Lenovo Xiaoxin Pad 2024 Review: A Feature-Rich Budget Tablet with Impressive Upgrades

In the growing market of affordable tablets, with a multitude of options available, it can be challenging to find a tablet that offers a perfect balance of performance, design, and affordability. Lenovo, a renowned technology company, has recently provided enthusiasts with an exciting sneak peek at its entry-level tablet for the coming year, the Lenovo Xiaoxin Pad 2024. This tablet, part of Lenovo’s China-exclusive Xiaoxin line, has generated a great deal of anticipation among tech enthusiasts and tablet users.

In our in-depth review of the Lenovo Xiaoxin Pad 2024, a budget-friendly tablet that offers significant upgrades compared to its predecessors. Priced below $130, this tablet brings a host of attractive features without breaking the bank. From its sleek design to improved performance, the Xiaoxin Pad 2024 is a compelling option for those seeking an affordable yet feature-rich tablet. Join us as we dive into the details and explore the capabilities of the Xiaoxin Pad 2024.

Design And Build Quality

At first glance, the Lenovo Xiaoxin Pad 2024 shares similarities with its predecessors in terms of front design. The tablet has slim bezels surrounding the 11-inch screen, providing an immersive viewing experience. The frame of the tablet is designed with right angles, and the edges are slightly curved, reminiscent of the frame processing seen in the popular iPad series.

However, upon closer inspection, you’ll notice several notable changes in the edges and back of the tablet. The back features a camera cluster, even though it houses a single camera and a metal construction that not only looks premium but also feels great to hold resulting in a delicate and premium feel that is quite rare in its price range, Lenovo has done an excellent job with the design, giving the tablet a distinct look compared to other Chinese tablet models.

The Lenovo Xiaoxin Pad 2024 showcases an elegant and functional design that combines style and portability. It is available in two exquisite colors: a sophisticated Dove Gray and an enticing Smokey Purple, it breaks away from the monotonous tablet designs typically found in the market. The metal construction also offers advantages over glass or plastic, such as better durability and resistance to fingerprints and grease. However, Lenovo has incorporated “quasi-splicing designs” by printing patterns on the top of the back cover, creating an interesting visual effect.

The tablet features a sleek and lightweight all-metal body, weighing just 465g and measuring a mere 7.1mm in thickness. The slim and lightweight form factor makes it an attractive choice for users who value visual appeal and ease of carrying. Whether you’re using it at home, in the office, or on the go, the Lenovo Xiaoxin Pad 2024 offers a comfortable and portable tablet experience.

The tablet also includes familiar elements such as the memory card tray, and a power key. Additionally, it retains the 3.5mm headphone jack, a convenient feature for users who prefer wired audio. The placement of the buttons and ports, such as the power key, volume rockers, and USB-C port, is ergonomic and easily accessible. The tablet’s overall design is aesthetically pleasing and showcases Lenovo’s attention to detail.

One notable feature of the Xiaoxin Pad 2024 is its audio capabilities. The tablet is equipped with four speakers, with two openings on the left and right sides. These speakers support Dolby Atmos, ensuring that the sound quality remains immersive and distortion-free even at high volumes.

Display Experience & Sound Quality

The Lenovo Xiaoxin Pad 2024 boasts an 11-inch screen with a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels. The tablet utilizes an IPS LCD panel, and Lenovo’s default color tuning provides slightly dark but captivating visuals. The screen provides good color reproduction and decent viewing angles, making it enjoyable for multimedia consumption. Whether you’re watching movies, browsing photos, or reading e-books, the display delivers crisp and vibrant visuals. The tablet also supports HDR10, enhancing the dynamic range and color accuracy of compatible content.

In terms of color accuracy, the tablet covers the sRGB color gamut fully, ensuring vibrant and accurate colors. Although it may not provide professional-grade color correction, the screen’s quality is more than satisfactory for watching videos, browsing the web, and general usage. Notably, the color shift data of the Xiaoxin Pad 2024 shows a significant improvement compared to the 2022 model, ensuring accurate color representation and minimizing any color distortion.

One notable upgrade is the increased scanning frequency, which is specified at 90Hz, which is not commonly found in products within the same price range. This higher scanning frequency allows for smoother swiping operations, making tasks like web browsing and scrolling through content more enjoyable. Also, ensures smooth scrolling and fluid animations, making interactions with the tablet feel seamless and responsive.

Furthermore, the tablet offers a maximum sampling induction frequency of 181Hz, benefitting gaming enthusiasts who crave responsive touch controls. The brightness level reaches up to 400 nits, making it suitable for indoor usage. However, it’s important to note that outdoor visibility might be challenging due to the display’s brightness limitations.

