Why I'm Recommending This Midrange Lenovo Tablet Over Competing Models

ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• The Lenovo Yoga Tab Plus is connected waste correct now for $549.
• It's a slam dunk tablet pinch a superb display, awesome speakers, and comes pinch a keyboard, case, and stylus.
• In laptop mode, it's amended for simpler tasks.

Lenovo's Yoga Tab Plus is simply a well-rounded 13-inch tablet that comes pinch a keyboard, case, and stylus, offering each nan superior usage cases you tin inquire for from a tablet consecutive retired of nan box. 

It features a 12.7-inch, 3K (2944 x 1840) LTPS glossy show that looks fantastic, pinch up to 900 nits of brightness and a 144Hz refresh complaint for nan soft and vivid acquisition you'd expect from a premium tablet. For reference, that's brighter than some nan 13-inch iPad Air and Samsung's Galaxy Tab S10+.  

Also: Why this $300 Lenovo is nan tablet I urge to astir group - including iPad users

The bladed bezels make nan surface look larger than it is, and successful afloat surface is satisfying for intermezo and media playback pinch support for Dolby Vision. The 11.45-inch surface size is, to me, nan saccharine spot: it's mini capable to beryllium portable but besides ample capable to beryllium seen crossed nan room if you're watching thing successful nan room while cooking, for example. 

Even though there's nary OLED option, I don't deliberation it loses retired connected overmuch because of really agleam and vivid nan surface is. Not everything needs to beryllium an OLED to beryllium considered premium, and nan show connected this tablet is surely that. 

Also: How to clear your Android telephone cache (and why it greatly improved performance)

Six speakers backmost up nan visuals: 2 solo tweeters and 4 SLS subwoofers for rich | audio whether you're watching a movie aliases gaming. Video contented that's not reliant connected high-quality audio -- for illustration TV shows aliases nan news -- sounds particularly bully connected this tablet, pinch clear speech and a bully magnitude of separation. 

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For each nan top-end hardware packed onto this tablet, nan package mightiness not trim it for everyone. Tablets successful wide person historically made excessively galore sacrifices to beryllium connected nan aforesaid level arsenic laptops, but that spread is narrowing connected different devices. For example, Apple iPads' adjacent operating system, iPadOS 26, introduces a big of MacBook-like features for illustration amended model controls, multitasking, and interface improvements that streamline nan experience.  

For Windows devices, Microsoft's Surface Pro continues to germinate arsenic well, pinch a 12-inch type released earlier this year, merging nan ultraportable tablet acquisition and complete PC into one. 

By comparison, AndroidOS isn't rather arsenic polished of an acquisition erstwhile it comes to moving successful PC mode, and overmuch of that comes pinch navigating nan UI. For example, floating menus often popular up unannounced aliases origin windows to beryllium resized, while gestures don't ever instrumentality aliases consequence successful misclicks. Performance arsenic a full conscionable isn't arsenic snappy. 

Also: iPadOS 26 is turning my iPad Air into nan ultraportable laptop it was meant to be

Connecting to an outer show tin besides beryllium deed aliases miss. The Gen 1 USB-C larboard juts retired from nan correct broadside of nan tablet, and capacity will alteration based connected what you're connecting to. I tried connecting nan Yoga Tab Plus to my dual-monitor setup successful nan agency but it resulted successful a frost up. Connecting to a azygous show yielded amended results. 

That being said, nan included keyboard is really rather good, pinch satisfying cardinal travel, freely design, and a responsive trackpad that's conscionable large enough. In fact, it competes pinch nan keyboard connected nan Surface Pro, which is much costly and sold separately. 

Connecting nan tablet to nan keyboard is easy, pinch a beardown -- almost fierce -- magnetic click that joins nan 2 pieces from arsenic acold arsenic an inch apart. My number 1 rumor pinch utilizing nan tablet successful laptop mode, however, is that pinch nan keyboard attached, nan tablet has to beryllium positioned a definite way; otherwise, nan tablet tends to bounce and wobble arsenic you type. 

The included stylus besides offers amazingly bully performance, pinch haptic feedback connected nan tablet during sketching and writing, thenar rejection, and support for speedy gestures on nan magnitude of nan pen itself. When nan stylus is activated, it floats a mini icon for speedy entree to features, including Circle to Search, and Quick Jot, which lets you people up immoderate is presently connected your screen. 

Kyle Kucharski/ZDNET

The stylus is very responsive, pinch a satisfying glide connected nan glossy surface, and zero input lag during my testing. The speedy entree to stylus features and their capacity made for a acold much pleasing acquisition arsenic a penning tablet than I expected, moreover competing pinch premium devices for illustration nan ReMarkable Paper Pro. 

In that sense, I'd opportunity this tablet is perfect for personification who likes a pen experience, and plans connected utilizing nan tablet to reappraisal aliases edit documents aliases jot notes connected ocular projects, alternatively than a dedicated replacement for a Windows, MacOS, aliases ChromeOS (which, by nan way, would person been awesome) laptop. 

Also: This Wacom drafting tablet is loaded pinch perks integer artists will love, and it's $100 off

Finally, closing retired nan trifecta of tablet hardware features is nan battery, and for illustration nan show and speakers, it doesn't disappoint. The 10,200MAh artillery charges astatine 45Wh, akin to competing tablets, and takes a small complete an hr to afloat charge.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor is powerfulness businesslike some during usage and erstwhile idle, dropping to a trickle erstwhile not successful use. Lenovo says you'll get astir 11 hours of continual use, and I recovered that to beryllium mostly accurate. Continual video playback will warrant upwards of 8 hours depending connected brightness and refresh rate, but intermittent usage will springiness you overmuch longer artillery life lasting respective days.

ZDNET's buying advice

Kyle Kucharski/ZDNET

The Lenovo Yoga Tab Plus is simply a joyousness to use, and offers a respectable worth for specified a versatile device. Its show is gorgeous and bright, nan artillery life is great, it has beefy speakers, and it comes pinch a keyboard and stylus – some of which are premium and functional. 

Also: Should you bargain a refurbished iPad? I tried 1 from Back Market and here's my verdict

However, while its hardware delivers, its OS is not arsenic polished successful laptop mode arsenic competing tablets. As such, I'd urge this tablet for group looking for a existent tablet aliases drafting device, but don't intend connected clocking successful hours astatine nan agency pinch it. 

If you're looking for a tablet you tin do much demanding activity on, you mightiness for illustration an iPad (especially aft nan merchandise of iPadOS 26), aliases a premium Windows tablet for illustration nan Microsoft Surface Pro. Ultimately, however, it excels successful each nan correct areas pinch a ton of bang for your buck, and 1 of nan first tablets I'd urge successful this size.