Lenovo Tab Excessive

Verdict

The Lenovo Tab Excessive is a giant pill, a really massive one, that tries to be a laptop computer too – all the pieces to all. It has a gorgeous 14.5-inch show, nice audio system and many energy, making it really feel well worth the asking worth of £900/$949+. Its shortcomings as a piece machine turn into obvious on the similar worth as a very good laptop computer, making this an amazing pill, however too costly for many. 

Introduction

For so long as tablets have existed, so too have makes an attempt to shoehorn a ‘position’ for them into existence, to discover a ‘form’ they need to be. Some need them to be miniature TVs, some need critical work machines, and numerous producers have tried to discover a kind issue that matches.

Lenovo has been among the many most dogged and experimental. With the Tab Excessive, we see its most particular assertion – that is its model of the way forward for Android tablets, and an all-singing, all-dancing one at that.

Its centrepiece is a large 14.5-inch show, greater than that of many laptops. That is backed up by 12GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, eight audio system, a 12,300mAh battery, a stylus, a keyboard case, a folio case and extra, an actual instance of ‘excessive’ not simply being advertising hyperbole.

Lenovo desires you to have the ability to use this anyplace, and for something. There’s, after all, competitors within the likes of the iPad Professional and Samsung Galaxy Tab Extremely line of tablets, however that is virtually a brand new class in itself, the premium Android 2-in-1. By providing a lot there’s additionally the difficulty of changing into unfocused, of the execution not matching the potential. Does the Tab Excessive do sufficient to earn some curiosity? 

Learn on as I unpack all of it in my full evaluation. 

Design and display

• 14.5-inch 120Hz HDR OLED display with 3.5K decision
• The rear is encased in two-tone gray glass
• Expenses through USB-C

If there’s one phrase to encapsulate the Lenovo Tab Excessive, it’s massive, or possibly monumental. Both method, it’s tough to precisely convey fairly how giant this pill is. In a world the place a ‘giant’ pill is perhaps 11 inches max, it dwarfs virtually the entire competitors.

It isn’t simply outlined by its dimension nevertheless, that is an costly pill and it desires you to know that. From its minimal display bezels to its all-metal development, with a satisfying heft, it is a pill that screams ‘premium’. Its weight is perhaps 740g, however it’s 5.9mm thick – it’s giant, however that’s the level. The one color accessible is Storm Gray.

There are tradeoffs with the scale, the takeaway being that work is less complicated, and leisure is more durable. The total expanse of the show signifies that spreadsheets, phrase paperwork and extra are simple to work with, one thing that may’t be mentioned of different smaller tablets.

On the flip facet, studying in mattress, watching TV and extra require it to be a bit additional away than may usually be the case, defeating the purpose of a pill to a point. If a pill is meant to be one thing you may simply decide up and use, this doesn’t match that standards.

Additional emphasising its work credentials, Lenovo has produced two promising peripherals, the Lenovo Precision Pen 3 and a keyboard case. The previous will primarily curiosity artists, providing 4,000 factors of stress and exhibiting solely minimal lag. There are two magnetic charging factors for it on the machine, that means it’s simple to take it all over the place.

As for the keyboard case, it has a robust engineered hinge that the pill connects to magnetically, connecting to a set of pogo pins by means of which the keyboard connects. Unusually for a folio case, the keys are giant, journey is respectable and it proved to be snug and straightforward sufficient to sort a full evaluation on (certainly, this one).

With the additional devices, I discovered a full workday with the Tab Excessive was simpler than anticipated on a pill. Phrase, Excel, Groups and the Microsoft suite generally sung on the {hardware}, although totally different workflows will see mileage fluctuate.

The onboard microphones did an amazing job of choosing up my voice on convention calls, and the eight audio system made convention calls a relative delight.

A final half price mentioning is a considerably uncommon inclusion that must turn into obligatory on tablets, a USB-C out with DisplayPort capabilities. This permits the pill to work as a second show, which proved to be very helpful on many events.

Coming to the display, it’s nothing however a pleasure to make use of. With a 3K decision all the pieces is pin-sharp, the OLED tech makes colors pop and retains distinction infinite, whereas the 120Hz refresh fee signifies that swiping by means of the interface feels easy and responsive. HDR functionality is obtainable, and supported content material seemed shiny, vivid and noticeably higher than SDR choices.

