Lenovo Lenovo Tab Series 8.7" Tab One Review

The Lenovo Tab One has battery life in the 98th percentile, meaning it lasts forever, but its screen is in the 12th percentile, meaning it looks bad. It's a cheap, portable tablet for reading and videos if you can tolerate a fuzzy display.

The Lenovo Tab One is a compact Android tablet that's all about portability and battery life. At just 454 grams, it's easy to carry, and its 5100mAh battery lands in the 98th percentile, meaning it lasts far longer than most tablets we test. That's the headline. The rest of the specs, like the 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, are squarely in the budget category, making this a device for very specific, lightweight tasks.

Lenovo pitches this for entertainment, learning, and personal use, and our scoring backs that up. It's best for reading, scoring a 44.9 out of 100 in that category, while it's weakest for art and design work at a dismal 25.6. So, think books and videos, not Photoshop.

Performance here is a mixed bag, leaning towards the budget side. The MediaTek Helio G85 processor and 4GB of RAM put the CPU and RAM performance in the 41st and 35th percentiles respectively. That's middle-of-the-pack to slightly underwhelming. You'll get smooth browsing and basic app use, but don't expect it to handle intensive gaming or multitasking with many apps open. The GPU score is similarly average at the 42nd percentile. The real standout is connectivity, with WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 landing in the 92nd percentile, so downloads and streaming should be reliable. The biggest letdown is the screen. Its 8.7-inch, 1340x800 resolution display scores in the 12th percentile, meaning it's one of the worst we've seen for clarity and sharpness.

This tablet sits in a very narrow $100-$120 price range. For that money, you're getting unbeatable battery life and decent connectivity, but you're sacrificing almost everything else, especially screen quality. It's a classic trade-off. If your top priority is a device that won't die on a long trip and you only need it for reading and streaming, the value is there. If you care about a nice screen or want to do more than the basics, you're better off looking at even slightly more expensive options.

Compared to other budget tablets, the Tab One's battery is its secret weapon. The Xiaomi Redmi Pad 2, for example, might have a better screen but likely won't match this battery stamina. Against more capable tablets like the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10+ or Lenovo Yoga Tab Plus, the Tab One falls apart. Those devices have superior screens, more RAM, and much faster processors, but they cost several times more. The Apple iPad Pro is in a completely different league. The Tab One's closest competition is itself, it's a niche device for a niche need: maximum battery life in a small, cheap package.

Skip this tablet if you care about screen quality. Its display ranks in the 12th percentile, among the worst we've tested. Artists, designers, or anyone who watches a lot of video should avoid it. Also skip it if you need to multitask with many apps or store a lot of files, as the 4GB RAM and 64GB storage are below average. It's a device for one or two simple jobs, not a daily driver.

We can only recommend the Lenovo Tab One if your needs are incredibly specific. You must prioritize battery life above all else and be content with a low-quality screen and limited performance. For a student needing a device just for reading textbooks or a traveler who wants a media player for long flights, it could work. For almost anyone else, especially if you value a good viewing experience, the compromises are too great. The data shows it's a specialist, not a generalist.