Lenovo, the world’s largest PC maker and third largest tablet maker, launched the Tab P11 Pro Gen 2 tablet in September this year. Compared to the Tab P11 Pro Gen 1, the successor brings some key upgrades to the screen, stylus, speakers and more. The display now supports HDR10+, 120Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 600 nits compared to 400 nits in the first generation. However, the screen is now slightly smaller at 11.2 inches compared to the previous generation’s 11.5 inches. The stylus is now magnetic, while the speakers are now tuned by JBL.
Under the hood is a MediaTek 1300T (6nm) SoC, an upgrade from Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 730G (8nm) in the previous generation. The dual camera is now replaced by a single 13MP camera and an LED flash too.. The second generation has one more SKU, with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage, which is the one we tested. Lenovo also sent us the keyboard and Lenovo Precision Pen 3 stylus.
Compared to the previous generation, Lenovo has upgraded the specifications to align them with how the tablets are now used by consumers, focusing on display, sound and performance. We have been using the Lenovo Tab P11 Pro Gen 2 for almost three weeks now and below is our analysis focusing on its performance and overall experience.
Design: Sleek, minimalistic and premium
The Tab P11 Pro Gen 2 comes with a dual-tone grey aluminum back which looks elegant. The lighter grey area has a matt finish, while the darker grey area has a glossy finish, giving a smooth and premium feel.
There is a single camera and a flash at the top left with a very thin bump so the tablet can rest almost flat on the surface. At the back, you have Lenovo, JBL and Dolby Atmos branding in very light colors. During our usage, we did notice some fingerprints and dust at the back.
Lenovo P11 Pro Gen 2 Dual Tone Back
On the front, the tab has a gorgeous 11.2-inch display which we will talk about in just a bit. The front camera is on the top of the display when placed horizontally, which is how we generally use the tab. There are three buttons. Double-clicking the power/sleep button on the top acts as a quick shortcut to open the camera. There are also two volume buttons. All three buttons have a nice tactile feel.
The overall build quality feels sturdy and the tablet weighs just 480 g, which makes it easy to carry around. Overall, in terms of design and form factor, Lenovo has done a fantastic job with the Tab P11 Pro Gen 2, making it a sleek, elegant and premium-looking tablet.
Display and audio: An entertainment powerhouse
The Tab P11 Pro Gen 2 boasts a crisp 2.5K OLED display of 2560×1536 pixels resolution. The dimensions are also more rectangular with a 15:9 aspect ratio, compared to the iPad Air for example. But this makes the Lenovo tablet easier to hold on to as well as consume content as most videos are shot in the 16:9 aspect ratio.
The screen has a 120Hz refresh rate, which makes the overall experience very smooth with scrolls being extremely fluid. The display also supports Dolby Vision and HDR10+ for all your content consumption needs. The panel offers deep blacks, great contrast, wide viewing angles and punchy color reproduction. With 600 nits of peak brightness, outdoor visibility is decent. The display is also TUV-certified to filter blue light, thus causing less strain to the eyes.
The tablet also features a quad-speaker setup tuned by JBL and supports Dolby Atmos for a good surround sound experience. It comes with three modes – dynamic, movie and music. The dynamic mode identifies the content and performs auto-adjustments to deliver the best sound. The speakers are loud and offer good voice clarity, which is enough for small rooms. There is no need to use headphones when watching content or taking calls. Overall, a good display and crisp and clear audio are some of the highlights of the Tab P11 Pro Gen 2.
Precision pen: Great for taking notes, may be not for artists
The tablet also comes with the Precision Pen 3 stylus which has a cylindrical design and a single button to access the shortcut menu. It can be used to take notes and screenshots, access the laser pointer and camera. The laser pointer is a nice utility that can be used for presentations. The stylus charges magnetically when snapped on both the side and the back.
Lenovo Precision Pen 3 Stylus
I used it mostly for taking notes. The pressure sensitivity was accurate, and the overall writing experience was smooth. I also have an Apple iPad Air with Apple Pencil Gen 2. I felt the strokes on the Apple device were smoother with less latency, compared to those on the Lenovo device. The pen works well enough to drive everyday needs like taking notes. Some heavy users or artists may find the Apple Pencil Gen 2 in iPads more relevant.
