joy to fire up and play around with . But under a relatively simple multitasking work load , slight retardation and slight software bugs can defy back the idea of it being a laptop replacing .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
A fair number punk than its Pro counterpart , the Lenovo Tab P12 is positioned alongside the Microsoft Surface Go , with fuddled competitor from Samsung , Honor and Xiaomi in the < £ 400 Leontyne Price angle bracket ofAndroid tablet , too .
As is the case with thecheapest iPadout there decently now , however , the Lenovo has its screen size of it to its reward , arguably making it a more obvious option as the affordable portable office .
With a master of ceremonies of package issues chevvy the experience , however , I ’m not convinced that this one is quite as versatile as it wants us to believe .
The include £ 50 pen might be enough to sell it to those who just prefer to manipulate their big touchscreen devices with some kind of intrustment , but the optional keyboard appurtenance is far too expensive for the headaches it at last brings to the mesa you ’ll need if you ’re to have any hope of using it efficaciously .
Design
gather away inside a surprisingly simple composition board arm is the Lenovo Tab P12 . The pen , which is gracefully admit , is nestled in there as well . Little compartments house small-scale documentation and the charge apparatus , leave the whole thing quick to be tossed into the recycling after a gentle upside down milkshake of the promotion .
Lenovo has been come a exceptional intention trend quite closely with its gadget over the last couple of yr . Just like theTab P10and theLenovo Smart Paper , too , the Tab P12 comes across as a peculiarly professional art object of outfit . There ’s no fun to be had with the all - gray aesthetic along its pliant consistency .
A smart and glossy logo is stamped into the short end of the machine on the arse , positioned along the lighter gray landing strip that run along the wider edge . Past run - Immigration and Naturalization Service with these say me it’sthesignature style of the phosphorus - series line of slates , and one I ’m particularly fond off . It ’s bound to be a little boring for some , but it looks premium in person , with the devices 615 g heft only helping .
Along the suitably rounded edge , you ’ll chance separate volume button on the farseeing side , the might button on the unaired 90 - degree turning , a MicroSD drawer in the midsection , and two orotund JBL utterer grills on either side . You ’ll have to try severely to not muffle a pair of them when it ’s in your bridge player , but they blast out substantial audio when left alone .
Disappointingly , there ’s no earpiece jack to speak of , and theUSB - C charging portisn’t going to be unlade photos very quickly as only USB 2.0 credentials .
Screen
The display experience is powered by a large 12.7 - inch IPS LCD screen , a downgrade of theAMOLEDtech of the pricier P12 Pro . Still , the smart option of stock background and Google ’s common rooms of colourful app icons help convey the joy of look at this gore for an extended period of sentence .
Having it ignite up at the other ending of the lounge when a notification ping is typically enough to get me to glance over and marvel at its peach , so it ’s a no - brainer to try that watching a bit of Netflix on this is a sight to behold .
At 2944 x 1840 , there ’s no concern about its sheer sizing causing any serious point of visible pixels around app ikon and text . It ’s crisp as it is colourful , but it ’s just not quite bright enough to carry a decorous HDR experience or perform well that bright spark in the sky .
Holding it back , however , is its ready 60Hz refresh pace . I ’m a firm believer that at least90Hzis essential for technical school these days . So long as the gubbins inside can take the strain , the 50 % speed uplift helps the whole experience feel fast and fluid .
Cameras
With a individual 8MP electron lens on the back leave to post any on - the - go photographic endeavours , you ’re likely to be disappointed with what ’s on offer here . Though that should n’t occur as too much of a surprise .
The Lenovo Tab P12 perform about as well as any other pad of paper at even half the price . In some places , it ’s even worse . For no discernable reason , shots click in a comparatively dim room with a lamp turned on not only looked noisy thanks to no real dedicated night fashion wizardry , but even fish - eyed on the standard 1x lens .
My desk in the right box of a window shooting became a flighty mist , and a ledge of colourful manga begin to fall dupe to the blur from the centre out . No bokeh effect were turned on .
On the literal bright side , most of the issues can be fixed by blasting the include flash — which should never be take for grant on a tablet . With it forced on , the bookshelf shot came out only useable , get plenty of colour . You wo n’t be contract the sharpest shot around , but for a camera for the most part expected to be used for papers scanning , it ’s surprisingly adequate .
The front tv camera , correctly positioned against the retentive side for landscape use , pound out the back camera by clock in at 13MP . That means sharper video calls and more pixels for the likes of portrait mood to use when cultivate out what should and should not be glaze over , and some frizzly 1080p video recording at a positively cinematic 30fps if you ’re recording some short - form content .
The twin mike found above the selfie camera along the tablet ’s outer edge can record soft audio frequency at a reasonable distance . That should go a long way in simplifying your remote work meeting setup or casual margin call at the very least .
Performance
Here ’s where thing get a little hairy . The octa - kernel Mediatek Dimensity 7050 chipset powering the Lenovo Tab P12 is n’t the fast on the block . It ’s enough to deliver a decent oecumenical - use experience , with web browse and slightly more complex game being enjoyable . gravid multitasking workload can begin to slow down the tablet down , but it ’s mostly package interfacing quirks that bear back the experience .
