Lenovo TAB 2 A10-70 Tablet Review
Lenovo introduced the 10-inch TAB 2 A10-70 and the smaller 8-inch TAB 2 A8 at the MWC (Mobile World Congress) 2015. The new Android slate is the successor to the IdeaPad A10 Tablet, which we reviewed last summer. Lenovo is of course no stranger to tablets and covers the full gamut ranging from the consumer-oriented and Android-based 7-inch TAB 2 A7-10 selling for only $80 to the Windows-equipped ThinkPad 10, which caters to business users and starts at $590, but can go as high as $890. The TAB 2 A8 features a 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek MT8161 SoC and sells for $120.
At the time of writing, the Chinese manufacturer offers two budget A10 models differing only in capacity of their flash storage: our review tablet retails for $200 and comes with 16 GB of eMMC storage; the version with 32 GB sells for $20 more. The slate comes with a Full-HD 10-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels and compares well to Lenovo's own Yoga Tablet 2 with built-in stand for $250 and Acer's Iconia Tab 10 A3-A30, which we were able to find online for around $270.
Some competitors like the Samsung Galaxy Tab A 9.7 have a much lower resolution - only 1024 x 768 pixels in this case - while others offer a substantially higher pixel count. An example is the high-end 8.4-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4, which sports a mega-resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels on its 8.4-inch display, or the (perennial favorite) Apple iPad Air 2 with 2048 x 1536 pixels.
Case
The case design is fairly generic albeit not necessarily unattractive with rounded corners and edges and a polycarbonate back in "midnight blue", as Lenovo calls the color. White is available as an option as well. A perforated strip running lengthwise on the back - with the rear-facing camera lens right in the middle of it - hides the multi-speaker sound bar with Dolby Atmos technology. The bezel up front is fairly wide, which doesn't do much for looks, but can actually be an advantage insofar as it prevents fingers from accidentally triggering the touchscreen when holding the slate - a problem we frequently encountered when working with the super-slim Dell Venue 8 7000.
Stability is good with the back resisting pressure in the center quite well, although some give is noticeable. Torsional rigidity is also pretty good, but our twisting attempts were accompanied by creaking sounds emanating mostly from the bottom left corner with the tablet in landscape mode. Tolerances are tight though and the gaps barely noticeable.
With a thickness of 8.9 mm and a weight of 518 g, the TAB 2 A10 is reasonably thin and light for a budget device - both a little thinner and lighter than the Acer Iconia Tab 10 A3-A20 - but of course it can't be compared to the dimensions and weight of the super-svelte and much more expensive iPad Air 2 at 6.1 mm and 444 g, respectively.
Connectivity
Port selection is limited as expected with a microUSB port and MicroSD card slot, but no physical video-out connection. Other - marginally more expensive - budget models, like the aforementioned Iconia Tab 10 A3-A20 and Lenovo's own Yoga Tablet 10 come with a Mini-HDMI port. The microUSB port supports USB OTG and recognized our thumb drive immediately. The micro-SD card slot (up to 64 GB) is hidden under a flap on the left edge/back. This location is also home to the SIM card slot for 4G connectivity available on certain models.
Communication & GPS
Wireless connectivity is provided by a dual-band Wifi module (2.4GHz 802.11 b/g/n + 5GHz 802.11 a) and Bluetooth 4.0. Connectivity to our router (a Netgear Nighthawk) was very good with the signal strength still at -57 dBm db about 10 meters away.
At the time of writing, Lenovo only offers the Wifi version of the TAB 2 A10, although a future model should offer cellular 4G LTE support as well.
The GPS module supports Glonass and Beidou as well and was able to establish a lock outside within 30 - 45 sec with the accuracy generally around the 7 m mark; indoors the connection was established nearly as quickly, but of course with lower accuracy. The quality of the GPS module Lenovo has installed is certainly a welcome surprise. Many other devices take significantly longer to establish a lock in similar conditions.
Cameras & Multimedia
The front-facing 5 MP fixed-focus camera offers average quality for an entry-level tablet despite the higher resolution and captures enough details with fairly accurate colors, although purple fringing was very noticeable. Low-light performance is absolutely dismal with the resulting photos appearing way too dark and grainy due to image noise. The output is still good enough for video-conferencing purposes or selfies as long as there is sufficient light. The rear-facing 8 MP camera offers auto-focus and is capable of quite decent pictures. Just like the front camera, the rear assembly lacks a flash, so indoor shots can get noisy as well. Once again, images in low-light conditions turned out too dark. All things considered, the two cameras offer a decent user experience with the quality ever so slightly - but not by much - above other budget offerings.
