Hands-on: Lenovo Legion Tab is Android’s iPad Mini, and I guess it’s good for games too [Gallery]

21 hours ago 1

Android tablets have always been better when they’re smaller. That’s why the Nexus 7 was such a hit. But, if you look back over the past decade, Android tablets with any real power basically don’t exist under 10-inches or so. That’s why the new Lenovo Legion Tab, announced at CES 2025, is so exciting – it’s basically Android’s iPad Mini.

With an 8.8-inch display, the Lenovo Legion Tab really stands on its own in the Android tablet market from its size alone, but what really stands out here is what’s under the hood.

The Legion Tab is, as the name suggests, a gaming-focused tablet with the specs to back it up. Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 runs the show paired with 12GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and a pretty clean build of Android 14. This all feels immediately noticeable the second you pick up the tablet. It’s snappy, fast, and free of any lag (which is notable, as Lenovo’s Android skin isn’t exactly free of the occasional hiccup). Surfing the web and sorting through apps was as fast as the best phones I’ve used over the past year, because this has specs to match 2024’s Android flagships. In a quick benchmark I ran during my use here at CES 2025, 3D Mark maxed out on the “Wild Life” graphics test and recommended trying something else. I’m not sure I can think of a single tablet under 11-inches released within the past five years that would do that.

Coming back to the display, that 8.8-inch panel is quite good. While it’s not OLED, it had deep enough blacks and good colors, and you could tell that it’s faster in refresh rate than the average offering too. The 165Hz panel beats out most modern smartphones, where you’ll usually only find this refresh rate on gaming-centric smartphones. The added size here is nice for games, as is the use of slightly bigger top and bottom bezels which give your fingers a place to rest when holding the device in landscape.

For me, though, I’m just excited to have an Android tablet that isn’t slow, but isn’t gigantic either.

The Lenovo Legion Tab, thanks to it forgoing any sort of obnoxious gaming design, can really stand up as an iPad Mini alternative powered by Android. It has the specs to truly be comparable to Apple’s device, which has stood alone on the market for years now, and hardware that’s in the same ballpark too. The all-metal hardware feels remarkably premium and well constructed. The display bezels, as mentioned, slightly take away from the premium look, but it’s understandable from a comfort perspective when the main focus is on games.

I think that focus also benefits the tablet overall, as it means you get an aspect ratio that’s great for media. Compared to something like my Pixel 9 Pro Fold, I can get a whole lot more screen real estate for a YouTube video or a movie, despite the screens being within an inch of each other. And this will also be true compared to iPad Mini, as Apple’s typical aspect ratio is taller. That’s great for apps and reading, not so much for movies and media.

The only place the Legion Tab fell short, in my book, is in terms of biometrics. Put simply, there aren’t any.

There’s no fingerprint sensor through a button or under the display, and the face unlock option is the insecure camera-based method that doesn’t work for anything but the lockscreen. This is always a pain for password managers, banking apps, and more, and an oversight I’m tired of seeing in Android tablets as of late.

The Android build is, like the hardware, pretty unobtrusive for gaming elements. There are things there, but they’re all easy to ignore. Lenovo’s Android skin isn’t my favorite, but it’s clean enough, and the Legion Tab even has Circle to Search. I’m wary of Lenovo’s track record with updates, but I’m hoping this will get just as much attention as the company’s other high-end Android tablets, which at least get a few years of support.

I cannot understate my excitement for the Lenovo Legion Tab, especially with its price in mind. At $499, Lenovo is delivering something powerful that, at least on the Android side of things, has quite literally no competition. The iPad Mini starts at the same price, though Lenovo’s additional storage technically leaves the Legion undercutting Apple by $100. Lenovo says the Legion Tab will be available in the US later this month.

What do you think of the Legion Tab? Are you interested in a small but powerful Android tablet?