Flexible in All the Right Ways

In 2022, Android tablets are making one thing of a comeback, after more or less 5 years of stagnation some festival has returned. From Xiaomi to Samsung, Nokia to Realme, it sort of feels that each producer is making an attempt its hand at construction the absolute best slate.

Lenovo has been quietly maintaining them coming and has experimented greater than maximum in making an attempt now not best to search out the highest mixture of specs but additionally of favor and use case.

Enter the Yoga Tab 11, which has a design like no different on the marketplace, save for different ‘Yoga’ branded tablets. It has a bulge at its rear, which homes audio system and a battery, in conjunction with a powerful kickstand that may be circled 180 levels.

This is a tablet this is advertised as becoming in anyplace, as an actual all-rounder and prices best £299/US$319. But with sturdy festival at the worth level from all corners, does the Yoga Tab 11 do sufficient to earn a advice? Read our complete evaluate to determine.

Design & Build

• Versatile design with kickstand
• Combination of steel and upholstery
• No headphone jack

Lenovo has been construction tablets beneath the ‘Yoga’ sub-brand for a while now, each and every of the gadgets exhibiting the identical quirk. That is to mention, they give the impression of being quite like {a magazine}, held with pages folded beneath.

This ‘fold’ is the sole space the place there may be any intensity to the tool, and as such pulls heavy responsibility in concealing the battery, audio system and kickstand. It manner the weight is predominantly in your hand when retaining it in a portrait orientation.

The kickstand itself is comprised of aluminium and provides quite a lot of resistance in any respect ranges, that means it’s imaginable to regulate to any attitude it’s possible you’ll like.

In basic use, this implies the tablet will have compatibility properly in your lap, on a desk or actually anyplace else this is each flat and to be had. Where it actually comes into its personal on the other hand is when it may be hung, whether or not from a wall, the again of a chair or differently. No topic the scenario, the Yoga Tab 11 stays extra helpful than many tablets, and all with out exterior support.

While the shape issue is a undeniable win, construct high quality is rather less inspiring, sadly. In basic, the tool feels forged however striking force on the casing reasons it to really feel quite distorted.

Combined with the skinny bezels and angular design, which means the Yoga Tab 11 doesn’t really feel highest positioned to resist the basic attacks of existence, and certainly this was once my enjoy.

Following a tumble from round waist peak courtesy of an overactive infant, I used to be sadly blessed with a internet of cracks throughout the display screen – it is a tablet that can desire a protecting case until you’ve gotten a selfmade of rubber.

At 655g the tablet is considerable in the hand and it provides a sole USB-C port, for audio, data-transfer and charging. No 3.5mm jack is provide, which is an oversight on a tool this is basically focused for media intake and leisure.

Screen & Speakers

• 11in LCD IPS
• 2K answer
• Colourful however reflective

Any tablet, without reference to its shape issue, is best as sturdy as its display screen, and it’s fairly unlucky then that the tale of the Yoga Tab 11 is certainly one of two halves.

The first, sure, part most commonly issues the answer. At 2K answer, it is a show with sharpness to spare, that means that content material seems crisp and transparent regardless of how shut you get. While that is undoubtedly a just right factor for video, it’s particularly just right for many who love to learn on their tablet, maintaining the whole thing completely legible. 

From a color point of view, the sure impressions proceed. As an LCD IPS show, the Yoga Tab 11 might lack the pop of a few OLED supplied opponents, however we discovered the show to be tuned effectively. Blues aren’t too sturdy, and it doesn’t skew too heat, it is a impartial display screen this is sort to maximum sorts of content material.

Now for the 2nd, much less sure, part, the refresh charge and brightness. With regards to the former, the show on the Yoga Tab 11 refreshes at 60Hz, and in basic use, that is no obstacle. As the festival starts to transport to shows with sooner refresh charges, it leaves the tablet feeling a little bit stale and gradual via comparability, even supposing it is uncommon at this type of worth for tablets.

