Lenovo Tab P11 Pro Tablet Review

The world of smartphones and tablets continues to evolve as the ecosystem integrates with other technologies to provide a more seamless and enhanced experience. While early versions of the tablet were simply large-screen smartphones, modern, high-end variants are more design tools for creators or entertainment hubs for your young ones. The Lenovo Tab P11 Pro offers a solution to both goals.

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It's been a while since I've reviewed the latest tablets, with the recent push for 2-in-1 laptops. However, there's still plenty of room at the top of the tablet ecosystem, especially for content creators, designers and others. It is precisely in this space that the Tab P11 Pro finds its place. I'm looking at its performance as a creative tool.

Conception and design

The overall design of the tablet hasn't changed much in recent years. The most significant changes concern the location and housing of the rear camera, as well as the rounding of the edges.

The Lenovo Tab P11 Pro has a square approach to its edges, which is very nice. Its frame and back panel are metallic. The latter is in two tones of stormy gray. The top features a matte finish with the Lenovo logo on the left side, while the bottom features a glossier finish. This gives it an aesthetic and premium look, which is excellent.

Coming back to the back, there is a small frame at the top center. This magnetic strip is used to house the Lenovo Precision Pen 3 stylus. Although it is an optional accessory, I received it with the device under review, and the magnetic strip works very well. The stylus has a flat side, that is, the part that faces the back of the tablet and connects to the magnetic strip.

The chassis of the device has three notable buttons. They are all placed in the upper left corner. The power button is on the left side, while the volume button is on the top, as two separate buttons. I didn't really like the positioning of these buttons, which is not very intuitive. My first reaction was to tap the top of the screen to turn it on or off, which corresponded to the bottom volume rocker. It takes a little getting used to.

The right side of the frame features the USB Type-C port for charging, which also features two speakers, one at the top and one at the bottom of the USB port. Two additional speakers are on the left side of the frame, which has the SIM tray in the middle. The bottom has the magnetic strip for a case and docking station.

Given the size of its screen (we'll come back to that), the device is rather light and relatively thin. It measures 6.8mm thick and weighs 480g. Those are good numbers – roughly the weight of two smartphones. Overall, the design isn't stunning, but it's not bad either. It feels premium and looks the part with its two-tone metal and glass back. It does have some notable shortcomings, however, like the 3.5mm auxiliary jack. It also doesn't have an IP rating, which means you have to be wary of splashes and dust around the tablet.

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Screen and display

I was impressed by the device's large 11.2-inch display, which features an OLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate. Additionally, it features a resolution of 2,560×1,536 px with a contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1. These are significant numbers on paper and, fortunately, a good representation in real-world testing.

The overall frame size is 263.7×166.7×6.8mm, which is excellent considering its large display. It's a bit smaller than the previous iteration of the P11, but with the addition of 120Hz support, it makes up for the smaller size. Its bezels are also relatively thin, giving it an 85% screen-to-body ratio.

The screen is very pleasant to use. It's bright and bold, and thanks to the OLED panel, it delivers true black. Designing on this screen is a great asset, considering the color reproduction. With the 120Hz refresh rate and use of the Precision Pen 3, it offers a smooth and fast reflection of what you're working on, which doesn't feel too artificial.

At the same time, it doubles as an entertainment hub. Streaming videos on the P11 Pro gives you a feeling of total immersion.

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Specifications

There are several specifications to list, and while I am not able to cover them all, they are sufficient for the purposes of this article. First, we start with the chipset. The Lenovo Tab P11 Pro is equipped with a modest MediaTek Kompanio 1300T SoC. It is an Octo-Core processor (x4 2.6GHz Cortex-A78 and x4 2.0GHz Cortex-A55), accompanied by an ARM Mali-G77 GPU.

Additionally, it runs Android 12, which isn't the newest operating system but is only a generation old. Hopefully the firmware will be updated and we won't be even further behind when the new Android OS launches later this year. That said, the tablet has all the great features of the Android ecosystem, including the Google Entertainment Space, which I found very useful with its four tabs: Watch (Google, Netflix, YouTube, etc.), Games, Read and Listen (YouTube Music).

I also found the other preinstalled software generally useful. These include apps like Instant Memo, Lenovo Freestyle, Tablet Centre, MyScript Calculator 2 and Nebo for Lenovo, which allow users to take notes and do some sketches quickly. These apps work well with the (optional) Precision Pen 3, which I found easy to use.

The device has an 8,000 mAh battery. Again, this is a change from the previous generation, which had a larger 8,600 mAh battery.

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Performance and battery life

With its MediaTek SoC, I didn't expect the tablet to reach the heights in terms of performance. That said, testing around the world revealed good overall performance and very little lag.

The tablet's 120Hz display delivers smooth visuals and fast performance. I launched many applications and everything worked as expected. I ran some multitasking tests and found that it quickly passed all the tests I put it through. However, there is a noticeable drop in performance when running split screens to work while switching between apps. This won't hamper the overall efficiency of your work, but with a few seconds to switch between apps every now and then, it's noticeable.

When it comes to battery life tests, the P11 Pro does very well. It may have lost a few mAh compared to the previous iteration, but it offers around nine hours of continuous streaming at full brightness. In a more standard work environment, the device can easily last two days, even as a heavy user.

For those who want to use the device as a primary driver, the SIM tray allows you to connect to your mobile network and work remotely efficiently. This will have a slight impact on power consumption, but, again, there is no significant drop compared to WiFi-only use.

If there is one aspect of the tablet that hasn't changed much over the years, it's the poor quality of the camera. Certainly, tablets have never been known for their photographic quality, particularly due to their size and difficulty of use, but it is still a topic of discussion. This is especially true for front-facing cameras which would be essential for modern all-in-one devices and remote working. Both cameras are not ideal and can be considered satisfactory.

I used Google Entertainment Center and the other included apps a lot. It's always nice to know that the included software is compatible with its use when receiving a stylus to use with a device. Searching for and downloading compatible software is a waste of time and often a general frustration, especially when many features are behind a paywall.

The device had an unexpected surprise in store for us: the sound quality. The four speakers (two on each side) offer a quad configuration supporting Dolby Atmos. The sound was loud, with great clarity, and quite powerful bass. It's not often that I praise the sound quality on portable devices, but the quality here is excellent, which adds to the entertainment value of the device.

The tablet is fully capable of meeting the needs of content creators, whether it is publishing and uploading content, editing images and videos, or creating new content using the Precision Pen 3 option.

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Conclusion

The Lenovo Tab P11 Pro is a great tablet with plenty of features. Its centerpiece is its large OLED display, which is ideal for content creators' design work and for relaxing while entertaining. It may not be the most powerful tablet, but you can still complete tasks and run all the required apps and games without any lag or disruption.

With a retail price of R8,999, it is also very affordable compared to other modern laptops. For those looking for a larger screen and more powerful tablet, Lenovo offers a 12-inch variant, the P12 Pro (according to its naming convention). However, with the improved specs, you're looking at double the price compared to the P11 Pro. This is a significant price jump considering the P11 Pro is excellent value for its features.