I tested the $390 Lenovo Idea Tab Pro. Here’s why it’s my new favorite budget Android tablet. TechTricks365

Shopping for an affordable Android tablet in 2025 is… less than ideal. We’re at a point where Samsung and Amazon are largely keeping the budget tablet market afloat, coupled with endless options from no-name brands, none of which are worth your time or attention. It can make your choices feel quite limited, but you do have more to choose from.

The Lenovo Idea Tab Pro is one such choice. It was announced at CES this January and hit store shelves this April, all of it done with very little fanfare. The $390 price is on the high end of the budget Android tablet space, but it’s more appealing than the $500+ flagships. The hardware looks good, too, but the quiet, inconspicuous launch makes it feel like Lenovo lacks confidence in the tablet.

Curious to find out for myself, I spent the last few weeks testing the Lenovo Idea Tab Pro, and it’s not at all what I expected. Lenovo’s tepid launch strategy might lead you to believe there’s nothing special here, but having used and lived with the Idea Tab Pro, I think this is one of the best budget Android tablets you can buy right now.

There’s a lot that can go wrong with lower-cost tablets. Whether it’s the hardware, display, performance, battery life, charge speeds, or software, one of these things usually takes a backseat to accommodate a low price. But, amazingly, that’s not the case with the Idea Tab Pro.

The build quality is what struck me first. The Idea Tab Pro’s entire body is constructed out of aluminum, and it looks and feels exceptional. It’s cool to the touch, the 6.9mm profile means it’s easy to grip, and the frame has shown no signs of bending or creaking — something that’s not always a given with cheaper tablets like this.

I was also really happy to find a fingerprint sensor built into the power button. This is a feature a lot of budget Android tablets often forgo (even the $700 OnePlus Pad 3), but Lenovo managed to include one in the Idea Tab Pro. And it’s great! It’s fast, reliable, and makes unlocking the tablet or accessing a password manager/banking app so much easier. Entering a PIN for these things isn’t the end of the world, but I’d much rather have a fingerprint sensor for them, and I’m glad to have one here.

Even more impressive than the fingerprint sensor is the screen. While I don’t love the 12.7-inch size (more on that later), everything else about the screen is excellent. The 2944 x 1840 resolution is sharp, the LCD panel produces pleasing colors, and the 400 nits of max brightness is plenty for normal use.

You probably won’t want to use the Idea Tab Pro in direct sunlight, but sitting in a brightly lit coffee shop right by a window, I had no visibility issues whatsoever. The off-axis viewing angles aren’t the best, but so long as you aren’t watching a movie at an off-angle, they shouldn’t be a serious issue.

Also seeming to understand that a good display is only as good as the speakers that accompany it, Lenovo has crammed in a shockingly good audio experience into the Idea Tab Pro. You get a quad speaker setup (two on the left frame, two on the right), and it’s legitimately incredible for a sub-$400 tablet. The speakers get really loud, so loud that if I have the tablet at just 50% volume, I can easily hear it at the opposite end of my 1,000-square-foot apartment. At max volume, the Idea Tab Pro sounds like a portable Bluetooth speaker — and with surprisingly little audio distortion, too. It’s honestly pretty amazing.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from the MediaTek Dimensity 8300 chip and 8GB of RAM, but the Idea Tab Pro has been surprisingly performant. Its CPU benchmarks below the Legion Tab Gen 3 and OnePlus Pad 3, which is to be expected considering both are more expensive. The Idea Tab Pro also scores the lowest in the Wild Life GPU Stress Test, but interestingly, it ran significantly cooler throughout, too.

Those low numbers may seem concerning, but unless you’re actively trying to push the Idea Tab Pro to the limit, I don’t think you’ll have any serious performance complaints. Apps open and run without a problem, multitasking isn’t an issue, and 2160p YouTube videos play without a hitch. Even playing a few rounds of Call of Duty: Mobile at Very High graphics and High frame rate settings, the Idea Tab Pro handles it like a champ.

What about the battery? Tablet use can vary wildly from person to person. As someone who grabs the Idea Tab Pro a handful of times each day to watch a video, scroll through Reddit, or play a couple of rounds of CoD: Mobile, I can usually get through five days before needing to charge.