Keyboard: Smooth typing experience
The tablet also has a dock for the keyboard, which is sold as a separate accessory (for around US$99). Our review unit came with a version that had the keyboard inside the box. The keyboard attaches to the tablet using pogo pins. The keys have a good travel and are well-spaced, making it comfortable for long hours of typing. However, when switching from a laptop, it needs some time to adjust. Once you get used to it, it feels very natural. I used it for typing Word documents and replying to emails, and it felt easy.
Lenovo P11 Pro Gen 2 Keyboard
There are several very well thought out shortcut buttons on the keyboard as well, including for back, muting microphone for calls, screenshot, lock and split screen.
The keyboard also has a small trackpad and it supports two-finger and three-finger swipes, and pinch-zoom gestures. But I found that pinch zoom was working on some of the websites on my laptop but not on the tab. The scrolling is pretty smooth. However, due to the small size of the trackpad, I was accidentally pulling down the drop-down window from the top while scrolling. At the same time, I was able to attach a mouse using a USB C hub, which also worked flawlessly most of the time. Sometimes the trackpad failed to work with the Office 365 app, and it needs some more optimization here.
Productivity mode: Windows OS feel
There is also a productivity mode in the tablet, which, once switched on, converts the layout to more like a desktop Windows OS with a taskbar at the bottom. The notification tray moves to the bottom right. The app drawer is on the bottom left, just like the Start Menu in Windows. You can also open several apps in small windows simultaneously for multitasking. However, I mostly used the split screen feature, which was more user-friendly when combined with the split screen shortcut on the keyboard.
Extended display: Great for streaming, optimization needed for productivity
I also used an HDMI cable through a USB C hub to connect the tab to an external display. The theme on the monitor is like what the tab has on the productivity mode. However, you will not be able to open apps on the tab and drag those to the extended screen, which would have been a more convenient feature, like on laptops or desktops. If an app is already running on the tab, and you will try to open the same app on the external desktop, it will throw a notification saying the app is open on another device and will have to restart. However, streaming content on the external display showed no signs of lag and the overall experience of content consumption was very smooth.
Lenovo P11 Pro Gen 2 Extended Display Mode
Camera: Easy daily driver for most of video-calling needs
The tablet features an 8MP front camera for video calling and it works across apps like Teams, Zoom and Skype. The location of the front camera is also on the top, which means the camera positioning is at the center when you are taking calls. You end up looking at the camera directly without any effort, just like on laptops. Combined with the loud audio fired by the quad speakers, the tab is an easy daily driver for most of video-calling needs.
Overall performance: Good for entertainment, basic productivity
I mostly used the tablet to stream content, play games, read emails, take video calls and type text over the last couple of weeks. There were no performance issues most of the time. Under the hood is a MediaTek Kompanio 1300T SoC paired with 8GB of RAM, which was able to handle everyday tasks with ease. I also played games like Call of Duty: Mobile and Asphalt 9: Legends. Both ran smoothly without any hiccups.
The 8200mAh battery lasted for more than a day. The tab comes with 20W fast charging, which takes two to three hours to charge the battery completely. One good thing here is the length of the USB cable, which is almost 1.5 times that of what comes with the iPad Air. This is very convenient when the tab is mostly resting on the table with a charging port at some distance.
In terms of software, the tab comes with Android 12L out of the box. The operating system is clean and runs smoothly, except for some glitches in terms of integration with the hardware and optimization of applications. But Lenovo is promising three years of updates and we expect to see some more optimizations on the software side to make the experience even better.
Key takeaways
- With the Tab P11 Pro Gen 2, Lenovo has hit the sweet spot of performance, experience and price. It has made some great decisions in terms of what to include in the hardware based on tablet usage.
- A good display and audio, great performance, premium design, solid build quality, and software that is only bound to improve, make the tablet an easy choice.
- The added stylus and keyboard support provide the tab with even more versatility.
- The tablet delivers great experience in content consumption, reading, calls, battery life, gaming, typing and completing tasks on the go, thus catering to almost every need of a regular tablet user.
