Artist Review: Lenovo Idea Tab Pro (Xiaoxin Pad Pro 12.7 2025)

Not a sponsored review

The Lenovo Idea Tab Pro was released in March 2025 and is an Android 14 tablet that comes with a 12.7-inch LCD, 8GB RAM, 256GB storage and the MediaTek Dimensity 8300 processor. This has the global ROM and has official support for Google Play Store.

This tablet is also known as the Xiaoxin Pad Pro 12.7 (2025) with China ROM and the Moto Pad 60 Pro. These three tablets have the same specifications and design, with the only difference being the brand that's visible on the back of the tablet. This tablet is a white label product.

I actually had no idea this tablet existed until my Youtube viewers requested many times that I should review this. This is quite a good tablet even if it's not as popular compared to tablets from Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi or even Huawei.

Price

Price here in Singapore is around S$499 (USD385) for the tablet alone or S$599 (USD463) with pen and keyboard case.

I bought mine from Lenovo store on Shopee SG for S$539 (USD 416) after discount and this includes the pen and keyboard case. By the way, the 10.9-inch Samsung Tab S10 FE and 13.1-inch Samsung Tab S10 FE+ with 12GB RAM 256GB storage are selling at S$728 and S$898 with pen and keyboard case included. This Lenovo tablet provides incredible value for money simply because of its much lower price point.

Bottom line

This is a beautiful tablet with a big, vibrant, sharp and laminated display. Colours look good and brightness is up to 400 nits. Overall performance is smooth and can handle multi-tasking well without lag. The 4-way speakers provide rich audio with good surround. Pen performance is great for writing and good enough for casual drawing.

There are some downsides. There's no anti-reflective coating, no cellular option, pen button cannot be customised and PC mode has limited usability. Pen has a tendency to draw thicker lines and tilt is too sensitive.

The pricing is incredibly attractive, and because of that this tablet provides incredible value for money. This is a tablet I can recommend easily to those looking for a general purpose tablet, or one for note taking and casual drawing.

Specifications

• Display: 12.7-inch IPS LCD, 2944x1840 resolution, 144Hz refresh rate, HDR10
• Processor: MediaTek Dimensity 8300 (4nm), Octa-core CPU
• RAM: 8GB
• Storage: 128GB / 256GB (UFS 3.1 / UFS 4.0), microSDXC support
• Operating System: ZUI 16, Android 14, up to 2 major Android upgrades
• Rear Camera: 13MP (wide), autofocus, LED flash
• Front Camera: 8MP, 1080p video recording
• Battery: 10,200mAh, 45W wired charging
• Audio: JBL stereo speakers (4 speakers), Hi-Res audio
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, USB Type-C 3.2, DisplayPort, OTG
• Sensors: Side-mounted fingerprint sensor, accelerometer, gyro, compass
• Dimensions: 291.8 x 189.1 x 6.9 mm
• Weight: 620g
• Colors: Luna Grey, Green

Things included

I had purchased the bundle with the pen and keyboard and these are all the items in the box:

• Tablet
• Lenovo Tab Pen Plus
• One replacement pen tip
• Keyboard cover and case
• User manual, safety info, warranty card
• SIM ejector
• USB-C to USB-C charging cable
• 45W power adapter

I recommend getting the accessories as a bundle because these accessories work well and aren't too expensive.

Design

The Lenovo Idea Tab Pro is a good looking tablet. Bezels are thin and uniform on all four sides. There's a 8MP landscape camera and an auto-brightness sensor hidden somewhere. Corners for the body and display are rounded.

The tablet is well made and build quality is solid. Weight of 620g is slightly heavier compared to similarly-sized tablets from other brands, and it's also slightly thicker. This is not a tablet that can be held comfortably for long periods of time for gaming, but that can be said for other 12+ inch tablets too.

I don't really have any complaints about the design when considering the price point. In fact, for the price paid I was expecting an 11-inch tablet.

Design on the back is clean and simple. The camera is 13MP.

The USB-C port has USB 3.2 transfer speeds and supports 45W charging. The USB-C port cannot output video (I've tested) even though I read somewhere online that it can.

The audio quality is amazing. The 4-way JBL speakers are loud, clear and have good surround. Bass is lacking but that's not surprising even for high-end tablet speakers.