Accessories
Given the targeted user group, dedicated accessories are not available, but Lenovo sells various generic products like a Logitech tablet keyboard for $75 or a folio case for $20.
Software
While the Tab 2 A10-70 originally shipped with Android 4.4 KitKat, Lenovo made 5.0 available as an update in July. Our review slate already came with Lollipop 5.0.1 installed. Thankfully, Lenovo hasn't modified the Google OS heavily, so the system is straightforward and simple to navigate and remains clutter-free since Lenovo also kept the pre-installed apps to a minimum to reduce bloat.
Warranty
The TAB 2 A10 is protected by a standard one-year warranty. Additional coverage is available as well with a 2 year depot warranty costing $47 at the time of the review.
Input Devices
The capacitive touchscreen of the TAB 2 A10 is able to recognize 10 simultaneous touch inputs both reliably and quickly.
Lenovo supplies only the standard Android keyboard with Swype supported as well. Other keyboards can be downloaded from the Google Play Store. Thanks to the integrated pager motor, haptic feedback is provided as well if the user so desires. Typing on the 10-inch display is of course much easier than on smaller devices and the corresponding error rate is lower. Thanks to the curved back the tablet is easy to hold while the slightly rubberized coating prevents excessive slipping. The physical buttons don't provide a lot of feedback and could be a little larger in our opinion, but they work pretty well overall.
Display
The A10-70 makes use of a 10.1-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels and an aspect ratio of 16:10. The corresponding PPI is 224, which is certainly adequate considering that many low-cost alternatives have a much lower pixel count. Text and images are crisp with well-defined edges. Colors are not quite as vivid as on higher-end devices but should still satisfy most users.
To get an idea of the quality of the backlight, we measure the brightness across nine quadrants. The tablet averaged about 335 nits, which is on par with many other budget tablets, but lags behind Lenovo's own Yoga Tablet 2 at close to 400 nits. Higher-end tablets get much brighter still: the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4, for example, can surpass 500 nits when automatic brightness control is enabled.
Thanks to a very low black value, the contrast ratio is astoundingly high at 1848:1, which makes watching movies a pleasure. None of the tablets we've mentioned so far come close - even Apple's iPad Air 2 lags far behind at 700:1. OLED displays - like the one featured on the Galaxy Tab S 8.4 - have a black level of 0 nits and thus a theoretically infinite contrast ratio. Of course, the Tab S 8.4 is also significantly more expensive and also has a smaller display.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 88 %
Center on Battery: 352.9 cd/m²
Contrast: 1848:1 (Black: 0.191 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 4.31 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.92
ΔE Greyscale 4.36 | 0.5-98 Ø5.2
Gamma: 2.33
| Lenovo TAB2 A10-70 Mali-T760 MP2, MT8165, 16 GB eMMC Flash | Acer Iconia Tab 10 A3-A30 HD Graphics (Bay Trail), Z3735F, 32 GB eMMC Flash | Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 1050F HD Graphics (Bay Trail), Z3745, 16 GB eMMC Flash | Samsung Galaxy Tab A 9.7 SM-T555 Adreno 306, 410 APQ8016, 16 GB eMMC Flash | Apple iPad Air 2 2014 PowerVR GXA6850, A8X, 128 GB eMMC Flash | HP Pavilion 10-k000ng x2 HD Graphics (Bay Trail), Z3736F, 32 GB eMMC Flash | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | ||||||
| Display P3 Coverage | 42.73 | |||||
| sRGB Coverage | 64.3 | |||||
| AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 44.15 | |||||
| Screen | -39% | -28% | -26% | -21% | -9% | |
| Brightness middle | 352.9 | 343 -3% | 424 20% | 394 12% | 423 20% | 329 -7% |
| Brightness | 335 | 328 -2% | 399 19% | 392 17% | 427 27% | 302 -10% |
| Brightness Distribution | 88 | 88 0% | 88 0% | 80 -9% | 92 5% | 88 0% |
| Black Level * | 0.191 | 0.38 -99% | 0.43 -125% | 0.51 -167% | 0.61 -219% | 0.27 -41% |
| Contrast | 1848 | 903 -51% | 986 -47% | 773 -58% | 693 -62% | 1219 -34% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 4.31 | 6.86 -59% | 5.42 -26% | 3.59 17% | 2.86 34% | 3.93 9% |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 4.36 | 6.95 -59% | 6.04 -39% | 4.25 3% | 2.37 46% | 3.42 22% |
| Gamma | 2.33 94% | 2.32 95% | 2.6 85% | 2.56 86% | 2.43 91% | 2.36 93% |
| CCT | 7045 92% | 7249 90% | 6740 96% | 7148 91% | 6941 94% | 6982 93% |
| Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998) | 88 | 41 | ||||
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | -39% /
-39% | -28% /
-28% | -26% /
-26% | -21% /
-21% | -9% /
-9% |
* ... smaller is better
Our analysis with a spectrophotometer and the CalMAN software show very decent DeltaE-deviation values of around 4.5 for both grayscale and colors. Even at higher saturation levels, the colors remain reasonably accurate with only a few outliers. The color temperature is a bit cool at 7000K but the display is essentially free of a noticeable bluish cast.