The brightness is a extra major problem, on the other hand. Reaching an marketed prohibit of 400 nits proved to be no factor, on the other hand, this stage wasn’t sufficient to stay the tablet usable in sturdy daylight. While few end up to be capable to this feat, the factor on the Yoga Tab 11 is compounded via its slightly reflective panel and so its usefulness is proscribed fairly as a outcome.

With regards to audio efficiency, I used to be pleasantly stunned. Boasting ‘quad audio system’ which can be ‘tuned via JBL’, the advertising undoubtedly talks a large recreation, and that is most commonly borne out in basic use.

Possessing sufficient quantity to fill a room, the sound on the Yoga Tab 11 is beefy although now not moderately sufficient to switch a devoted Bluetooth speaker. Bass is heat and effectively rounded and there’s a trace of stereo separation. For being attentive to maximum genres of tune and undoubtedly for observing films, it is a forged possibility as a outcome.

Specs & Performance

• MediaTek Helio G90T processor
• 4GB RAM
• 128GB garage with microSD slot

It has turn out to be one thing of a cliche to mention, however tablets are in most cases used for ‘tablet’ issues. This is to mention that the basic use instances for the shape issue, and in particular with greater gadgets, in most cases revolve round being in and round the house.

They are for observing TV, reading, internet surfing and most likely writing the strange phrase record, they’re extra mundane in some ways than their smartphone brethren.

As such, producers concentration on spaces rather then sheer efficiency, a development on complete show in the Yoga Tab 11. Running an octa-core MediaTek Helio G90T paired with 4GB of RAM, it has sufficient energy to make it via maximum day-to-day duties with out an excessive amount of of a fuss.

Navigating via the interface and switching between apps is most commonly painless, although the latter process, in explicit, provides the tablet pause. An 8GB RAM model is to be had, which might most likely get to the bottom of this factor.

In benchmarking the tool scored in a similar way to the Snapdragon 845 carrying Pocophone F1 in each unmarried and multi-core efficiency, that means it isn’t moderately as robust as the highest on the marketplace these days, however that it has the talent to make it via maximum duties with relative ease.

The tale after all adjustments in relation to gaming. Pushing a pixel-dense show whilst additionally offering best graphical constancy proved to be an excessive amount of for the tablet, particularly on graphically intense titles. If you in particular price gaming efficiency in your tablet, there are different extra robust choices to be had.

On a happier observe, the base stage of 128GB of garage provides quite a lot of room to put in apps and obtain video, and the talent to make bigger garage by means of MicroSD is increasingly more uncommon whilst ultimate constantly helpful.

With regards to multimedia efficiency, we have been in particular inspired with the audio system. Though they couldn’t create the rest on the subject of a encompass sound impact, they have been nevertheless full-bodied and may output sufficient quantity to fill a small room, making the enjoy of observing video that little bit extra immersive.

Cameras

• 8Mp rear digital camera
• 8Mp entrance digital camera

There isn’t a tablet in life advertised as ‘camera-first’, and the Tab 11 Pro isn’t any exception to this rule. Sporting an 8Mp sensor on the rear with auto-focus, and an 8Mp on the entrance with out, it has the naked minimal required in 2022. 

Predictably, photographs from those two sensors aren’t in particular just right, however then they’re basically there to take fast snapshots of paperwork and make allowance video calls. For the ones two use instances, they’re totally good enough.

As could be anticipated, dynamic vary, element and extra don’t seem to be their sturdy fits, however for video calls particularly the Yoga Tab 11 works effectively, aided via its distinctive shape issue.

Battery Life & Charging

• 7500mAh
• 20W charging
• Adapter integrated

Though the likes of the Yoga Tab 11 would possibly basically be used at house, they nonetheless want to recreation lengthy battery existence in order to earn a advice.

At 7500mAh, the battery integrated isn’t the largest on the marketplace, however as it’s paired with a 60Hz display screen and an effective processor the elements are there to succeed in one thing no less than satisfactory, and in basic use, this proved to be the case.

Using the tablet off and on to browse the internet, concentrate to tune, watch video and meet up with emails noticed it ultimate for round 3 days on reasonable, with round two hours of use on a daily basis.