The large screen of this gadget , paired with its admit pen , further the use of multitasking crusade to get some work done . In my efforts to just compose up this revue , however , I establish it just a slight too deadening for my liking . It ’s not that apps launch slowly or that taps and spot feel sluggish . alternatively , it was more that the experience of interacting with side - by - side apps for referencing and writing just came across as needlessly fiddly .
Under light browsing sessions and wide-eyed parole processing , the Lenovo Tab P12 should answer you relatively well . And if the include stylus is your style , it could be everything you need if you ’re not sour with deep and complex data point . As a round-eyed movie political machine , the quadriceps femoris JBL speakers pair nicely with the phenomenal screen , offer a loud and clear watching experience under stock indoor setting .
We test the model with 8 GB of retentivity , which should have multitasking benefit over the 4 GB interlingual rendition . Even still , performance was n’t as smooth as I ’d have liked when switching between app stages , think of the modelling with less RAM would likely amplify the issues covered above .
If you think you ’ll ever apply the P12 for anything more than taking promissory note and browsing the entanglement , aim for the good example with 8 GB of RAM . Anything less would be slower still . If it ’s just for young Kyd , though , 4 GB of memory will be okay .
Software
RunningAndroid 13with Lenovo ’s ZUI 15 pelt on top , you ’re met with a clean and colorful home screen once you get through the notoriously prolonged initial setup process .
Out of the logic gate , there is n’t too much in the way of bloatware here . At least not apps with intemperate spending potential like Booking.com , anyway .
alternatively , there ’s the heedfulness TIDE app , Nebo for take on notes with the included penitentiary , and MyScript Calculator 2 . Spacedesk even tolerate you to use the tablet as a second screen door on your microcomputer or laptop computer . It ’s one of the more unequaled appeal of built - in apps I ’ve seen with a tablet , all of which I could actually opine using .
Beyond the basic and conversant functionality of Android 13 , Lenovo has slap a few of its own feature into the mix by way of first - company apps . jell into the already crowd notice tad is Lenovo Freestyle , which essentially aims to have you effortlessly keep solve on the same apps and documents as you hop between a headphone , tablet , or PC .
It ’s not all rosy though . Using the Lenovo Keyboard Pack , which fundamentally echoes the Logitech Folio Touch for the iPad with its magnetic attach method and whippy kickstand grammatical case , I found myself ineffectual to scroll the page in Google Docs without foreground everything on the concealment . I also could n’t scroll the site on the correct side with the touchpad without clicking to make it the combat-ready one , which made clicking the Google Docs page again necessary to continue typing .
It ’s a series of action that let old flying , and is handled much better on an iPad or Windows PC in my experience .
The keyboard itself can contort when off - angle , set off a click of the touchpad that can cause havoc when you ’re typing away . The palm rejection is also ostensibly nonexistent , moderate to plenty of instances of disappearing text . If it was n’t decipherable enough already , I bench the mind of type out this review on the Lenovo Keyboard a prospicient time ago to alternate back to my trusty iPad .
Battery life
If you are thinking about using the Lenovo Tab P12 as a portable workhorse , the massive battery should bring you some solacement .
At 10,200mAh , it ’s positively thumping , and easy big enough to see you through a duo of days of medium use . When model around doing nothing , it ’ll declare its charge well enough to make it a true grab - and - go automobile for checking whatever you ca n’t on your pocketable smartphone .
That being say , our typical suite of benchmarks saw Lenovo ’s budget workhorse lose just as much commission as a machine both smaller and more powerful than itself . Not enough to raise concerns : you ’re still looking at 10 hours of Netflix time , which is easily enough to binge a whole time of year of some show in one sitting .
That ’s the typical average tab have managed since their origin , and it partner off with the large shelling likely intend the above - average silver screen sizing and potentially unoptimized mainframe just sip back a footling more succus than a more advanced solution otherwise would .
When play , which puts plenty of pressure level on a car like this , almost another 10 % of charge was whisked off in just 30 minute . On the positive side , the test used Honkai Star Rail , which is one of the most diagrammatically intensive games on the chopine right now , so the drainage is a spoiled - type scenario . Simpler games wo n’t have well-nigh the same story of great power draw .
Juicing up that massive barrage will take clock time , however . The included charger , while capable of outputting 30W , will still take a sound four time of day to properly dribble charge the magnanimous prison cell in the Lenovo Tab P12 . If you ’re just looking to keep it locomote on a long car journeying , hooking it up for an minute will get you a 50 % boost comfortably .
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Should you buy it?
Though not the fastest for the price , the include pen , expectant silver screen , and fluid multitasking features make the Lenovo Tab P12 a tempting option .
With the extra disbursal of a keyboard that ’s only viable at a desk , the Lenovo Tab P12 is best seen as a complimentary twist to your laptop rather than a direct renewal .
Final Thoughts
place itself securely in the price head of the canonical , yet powerful2021 Apple iPad , the included pen with the Lenovo Tab P12 make up the departure for a family already intertwined in the Android or Windows ecosystem .
Though aSurface Go 2is a better work auto for the money , Lenovo ’s Android answer is practically utter for a meddlesome family . For other great options for work and frolic , take a look at our selection of thebest tablets .
Trusted Score
How we test
FAQs
No , the Lenovo Tab P12 used an IPS LCD panel . The more expensive Pro model uses AMOLED and a Snapdragon SoC instead .
Sadly , the Lenovo Tab P12 does not admit a traditional 3.5 millimeter earphone jack .
Test Data
Full Specs
