What you need to know
- Lenovo announced two new tablets at CES 2023: the Lenovo Tab Extreme and Lenovo Smart Paper.
- The 14.5-inch Tab Extreme uses the MediaTek Dimensity 9000 chip and has dual-mode accessories for both productivity and play.
- The 10.3-inch Smart Paper e-ink tablet is designed for note-taking and has dual mics for recording meetings or classes.
At CES 2023, Lenovo announced a tablet that will directly challenge the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra for Android enthusiasts: the Lenovo Tab Extreme, which lives up to its name.
While we don't know how much the Extreme will cost or when it'll launch, we do know it'll have a 14.5-inch display with 3000 x 1876 resolution, DCI-P3 color spectrum, and 120Hz refresh rate. It'll be powered by the Dimensity 9000, a chip that more than matches the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 found in the Tab S8 series in performance.
Even more intriguing, the Tab Extreme will use eight JBL speakers — four woofers and four tweeters with Dolby Atmos support — that essentially double what other premium tablets like the Tab S8 Ultra and iPad Pro offer.
It'll have two USB-C ports for DP-in and DP-out that'll make it far easier to connect the tablet to a laptop or monitor, whichever use case you prefer. They'll also let you reverse-charge multiple devices using the behemoth-level 12300mAh battery.
Weighing 740g (14g more than the Tab S8 Ultra), the Tab Extreme isn't meant for prolonged handheld use, which means the accessories are just as important. Lenovo says that the Tab Extreme will ship with a magnetically-attachable dual-mode stand that lets you prop it up in portrait or landscape mode, as well as the Lenovo Precision Pen 3.
It also has a dedicated dual-hinge keyboard that lets you angle the tablet as you prefer, though it is "sold separately in some markets." We weren't a fan of the expensive Tab S8 Ultra Book Cover Keyboard, so if Lenovo's keyboard gives a better experience and comes with the tablet in some areas, that'll make it a compelling option as a work tablet.
While Samsung and Amazon are the two biggest names in Android tablets, Lenovo has consistently released its own stock Android slabs for years, well before the software improved enough with Android 12L to make them usable.
While Lenovo makes several of the best Android tablets like the Tab P12 Pro and P11 Pro Gen 2, it hasn't always done the best job of supporting its tablets with post-release software, but the Lenovo Tab Extreme will launch with Android 13 and will receive three OS updates to Android 16.
The Tab Extreme leaked last November, and the CES 2023 announcement mostly confirmed the specifications we saw months ago. The main difference is that it was supposed to use 8GB of RAM, while Lenovo claims it'll use a 12GB/256GB configuration; it's possible a cheaper version will downgrade the memory, but anyone using it for serious work will want the extra processing power.
While we're most interested in its Android tablet, we also found Lenovo's other CES tablet announcement pretty interesting. The Lenovo Smart Paper e-ink tablet will compete against other e-ink tablets like the Kindle Scribe and Onyx Boox series.
What we find especially cool is the recording feature, which lets you capture audio and associate it with the notes you're taking at the time. If you find a note you wrote but can't remember what it means, you can tap it with the stylus to play back whatever was being said at the time in the saved recording.
The tablet will also auto-transcribe your handwritten notes so that they're searchable, as well as transcribe your audio recordings. And your notes can be synced to other Android, iOS, or WIndows devices.
The Lenovo Tab Extreme will have an extreme price tag for most people. If you want a compromise that isn't actually a bad tablet, the P11 Pro 2nd Gen also has a pretty 120Hz AMOLED display, reliable performance and battery life, and rich audio for a reasonable price.