I discovered, generally, it acquired shiny sufficient to work nicely on a sunny day, and dim sufficient to learn simply at evening, although the scale made this slightly tougher than would in any other case be the case.

Cameras

• Rear predominant digital camera has 13MP and a flash, flanked by a 5MP ultrawide
• Entrance dealing with digital camera is 13MP

It’s a drained line however no much less correct with the retelling; tablets usually are not ‘camera-first’ gadgets, and that is positively the case with the Tab Excessive.

On the rear will be discovered a 13MP f/2.4 lens with autofocus and a 5MP f/2.2 fastened focus ultra-wide snapper. There’s additionally a 13MP digital camera on the entrance, used for video calls and the like. A necessary functionality of all these, save the ultrawide on the rear, is that they’ll shoot 4K video at 30fps. This can be a important boon for video calls, providing larger constancy and high quality, actually higher than virtually any laptop computer webcam in the marketplace right now.

Away from this, common efficiency is what may normally be anticipated, which is to say that photographs produced have affordable element and dynamic vary, however you shouldn’t use this to seize treasured recollections. It’s primarily for doc recording and nothing else.

Efficiency

• Runs a MediaTek Dimensity 9000 processor
• Comes with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage as customary
• Runs Android 13

As is perhaps anticipated, efficiency on the Tab Excessive isn’t any joke. With 12GB of RAM, 256GB of storage and a MediaTek Dimensity 9000 chipset, it has greater than sufficient energy for many duties.

That is primarily borne out in testing, with the machine reaching a single-core rating of 1293 and a multi-core rating of 3375 in Geekbench 6, placing it on par with the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Extremely. Extra anecdotally, switching between apps and something {that a} typically gentle workload may require (e-mail, writing and spreadsheets) wasn’t a difficulty.

Gaming efficiency proved to be attention-grabbing. With such a gorgeous display, the Tab Excessive feels constructed to be a gaming machine. For cloud gaming, it labored a deal with. Nonetheless, issues have been slightly totally different when it got here to cell video games. The Tab Excessive is just too massive for something requiring exact contact controls. 

The MediaTek chip has sufficient energy for probably the most half, capable of play extra intensive titles at increased high quality settings, although not fairly as easily as these from Qualcomm. The actual takeaway in case you are a gamer is, at £900/$949, the Tab Excessive is identical worth as a price range gaming laptop computer, and that may serve you higher.

Coming to software program, it is a typical instance of Lenovo’s strategy of taking a laid-back angle to design, solely including options the place they’re wanted. The primary addition is a floating set of three dots that all the time sit on the display. Tapping these permits quick access to a split-screen mode for apps and to create floating home windows, with a max of 4 on the previous and 10 on the latter. That is, after all, helpful for multitasking.

A perennial letdown, which is certainly not the fault of the machine or Lenovo, however which nonetheless impacts it, is the state of Android on tablets. Although the scenario has improved extra not too long ago, most apps nonetheless consider they’re displaying on a cellphone and supply solely a ‘portrait’ mode. That is nonetheless grating to see for a supposedly mature working system after greater than a decade of availability.

Battery life

• Has a 12,300mAh battery
• Provides 68W quick charging
• Expenses over USB-C

The Lenovo Tab Excessive has an enormous shiny display and a strong processor, two substances that don’t normally lend themselves to glorious battery life. What it additionally has is a stonking nice 12,300mAh battery, greater than many present in exterior battery packs.

On a median day of use, utilizing it as a major work machine, it lasted from 8am till 9pm, used for Groups calls, phrase processing, watching movies, checking social media and extra, with round 7 hours of display on time. That’s hardly a particular measure, nevertheless it signifies that for many individuals, this can be an all-day machine.

Fortunately, there’s additionally a quick charger included. At 68W, it has loads of energy and is sufficiently highly effective to cost many laptops too. After half-hour, it had roughly 45% cost, then taking round 90 minutes to cost absolutely, which given the scale of the ability pack isn’t any imply feat.

Newest offers