Android tablets aren't exactly considered the best tablets around, and very few are worthy of being compared to the likes of the juggernaut that is the iPad. However, a couple of decent ones spring to mind, and one of those is the first Lenovo Tab P11 Pro. It was a tablet that you could actually try out the Android 12L beta on, and it packed some decent specifications at a good price. Now the company has come out with a second-generation Tab P11 Pro, which has some improvements over its predecessor.
In short, the Lenovo Tab P11 Pro is an excellent tablet that works well as a media consumption device. Watch YouTube, Netflix, or Disney+ (to name a few) to your heart's content on its 11-inch, bright, 120Hz OLED panel with four very loud speakers tuned by JBL. What's more, there's the option to use the Lenovo Precision Pen 3, which can be used for drawing, navigation, and gesture controls.
It's a great tablet with a lot to love, and for someone who wants a tablet primarily for media consumption, it's hard to go wrong.
About this review: Lenovo sent us the Lenovo Tab P11 Pro 2nd Gen for review. The company did not have any input into the contents of this review.
Lenovo Tab P11 Pro Gen 2
The Lenovo Tab P11 Pro Gen 2 is a decent tablet for media consumption and basic tasks, packing a MediaTek Kompanio 1300T, up to 6GB of RAM, and an 8,200 mAh battery. It runs Android 12L, too.
- Brand
- Lenovo
- Storage
- 128GB UFS 3.1 storage
- CPU
- MediaTek Kompanio 1300T
- Memory
- Up to 6GB RAM
- Operating System
- Android
- Battery
- 8,200 mAh
- Ports
- USB-C port
- Camera (Rear, Front)
- 13MP main, 8MP front-facing camera
- Display (Size, Resolution)
- OLED, HDR10+, 2560x1536, 420 nits, 120Hz
- Price
- $399.99
- Size
- 11.2-inch
- Connectivity
- Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax, Bluetooth 5.1, GPS + GLONASS
- Measurements
- 263.66mm x 166.67mm x 6.8 mm, 480g
- Headphone jack
- No
Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Great display for media consumption | Very barebones |
Precision Pen is a cool addition | Why not just buy an iPad for this price? |
Good, clean software | Cheap build quality |
Great form factor for most Android apps |
Lenovo Tab P11 Pro Gen 2: Pricing and availability
- The tablet starts at $400 for the base model
- You can get a model with 6GB of RAM for $430
The Lenovo Tab P11 Pro 2nd Gen starts at $400 for the base model at Lenovo's official website, going up to $430 for 6GB of RAM. In Europe, it starts at €499 for the base configuration. The Lenovo Precision Pen 3, which I received for review separately, costs $70.
Design: Do you really need the bells and whistles?
- Comes with an 11.2-inch QHD+ OLED display and 120Hz refresh rate
- Back is magnetized so you can place the stylus there
- The tablet feels flimsy and flexible
The Lenovo tab P11 Pro 2nd Gen is a fairly standard-looking tablet. It packs an 11.2-inch QHD+ OLED with a 5:3 aspect ratio, alongside four JBL-tuned speakers for content consumption. The display also supports a high refresh rate of up to 120Hz and reaches 420 nits of peak brightness. It's crisp and it's clear, which is about all you need to watch your favorite TV shows.
Beyond those specs, there isn't much else that helps this tablet nail the media consumption experience, and that's OK — anything else would be extra. If you have a good screen and good speakers, people aren't going to care about the rest of the specs so long as it's usable.
When in landscape mode, there's a front-facing camera at the top center of the display. On the back, Lenovo takes up a dual-tone design, with one side being able to magnetize to the company's Precision Pen 3. It doesn't come with the tablet, but Lenovo sent us one for testing purposes.
All in all, it's a pretty functional design without a lot of bells and whistles, but it'll work perfectly for media consumption. The speakers sound good, and the display gets bright enough for pretty much all general usage. I also appreciate that there isn't a punch hole or a notch like on other tablets. In fact, the biggest downside is that it just feels... kind of cheap.
Here's the thing: The Lenovo Tab P11 Pro 2nd Gen can bend and flex easily in your hands, though its build helps it feel light as well, which is the trade-off. I was carrying this tablet in my bag a lot recently since I've been traveling, and I was worried that the amount of tech in my bag would crush, bend, or damage it at times. That is not a reaction I'm used to with tech.
