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It’s hard to feel genuinely excited about Android tablets these days. The market has become homogenized over the years, offering options that all blur together. Samsung’s got tablets for every price bracket, Amazon’s got its Fire lineup of tablets on a budget, and everyone else is just… kind of there. They mostly look the same, feel the same, and try to do the same things, just with different logos slapped on top.

So when Lenovo sent me a “gaming tablet” to test, I was intrigued. What does a gaming tablet even look like? Does it come with RGB and shoulder triggers? I’ve spent the past three weeks with the Lenovo Legion Tab Gen 3, and spoiler alert, it doesn’t come with any of those. The good news is that it is a gaming tablet, all right.

But more importantly, it turns out the $549 Legion Tab Gen 3 delivers one of the most fun Android tablet experiences I’ve had, even though I think there’s a very small chunk of people who might actually want to buy it.

When I first got my hands on the Legion Tab, I had no idea what it cost, and my first reaction after unboxing it was that it felt like a flagship product. I genuinely assumed it would be priced somewhere close to $1,000. You can imagine my surprise when I later found out it costs half of that.

Lenovo includes a surprisingly luxurious set of accessories in the box: a grilled bumper case for the back, a magnetic flap that attaches to it and turns it into a folio case, a glass screen protector, a 68W charging brick, and a USB-C to USB-C cable. The folio case even folds neatly to double up as a kickstand when you set the tablet down in landscape mode.

The tablet itself feels just as good. Lenovo has gone with an all-metal construction that feels sturdy and premium. The matte black finish might not scream “gaming tablet” the way some might expect, but the industrial style looks a lot more polished than the tired grey or silver shades you see on most tablets. Around the back, the etched Legion logo and a rectangular camera island are the only flashy elements, keeping the design clean and subtle.

There is no SIM card slot or expandable storage, so the only cutouts on the frame are two speaker grilles and two USB-C ports. One is a standard USB 2.0 port, while the other is a USB 3.2 Gen 2 port. That faster port allows for much quicker data transfers and even supports Display output if you want to hook up an external monitor.

Lenovo also considered the placement, putting one port on the longer edge and one on the shorter edge. No matter how you hold the tablet, you can usually plug it in for charging, streaming, or using accessories without much hassle.

That being said, gamers might miss a 3.5mm headphone jack. Technically, you can still plug in wired earphones with a USB-C adapter thanks to the dual ports, but it feels like a missed opportunity for those who want easy, zero-latency audio for gaming. There is also no IP rating for water or dust protection, something Samsung offers with its tablets at similar or slightly higher price points. On top of that, Lenovo skipped a fingerprint reader altogether. You get 2D face unlock if you want, but I ended up relying on a good old pattern lock most of the time.

My favorite thing about the Legion Tab is something very few Android tablets even attempt anymore: its size. With smartphone screens getting closer and closer to seven inches, it’s only fair that most tablets these days are chasing screen sizes of 10 inches or more by default. Lenovo flips that trend with a compact form factor that I instantly fell in love with.

The tablet measures 7.79 mm x 208.54 mm x 129.46 mm (0.31 in x 8.21 in x 5.10 in) and weighs approximately 350 grams. Most other tablets easily exceed the 500-gram mark, and while that difference might not seem huge on a spec sheet, it matters a lot when you’re actually carrying the device around.

For context, my usual tablet is my aging but ever-reliable Galaxy Tab S7 Plus. As much as I love it, I hardly take it out unless it’s for a long-distance flight, because carrying it feels like a whole production. I need to pack it into a backpack, take it out, find space to set it down, and repeat the whole dance when I am done. The Legion Tab feels more like a Kindle in comparison. You can carry it in your hands on a day out in the park, or just use it to scroll social media sitting on a couch without needing to rest it on something. That ease of use quickly became one of my favorite things about it.

The reason the Legion Tab feels so compact is that it comes with an 8.8-inch display. That is much smaller than the screens you get on tablets like the OnePlus Pad 2 or any of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab models, and as close as you’re going to get these days to a classic Nexus 7-style compact tablet. In fact, it is only slightly bigger than my Galaxy Z Fold 5 when unfolded, although the Legion Tab offers a lot more usable screen area thanks to its aspect ratio.

The display is a 16:10 LCD panel with a 2.5K resolution (2560 x 1600). It supports 98% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and comes with HDR10 support. Under normal conditions, the screen hits a maximum brightness of 500 nits and can push up to 900 nits when High Brightness Mode kicks in.

The screen gets bright enough to be easily usable both indoors and outdoors, colors look rich and punchy, and the viewing angles are solid too. I used the Legion Tab to binge the latest Black Mirror episodes, and I played a good chunk of games on it as well. No matter what I threw at it, the display delivered.

Still, I could not quite shake off the feeling that something was missing. I ended up pulling out my Galaxy Tab S7 Plus just to compare my impressions, and even though it’s three generations old at this point, its AMOLED panel still matches the Legion Tab’s screen. Colors popped a little more, and especially in low-light environments, the deep blacks on the AMOLED screen created a much richer experience.

