Lenovo Tab P12 review – A powerful XXL tablet with lots of accessories

Lenovo has updated its mid-range tablet and has made quite a few changes to it. This doesn’t just concern the tablet’s innards – its looks have changed, too. You can’t miss its now bigger size: Compared to the 11.

5-inch Tab P11 2022 (Gen 2) , the Tab P12 is now 12. 7 inches in size. The Tab P12’s resolution of 2,044 x 1,840 pixels is also higher than its sister model and now features a 16:10 ratio instead of a 5:3 ratio.

The manufacturer has also chosen a different SoC for this tablet generation. The Tab P12 features a still relatively new MediaTek Dimensity 7050 which (on paper) is quite a bit faster than the Tab P11 2022 (Gen 2)’s Mediatek Helio G99 . One thing that hasn’t changed is its versatility – the Tab P12 continues to have its uses expanded through accessories such as a stylus and keyboard.

In this review, you can find out whether this total package is worth it. The 12. 7-inch Tab P12 features an aluminum case with a 6.

9-mm thickness reminiscent of Lenovo’s business laptops thanks to its two-toned back cover design. Weighing 690 grams, the XXL tablet isn’t the lightest but it feels nice to hold. An 8-mm frame surrounds the entire device.

This gives the tablet a display-to-surface ratio of 87 per cent, meaning the device can comfortably be held in your hands without accidentally touching the display. The almost seamless transition between display, frame and back cover gives the Lenovo Tab P12 a really high-quality feel. At the same time, it is stable enough to withstand being used as a family tablet.

If you for some reason want to, you can bend the case quite easily which then causes a bit of creaking. In practical use, the tablet will not likely be put under this much strain. The tablet doesn’t feature an IP certification.

Its four speakers with Dolby Atmos support are spread out in pairs of two between both of the tablet’s short sides. The bottom of the device houses the Pogo PIN connection with 3 contact points which acts as a dock for the optional keyboard. Lenovo offers the Tab P12 in different storage variants.

At the time of testing, only the version with 8 GB LPDDR4 RAM and 128 GB UFS-2. 2 storage was available. Further storage configurations include 4/128 GB and 8/256 GB.

You can expand the tablet’s internal storage through a microSD card with a maximum of 1 TB storage, which can also be formatted in the exFAT file format. The OTG-enabled USB-C port runs at USB 2. 0 speed and you can connect audio devices such as headphones via an adapter.

As expected from a multimedia tablet, the Tab P12 supports DRM Widevine L1, meaning it can also stream from Netflix, for example, in HD quality. You can also steam to compatible end devices such as TVs using Miracast. The Tab 12 achieved solid transfer rates using our microSD reference card Angelbird AV Pro V60.

However, with an average of 69. 6 MB/s in sequential reading and 14. 3 MB/s in the copying test, the rates lagged a bit behind those of its sister model, the Lenovo Tab P11 2022 (Gen 2) .

The Tab P12 runs using Android 13 and with Lenovo’s user interface ZUI 15. Compared to standard Android, the biggest changes can be seen in its design. The most notable UI change is the app bar along the bottom of the display which shows the apps that you last had open.

Furthermore, apps can each be opened within their own window which you can then move about the screen or change in size. Alternatively, the tablet features a split screen view for two simultaneous uses and the split can be adjusted between the two via a slider. Window mode and split-screen view may not work with every app, but all the pre-installed apps on the Tab P12 are compatible – including the apps tailored to Lenovo’s input stylus, namely MyScript Calculator 2 and Nebo (notes).

Switching between full screen, window mode and split screen view can be done via a three-dot menu in compatible apps, where you can switch to the respective view. If you want to open an app, you can open the menu by pressing and holding the app icon with your finger or the stylus. The three-dot menu is displayed in the centre of the title bar of already opened apps.

Multiple users can be created via the Tab P12’s account management, which also makes the tablet suitable for families. The Kids Space app is also included, which parents can use to provide their children with child-friendly content. Lenovo promises to give the tablet 2 OS upgrades and to provide it with security updates for four years after market launch.

Although Lenovo advertises the Tab P12 as a productive tablet, it features no cellular option. This means you can only go online via WiFi 6 on the road and at home. Bluetooth 5.

