Lenovo Yoga Tab 13 Review

Lenovo’s Yoga Tab 13 ($679.99) is an unusual tablet. It’s capable of handling most chores, but that’s not its main concern. This is a tablet designed specifically for entertainment, and it excels at it. It’s bigger, heavier, and more expensive than the Apple iPad Air ($599), which remains our Editors’ Choice in this price bracket. It’s best for a kitchen counter or a nightstand, as it’s not something you’ll want to tote around on your daily commute. However, if you consider it as a little, battery-powered touch-screen TV rather than a giant, cumbersome tablet, it makes a lot of sense.

Lenovo Yoga Tab 13

★★★★☆

An entertainment tablet that stays on your desk

Buy this item

PROS
The vivid display works great.
Long-lasting battery
Support for Wi-Fi 6

CONS
No rear camera
bulky design

LENOVO YOGA TAB 13 SPECS

More Than a Smidgeon

The Lenovo Tab 13 is a new version of Lenovo’s renowned Yoga Smart Tab. It has the same general design language as the previous one, but with a few notable modifications.

To begin, the Yoga Tab is 11.5 by 8.3 inches (HW) and about an inch thick when the stand is extended. It is 1.83 pounds in weight. It’s not a tablet you’ll want to take on the train or read a book on, with a display that’s comparable to most 13-inch laptop displays. It’s just too big and hefty to carry for an extended amount of time. The Yoga Tab 13 has a curved edge that gradually bows out from the bottom if you’re dead set on using it on the go (or side, depending on how you hold it). In landscape mode, the bulbous edge makes it easy to hold and acts as a strong basis.

The tablet’s top is unadorned. On the right side of the base is a USB-C charging port, while on the left is a micro-HDMI port. The right edge of the display has a textured power button and a volume rocker. The base houses four JBL front-firing speakers.

Aluminum is used for the tablet’s back, which is partially covered with Alcantera fabric. A stand is linked to the bottom of the base and may be entirely turned out to hang the tablet from the wall. It’s not as sleek as the one found on the Yoga Smart Tab, and the Yoga Tab 13‘s sheer size prevents it from being as effective. You run the danger of the slate tumbling over if it is positioned at a 90-degree angle or more.

The resolution of the 13-inch LCD is 2,160 by 1,350 pixels, with a pixel density of 196 pixels per inch. The iPad Air has a higher pixel density (264ppi), yet both displays are sharp and brilliant. Thanks to Dolby Vision compatibility, colors are vibrant and dynamic, and the Yoga Tab 13 is Netflix HD certified.

Maintains a Competitive Advantage

The Yoga Tab 13 is equipped with an 8GB LPDDR5 RAM Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 mobile platform. There’s 128GB of storage on board, with 110GB available right away. The tablet doesn’t have a microSD card for extra storage, but it does include Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 for rapid file transfers to and from the cloud.

You won’t have to worry about background caching with this fast and responsive tablet, which can perform numerous tasks with ease. We put it to the test with dozens of programs running in the background and had no issues.

The slate is also ideal for gaming, despite its size. Alto’s Odyssey and the power-hungry Genshin Impact were used to test it. Both games loaded rapidly, and there were no frames skipped. The Yoga Tab 13‘s large size and distinctive design make it an excellent choice for using a wireless controller to play games on Google Stadia or other streaming services.

The Yoga Tab 13 scored 922 single-core (SC) and 3,012 multi-core (MC) on Geekbench 5, a synthetic benchmark that measures raw power (MC). This is slightly slower than the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 (976 SC, 3,148 MC), and much behind the iPad Air‘s results (1,571 SC, 3,941 MC). All three tablets, however, provide lag-free performance and are capable of handling even the most demanding jobs.

The Yoga Tab 13‘s huge 10,000mAh battery is said to deliver up to 12 hours of movie playback, according to Lenovo. We got 9 hours and 41 minutes out of our rundown test, which involves streaming HD video over Wi-Fi at full brightness. However, when we tested streaming at 30–40% brightness, it easily exceeded the 12-hour mark. A 30W charger is included in the box for quick charging.

Audio Immersion

The Yoga Tab 13 features quad JBL speakers that deliver rich sound. The speakers have a vast soundstage and a maximum loudness of 104dB. With well-defined mids and a rumbling of bass, the timbre is rich.

The tablet’s top features an 8MP camera and a time-of-flight (TOF) sensor. For video calls, the camera performs admirably. On the other hand, the TOF sensor is a dud. We observed that the Face Unlock feature worked roughly 50% of the time in good light and 25% of the time in poor light when we tested it.

The Yoga Tab 13 lacks a back camera. That’s a significant absence, especially if you use your tablet to scan documents or take fast reference photos, and it’s just more indication that this tablet was designed to be used on a desk or table rather than picked up and waved around like a phone.

Google Entertainment Space and Android 11

Android 11 is pre-installed on the Yoga Tab 13. It’s an unmodified version of Android with no preinstalled apps or bloatware. In the Settings menu, you’ll discover a few customization options as well as the option to add your Lenovo ID for additional capabilities.

This is the first tablet we’ve used that includes Google Entertainment Space. The tablet-only feature allows you to swipe right from the home screen to see a curated selection of books, movies, podcasts, and TV series. Google has partnered with a few dozen streaming services at the moment. Simply sign in, and Google will generate a Netflix-style list of suggested streaming media. It’s a fantastic addition to the Yoga Tab 13, which is still in its infancy. We expect to see more service providers in the future.

Lenovo’s Active Pen 2 with 4,096 pressure levels is also supported by the Yoga Tab 13. You may connect the tablet to your PC or laptop via the micro-HDMI port and utilize it with a pen while working in Adobe Creative Cloud or other editing tools. It can also be used as a portable monitor.

Lenovo has a good track record of releasing security fixes and feature updates, so at least one OS upgrade is anticipated. We wish Lenovo had been more transparent about its tablet update plans and given at least three OS upgrades, like Samsung does.

Entertainment for Everyone

The Lenovo Yoga Tab 13 is a wonderful option if you’re searching for a tablet that’s designed for entertainment but can also handle gaming and creative chores. It boasts a lot of power, a great screen, and a lengthy battery life. It is, however, one of the least portable tablets we’ve ever seen.

Consider the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 ($649.99) if you want adaptability and performance in an Android tablet. It has nearly all of the same features as the Yoga Tab 13, but is smaller and has support for Samsung’s Bookcover Keyboard. If Android and a large screen are your top priorities, the Editors’ Choice–winning Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+ ($849) is the greatest Android work tablet you can buy, and it’s well worth the extra money for the S Pen, 5G connectivity, and a gorgeous display. The iPad Air is our best recommendation if you want to stay under $700 and aren’t picky about your operating system. The Yoga Tab 13 will suit you well if you’re low on space and want a small TV or a second laptop display that you can pack up and carry with you on occasion.

Lenovo Yoga Tab 13

★★★★☆

An entertainment tablet that stays on your desk

Buy this item

PROS
The vivid display works great.
Long-lasting battery
Support for Wi-Fi 6

CONS
No rear camera
bulky design

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