Lenovo Yoga Tab 13 vs. Yoga Tab 11: What's the difference and which should you buy?

Lenovo Yoga Tab 13

The upcoming Lenovo Yoga Tab 13 is likely to be an affordable alternative to a premium tablet like the iPad Pro and a powerful workhorse for those who want to use it for productivity in addition to bandwidth-intensive entertainment, like gaming and watching HD videos.

Lenovo Yoga Tab 11

Better suited for use by the whole family, parents will appreciate the dedicated Google Kids Space section along with the included built-in stainless-steel kickstand that can also double as a wall hanger. It's not as powerful, but as a tablet, you can confidently hand it over to your kids. Plus, the price is right.

Admittedly, when you think about the best Android tablets, Lenovo probably isn't the first brand that comes to mind. But it should be on the list, as the company offers some great, affordable, tablet alternatives to the usual Samsung Galaxy and Apple iPad. With Lenovo's experience in the laptop sector, the company knows what people want when it comes to an on-the-go device they can use to get work done, watch movies, play games, or even hand over to the kids for entertainment. Looking at two of the newest models, the Lenovo Yoga Tab 13 vs. Yoga Tab 11, it might be tough to decide which will best suit your needs. Here, we compare and contrast the main features to help you make the right decision.

There are some marked differences between these two tablets, and while both are great options worth considering, the decision of which one to buy really depends on how, where, and who will be using it.

Lenovo Yoga Tab 13 vs. Yoga Tab 11: Fit and finish

Immediately, from the way these two tablets look, you can tell that one is meant for business and one for family. The Lenovo Yoga Tab 13 is designed in a Shadow black finish with an Alcantara backing that gives it a look of prestige and elegance. Unfortunately, it will likely come with a price tag to match that's much more expensive than the Yoga Tab 11 (upgraded features play a role here, too). In fact, many early reviews dub the Lenovo Yoga Tab 13 as a viable iPad Pro competitor, which says a lot since it might very well come in at half the price of that Apple tablet.

By contrast, the Lenovo Yoga Tab 11 is finished in Storm Grey fabric that is soft to the touch, making it kid-friendly, as well as heat-resistant and durable, so you don't need to worry about slippery fingers. This looks sleek and stylish for the office or school, too, but other features suggest it's more designed for the family.

Both come with the cool built-in stainless-steel kickstand that can be used to prop the device up on a table or desk or even flipped over to hand it up on the wall. For the Tab 13, this might come in handy while you work, using it as a secondary monitor. But with a more family-friendly tablet like the Tab 11, it could be useful for propping a screen up in the kitchen to entertain a baby or toddler while you get their food ready, or for displaying recipes while you cook, keeping on top of the news broadcast while you get ready for an evening out – you name it. We reviewed the Lenovo Yoga Smart Tab that comes with a similar kickstand built-in and absolutely loved the design. So, with this new set-up that likely improved on some of the older version's shortcomings (and lets you hang the device on the wall, too!), it's a neat feature you'll get with either tablet.

The Yoga Tab 13, as the name implies, comes with a 13-inch LTPS display that boasts 2,160x1,350-pixel resolution, which will make for stunning graphics and videos. Indeed, it also has Dolby Vision and the full 2K sRGB color palette along with 400 nits of brightness and a 60Hz refresh rate. The Yoga Tab 11 has a smaller 11-inch IPS screen with 2,000x1,200-pixel resolution, which is still pretty decent, along with the same 400 nits of brightness. TUV certification in both will help reduce harmful blue light to help ease strain on your eyes after lengthy sessions.

Both combine the stunning visuals with equally stunning audio thanks to JBL quad speakers with Dolby Atmos support for a fully immersive listening experience. They both also feature the Lenovo Premium Audio tuning for further improving sound.

The Yoga Tab 11 is, not surprisingly, smaller in dimensions and lighter by just under half a pound, which might be something that sways your decision. However, one big difference is that the Yoga Tab 13 does not have a microSD card for expanding the 128GB of storage space. Of course, if you use cloud services, this might not matter. But it's worth keeping in mind as it's never fun to run out of space on a tablet or phone, particularly if you like to store videos and photos and download games and apps locally to the device.