Eye Protection:

One of the standout features of the Xiaoxin Pad 2024 is its commitment to eye protection. The tablet’s screen has received Rheinland hardware-level low-blue light certification, which reduces the harmful blue light emitted by the display. Combined with the built-in eye protection mode, this feature effectively minimizes eye strain and the risk of visual impairment caused by prolonged tablet usage.

Audio-visual experience

Playing the content on YouTube, was very smooth. You can play videos at a maximum of 1080p at 60FPS without any problems or lag, and up to 2K at best with some slight stutter. To further enhance the multimedia experience, the Xiaoxin Pad 2024 is equipped with quad speakers. These speakers have undergone Dolby Atmos sound effect certification, ensuring a rich and immersive audio experience. Additionally, the presence of a 3.5mm headphone jack allows you to connect your favorite wired headphones for private listening.

Performance and gaming experience

Under the hood, the Lenovo Xiaoxin Pad 2024 is powered by the Snapdragon 685 chip ensuring smooth and efficient performance for a wide range of applications and tasks. With its large-core frequency reaching 2.8GHz, the SD 685 handles daily tasks and casual gaming with ease. The processor’s capabilities enable seamless multitasking, smooth app launches, and responsive navigation throughout the tablet’s interface. This significant upgrade from the previous model ensures improved performance and smoother multitasking capabilities.

Coupled with 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 128GB of UFS 2.2 storage supports expandable storage of up to 1TB via a memory card, the tablet provides ample space for storing files, apps, and multimedia content. The configuration allows for comfortable multitasking, ensuring smooth performance even with multiple apps running simultaneously.

In terms of benchmarks, the Lenovo Xiaoxin Pad 2024 achieves a respectable AnTuTu score of 320,700 points, indicating its capability to handle a wide range of tasks.

However, it is essential to manage expectations, as the tablet’s performance might not match that of high-end devices. App loading times and switching between apps can occasionally be slower compared to more powerful tablets or laptops. Additionally, changing themes or performing certain operations within apps might exhibit some lag. Nevertheless, for everyday usage, such as browsing the web, watching videos, and attending online classes, the tablet’s performance is generally satisfactory.

While the Xiaoxin Pad 2024 is not primarily focused on gaming, it surprises me with its ability to handle demanding titles. In our tests, the tablet performed admirably in games like King of Honor, achieving 60 frames per second at high-definition settings. While higher graphics settings such as extreme/custom HDR resulted in slightly lower frame rates of 40-50 frames per second, the tablet is still capable of handling most games with ease. The Snapdragon 685 chipset proves to be competent for gaming and meets the requirements of other applications as well.

Cameras Performance and Photography:

The camera performance is decent for a tablet in this price range, but it is not the tablet’s standout feature. The Lenovo Xiaoxin Pad 2024 features an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. While these camera specifications may not be as impressive as those found on dedicated smartphones, they are adequate for video calls, online meetings, and capturing quick snapshots.

The rear camera can capture decent photos in well-lit conditions, but the quality may suffer in low-light environments due to limited sensor capabilities. The front camera is suitable for video conferencing and casual selfies. It’s important to note that the primary focus of the tablet is not on photography but on providing a balanced and affordable tablet experience. It’s important to note that tablet cameras, in general, are not known for their exceptional performance, and the Xiaoxin Pad 2024’s cameras are more geared towards basic photography needs.

System experience & UI design

The Lenovo Xiaoxin Pad 2024 runs on ZUI 15, Lenovo’s custom user interface based on the Android operating system. The tablet offers a highly customizable software experience. The software experience is clean and intuitive, with minimal bloatware. Lenovo has made efforts to optimize the software for the tablet form factor, providing a smooth and seamless user interface.

Parallel windows, allow users to run multiple applications simultaneously, side by side, on the screen. Whether you need to reference information while writing an email or compare two documents, the parallel windows feature provides a convenient and efficient multitasking experience.

Also, with split screens, multitasking becomes seamless and effortless. Additionally, ZUI 15 introduces application floating windows, which enable users to create small, resizable windows for specific applications. This feature is particularly useful when you need to keep certain apps visible while working on other tasks. For example, you can have a floating window for your messaging app while browsing the web or taking notes, ensuring that you can stay connected without interrupting your workflow.

Users can quickly switch between split screens and floating windows, adjusting their size and proportion to suit their preferences. The addition of floating window buttons simplifies split-screen and floating window operations, eliminating the need to learn complex gestures.

