Lenovo was one of the top five players in the Global Tablet Market according to Counterpoint Research Global Tablet Tracker. The company offers a wide range of tablets for different segments and use cases, from budget-friendly models to premium devices. Lenovo’s M series tablets are designed to offer a balance of performance, features and affordability for mainstream consumers.
The Lenovo M10 5G, which was launched in July 2023, is the brand’s first mid-tier tablet capable of 5G connectivity, a feature that is usually found in more expensive models. Unlike other brands in the same segment, which focus more on technical aspects than connectivity, the Lenovo Tab M10 5G stands out as a product that is ideal for work use, especially for B2B cases. Moreover, it appeals to a wide range of users with its attractive price of $276 (₹22,999), amid the growing demand for 5G-capable tablets.
In this review, we will evaluate the product on various aspects, such as design, performance, battery life, display, camera and 5G capability.
Sleek and Elegant Design
The Lenovo tablet has a slate-type design, with a semi-frosted metal back inside a plastic frame. It weighs 460 g and measures 9.6 mm in thickness with good grip around the edges, making it easy to hold and carry. The tablet has relatively wide bezels around the screen, giving it an 82% screen-to-body ratio. However, the bezels also pack a reliable front-facing camera with a light correction sensor for high-quality video calling.
Built for work and play, the tablet comes with dual Dolby Atmos speakers on the top and bottom edges. The rear camera is placed in the top left corner while the front camera is on the top centre of the screen, which is good for long video calls when the device is placed horizontally. Overall, the tablet feels sturdy and comfortable in the hand with a premium look and feel.
Performance: Decent Daily Driver for Casual Users
The Lenovo M10 5G has a 16:10 aspect ratio in a 10.61-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1200×2000 pixels, and a pixel density of 220 ppi. The screen also has a 90Hz refresh rate, making it ideal for watching videos and reading documents. With a peak brightness of 400 nits, the screen is well-suited for indoor use, although it can be challenging to view outdoors. However, tablets are predominantly used indoors.
Under the hood is a 6nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 SoC. The tablet features an eight-core CPU – two Kryo 660 Gold performance cores (Cortex-A78) clocked at 2,200MHz and six Kryo 660 Silver efficiency cores (Cortex-A55) clocked at 1,800MHz.
Lenovo is offering the M10 5G in two SKUs where you get 128GB of storage, and two RAM options to choose from – 4GB or 6GB. The tablet also has a microSD card slot to further expand the storage up to 1TB. The device comes with a 20W standard power adapter with a USB Type-C cable.
In terms of performance, the Lenovo M10 5G was smooth and responsive during our usage, and it handles multitasking well. The tablet can run most games but showed occasional frame drops during long hours of usage at high graphic settings.
When an extendable display is required, the tablet can also be used as a second screen for your PC. During our testing, we used a Windows laptop to extend the display on a Lenovo M10 Tablet and it worked seamlessly, wirelessly and without any lags. Using Bluetooth 5.1, two devices can be connected simultaneously. Users can also connect a Bluetooth mouse like the HP Slim using a Type-C to Type-A connector and it works swiftly. During our usage, we connected a Logitech keyboard and a combination of wireless mouses, which offered a PC-like experience.
5G Performance
The Lenovo M10 5G is one of the few tablets on the market that support 5G connectivity (especially at sub $300 price point), which is the next generation of mobile network technology. 5G offers faster speed, lower latency, higher capacity, and better reliability than previous generations of mobile networks. According to Counterpoint Research, the Global Tablet Market is expected to grow in 2023, driven by the demand for 5G tablets.
The tablet can connect to different types of 5G networks around the world depending on the availability, including the network coverage. The device supports Wi-Fi calling and voice over LTE (VoLTE) features, which enable high-quality voice calls over data networks.
It provides a fast as well as seamless internet experience with its 5G capability to achieve download speeds of up to 2.4 Gbps and upload speeds of up to 660 Mbps. The device can also reduce the latency (the time it takes for data to travel between devices) to about 1 ms on 5G networks from about 50 ms on LTE networks (4G). The tablet is 5G ready, which ensures future-proof connectivity for a great viewing experience that is both high-resolution and lag-free. The tablet’s internet latency (ping) was very low on both 5G and 4G networks, not just for media consumption but also while running heavy games like PUBG and Call of Duty Mobile. However, it is worth mentioning that long hours of usage on a 5G network did result in faster battery draining as compared to on a 4G network.
Battery: Easy Full Day Usage
The 7,700mAh battery lasted us for over a day, with mixed usage. However, the battery life will differ from user to user and different use cases like gaming and streaming videos. With 20W fast charging via USB-C port, the tablet charges from 0% to 50% in about 40 minutes and from 0% to 100% in about two hours.
Decent Camera for Video Calls
The Lenovo M10 5G has a 13MP rear camera with autofocus and LED flash, and an 8MP front camera with fixed focus.
The front camera can take good selfies and support video calls with good clarity and sound quality. However, the front camera can also be afflicted with noise and distortion in low-light or backlit scenarios. Nevertheless, it can meet the basic needs of users. The mics are well-placed and capture holistic sound from all angles.
Android 13 with Some Nice Customizations from Lenovo
The software is one of the very underrated gems of this tablet. It runs Android 13 out of the box, and there are a lot of features such as multi-window, window pinning, pop-up window, split screen keyboard and dynamic taskbar for making full use of such a wide display.
The apps can be resized smoothly using a top-appearing menu option that is available at all times. The device also features Lenovo Vantage (an exclusive Lenovo product care suit) which states that Lenovo is serious about its customers’ satisfaction.
Animations across the tablet feel smooth and look beautiful. The tablet can also be used as a big clock display on your table or by your bedside. The device shows vital information such as calendars, notifications, weather, or alarms with easy access to Google Assistant. The tablet also gives the option to add more users and profiles in the OS which can help various people in a family to have their own profiles stored securely inside the tablet itself.
Conclusion
Overall, the Lenovo M10 5G is a premium-looking tablet with a decent performance. A good display, speakers tuned by Dolby Atmos, a full-day battery life, and reliable software make it a good tablet for casual users. Of course, there are certain areas where improvement is required like mics, cameras and software optimization. There is also room for the implementation of smarter and more effective features such as smarter UI capabilities and app predictions in the tablet which could be tackled over regular OTA updates promised with the device. The demand for quality, budget-friendly tablets is still largely untapped, and the Lenovo M10 5G aims to fill that gap.