I normally noticed between six and 8 hours of display screen on time, which is just right sufficient for a tablet if now not difficult the highest of the highest. In our standard PCMark Work 3.0 check, the Tab 11 controlled a decent 9 hours and 17 mins.

Luckily, with 20W rapid charging on board, topping up proved to be a breeze. I discovered that in half-hour the Yoga Tab 11 may achieve round 42% in fee on reasonable, which is greater than sufficient to be helpful in comparability to plain 5- or 10W charging choices.

Software

• Android 11
• Entertainment Space
• Productivity mode

Since Android for tablets first formally introduced round a decade in the past, it has slowly however undoubtedly grown and matured as a platform. From fairly janky origins, it has best progressed however the unlucky reality stays, that Android for tablets hasn’t ever been as much as the identical usual as Apple’s iPad.

This isn’t me announcing it’s unusable, as this undoubtedly isn’t the case, as an alternative it manner that there’s a loss of cohesive idea and design provide during. Where an app on iPadOS will extra regularly than now not scale correctly, on Android it’s pot-luck whether or not the identical can be true.

While the likes of the Google Suite paintings nice, video games and extra that have been supposed for use on a phone with portrait orientation paintings poorly.

There is obviously some long term pondering happening on the other hand, on the a part of each Google and Lenovo. The former has integrated its ‘Entertainment Space’, which aggregates content material from quite a lot of video apps in the identical approach as the TV app for iOS. As for the latter, it has blessed the Yoga Tab 11 with its ‘Productivity’ mode.

This kicks in when a Bluetooth keyboard or different such accent is hooked up and adjustments the dock on the major display screen, in explicit, making it imaginable to make use of the tablet as a quasi-work device – with all of the above caveats round scaling in thoughts.

In all, the instrument on the Yoga Tab 11 is at highest simple to forget about and at worst an inconvenience. It is a ways from a deal-breaker, however with the likes of the base stage iPad promoting for the same worth, those that want to use their tablet for paintings could also be highest to seem in different places.

Android 12L, a brand new model of Google’s OS optimised for greater displays of foldable telephones and tablets is on the method however it is unclear whether or not the Yoga Tab 11 gets it. I would not wager a lot cash on it.

Price & Availability

The Lenovo Yoga Tab 11 is to be had now for £299.99 from Lenovo and Very. Prices at Amazon are upper at the time of writing.

In the US, the tablet begins at $319.99 and you’ll be able to buy it from Lenovo in addition to outlets like Newegg.

At a equivalent worth the Xiaomi Mi Pad 5 provides a extra robust processor and a extra top rate display screen, however no equivalent kickstand. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite is to be had once more for a little bit extra, with a quite more potent processor.

If Android is not a will have to then the common Apple iPad 10.2 is not a lot more cash and provides a awesome enjoy general.

Tablets at decrease costs come with the Nokia T20 tablet which is round two-thirds of the worth, with a top rate design however a susceptible processor. Then there may be the Galaxy Tab A8 which may be very reasonable however has a susceptible TFT display screen.

See extra choices in our highest tablets chart in addition to particular highest Android tablets chart.

Verdict

The Lenovo Yoga Tab 11 is a tablet that bets giant on one function, an cutting edge kickstand, and for the maximum section, this can be a wager that can pay off. It is a supremely flexible tool that matches into virtually any scenario or use-case.

That it boasts a well-rounded set of specs for an affordable worth is icing on the cake. But for higher construct high quality, a quite extra top rate display screen or a sooner processor it might be an speedy advice, as an alternative, this can be a forged possibility for many consumers.

Specs

Lenovo Yoga Tab 11: Specs

• Android 11
• 11in 2K (2000 x 1200) LCD IPS, 400 nits
• MediaTek Helio G90T processor
• 4/8GB RAM
• 128/256GB interior garage
• microSD card slot
• 8MP auto-focus rear digital camera
• 8MP fastened concentration selfie digital camera
• Dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
• Bluetooth 5.2
• GPS: A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO
• NFC: No
• 5G: No
• Headphone jack: no
• USB-C
• 7500mAh non-removable battery
• 20W charging
• 256 x 169 x 7.9mm
• 655g