Lenovo squeezed eight speakers into its chonky new tablet

By wazup on June 20, 2024 Comments Closed / 88 views

There are four tweeters and four woofers in the new Lenovo Tab Plus, which can double as a Bluetooth speaker.

By Andrew Liszewski, a senior reporter who’s been covering and reviewing the latest gadgets and tech since 2011, but has loved all things electronic since he was a kid.

The Lenovo Tab Plus tablet seen from the front and back with the kickstand extended. — a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Image: Lenovo

Tablets aren’t known for their room-shaking bass, but Lenovo’s new 11.5-inch Tab Plus is going all in. It features 26W of sound produced by four tweeters and four woofers split across each side of the tablet (when used in landscape mode). To fully take advantage of the Tab Plus’ sound capabilities, Lenovo has included the option to wirelessly connect other devices to the tablet and use it as a Bluetooth speaker.

Powered by a MediaTek Helio G99 octa-core processor paired with 8GB of RAM and 128GB or 256GB of storage that’s expandable with a microSD card, the Tab Plus definitely isn’t a powerhouse productivity tool. Lenovo is positioning it as a media consumption device first and foremost, which is further reflected in a front and rear camera that both only muster 8MP. The tablet ships with Android 14, and Lenovo is promising two years of OS upgrades and four years of security patches.

The Lenovo Tab Plus tablet surrounded by colorful iconography emphasizing its use as a media consumption device.

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The Tab Plus’ 11.5-inch 90Hz 2K LCD display is far from best in class, but Lenovo claims its 8,600mAh battery will keep it streaming for up to 12 hours (it doesn’t specify whether that’s streaming audio or video), while 45W fast charging means a dead battery can be fully revived in 90 minutes.

An integrated pop-out kickstand on the back makes it easier to use the tablet as a Bluetooth speaker, but for those preferring to listen privately, a 3.5-millimeter headphone jack is still included that supports 24-bit 96kHz high-res audio with Dolby Atmos tuning.

One big tradeoff of those four integrated woofers is a very noticeable bulge on the back of the new Tab Plus that pushes the thickness of the 7.77mm tablet to a chonky 13.58mm. Remember, Apple has managed to slim the new 13-inch iPad Pro down to just 5.1mm, aside from its camera bump.

Although Lenovo hasn’t specified where the new 11.5-inch Tab Plus is available starting today aside from “select global markets,” its $289.99 price tag could make it a tempting solution for those tired of lugging around a tablet and a separate wireless speaker to bolster its sound.