Power button comes with a fingerprint scanner, and there's face unlock too even if it's not the secure type.

There's a microSD card slot but unfortunately this tablet does not support cellular.

Display

The 12.7-inch LCD display looks bright, vibrant and sharp. Resolution is 2944 x 1840 (273 PPI) with a 16:10 aspect ratio. Brightness is up to 400 nits which is not bright enough for use under direct sunlight, but more than bright enough for indoor use. The display has no anti-reflective coating so reflections can be distracting.

Refresh rate is 144Hz so animation for pan, zoom and rotate looks so smooth.

The display is laminated so there's almost no gap between the pen and display.

The included pen and keyboard case accessories are well made. The keyboard provides good typing experience. Function shortcut keys are useful. Touchpad is big enough and has firm clicks. Downsides are there's no backlight, and it's not a bluetooth keyboard so it cannot be used away from the tablet.

The back cover has a kickstand which feels stiff enough, but not strong enough for your palm to rest on the tablet for drawing. There's also a pen holder for the Lenovo Tab Pen Plus.

The back cover does not lay down completely flat due to the pen holder, so there can be wobble when writing on the tablet.

The back cover and keyboard will make the tablet thicker and heavier.

The Lenovo Tab Pen Plus is a battery-powered pen that supports tilt, 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity and palm rejection. Design is almost cylindrical except for the flat side that attaches magnetically to the back of the tablet.

The pen is quite comfortable to hold, has good grip and is not as heavy as the Apple Pencil.

Pen charging is via the USB-C port. The pen does not support magnetic charging. This means you have to remember to charge the pen, especially before you bring the tablet outdoors.

Batteries in digital pens are small can be damaged is left in a discharged state for too long. I've tested many battery powered pens over the years and battery damage is quite common. I highly recommend you set a calendar alarm just to charge the pen monthly if you don't see yourself using the pen regularly.

The pen tip is firm and has no movement when in contact with the display. Pen tip replacements can be found on AliExpress for USD 10 for four pieces.

The pen side button is not customisable by drawing and note taking apps I've tested.

The handwriting and note taking performance is fantastic and there's minimal latency. The tablet, pen and apps are able to capture my handwriting style quite accurately.

Performance

The MediaTek Dimensity 8300 is a decent processor that has performance somewhere between Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and 2. In other words, the performance is between Samsung Tab S8 (2022) and Tab S9 (2023).

8GB of RAM is sufficient for multi-tasking without any lag. This is a tablet that can actually handle heavy workload.

Playing graphics intensive games is possible but don't expect to play at the maximum resolution or high frame rates.

OS and software

This tablet is running ZUI 16 with Google Play Store on top of Android 14. From what I've read online, it seems this tablet will only get two years of OS updates and four years of security updates.

ZUI has many features such

• Many finger gesture shortcuts
• Split-screen multi-tasking
• Multiple user accounts
• PC mode
• Google Kids Space
• Battery charging protection

I don't see any bloatware installed except for a handful of bookmarks to recommended apps which can be removed easily.

Google Kids Space provides a safe space for kids so that parents don't have to worry about their kids accessing questionable content online. This is a good feature for parents. Google Kids Space can only run on compatible tablets which is to say that not all Android tablets have this feature.

Line tests

Line tests below were created with Medibang Paint Pro.

1. Initial activation force is quite low. There's slight wobble or jitter with diagonal lines if you look close but isn't a big issue as the line wobble doesn't really show up or is just not obvious when drawing, e.g. see test #3.

This pen has a tendency to draw thicker lines more easily, so you need to make a more conscious effort to draw thinner lines with minimal pressure. This would not be an issue if you use a drawing app that has pressure curve adjustment.

2. Lines are able to taper quite smoothly and sharply.

3. Line transition from thin to thick and back is smooth. This is also a diagonal line and the diagonal line wobble or jitter is not that noticeable.

4. Consistent line width can be created by maintaining consistent pressure.

5. Dots can be drawn easily.

6. There are no issues with cursor misalignment.

Lines above were drawn with Concepts app.