Outdoor usability is decent although direct sunlight needs to be avoided at all cost, as the display is highly reflective and the pretty high brightness can't overcome the glare. Working in the shade or indoors doesn't pose any problems, however.
Typical for IPS displays, the viewing angles are very good. Even at very shallow angles, the display content remains perfectly readable without any adverse affects like excessive screen darkening or inversion of the colors. Watching a movie with other uses is therefore certainly possible without any restrictions.
Performance
When Lenovo announced the new tablets, the TAB 2 A10 was slated to ship with a 1.5 GHz Mediatek MT8165 QC Processor. Lenovo has since then revised the specs and lists a processor speed of 1.7 GHz for the review tablet on the product page. The tool "Droid Info" did indeed report a clock speed of 1.7 GHz.
The 64-bit capable SoC is based on the Cortex-A53 design and should generally be sufficient for most consumer-oriented tasks like browsing and simple applications. As the Geekbench 3 scores below indicate, the TAB 2 A10 offers comparable performance to the Acer Iconia Tab 10 A3-A30, which is equipped with the Intel Atom Z3736F. Although the browser scores are not that great when compared to others, we didn't feel that the tablet was particularly slow and required a lot of patience while surfing the web.
| PCMark for Android - Work performance score (sort by value) | |
| Lenovo TAB2 A10-70 | |
| Acer Iconia Tab 10 A3-A30 | |
| AnTuTu v5 - Total Score (sort by value) | |
| Lenovo TAB2 A10-70 | |
| Acer Iconia Tab 10 A3-A30 | |
| Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 1050F | |
| Samsung Galaxy Tab A 9.7 SM-T555 | |
| Octane V2 - Total Score (sort by value) | |
| Lenovo TAB2 A10-70 | |
| HP Pavilion 10-k000ng x2 | |
| Acer Iconia Tab 10 A3-A30 | |
| Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 1050F | |
| Samsung Galaxy Tab A 9.7 SM-T555 | |
| Apple iPad Air 2 2014 | |
| Google V8 Ver. 7 - Google V8 Ver. 7 Score (sort by value) | |
| Lenovo TAB2 A10-70 | |
| Acer Iconia Tab 10 A3-A30 | |
| Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 1050F | |
| Samsung Galaxy Tab A 9.7 SM-T555 | |
| Apple iPad Air 2 2014 | |
| Mozilla Kraken 1.1 - Total (sort by value) | |
| Lenovo TAB2 A10-70 | |
| HP Pavilion 10-k000ng x2 | |
| Acer Iconia Tab 10 A3-A30 | |
| Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 1050F | |
| Samsung Galaxy Tab A 9.7 SM-T555 | |
| Apple iPad Air 2 2014 | |
| Sunspider - 1.0 Total Score (sort by value) | |
| Lenovo TAB2 A10-70 | |
| HP Pavilion 10-k000ng x2 | |
| Acer Iconia Tab 10 A3-A30 | |
| Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 1050F | |
| Samsung Galaxy Tab A 9.7 SM-T555 | |
| Apple iPad Air 2 2014 | |
* ... smaller is better
System Performance
Thanks to the quad-core SoC and 2 GB of RAM, the system performance leaves little to be desired - especially when one considers the price point. The device even handled heavier multi-tasking sessions reasonably well and responded without major lag most of the time. Video playback was also always stutter-free with no skipped frames regardless of the video quality.
Storage Devices
As mentioned in the intro, Lenovo sells two versions of the TAB 2 10 with either 16 GB or 32 GB of internal storage. Our review slate features the former flash drive with only about 10.5 GB accessible to the user. Upgrading from 16 GB to 32 GB only costs $20, which is certainly not unreasonable and thus something we can wholeheartedly recommended. Of course, it's also possible to use microSD cards with up to 64 GB to expand the storage.