Watching a 2160p YouTube video only drains 10% after an hour, while the Idea Tab Pro barely loses 1% battery while sitting idle overnight. And when it is time for a top-up, the 45W wired charge speeds mean you get back up to a full battery in about two hours with a compatible USB-C Power Delivery charger — not too shabby at all.

I have slightly more mixed feelings about the Lenovo Idea Tab Pro’s software, although most of it is a positive experience. Lenovo’s ZUI skin has some visual tweaks compared to “stock” Android, but for the most part, it’s a clean, familiar interface. Google’s Entertainment Space lives to the left of your main home screen, there’s split-screen and floating window multitasking, and you can swipe up to see your app dock at any time.

I’ve also been surprised by the amount of extra (and useful) goodies Lenovo throws on top of the stock Android experience. My personal favorite is PC Mode, which transforms the usual Android UI into a desktop layout in the same style as Samsung DeX. It’s laid out well, allows for more advanced multitasking, and is a great option to have if you plan on using the Idea Tab Pro with a keyboard accessory.

That “one catch” mentioned above is Lenovo’s update policy. The Idea Tab Pro ships with Android 14 out of the box, is now upgradeable to Android 15, and will eventually be updated to Android 16. But once Android 16 arrives, that’s the last OS upgrade the Idea Tab Pro will ever see. You’ll get security patches for longer (four years total), but that doesn’t excuse the limited number of Android OS updates.

At the bare minimum, the Idea Tab Pro should be supported through Android 17, and, if we’re being honest, even Android 18. Calling it quits after updating the Tab Pro to this year’s Android version is not adequate support and is objectively the worst thing about Lenovo’s otherwise excellent tablet.

Although that update policy is the biggest objective issue with the Lenovo Idea Tab Pro, I do have a more personal issue I want to mention before we wrap things up. The Lenovo Idea Tab Pro has a 12.7-inch display and weighs 620 grams. If you ask me, that’s too big and too heavy for the ideal tablet form factor.

While the big screen is great for watching movies, it can make some on-screen game controls a bit awkward, and it makes unoptimized Android apps all the more obvious and irritating to interact with. And for some weight context, the 620-gram body is significantly heavier than tablets like the Galaxy Tab S10 FE and Google Pixel Tablet (497 grams and 493 grams, respectively) — and you feel it after holding the Idea Tab Pro for too long.

I don’t think this is a dealbreaker for the tablet, but it is something to keep in mind. A slightly smaller screen and lighter build would go a long way in making the Idea Tab Pro a more comfortable and welcoming tablet, and I hope that’s something Lenovo addresses if/when it releases a second-gen model.

Even with the bulky design and lacking update policy, I’ve still been really happy with the Lenovo Idea Tab Pro. This is a well-made Android tablet with a great display, outstanding speakers, solid performance, reliable battery life, fast charging, and a good software experience. It even comes with a free, pressure-sensitive stylus that attaches to the back of the tablet.

The Idea Tab Pro will set you back $390 if you buy directly from Lenovo, but if you pick it up at Amazon, it’s available for $380 and comes with a free folio case. Considering everything the Idea Tab Pro gets right, it’s a pretty exceptional price.

What are your alternatives? The Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 Plus ($219.99 at Amazon) is quite a bit cheaper, but it also has a lower-quality display, a weaker chipset, less internal storage, and much slower charging. It’s a solid option for the price, but you also get what you pay for.

Lenovo’s own Legion Tab Gen 3 ($549.99 at Lenovo) is also worth considering. It’s pricier, but it also has a much smaller display, a more manageable design, and significantly more horsepower. If you want a compact and powerful Android tablet, it’s one of the best options out there, but it’s also not nearly as well-suited for watching TV/movies, and it’s a weaker overall value proposition.

If you want a big Android tablet under $400 with a great display, loud speakers, and good performance and battery life, I can’t think of any other tablet that’s a better deal than the Lenovo Idea Tab Pro. It may not be perfect, but at this price, it’s pretty darn close.