I am not saying the Legion Tab’s screen is bad. In fact, it’s probably one of the best LCD panels I’ve seen on a mobile device in recent years. All I’m saying is that if Lenovo were to make just one upgrade to the next-gen Legion Tab, it should swap out the LCD for an AMOLED display. However, I doubt Lenovo will be able to maintain this price point if and when it makes the switch.

Gamers and non-gamers alike will definitely appreciate one thing, though: the 165Hz refresh rate. It makes the entire UI feel incredibly smooth, and most actions on this tablet feel buttery smooth. If your favorite games support 90fps or 120fps gameplay, you can enjoy that full fluidity here too, and it genuinely adds to the gaming experience.

Yeah, gaming. Let’s get that out of the way now. This tablet comes with exactly the kind of specs you would expect for a device with Lenovo’s Legion branding. It packs 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 256GB of UFS 4.0 storage. Powering it all is the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, Qualcomm’s flagship chip from last year, and it is still a beast.

I tried downloading the biggest, heaviest games I could find on the Play Store, and the Legion Tab had no trouble running them at the highest or near-highest settings. Genshin Impact, one of the most graphically demanding games on Android, displayed its usual warning about overheating if you crank everything up. I ignored it and ran the game at High graphics and 60fps anyway. The Legion Tab kept up just fine, delivering close to 60fps most of the time, with only one noticeable drop to around 40fps during a cutscene transition.

Another heavy hitter I tested was Bright Memory Infinite, a fast-paced first-person shooter that can actually push 120fps gameplay on this tablet. The Legion Tab handled it really well, with frame rates rarely dropping below 100fps during intense action.

The experience was the same across every other game I tried. Lighter games, unsurprisingly, ran flawlessly. Heat management is also done well. The tablet’s built-in performance overlay showed the temperature rising from around 20 degrees Celsius to about 40 degrees during an hour of non-stop gaming. The tablet’s back got warm to the touch, but it never got uncomfortably hot, and performance stayed stable the whole time.

The Legion Tab only packs a 6,550mAh battery compared to the 8,000mAh or even 10,000mAh monsters you get on bigger tablets. I noticed a 20% drop in battery after around 30 minutes of gaming, regardless of which title I played. That means you should expect about two and a half hours of serious gaming on a full charge. It’s not mind-blowing, but it’s the trade-off for the smaller form factor.

Outside of gaming, battery life held up better than I expected. Standby performance is especially impressive. I left the tablet connected to Wi-Fi for days at a time, and it would barely lose 2% to 3% over 24 hours. One time, I picked it up after five days of just sitting there, fully expecting it to be dead, but it still had over 80% battery left. Regular tasks like watching videos, scrolling through social media, or light browsing also barely dent the battery.

Topping up is fast too. The included 68W charger brings the Legion Tab from nearly dead to full in just over an hour. You can use either of the USB-C ports to charge, but you cannot plug into both at once, so save yourself the big-brain experiment.

Lenovo also added support for bypass charging, which means when you plug in while gaming, the power can go straight to the tablet’s motherboard instead of the battery. That helps avoid heat buildup and keeps performance steady during long gaming sessions.

Gaming extras

The specs race keeps pushing forward for mobile gaming, and Lenovo will soon launch a version of this tablet with an even stronger chip. The problem is, while there are plenty of great games on Android, there are barely any right now that can push today’s hardware to its absolute limits. That said, if you are someone who plays competitive mobile games and cares more about response times and smoothness than pixel-perfect graphics, the Legion Tab delivers exactly what you need.

It’ll also be a really reliable slate if you’re into retro games via emulation, while still having headroom to spare for heavier load add-ons like custom shaders. The caveat is that you’ll quickly fill up that 256GB fixed storage.

The tablet does everything it can to make gaming feel immersive, too. The dual-speaker setup gets loud and sounds surprisingly good. When you fire up a game in landscape mode, the tablet automatically switches to a panoramic sound mode. It creates enough stereo separation that you can track enemy footsteps in games like PUBG without needing headphones, although a good pair of earbuds still gives you the best edge.

Another highlight is the X-axis haptic motor. It’s sharp, precise, and actually adds a real layer of feedback to your interactions, both in-game and while using the general UI.

I also loved how the Legion Tab’s smaller size plays well with mobile gamepad controllers like the Razer Kishi Ultra and the Gamesir G8 Plus. Mounting the tablet in one of these controllers takes the gaming experience to another level. Bright Memory Infinite, Asphalt Legends, and even smaller games felt way more enjoyable with physical controls. And because the tablet is relatively lightweight, the whole setup stays comfortable to hold for longer gaming sessions. It is probably one of the best ways to enjoy mobile gaming on a flight or while traveling.

Software-wise, Lenovo keeps things pretty simple. There is a Legion Space app that serves as a basic gaming hub, where all your installed games are displayed in one place. While you are playing, you can pull up a floating overlay from the side of the screen. It gives you access to quick settings, such as switching performance modes (Balance, High Performance, and Energy Saving), or capturing screenshots and screen recordings.