To get an idea of the performance of the eMMC flash drive we use the tool AndroBench 3. The sequential read speeds are on par even with much higher-priced tablets, but the sequential write and random read and write speeds are slower than expected. For the given price point, the performance is certainly OK.
| 3DMark Ice Storm Standard Score | 10061 points | |
Help | ||
Gaming Performance
The integrated ARM Mali-T760 MP2 runs at 500 MHz and is certainly no powerhouse with a Ice Storm Extreme score of just under 5800 points. As far as pure performance is concerned, the ARM-GPU simply can't compete with Intel's HD Graphics (Bay Trail), which is integrated in the Atom processor of the Acer Iconia Tab 10 A3-A30. Acer's slate scored around 8000 points during the same test - a plus of almost 40 %. That said, even more 3D-intensive games like DeadTrigger are playable without any obvious lag. Of course entry-level games like Angry Birds pose no problem at all.
Temperature
During idle, the surface temperatures average below 30 degrees C on the front as well as the back with no apparent hot spots. During the stability test - which stresses both the CPU and the GPU simultaneously - and with the tablet in landscape mode, the left top corner maxes out at about 36 degrees C, which is still an acceptable value and no reason for concern. Temperatures should be quite a bit lower during everyday use - although the index and middle fingers of the left hand are always going to be noticeably warmer.
(+) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 32 °C / 90 F, compared to the average of 33.7 °C / 93 F, ranging from 20.7 to 53.2 °C for the class Tablet.
(+) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 36.4 °C / 98 F, compared to the average of 33.2 °C / 92 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 25.9 °C / 79 F, compared to the device average of 30 °C / 86 F.
Speakers
Most users will expect tinny, uninspiring sound from budget mobile devices - and normally rightfully so. The TAB 2 A10 is certainly different in that aspect, as the speakers sound quite a bit better than we could've hoped for. The slate feature Dolby's ATMOS technology with speakers integrated in a rear-facing sound bar on the top. While there's a noticeable difference with the virtual surround sound enabled, we can't really confirm a 3D listening experience, although the clarity and depth are a cut above other budget tablets. Voices can sound a bit shrill, however and bass is of course lacking as well - not surprising given how thin tablets have become. Due to the location of the speakers, the sound also changes noticeable when the tablet is placed on a hard surface compared to sitting upright in a stand. Connecting a headphone is a revelation, as the 3D effect is clearly audible now. Of course, one could argue that stereo sound shouldn't ever come from behind - but most users who take a listen will probably find that the enjoyment value improves noticeably with the Sound Virtualizer turned on.
Battery Life
For our WiFi test, we set the display to 150 nits - in case of the TAB 2 A10 that's about 50 % - and run our browsing script. The tablet with the 7200 mAH battery ran for about 8.5 hours, which is certainly an acceptable result and comparable to the performance of the Acer's Iconia Tab 10 A3-A30. The Samsung Galaxy Tab A 9.7 clearly outclasses all competitors with run times of 14 hours plus. Still, for most users the battery will last a full day under normal use.
The results of the test to establish the minimum run time had us scratching our heads, as the numbers ended up being very close to those of the Wifi test - despite the fact that the screen was set to 100 % brightness. It appears that the cores of the SoC are heavily throttled during a stress test and fluctuate rapidly between below 500 MHz and 1.7 GHz. Still, since the various benchmark test show decent performance overall, this shouldn't be a reason for concern. The result of 436 min in the table below is from the GFXBench Battery Test.
| Lenovo TAB2 A10-70 Mali-T760 MP2, MT8165, 16 GB eMMC Flash | Acer Iconia Tab 10 A3-A30 HD Graphics (Bay Trail), Z3735F, 32 GB eMMC Flash | Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 1050F HD Graphics (Bay Trail), Z3745, 16 GB eMMC Flash | Samsung Galaxy Tab A 9.7 SM-T555 Adreno 306, 410 APQ8016, 16 GB eMMC Flash | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battery Runtime | -7% | 5% | 63% | |
| Reader / Idle | 1155 | 1564 35% | 1391 20% | 2950 155% |
| WiFi v1.3 | 515 | 485 -6% | 862 67% | |
| Load | 436 | 221 -49% | 390 -11% | 297 -32% |
| WiFi | 751 |
Pros
Cons
Verdict
The Lenovo TAB 2 A10 is a worthy 10.1-inch tablet and a definite improvement over the predecessor IdeaPad A10 Tablet. The slate offers a bright IPS display panel with Full-HD resolution, a decent quad-core SoC and an above-average sound system. Despite the rather uninspiring design, the build quality is decent, although the creaking sounds when handling the tablet can get a bit annoying after a while. We also wish that Lenovo had integrated a physical video-out, since that omission limits the multimedia capabilities somewhat. At the time of this article, the tablet is available for around $180 on Amazon - quite a bargain in our opinion.
Lenovo TAB2 A10-70
- 08/28/2015 v4 (old)
Bernie Pechlaner
Price comparison
