The Lenovo Tab P11 Pro is an intriguing Android alternative to Apple’s iPad Air ($599.99). Starting at $499.99, the tablet has a lovely OLED display, excellent speakers, and solid battery life. However, it only has a midrange processor, and its optional Keyboard Pack and Precision Pen 2 are serviceable but not impressive. That makes it good for media consumption and doodling, but not so much for productivity. The iPad Air, with a superior stylus and impressive processing power, remains our Editors’ Choice winner.
Easy on the Eyes
The Tab P11 Pro’s aesthetic veers far from the cheap, plasticky Android slates that dominate the market. At a glance, you could easily mistake it for an iPad Air or a Samsung Galaxy Tab S7. It measures 10.4 by 6.8 by 0.3 inches (HWD) and weighs 17.1 ounces.
Though the tablet can be used in either orientation, it works best in landscape mode with the magnetic kickstand that comes with the optional keyboard. Compared with the kickstands you find on Microsoft Surface tablets, it’s a nice compromise: not as sturdy as a built-in kickstand, but easily removed.
In landscape orientation, the top edge of the Tab P11 Pro holds two volume buttons. A set of pogo pins are on the bottom. A power button with integrated fingerprint sensor and a microSD/SIM slot sits on the left side, and the USB-C charging port is on the right (a 20W charging adapter is included). Two pairs of JBL speakers are housed on the left and right edges.
The tablet’s unibody frame is made of aluminum and available in slate or platinum finishes. The back has a tone-on-tone finish with noticeable antenna lines along the top edge. A Lenovo badge is in the upper left corner and a small camera module in the upper right. Small JBL and Dolby Atmos logos are centered on the bottom.
The front is dominated by a 11.5-inch OLED panel. Resolution comes in at 2,560 by 1,600 pixels, for a density of 264ppi. The Tab P11 Pro’s display is larger than the 10.9-inch LCD panel you’ll find on the more expensive iPad Air, but they have the same pixel density.
Colors on the Tab P11 Pro are luscious, and its blacks deep and inky. It’s perfect for indoor viewing, but not bright enough to use in direct sunlight. It also lacks the 120Hz refresh rate you’ll find on the Galaxy Tab S7.
Just Enough Power
A Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G mobile platform powers the Tab P11 Pro. The base model comes with 4GB of uMCP RAM; the 6GB model costs $549 and should be your first choice if you have room in your budget. Both models ship with 128GB of storage, and about 104GB is available out of the box. You can add up to 1TB of external storage with a microSD card.
This hardware makes the Tab P11 Pro quick and responsive for complex and intensive tasks, including streaming and multitasking. We tested it with over a dozen apps running and didn’t experience any lag. Gaming is solid for a tablet. Playing Alto’s Odyssey on the large OLED display was a delight, and we didn’t encounter any hiccups. Genshin Impact was slow to a little slow to load, but the slate otherwise handled the resource-heavy game with ease.
On PCMark Work 3.0, a series of tests that emulate common tablet tasks, the Tab P11 Pro scored 10,008. That’s below the Galaxy Tab S7’s score of 14,965, but we didn’t notice a difference in real-life performance between the two devices.
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On Geekbench 5, which quantifies raw computing power, the Tab P11 Pro eked out a score of 565 single-core (SC) and 1,779 multi-core (MC), falling well below the Galaxy Tab S7 (976 SC, 3,148 MC) and the iPad Air (1,571 SC, 3,941 MC). However, it’s worth mentioning that we use benchmarks to provide an objective measurement and they don’t always gauge how a tablet performs with everyday use. In our experience, the Tab P11 Pro can take anything you throw at it.
The 8,600mAh battery will easily get you through a day of moderate use. In our rundown test, in which we stream HD video over Wi-Fi at full brightness, the battery lasted a little under 10 hours. With the brightness turned down to 50%, we were able to push that to 13 hours.
As mentioned, the Tab P11 Pro sports four JBL speakers, and they deliver excellent audio performance. Maximum volume comes in at 100dB, and the speakers provide an immersive soundstage for movies and TV. Timbre is lush, with balanced mids and solid bass. There’s no 3.5mm headphone jack, but Lenovo includes a USB-C–to-3.5mm dongle in the box.
Here’s Not Looking at You
We found the Tab P11 Pro’s cameras disappointing. A 13MP primary sensor and a 5MP secondary sensor are on the back; on the front, you’ll find an 8MP sensor along with a time-of-flight sensor for Face Unlock. All performed poorly even by tablet camera standards.
The rear cameras are good for quick reference shots or document scans, but not much else. Our daylight test shots were flat and soft, and lacked contrast. Low-light photos were an absolute loss.
The front-facing camera, a necessity for videoconferencing, is a letdown. In our test calls, video appeared blown out, with noticeable ghosting.