1 is also supported. Connected to our reference router Asus ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000, the Tab P12 achieved very good and stable transfer rates that peaked at 928 MBit/s. The Lenovo Tab P11 2022 (Gen 2) was much slower with rates around 500 MBit/s.

The Tab P12 determines its location via the satellite navigation services GPS (L1), Glonass (L1) and Galileo. The Tab P12 did not record the route of our 10-kilometer bike tour as accurately as the Garmin Venu2 fitness tracker, which was used for direct comparison. Even so, the tablet is still relatively suitable for navigation tasks.

The topic of cameras is rather neglected in large tablets. Lenovo’s Tab P12 is no exception. It has an 8 MP camera with an LED flash and autofocus on the back that can record videos in Full HD at 30 frames per second.

Its recording qualities are okay for snapshots. However, you have to accept that the pictures are quite pale, don’t show too many details and are practically unusable in low-light conditions. The 13 MP selfie camera also depends on good lighting conditions, but in good lighting, it takes decent pictures.

It can record video up to a maximum of 4K at 30 frames per second. We took another close look at the main camera in our test lab. It was able to reproduce the colors of the ColorChecker test chart fairly accurately in optimal lighting conditions (maximum Delta-E of 21.

25) and it also displayed the test chart quite sharply. The result was the exact opposite with 1 lux of residual light: Color accuracy and image sharpness completely fell by the wayside and nothing of the test chart could be seen anymore. The Lenovo Tab P12 comes with a 20-watt power supply (10V/2A), a USB-C 2.

0 charger (Type-A to Type-C), a tool for the microSD card slot and a quick-start guide. Additional accessories to go with the tablet include the digital input stylus Lenovo Tab Pen Plus (around US$64), a protective case (around US$30) as well as the Lenovo Keyboard Pack (US$140). The latter includes a magnetic docking keyboard, a touchpad and a cover with a foldable foot.

Lenovo offers the following bundles: Lenovo provided us with the large bundle consisting of the tablet, pen and keyboard for this test. With the keyboard and cover, the total tablet weight increases from 615 to around 1,200 grams. Lenovo offers a standard 1-year warranty on its tablet, which can be extended to 3 years for an additional charge.

Better services, such as extended telephone support, are then also included. The Tab P12 responds very quickly to inputs using your finger or the pen and is not slowed down even by several apps being open at the same time. However, the display is not quite as smooth as the 120-Hz Lenovo Tab P12 Pro due to its 60-Hz panel.

The separately available Lenovo Tab Pen Plus supports 4096 pressure and tilt detection levels and connects to the tablet via Bluetooth. The 13-gram pen fits well in your hand and makes it easy to draw or write on the tablet. The optional keyboard pack consists of a keyboard with a touchpad and a type cover with a fold-out stand.

However, there is no keyboard illumination. The Tab P12 can be unlocked biometrically via a fingerprint sensor and 2D facial recognition. The latter does a good job but depends on sufficient ambient and display brightness for a high hit rate.

The fingerprint sensor integrated into the power button offers more security and works smoothly. The Tab P12’s 12. 7-inch LTPS display operates at a refresh rate of 60 Hz and displays a 3K resolution of 2944 x 1840 pixels, which corresponds to a 16:10 aspect ratio and a pixel density of 273 PPI.

Lenovo specifies the display brightness of the Tab P12 as being 400 nits. We measured a maximum brightness of 435 cd/m² in our test. On average, the display achieved a brightness of just under 407 cd/m² and is, as a result, roughly on par with its sister model.

In the lowest brightness setting, the LTPS panel still achieved a brightness of 3. 58 cd/m². We could not elicit any noteworthy PWM flickering from the tablet.

This makes it well-suited for sensitive users. To adjust the image parameters, you can choose from the color modes Standard and Pulsating . At the same time, the color temperature can also be set via three presets or manually via a color wheel.

The Tab P12 delivers the best picture quality when the color mode and color temperature are left at the standard setting. Due to it not having the biggest brightness reserves, the Lenovo Tab P12 isn’t the best for being used outside. You may still be able to partially read from the device’s viewing-angle stable display in direct sunlight, but the many reflections certainly don’t make this an easy task.

In turn, reading from the display in shaded or semi-shaded areas works fine. The Tab P12 was also faster than its sister model when it came to graphics – once again, only beaten by the Xiaomi Pad 6 . For a mid-range device, its GPU power is decent, which was also reflected in the gaming tests.