Lenovo Yoga Tab 13 vs. Yoga Tab 11: All about the power and specs

There are no bones about it: the Lenovo Yoga Tab 13 is a more powerful tablet all-around, with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 octa-core processor compared to the Yoga Tab 11's MediaTek Helio G90T octa-core processor, along with Qualcomm Adreno 650 GPU graphics. Both support augmented reality (AR) experiences via a Time-of-Flight camera. But the Yoga Tab 11 actually has two cameras: an 8MP auto-focus rear and 8MP fixed-focus front, the latter with wide-angle and ToF. The Yoga Tab 13, on the other hand, only has one 8MP RGB ToF camera. Combine this with the wide-angle of the Yoga Tab 11's front camera and noise-canceling, and it's a good option for video calls, which means you can indeed use it for work purposes, too, if you want.

However, other features suggest that the Yoga Tab 11 is better designed for families – namely, the inclusion of the Google Kids Space, a dedicated space for kids with tons of age-appropriate content, apps, and more. All of this can be managed through a Family Link account with Google.

Both tablets also include the dedicated Entertainment Space, which lets you swipe right to immediately call up all your entertainment subscriptions and apps in one space, from those that let you access movies and television shows to eBooks. The Yoga Tab 13 is actually Netflix HD-certified so that you can ensure a pleasurable viewing experience from that particular service.

The Yoga Tab 13 also offers low latency on AAA titles with Cloud gaming, making it a suitable tablet for downtime entertainment and gaming as it is for work. Speaking of work, it also has a micro-HDMI port that transforms it into a secondary display to use alongside a laptop while multitasking. Both also work with the optional Lenovo Precision Pen 2 stylus.

With twice as much memory at 8GB versus 4GB, you'll find the Yoga Tab 13 better for multitasking and accessing tons of apps and bandwidth-intensive programs at once. It also offers faster WiFi 6 and more reliable Bluetooth 5.2, though the WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 support in the Yoga Tab 11 isn't lacking by any means.

However, when it comes to battery life, you'll get more use per day out of the Yoga Tab 11 with a rate of up to 15 hours of battery life versus the Yoga Tab 13's rated 12 hours. Both do offer quick charge options, though, the Yoga Tab 13 via a 30W charger and the Yoga Tab 11 via a 20W.

Lenovo Yoga Tab 13 vs. Yoga Tab 11: Which should you choose?

This decision should be easy if you're looking for a tablet to use for productivity, whether it's work or school. Given the features of the Lenovo Yoga Tab 13 that rival a tablet likely twice its price like the Apple iPad Pro, it's a no-brainer to save up and opt for this one. The extra power and twice as much memory are huge factors worth considering. However, the fact that you can't expand beyond the 128GB of storage via an optional microSD memory card might hold you back from buying this one.

With that said, if you're looking for a tablet to use at home that the family can share, including young kids, the Lenovo Yoga Tab 11 is the better option. Features like the Google Kids Space might trump the slightly lesser screen, processor, and memory specs. And the ability to add more content locally through an optional microSD memory card is a huge bonus, as is the longer rated battery life. Plus, you can still use it for work purposes as needed, especially for video calls, thanks to the wide-angle camera and noise cancellation. Opt for the Precision Pen 2, and it becomes a great tablet for jotting down meeting or class lecture notes, too. The smaller screen and more compact size it affords could be a dealbreaker as well.

Bottom line: When it comes to the Lenovo Yoga Tab 13 vs. Yoga Tab 11, if you're looking for a tablet primarily to use for work or secondary or post-secondary schooling, the Lenovo Yoga Tab 13 is worth the extra bucks. For use at home or as a tablet young kids can use on the go that you might also bring with you to work on occasion, the Lenovo Yoga Tab 11 might suit you just fine. And at a much cheaper price, it'll put extra money in your pocket to invest in things like the Precision Pen 2 and a microSD card to get more out of the experience.