Face Unlock isn’t the Tab P11 Pro’s strong suit, either. Setting the feature up was a major hassle that took multiple attempts. Once activated, it was incredibly slow and only worked about a third of the time. The integrated fingerprint sensor is a fast and accurate alternative.
Not for Road Warriors
The Tab P11 Pro has limited band support for AT&T and T-Mobile’s 4G networks. On AT&T, it supports bands 2,4, and 5, but bands 12, 17, 29, and 66 are missing, as are LAA LTE bands used in congested cities by every carrier. On T-Mobile, the tablet supports bands 2, 4, and 5; none of T-Mobile’s Extended Range spectrum is supported, nor is band 66. If you really need a tablet with internet access for working on the go, the Galaxy Tab S7 and the iPad Air provide far better connectivity.
We tested the slate on T-Mobile’s network in Chicago and recorded speeds of 18.4Mbps down and 14.9Mpbs up. That’s not great, but it’s in line with we expected for a tablet with such limited options.
The tablet also Bluetooth 5.0 as well as dual-band Wi-Fi.
The Productivity Myth
With the exception of Lenovo’s Productivity Mode UI, the Tab P11 Pro runs a near-stock version of Android. Unfortunately, that version is Android 10. We expect an update to Android 11 to roll out to the tablet in October, but there’s no upgrade guarantee after that. On the plus side, Lenovo will send security patches until November 2023.
Productivity Mode kicks in when a keyboard is attached to the Tab P11 Pro. When it’s enabled, a taskbar appears along the bottom of the screen with a navigation icon and commonly used apps. The feature sounds great in theory, but is downright clumsy in practice.
When you open an app in Productivity Mode, there’s a small chance it will open in full screen. With most apps, you won’t find a maximize option, and you’ll need to manually resize the small windows that appear on the desktop. Giant title bars appear above each app, eating up valuable screen real estate.
If you who primarily work in a few static apps throughout the day, Productivity Mode will be fine. But if you’re constantly swapping among apps and tabs, you’ll quickly become frustrated.
Several Amazon and Microsoft apps are preinstalled, as are Bamboo Paper for drawing and Squid for notetaking. All are apps you’ll probably use if you purchase the tablet with the keyboard and pen; otherwise, you can uninstall them.
Optional Accessories Are Worth the Splurge
Lenovo sells a $599 productivity package that includes the 6GB RAM model of the Tab P11 Pro, the Keyboard Pack, and the Lenovo Precision Pen 2. Since the bundle only adds $50 to the price of the tablet and includes over $130 worth of accessories, it’s a solid buy if you expect to need either a stylus or a keyboard at some point.
The Keyboard Pack includes a hard-shell keyboard and a kickstand. The duo attaches to the tablet magnetically and acts as a case when the tablet isn’t in use. The outside of the keyboard is covered in a stylish and durable gray knit.
Although the keyboard is on par with what you’ll find available for other Android tablets, it doesn’t come close to matching the iPad Air’s Magic Keyboard. It’s small, with minimal travel. The trackpad seems like wasted space since it lacks palm rejection and doesn’t do a great job of detecting the difference between left and right clicks.
The kickstand is sturdy and offers 180 degrees of movement. It works well on a desk, but isn’t great for using on your lap.
Lenovo’s Precision Pen 2 looks like a big aluminum pencil and attaches to the top of the kickstand via a small holder with an adhesive back. The holder seems like an afterthought; our test unit’s holder fell off the case within a few days.
Since the Precision Pen 2 is an active stylus, there’s a USB-C charging port on the top edge. The pen lasted for several hours during our tests, so you can get a good amount of work done between charges. There are two buttons on the side of the stylus that you can map to tasks such as Erase and Select Text.
Despite its size, the Precision Pen 2 is easy to handle and works well. It has 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity, so you can easily make thin or thick strokes simply by pressing down on the display. That said, we noticed more latency with the P11 Pro’s stylus than with Apple’s second-generation Pencil or Samsung’s S Pen.
There are relatively few optimized apps for creative professionals in the Google Play Store, so Lenovo’s tablet can’t compete with the iPad Air in that area. But if you’re taking notes, coloring, or making random doodles in One Note, you’ll be happy with the Precision Pen 2.
This Slate Was Made for Streaming
If you need a tablet that’s capable of handling demanding creative tasks or hours-long work sessions, you’ll be happiest with the iPad Air. iPadOS handles multitasking better, the Apple Pencil 2 and Magic Keyboard are far more capable, and the App Store has far more options for creative professionals. However, if you’re looking for an Android tablet that’s great for entertainment but can also take on basic productivity tasks, the Lenovo Tab P11 Pro is a good choice. A crisp OLED display and excellent speakers enhance long Netflix binges, and the Precision Pen 2 works well for notes and sketches. If you need to quickly send an email or sign a document, the Tab P11 Pro makes it easy to do without firing up your primary computer. It’s not a workhorse, but it’s a fine companion for fun and games.
