Lenovo Tab 4 (10-inch) review: A big bargain tablet with excellent battery life

What has a 10-inch screen, two speakers and monster battery life? The Lenovo Tab 4.

7.3

Lenovo Tab 4 (10-inch)

The Good

The 10-inch Lenovo Tab 4 has a big screen and an attractively low price. It has a long-lasting battery, front-facing speakers and a microSD card slot.

The Bad

It's heavier than comparable tablets. The screen is underwhelming.

The Bottom Line

The Lenovo Tab 4 is a good option for an affordable, big screen tablet that doesn’t feel too cheap.

For $179 or AU$329, the 10-inch tablet is a great deal for anyone interested in a modest Android tablet to catch up on Emmy award-winning must-see-TV. (It's currently unavailable in the UK, but the US price converts to about £130.)

While its HD screen isn't mind-blowing, it's serviceable for catching up on "Insecure" or streaming anything "Star Trek: Discovery" related. For its price, it's hard to beat.

The Lenovo tablet is a bargain compared to the $299 Asus ZenPad 3S 10 (though tbf that does have a way better screen), and the cheapest 9.7-inch iPad, which costs $329. Amazon has just updated its Fire HD 10 tablet, cutting the price and adding RAM and storage space. But we'll have to wait until we can test one in person to see how it stacks up.

If you're interested in an affordable tablet with a big screen, the 10-inch Lenovo Tab 4 is an excellent compromise between quality and cost.

Big screen, medium quality, low price

The Lenovo Tab 4 looks unremarkable and simple. It has satisfyingly smooth back panel with a soft touch that's comfortable to hold. Its angular edges are reminiscent of the Amazon Fire HDX 8.9, but it's not as light as the discontinued Amazon tablet.

At a little over 1 pound (460 grams), it was a bit too heavy for me to hold up for long periods of time. Some of its weight could be due to its battery, which lasted an impressive 11 hours in our testing. That's a little longer than the Asus ZenPad 3S 10, but not long enough to outrun the iPad.

It's capable for most basic tasks, like checking email, lurking on Facebook or light reading. I didn't have any lag or loading issues when switching between apps. It's a little less capable at gaming. Performance was fine when running N.O.V.A. 3 and Dead Trigger 2, but the games and their levels took some time to load.

Specs

• Android 7.1
  
• 10.1-inch LCD IPS touchscreen
  
• 1,280x800-pixel resolution
  
• Qualcomm Snapdragon APQ8017 CPU
  
• 2GB of RAM
  
• 16GB of internal storage
  

In comparison to the Asus ZenPad 3S 10, the next best Android tablet, the Asus has a sharper screen and is lighter and sleeker. It's also more expensive, starting at $299. If the better screen and design are of no interest, opting for the Lenovo is a decent step down.

It's also worth noting that the current 8- and 10-inch Lenovo Tab 4 tablets will work with Lenovo's upcoming Home Assistant dock. Slide one into the slot attached to the Home Assistant's cylindrical speaker, and you get access to Amazon's Alexa personal assistant, with some custom on-screen content sent to the tablet's screen. It's not as full-featured as the Amazon Echo Show, but it's fine for checking the weather or playing music.

The affordable, big-screen, binge-watching-friendly tablet to buy

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Though it's far from a laptop replacement, if you're only interested in something for watching video or casually browsing the internet -- and you want to pay as little as possible -- the Lenovo Tab 4 10 is your best option for a 10-inch tablet.