Luxury tablet

Review: Lenovo Yoga Tab Plus - Affordable tablet package with keyboard and performance

The Lenovo Yoga Tab Plus is a slightly more expensive tablet, but you also get a lot for your money.

Published 3 March 2025 - 16:04

With a price tag of around 10,000 kronor, the Lenovo Yoga Tab Plus is an Android tablet in the more expensive price range. However, the price is a bit misleading, as the tablet is sold in a package with a keyboard (and stylus) that would cost over a thousand kronor if purchased separately. It is still a price tag that means we have expectations for the tablet. At the same time as the Yoga Tab Plus, I am also testing the Idea Tab Pro with an almost identical format but with a price tag of just over 5,000 kronor (without a keyboard), and it is of course interesting to compare what you get for the money.

The most important thing about a tablet is the screen, and you get a lot of that here, 12.7 inches in a 16:10 format. This also makes the tablet quite large. With the keyboard attached, it becomes close to a smaller laptop in size and weight. I do get a bit tired in the hand from holding the tablet for a long time, especially if I do it with one hand.

The screen holds a small disappointment, and that is that it is not of the OLED type. An OLED screen with its deep blacks and bright colours is particularly nice in a tablet, and in this price range, you can almost expect it (unless it's an iPad). The LCD screen is at least a good one, with very little colour shift when you tilt it and bright colours. The increased refresh rate of 144 Hz is noticeable when you swipe on the screen, even if it is not quite as smooth as on an OLED screen.

The screen also has a fairly generous maximum brightness, which means it works reasonably well even outdoors. This is further enhanced by the screen's anti-reflective coating. These two things are the only differences compared to the screen in the cheaper Idea Pad Pro, which is too dim and reflective to function when the sun is shining on it.

There's nothing wrong with the performance here either. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset is, after the new Snapdragon 8 Elite, the fastest available, and in performance tests, the tablet is faster than, for example, Samsung's top tablet, the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra. However, the difference in performance compared to the cheaper Idea Pad Pro is not huge, especially not in the user experience.

Good keyboard with åäö

The included keyboard cover consists of a keyboard part that also protects the screen and attaches to the underside of the tablet, and a stepless stand that attaches separately to the back. You can use the stand without the keyboard if, for example, you want to watch a film on the tablet.

If you do, you might also enjoy the sound from the six speakers around the frame. They provide a good stereo effect, but I find that the sound is a bit too directed out to the sides, so the volume directly in front is lower.

The keyboard has a really good tactile feel in the keys, fully comparable to a laptop. Our test unit is a pre-production model without Swedish characters, but the one sold in stores has åäö. When you connect the keyboard, the system automatically switches to a desktop mode where apps open in windows and you get a pointer on the screen. My only objection to the keyboard is that it doesn't have a hard attachment to the tablet, so you can't work with it on your lap, as it wobbles around, and you must have the tablet with the keyboard on a table.

Lenovo's user interface for Android is largely Google's own, but they have added a number of features such as the aforementioned desktop mode, the ability to use the screen as a second display for a computer, and apps for writing and drawing with the stylus. Unlike the cheaper Idea Pad Pro, there is also a new AI feature, Lenovo AI Now. It is based on a large language model but uses your local content that does not leave the tablet. You create a library with PDFs and other documents that the AI reads, and then you can ask questions to the AI, which answers based on the content in your library. The feature is in beta, and it shows. I try uploading a number of PDFs (in English, Swedish is not supported) and asking questions about the content. In most cases, I only get the response that the AI unfortunately cannot answer my question. Occasionally, when I ask a question as general as possible, I get an answer taken from the PDFs, but it is not particularly relevant or useful.

Aside from the lack of an OLED screen, the Lenovo Yoga Tab Plus is an excellent package for those who want a tablet with a keyboard, and it is also significantly cheaper than Samsung's Galaxy Tab S10 Plus, which it can compete with. At the same time, you can buy a laptop from Lenovo with better performance and a larger screen, so if you want a cheaper alternative to a computer, there are better options.

Questions & Answers

How much difference does the anti-reflective screen make? Not a huge difference. There are still reflections, but they are more subdued.

Is the stand convenient? Yes, it is a plate that only covers part of the back, and it can be adjusted steplessly, but the magnetic mount comes loose if you apply too much force, so do not use it as, for example, a handle when holding the tablet.

Does the tablet have a lot of pre-installed bloatware? No, and those that are present are relevant to the tablet's function, such as the stylus.