Lenovo’s ‘gaming tablet’ is no match for handheld consoles or smartphones

Lenovo has today confirmed its Legion Tab gaming tablet will launch outside of China, but I’m not sure the handheld consoles or gaming smartphones of this world have anything to worry about. 

The Legion Tab is an Android gaming tablet which supposedly delivers “exceptional gaming performance” making it one of the first Android slates to launch with a full-on focus on gaming. 

Looking at the spec sheet, the Legion Tab has some impressive and interesting features, headlined by an 8.8-inch Quad HD+ ‘PureSight’ display with a 144Hz refresh rate and dual USB-C ports. But does anyone need or want a device like this? 

Of course, other tablets from the likes of Apple, Google and Samsung can play games, but they aren’t marketed as gaming machines primarily.

Even Asus, which has pumped out eight generations of ROG Phone gaming smartphone, hasn’t tried a gaming Android tablet yet – the closest device being the ROG Flow Z13 which is a Windows-powered tablet priced at £1,899. 

And wouldn’t Razer, one of the world’s most well-renowned gaming brands, have tried this already? The firm seemingly gave up on gaming phones after just two generations. 

Really, the Legion Tab is going up against handheld consoles as well as gaming phones. The former are better equipped (with gaming controls at the very least), and the latter are more convenient. 

Lenovo does have, of course, its own portable console in the Legion Go. But the price and specs of the Legion Tab means I wouldn’t recommend anyone buys it over a handheld console or smartphone.

One reason you might go for a tablet is its larger display, but at 8.8-inches, the Legion Tab’s is identical to the Legion Go.

The Legion Tab will also start at €599 when it goes on sale this month, despite including a chipset in the form of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, which was released back in mid-2022.

It’s also lagging behind its stablemate, the Legion Go, with only 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage compared with 16/512GB on the console. 

While it’s a bit lighter, that really isn’t enough. Other key features such as vapour cooling, haptic feedback and 45W charging are fairly basic features that you’ll find on plenty of other gadgets.

Perhaps the Legion Tab floats your boat, but if I were you, I’d spend the extra on the Legion Go, a rival handheld console or a gaming smartphone with a large screen. For most people, the Legion Tab simply isn’t a smart choice.