Lenovo Tab 2 A10 - affordable performer in the 10.1' segment

Lenovo Tab 2 A10 is an entry level 10.1 inch Android tablet with good specs and great sound

Lenovo Tab 2 A10

Extra-large tablets are getting increasingly popular but the 10-inch Lenovo Tab 2 A10 with a beautiful display and epic battery life is an excellent option for less than $200. Despite the seemingly modest specifications, the tablet is still a great choice if you’re on a budget but are looking for strong battery and a good display.

Specifications

Display	10.1-inch screen Resolution 1280 x 800 pixels IPS technology Multi-touch screen LED backlit display
Processor & Memory	1.3GHz Quad-Core Processor 2GB RAM 32 GB internal storage 16 GB memory card capacity
Operating system	Android Lollipop 5.1
General features	Built-in speaker 8-megapixel back camera 5-megapixel front camera Wi-Fi & Bluetooth enabled 3.5mm stereo headphone jack Microphone microSD memory card slot Micro USB
Measurements	Thickness: 8.95 mm Height: 17.1 cm Width: 24.7cm Weight: 525g

Design

With an elegant metallic blue polycarbonate shell, the Tab 2 has a sleek look. The camera on the back is slightly protruding (typical for Lenovo tablets). The logo on the back is placed in a way that suggests the tablet is to be used in landscape position. The headphone jack is situated on the top edge of the tablet near the front camera. The Tab-2 has a multi-speaker sound bar at the top of the device’s shell and in the middle of the sound bar is the back camera.

The USB 2.0 micro port is on the left edge of the tablet next to the volume and power buttons. The micro SD is hidden under a cap on the right side.

Display

Despite being a mid-range tablet, the 10-inch Full HD IPS display is impressive. It provides a sharp, colourful image. The brightness measures at 380 nits, a bit higher than category average. The colour is also reproduced wonderfully, at 94% sRGB gamut.

Audio

The sound comes crisp and clear when the Dolby Atmos settings are set to Music preset. The Dolby app is by default set up to Movies preset however even with those settings the audio does not degrade. Still, the Music preset provides more balanced and open audio.

Software and Apps

Lenovo keeps the Tab 2 experience closer to stock Android. Android Lollipop is fast and responsive on the tablet – make sure you upgrade to Lollipop as the tablet most likely will be delivered running KitKat.

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Lenovo’s stock apps are down to a minimum in order to keep the Android experience. You get Google's own apps (Drive, Gmail, Play, Photos, Maps and others), Lenovo's apps (including Calendar, Camera, Music, Email, SYNCit HD and its SHAREit), and some useful third-party apps like Amazon Kindle, Evernote and Kingsoft's Microsoft Office-compatible WPS Office suite.

Performance

Powered by a 1.5-GHz MediaTek MT8165 64-bit, quad-core processor and 2GB of RAM, the Tab 2 is good for surfing the Web while listening to music or watching videos. There isn’t any issue listening to a music stream (e.g. Spotify) while browsing in Chrome and navigate between several apps.

In the Geekbench 3 synthetic benchmark test, the Tab 2 earned 2,371, putting it below the category average (2,648).

This tablet didn't fare well in our 3DMark gaming benchmark test, either, notching 9,282. That's less than half of the category average (18,974). The ZenPad S (13,041) may have outdone the Tab 2, but the Iconia Tab 10 (5,379) got a worse score.

In terms of battery life, the Tab 2 A10 lasts an impressive 12 hours on the Laptop Mag battery test.

Camera

The 8-megapixel rear camera shoots well and captures fine details while the front 5-megapixel produces good selfies with fine color balance. The Camera app has the Picture in Picture feature, which to take two photos at once, and place one in a polaroid-film frame in a spot of your choosing. The Camera app also comes with a "Face beauty mode," which is becoming fairly standard on most Android phones and tablets.

Battery Life

A fully charged Tab 2 has enough battery life to last 12 hours on the Laptop Mag battery test, which involves continuous Web surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness. That's almost 3 hours longer than the category average (8:48).

Configurations and Accessories

For $20 more, the Tab 2 comes with 32GB of flash storage, as opposed to our entry-level model's 16GB. Lenovo also offers a few useful accessories for the Tab 2, including a 16GB USB and micro USB flash drive, which costs $25. There's also a 5000mAh external battery available for $30, to support the 7200mAh battery inside the Tab 2.