There is one weird omission, though. The tablet does not automatically disable screen timeout while gaming. If your screen is set to turn off after 30 seconds, it will still do that even if you are in the middle of a long cutscene or a loading screen. There is no toggle inside the gaming overlay to keep the screen on, either. The only way around it is to exit your game, dig into the settings, and manually change the screen timeout to “never,” which is annoying because it also disables screen timeout everywhere else. It’s a small but painfully obvious thing that Lenovo should have handled better.

Regular Android with a gamer wallpaper

Outside of the gaming extras, the software experience on the Legion Tab is… fine. Lenovo hasn’t added any special skin or UI changes specifically for gamers. It’s just the company’s usual Android skin, with a Legion-themed wallpaper on top. The tablet ships with Android 14 out of the box, but it got the Android 15 update the moment I powered it on. That’s a good sign, and Lenovo says it will get two more major OS updates after that, which is fine for the type of tablet this is, but not as good as what you get from Samsung or Google.

Lenovo’s UI feels pretty close to stock Android. It’s lightweight, smooth, and maybe even a little too basic. You get a few customization options for themes and wallpapers, and you can run split-screen apps or use floating windows. There’s no built-in AI stuff from Lenovo here, but you still get all the usual Google features like Circle to Search and the Gemini assistant.

There’s a good chunk of pre-installed apps on the tablet, but you can uninstall all of them if you want. What annoyed me more was the setup experience. Lenovo tries really hard to push pages of bloatware and random games onto you, and you have to uncheck each app individually just to avoid them. It’s annoying, but at least it only happens once, so I’m willing to let that slide.

Connectivity-wise, the Legion Tab supports Wi-Fi 7, and I experienced no issues with speed or signal during my time using it at home. There’s no cellular model, though. That might not be a huge issue for most, but with many modern mobile games requiring a constant internet connection, it’s something to consider. Unless you’re okay with tethering your phone or only using the tablet in Wi-Fi zones, this is pretty much a stay-at-home device.

And yes, the tablet does have cameras. There’s a 13MP rear camera, an 8MP front camera, and a macro sensor that I won’t even pretend to take seriously. The rear camera works well enough for snapping documents, and the front camera can handle 1080p video calls or basic streaming needs. You’ll get decent results in good lighting, but don’t expect anything close to the quality of your phone’s camera, especially for portraits or Instagram posts.

The Lenovo Legion Tab ($549.99 at Lenovo) targets a very specific niche — the mobile gamer — and it nails that purpose almost perfectly. It gives you powerful gaming hardware in a form factor that feels just right. It is bigger than a phone but not as bulky or awkward as a full-size tablet. It fits neatly into mobile gaming controllers, you can hook it up to a bigger screen if you want, it charges incredibly fast, and there is very little to complain about overall.

You still have a few things to keep in mind, like the missing headphone jack, the lack of any biometrics, and the absence of a cellular model. But if your main goal is smooth, responsive mobile gaming, the Legion Tab gets the job done. What surprised me more was how much this tablet started making sense even outside of gaming.

Smartphone screens are already big enough for most casual tasks, such as social media and watching videos, and when I need a bigger screen for work, I would rather open my laptop. Most Android tablets also don’t have the kind of seamless ecosystem integration that iPads enjoy, which makes them feel like an isolated purchase instead of a natural extension of your setup. That’s why my Galaxy Tab S7 Plus mostly sits around collecting dust until I travel.

The Legion Tab feels different because of its size. It’s big enough to make me want to switch from my phone for things like watching YouTube videos or casually browsing Instagram. At the same time, it’s small enough that I don’t have to overthink picking it up. I do not feel like I need to justify using it for a specific task the way I usually do with full-sized tablets. It’s light, quick, and easy to reach throughout the day without even thinking about it.

That compact size does come with trade-offs. This is not the kind of tablet you can treat as a productivity machine or a laptop replacement. If you need to type a lot, multitask with multiple apps, or browse spreadsheets, this is not the right tool for the job. Plus, the battery life takes an obvious hit.

If you are looking specifically for a gaming tablet, the closest competitor to the Legion Tab is the OnePlus Pad 2 ($549.99 at Amazon). It also offers flagship-grade performance, a big battery, fast charging, and a much larger display for the same price. Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S10 FE ($499.99 at Amazon) is another option in a similar price range, and it adds features like a bundled S Pen, an IP rating, and a cellular model option. However, it does not offer the same level of raw performance as the Legion Tab. Plus, both of these alternatives are much bigger and heavier devices.

If budget is not a major concern, you could also consider the Galaxy Tab S10 Plus ($999.99 at Samsung). It offers an incredible 12.4-inch AMOLED display, flagship performance, and tons of premium features, but it will cost you nearly twice as much as the Legion Tab.

If you are simply looking for a compact tablet, there are almost no real competitors on the Android side right now outside of the Pixel Tablet ($499 at Amazon), which hasn’t aged that well, and is larger anyway. The only real alternative is the iPad Mini ($459 at Amazon), but that decision comes down to which ecosystem you prefer more than anything else.

I still do not think small tablets will appeal to the masses. There is a reason why companies often abandon smaller flagship phones after a few generations. The same might happen with compact tablets. But whether the world embraces them or not, the Lenovo Legion Tab made me remember how fun and practical a well-designed tablet can be.