Review: Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 – 10″

When one of my Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.5″ inch died, I chose the Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 10″ because other friends recommended it.  (Partially also because at the drop of a hat, this was the most affordable tablet I could find for my budget in just under $300.

I’ve been playing around with it now for a couple of weeks and feel confident enough to offer a review of what I’ve learned from it.

Appearance:  5/5

I have to admit this is the most uniquely designed tablet I’ve ever seen and stands out from the uniform design from other tablets. It’s appearance is it’s asset in that this model includes a stand (or hanger if that’s how you choose to use it), but also makes it easier to grip the tablet, great for the very young or the elderly with arthritis.  The “spine” (as I call it), also houses the camera which you rotate to the front or back (or even side if you don’t want to make your picture taking obvious, handy for sneaky candid pics.. especially with furkids like mine who stop their antics when they think there’s a camera pointed at them).

Screen: 5/5

The colours on the screen are vibrant, and thankfully, you can adjust the brightness as the screen could light up a room in the pitch darkness (believe me, you don’t need a torch app with this tablet).

Sound: 6/5

I can’t fault this tablet and it puts every other tablet I’ve had, both past and current, to shame.  With Dolby stereo speakers, you can have the music blaring in the backyard when you’re putting out the washing, or leave the tablet on full volume in one room and still hear it in every other room in the house (ok.. this may depend on the size of your house.. I’m referring to a long 2 bedroom unit here).  I use both Simple Radio and Spotify on this tablet, and the powerful volume of this tablet is the perfect accompaniment for both.

Connectivity:  4/5

I find it frustrating that this tablet doesn’t have a SIM card slot, I was looking for a tablet to replace my Samsung Galaxy for the sole purpose that one of my mobile numbers would have a new home.  So discovering (after the fact) that this tablet didn’t have a slot initially left me as a very unhappy customer.  But I’m adjusting to its WiFi capabilities. There’s a saying:  A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.  I guess when it comes to WiFi, that saying also works.  In retrospect, I can’t fault this tablet.  It’s highly attuned sensitivity means that it will pick up any and every WiFi in the area even very weak signals, but as to whether it holds onto that signal depends on the WiFi itself.  I’ve been in Hungry  Jacks, Red Rooster, a couple of libraries, 1 large shopping centre (and of course home).  If there’s WiFi available, this tablet will pick it up and connect with ease (provided it’s a WiFi that’s not private, obviously).  But at the same time, I’ve been to some areas where the public WiFi signal was so weak that the tablet couldn’t hold onto it.  I’m still scoring it a 4, because had this tablet had a SIM card slot, then it’d be perfect.

Memory: 5/5

This tablet came with 16GB of memory, and there’s space for more in the way of a micro SD slot (hidden beneath the stand)

Camera: 4/5

It’s not the worst camera I’ve ever had, but it’s also definitely not the best.  Great for selfies and taking pet pics and maybe even scenery, but I wouldn’t call it professional quality.  This is one feature where the Samsung Galaxy and Samsung TabPro far surpasses that of this tablet.  The images can get slightly grainy and even blurry, but for the most part, the images are passable.

Games: 4.5/5

On my tablet, I’ve downloaded PvZ2, WwF2, Sudoku and 8 Ball Pool.  For the most part, I can’t fault it.. the tablet doesn’t freeze or crash with these games (unlike Samsung Galaxy 10.5 which frequently booted me out of 8 Ball Pool or often froze with WwF), but with games like PvZ2, there are some parts of this game where the tablet can be a little slow, hence my deduction of the half point.

Social Media: 5/5

This tablet is perfect for media junkies as it handles well the memory required for FB, Instagram and Twitter (I don’t use the other forms of social media so can’t comment on them).  The only thing I really don’t like on this tablet are the smilie options which look like half melted normal smilies, but I’ve noticed that when using it, it shows up as normal smiles in the social media app, so this is basically personal taste.  Frustratingly, it doesn’t have a laughing smilie, but it does have clapping hands and about 3 versions of a cheesy grin to compensate.

Other Media: 5/5

Again, I can’t fault it. With the surround sound speakers and the vivid imagery, this tablet is perfect to watch tv shows and movies on.

Battery power: 5/5

Once again, this puts my other tablets to shame.  Where my tablets would crash after a couple of hours of playing games or watching TV, this one maybe drops down by only about 20%.  My waking hours average approx. 15 hours, and this tablet gets very little rest through that time, and I still have easily 40% by the end of my day.

This tablet also doesn’t overheat like other tablets I’ve had and currently have.  It’s safe to constantly play games on or leave charge over night and the battery remains cool.

Yesterday, sitting in the sun in the park trying to get my Samsung Tab Pro to talk to my Lenovo so I could listen to some music, the Samsung Tab Pro got almost untouchably hot in the 5 – 10 minutes I took whereas the Lenovo didn’t even raise a degree (although I wouldn’t recommend leaving ANY tablet out in the sun for any period of time)

Overall:

This is a great tablet for beginners with its user friendly features, it’s a great tablet for social media junkies, it’s a great tablet for little kids as it appears pretty hardy (although I’m not about to purposely test to see how shock proof it is), it’s a great tablet for the seniors with it’s loud volume and easy handling, and it’s a great tablet for people on a tight budget with limited funds.  You can also buy this tablet in various stores using either ZipPay, ZipMoney and too, AfterPay.