Audio: Four good JBL speakers
- Tablet comes with four JBL-tuned speakers that will get the job done
- Doesn't have a headphone jack
The Lenovo Tab P11 Pro Gen 2 packs four JBL-tuned speakers, which sound pretty good and get decently loud. They're still just built-in speakers (meaning they aren't amazing), but they get the job done for music, games, and movies. The biggest criticism I have here is the lack of a headphone jack, as a tablet geared towards any kind of media consumption realistically should.
Precision Pen 3: Worth the extra money?
- You can order the Precision Pen 3 separately for $70
- Take notes, draw on the display, and use gestures
The Precision Pen 3 is an optional extra that you can pick up for this tablet, but it's not necessary for most people. It works almost exactly how the S Pen does on the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. You can use it to take notes, draw on your display, and hover over links and other content before selecting it. It's cool, but I wouldn't feel close to calling it one of my favorite features of this particular tablet.
It's a good pen for note-taking, but I don't expect most people to want to take notes on their tablets. I used the Wacom Bamboo Paper app to take notes, which worked well, though it's not something I would use all that much.
Performance, battery life, and software: Not for productivity
- It uses a MediaTek Kompanio 1300T chipset, which will struggle with larger workloads
- Battery life is fine when you're using the tablet, but it drained for me when I wasn't using it
The performance of the Lenovo Tab P11 Pro Gen 2 isn't much of a factor here, simply because it's not meant to be a productivity machine, aside from drawing with the pen. Nevertheless, the device has the MediaTek Kompanio 1300T, which is a mid-range chipset. It's fine for basic gaming and similar tasks, but you will notice it struggles with more intensive workloads. It's a bit weaker than the OnePlus Nord 2T, for context.
The problem with battery life is that, while it's good in normal use, it drains abnormally fast with the screen off. I took it with me on a trip to London, charging it to 100% overnight. I brought it with me in my bag, and it was already at 70% by the time I got to the airport. I watched Netflix and used about 20% of its battery, and then the next morning, it was at 17%. It drains inexplicably when idling, which feeds into the next major issue: the charging time.
This tablet only charges at 18W, taking over two hours to charge from 0% to 100%. That's bad enough in general when other, more inexpensive tablets charge faster. However, that's inexcusable when the tablet frequently runs out of power by doing nothing. I'm hoping that it's merely a rogue process in the background that's causing these problems, but honestly, it's hard to say for sure.
As for the software experience itself, it's very close to "stock" Android. It's very barebones and basic, and that's exactly what many people will want. There are a few Lenovo-made tweaks onboard in the settings, but if you never want to look at any of the settings on your tablet, you'd never even know it wasn't a Google tablet. That's probably why the company was the chosen one when it came to beta testing Android 12L.
Lenovo Tab P11 Pro Gen 2: Should you buy?
You should buy the Lenovo Tab P11 Pro Gen 2 if:
- You value a high-quality display for media consumption
- You want an unencumbered Android experience with few distractions
- You want a tablet with good stylus integration
You shouldn't buy the Lenovo Tab P11 Pro Gen 2 if:
- You're price conscious
- You don't care where you watch movies or TV shows
- You want the productivity of an iPad
If you're going to build a tablet, the number one thing you need to nail relative to the price is the display. You can have the cheapest tablet in the world, but if the display is trash, it'll rarely be worth it. At a mid-range price like this, prioritizing the display can get you far, and that's what Lenovo has done here.
Lenovo has made a rather enticing option here thanks to a 120Hz 11.5-inch QHD+ display that gets pretty bright and supports HDR. You can use a tablet for media consumption, browsing the web, and even for productivity, and with the display being as good as it is, that makes all of it a joy. Sure, AMOLED isn't a necessity (nor are high refresh rate displays), but they're almost certainly going to be high up on my list of priorities if I'm picking up a tablet and I'm looking to spend a bit more than something like the Honor Pad 8.
However, if all you're going to be doing is consuming media, then downgrading a small bit might be a way to save some money. You don't need to spend a lot of money to have a decent Android tablet experience, though if you want a good screen, this is probably the device to go for on a budget. Keep in mind you are paying for a lot of higher-end hardware in the form of the mid-range MediaTek Kompanio 1300T chipset to power that display, and if all you're doing is watching videos, it'll be a waste.
All of that is to say that I recommend this tablet, but only for the right person. You could spend a bit more to get an iPad, and for some people, that might make a lot more sense over any of the best Android tablets out there.
Lenovo Tab P11 Pro Gen 2
The Lenovo Tab P11 Pro Gen 2 is a decent tablet for media consumption and basic tasks, packing a MediaTek Kompanio 1300T, up to 6GB of RAM, and an 8,200 mAh battery. It runs Android 12L, too.