We’ve said this more than once in a post-pandemic world – Tabs are back with a vengeance.
Laptop sales have spiralled post 2020, tabs have enjoyed a resurgence too as WFH lifestyles create new opportunities for gadget manufacturers. The premium tab race has largely been a two-horse race in most global markets (India included) with Apple and Samsung cornering a sizeable share of market. While there are quite a few contenders in the sub Rs 20,000 segment, those tabs are essentially Content consumption devices. Great for gaming or binge watching and online classes but not quite geared for productivity. Lenovo’s new Tab P11 Pro has its guns trained at the likes of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S7 and the iPad Air. Does it bring enough to the party?
If you mistake this tab for a Samsung Tab or an iPad, you’re not alone. The P11 Pro features the same minimalist, almost industrial design language that has become the trademark of newer premium tabs. It’s ultra-slim with clean lines and minimal bezels. It looks every inch premium. It’s also incredibly light – under 500 gm. I enjoyed curling up with this tab in my couch for a couple of hours switching from gaming to watching an episode of Ragnarök and later flipping through a graphic novel.
Let’s talk about the display first. It’s one of the headline features of this tab – a 11.5-inch 2K OLED display (2560 x 1600 pixels) that peaks at 500 nits. Colours are brilliant and we also dig the deep blacks. This one’s a great binge screen. And then there’s the quad speaker set up powered by JBL. It packs serious thump. There’s no 3.5mm headphone jack, a feature that we’ve seen almost disappear in this segment. You will have to lean on your Bluetooth headphones while catching up on videos or logging into a virtual meeting.
The hardware spec sheet is quite impressive. On paper the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 processor might not be the fastest in class but it’s enough firepower for almost everything I threw at this device. Gaming was smooth and multi-tasking was a breeze too. The other win for this tab is battery life. There’s an 8600 mAh battery under the hood; Lenovo pegs the video playback at about 15 hours, and it seemed a fair claim.
The Tab P11 Pro nails the Content Consumption game but that’s not enough for premium tabs that have upped their Content creation skills over the last couple of years. Lenovo didn’t ship the optional keyboard along with our review unit. Lenovo claims that it’s designed for optimal response and accuracy with 18m pitch sizes, 3mm letter key spaces and 1.3 mm travel. The other optional accessory (that we didn’t get to check out) is a Precision Pen 2 that is Lenovo’s answer to Samsung’s S-Pen or the iPad Pencil. The Tab comes pre-loaded with Apps (like Bamboo Paper) that allow you to get the most of this accessory. The Tab P11 Pro is let down by the Android OS that still has some catching up to do with iPad OS in terms of Tablet functionality and multi-tasking. Does the Lenovo Tab P11 Pro offer a serious alternative to Samsung’s range of premium Android tabs? The short answer is yes. It’s slinky, looks premium and features a brilliant display. All those things that Tab users are looking for.
The Lenovo Tab P11 Pro costs Rs 42,990.