The software also includes features like a dark mode, gesture navigation, and a one-handed mode, enhancing the overall user experience. Lenovo has been consistent with software updates, providing security patches and occasional feature updates. Also there a Freestyle mode, which allows seamless information transfer between tablets and laptops, enhancing productivity and convenience.

One impressive aspect of Lenovo’s software is the inclusion of PC mode, which is uncommon in budget tablets. The PC mode provides a desktop-like interface, expanding the tablet’s capabilities and enabling more efficient multitasking. In comparison to counterparts from Xiaomi or Redmi, Lenovo’s interface stands out with its user-friendly design and intuitive navigation. Additionally, the tablet supports a vision mode that adjusts the display for optimal viewing experience, reducing eye strain during extended usage periods.

When connected to an external display, the tablet can extend the PC desktop, effectively expanding the display space and allowing for a more immersive and productive work environment. This feature is especially beneficial for users who need to switch between their tablet and a larger screen seamlessly.

Lenovo has also implemented various software optimizations to enhance the tablet’s performance and user experience. These optimizations include intelligent power management, which intelligently adjusts power consumption based on usage patterns, and app optimization, which improves app launch times and overall system responsiveness. These software enhancements contribute to a smoother and more efficient user experience.

Educational Features:

The tablet comes pre-installed with the “Tianjiao School” app, which provides K12 educational content from various regions. This app supports synchronous learning and after-school exercises, offering parents and students access to a wide range of educational resources. The Xiaoxin Pad 2024 also includes a “learning assistant” function, which helps parents manage their children’s tablet usage time and applications. This feature promotes healthy habits, protects vision and attention, and ensures a balanced digital lifestyle for children.

Support:

To further enhance the tablet experience, the Xiaoxin Pad 2024 is compatible with the Lenovo stylus. The stylus supports 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity, allowing for precise and natural handwriting and drawing. With an ultra-low latency of 25ms, the stylus provides a responsive and lag-free writing experience.

With the stylus, users can take shorthand notes, annotate documents, and even remotely control PowerPoint presentations by turning pages. The tablet’s support for the Lenovo stylus adds versatility and creativity to the user experience, making it an attractive option for artists, designers, and individuals who prefer handwriting or precise input methods.

The Xiaoxin Pad 2024 offers convenient storage for the stylus on the side of the tablet or in a special protective clip, ensuring that it is always within reach. For users who prioritize productivity and creativity, it is highly recommended to purchase the Xiaoxin Pad 2024 along with the stylus and protective clip, as they complement each other perfectly.

Battery Life and Charging:

Lenovo has equipped the Xiaoxin Pad 2024 with a sizable 7040mAh battery, providing ample power for extended usage. This is great for users who need a tablet that can keep up with their daily activities without frequent recharging. In our tests, while playing League of Legends for one hour, the battery level dropped from 50% to 32%, consuming 18% of the battery capacity. Similarly, watching YouTube for one hour resulted in a drop from 50% to 33%, consuming 17% of the battery capacity. The tablet can support over 5 hours of gaming or approximately 6 hours of audio and video playback, making it suitable for extended usage periods.

Charging the tablet from 1% to 100% took a total of 110 minutes, with 30 minutes required to reach 31% and an hour to reach 60%. The 20W wired charging, which supports QC 3.0, ensures a reasonably fast charging speed, allowing users to quickly recharge their devices.

Final verdict:

The Lenovo Xiaoxin Pad2024 proves to be a worthy successor to its predecessor, offering notable improvements in design, display, performance, battery life, and additional features. The Xiaoxin Pad 2024 seems poised to make a significant impact in the tablet market, not only in China but potentially worldwide. Its sleek design, premium build quality, and comfortable form factor make it a pleasure to use and hold. The 11-inch screen with increased scanning frequency enhances the user experience, delivering smoother touch controls and improved responsiveness. The tablet’s high-refresh-rate display enhanced audio capabilities, and efficient multitasking support provide an immersive multimedia experience.

The Xiaoxin Pad 2024 is a budget-friendly gem with notable upgrades compared to its predecessors. The tablet’s performance, powered by the Snapdragon 685 chip and supported by ample RAM and storage, ensures smooth multitasking and efficient handling of various tasks. Lenovo’s software customization options, including the PC mode and vision mode, further enhance the tablet’s versatility and user-friendliness. The tablet’s long battery life and fast charging capabilities ensure extended usage and minimal downtime.

While the camera performance may not be its strongest suit, it is still serviceable for basic photography needs. So, the Lenovo Xiaoxin Pad 2024 at $129 its a worthy contender for those in search of an affordable yet feature-rich tablet with well-designed and offers significant upgrades over its predecessors.