Tilt sensitivity activates too easily. Generally speaking, an accurate pen would only activate tilt when the pen goes beyond 45 degrees. The problem here is tilt would activate even when I'm holding the pen at the usual angle I'm used to.

Same problem also happens with Sketchbook app.

Tilt also does not work consistently with Infinite Painter.

Drawing experience

For drawing purposes, I highly recommend using a tablet stand so that it's more ergonomic for drawing. The tablet stand I recommend is the Parblo PR100 which is stable and can work at many angles.

Latency performance is quite good, but of course the amount of latency will depend on the app used. With Concepts app (shown above), there's almost no visible latency gap as the line is chasing the pen tip.

The glass is quite smooth to draw on but I don't think it's too slippery. Anyway, it will take some time to get used to drawing on glass.

This was drawn with Medibang Paint Pro. I didn't really have much issue drawing this except for dealing with the smooth glass surface.

Medibang Paint Pro does not have adjustment for the pressure curve so it can be more difficult to create obvious thin-thick line variation. The best drawing apps to use are those where you can adjust the pressure curve, e.g. Clip Studio Paint, Krita, Infinite Painter.

This was drawn with Medibang Paint Pro.

This was drawn with Medibang Paint Pro.

This was drawn with Concepts app using the Soft Pencil brush that reacts to tilt and pressure. Note the random tilt effect that happens in some areas.

This was drawn with Concepts. There are also some random tilt effect that created some ink blobs and broad strokes. Sometimes the accidental ink blobs may work in your favour, but sometimes they can be annoying if you do not want them.

If you use a brush that reacts with tilt sensitivity, you can expect tilt to activate randomly, and this can be a deal breaker. The work around is to hold the pen vertically and only tilt the pen when you need the tilt effect, but it is unnatural to hold the pen vertically all the time.

Battery life

Battery capacity is 10200 mAh. Battery life is around 9 to 13 hours with auto-brightness. But battery life of course will vary depending on brightness and what you do.

There are many battery protection features included, such as maintaining battery level between 40 to 60%, charge limit at 80%, and having overcharge protection that will shut down the tablet when it's low battery for extended period of time.

Conclusion

Lenovo has done a terrific job to pack as much as possible into this tablet given the price point and to me they over delivered. For the price Lenovo is charging, you can only get an 11-inch tablet from other companies, but here you get a big 12.7-inch tablet that performs well in almost all areas.

I enjoy drawing on this tablet. My overall drawing experience is positive despite the minor issue with pen pressure but the inconsistent tilt performance may be a deal breaker for some.

The downsides or limitations are mostly minor and most people won't even care.

What people will be impressed by is when they look and feel the tablet. The tablet has a big vibrant display, great audio and feels responsive. Those are the three criteria for good user experience and satisfaction. And you can get all these are an incredibly attractive price.

Yes I can highly recommend this tablet. I can recommend this over the Samsung Tab S10 FE tablets, Apple iPad Air or the Xiaomi Pad 7 Pro unless there are specific features that you can only get from those tablets.

Pros and cons at a glance
+ Beautiful, clean and simple design
+ Solid build quality
+ Big, bright, sharp, laminated display
+ Auto brightness works well
+ 144Hz refresh rate
+ 4-way speakers are loud, clear and have good surround
+ Good performance with MediaTek Dimensity 8300, 8GB RAM
+ Has microSD card slot
+ Keyboard works well
+ Pen works well but has some quirks with tilt
+ Has fingerprint and face unlock
+ Supports multiple user accounts
+ Supports Google Kids Space
+ ZUI has many useful features
+ 9 to 13hr battery life
+ Incredibly attractive pricing
- No cellular option
- PC mode has limited usability
- No anti-reflective coating
- Pen side button not customisable
- Back cover not completely flat
- Pen has a tendency to draw thicker lines
- Tilt sensitivity is too sensitive
- Two years OS updates, four years security updates

Availability

Shopee SG - https://s.shopee.sg/707PfpwS2M
AliExpress seller - https://lenovonline.aliexpress.com/store/114342
Keyboard case - https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_okNzSYn
Lenovo Tab Pen Plus - https://amzn.to/4m3OZMt

If you have the intention to buy this tablet, considering making your purchase through the affiliate links above to support my blog and the work I do here. Thanks.