Similar to the CPU and GPU tests, the Lenovo Tab P12 also delivered good performance in the browser benchmarks. It wasn’t able to set any new records, but even so, it delivered pretty solid everyday performance. Websites were loaded quickly and you could scroll through them speedily.

In terms of read and write performance, the Lenovo Tab P12 showed a performance typical for UFS 2. 2 storage. Overall, the data throughput was slightly higher than that of Lenovo’s Tab P11 2022 (Gen 2) , which uses the same storage type.

The Lenovo Tab P12 runs games smoothly and with the help of its four surround sound speakers, it creates an attractive audio experience. While running PUBG Mobile , we measured stable 40 FPS in HD/Ultra setting (the maximum you can select is HDR/Ultra). We also measured over 60 FPS when playing slightly less GPU-demanding games such as Armajet and Subway Surfers – although unfortunately, the 60-Hz display doesn’t allow this.

We measured these gaming frame rates using our test tool Gamebench . In use, the Lenovo Tab P12 doesn’t heat up noticeably; its average of 33. 3 °C under full load isn’t even warm to the touch.

The Wild Life stress tests from 3DMark also don’t elicit any high temperatures from the tablet. Even after running the stress benchmark 20 times, the Tab P12 still had access to almost all of its performance (99. 4%).

In everyday use, there really shouldn’t be any scenario in which the SoC’s performance has to be throttled due to too high temperatures. With the help of its four Dolby Atmos compatible speakers, the Tab P12 creates a good surround sound. Bass tones may be a little underrepresented in the sound mix but in total, it is still a little more present than in most of the other competing tablets.

Within the Dolby Atmos settings, you can choose from the modes Film , Music and Dynamic . In Dynamic mode, the tablet adjusts the sound settings automatically depending on the content being played. External audio devices can be connected to the Lenovo Tab P12 via Bluetooth 5.

1 or by using a USB-C adapter. Its selection of Bluetooth codecs is a little bare – it is limited to SBC, AAC, LDAC, aptX and aptX HD. During our WLAN test in which we set the display brightness to 150 cd/m², the Lenovo Tab P12 ran for just over 11 hours.

In flight mode, the 10,200 mAh battery managed to run for 10 hours when playing a looped video. Both values are solid (but not amazing) runtimes – in particular resulting from the Tab P12’s high power consumption. The more efficient Lenovo Tab P11 2022 (Gen 2) managed to run for quite a few hours more despite its smaller battery.

Lenovo has treated its mid-range tablet to a good upgrade. Its larger 12. 7-inch display (compared to the Lenovo Tab P11 2022 (Gen 2) ‘s 11.

5-inch one) as well as its higher resolution makes for a great experience for multimedia fans. The family-friendly Tab P12 might be just a bit too big for some children’s hands. With a maximum display brightness of 435 cd/m², the Lenovo Tab P12 is especially suited for indoor use.

Thanks to its quick MediaTek Dimensity 7050 , it is even able to complete powerful tasks – plus, its Dolby Atmos speakers are an added bonus. Playing games with high levels of detail also proves to be no problem for the eight-core SoC. However, you can’t achieve frame rates over 60 FPS, as it is limited by the 60-Hz panel.

The Lenovo Tab P12 combines a 12. 7-inch display with a comparatively low price. In addition, the tablet comes with a wide range of accessories including a docking keyboard and a stylus.

A highlight of the Tab P12 is its extensive accessories. With optional stylus input and a docking keyboard, the tablet can quickly be transformed into a productive device. Supporting this are OS features such as window view and split screen.

The Lenovo Tab P12’s runtimes are less impressive. Although the tablet is fitted with a 10,200 mAh battery, the device is pretty power-hungry – leading to mediocre battery life in total. Compared to the Tab P11 2022 (Gen 2), it also no longer features a cellular option.

This, unfortunately, also takes its toll on the tablet’s productivity options. Alternatives to the Tab P12 include the Lenovo Tab P11 2022 (Gen 2), the OnePlus Pad and the Xiaomi Pad 6 . The last two not only cost a similar amount, but they also both feature a 120-Hz panel.

The Lenovo Tab P12 is not yet available to buy in the United States. It will likely retail for around US$435 (tablet + pen). You can find the Lenovo Tab P11 (2nd Gen) on Amazon for US$259.

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