When Apple tree'southward very outset iPad hitting the scene in 2022, their accept on the "modern tablet" was destined to go ubiquitous: a thin, rigid slab of touchable electronics covered by a sheet of shiny Gorilla Glass. Following the iPad'due south resounding success, Apple (and others) made no apologies for designing their tablets as though they were giant smartphones -- or at the very to the lowest degree, something less than a total-fledged computer.

Gone were the days of custom software installations, file system management and editing config files; in their places appeared one-click app store installs, locked downward software hell-bent on shielding users from directory structures and an often times disappointingly spartan choice of customization and configuration options.

Consider this though: Windows 8 Pro on a tablet challenges this mindset.

Say what you lot will about Microsoft'due south latest (and arguably not greatest) OS, but Redmond'due south software gives users dorsum much of the control and utility lost during the shift to Apple's and Google'southward mobile operating systems. Thankfully, Windows viii achieves this while simultaneously providing a mostly pleasurable tablet experience, fifty-fifty though they sometimes go in the way of each other.

Although this isn't a review of Windows 8, the Os is a wholly inalienable part of the latest Lenovo tablet experience and what the ThinkPad 2 offers is something Android and iOS accept traditionally non: a fully functionally PC experience on your tablet. Let's see how it delivers on that promise.

Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2 - $580

  • 10.1″ IPS Brandish (1366×768)
  • Dual-core Intel Cantlet (Z2760 1.80GHz) w/ iv threads
  • PowerVR SGX545 graphics
  • 2GB / 800MHz LPDDR2 RAM
  • Windows 8 Pro 32-flake
  • 64GB Wink Memory
  • ThinkPad 11a/b/g/n + Bluetooth 4.0 combo chip, GPS
  • Mini-HDMI, 3.5mm Audio In / Microphone Jack combo
  • USB 2.0, micro-SD, docking connector
  • 262.36mm 10 164.59mm x 9.90mm
  • 0.58kg (1.30 lbs.)
  • Lithium Polymer Battery, 30Whr
  • Sensors: ambient lite, 3D accelerometer and magnetometer, gyroscope

Optional hardware

  • ThinkPad two tablet dock
  • ThinkPad 2 bluetooth keyboard stand
  • Fitted Sleeve and caring case

Outset impressions

Apple won't capeesh my perversion of their iPad Mini slogan, only the Lenovo ThinkPad two is every inch a ThinkPad. Polarizing every bit it may exist in the consumer world, ThinkPads have long donned an inky-black design with well defined corners and edges. Love or hate information technology, the ThinkPad 2 tablet lives upward to its namesake.

Lenovo'south tablet is thin and light -- barely over a 3rd of an inch thick at 1.3 pounds -- and feels similar a sturdy and solid slab of quality materials. Overall, it'south a handsome, premium feeling device. The tablet is a comfortable shape and pleasant weight to agree. The back cover and sides sport a familiar rubberized coating, not unlike most mod ThinkPad laptops. The rubbery cloth has a satin-like quality which is both pleasant to handle and less slippery to concur than bare aluminum-back designs (I'm thinking of you, get-go-gen iPad).

Our ThinkPad 2 review unit is leaps and bounds improved over its progenitor, the original ThinkPad tablet -- a mesomorphic Android-based device which appeared in 2022, marred by poor battery life and a still maturing tablet marketplace.

Performance

Subjectively, Lenovo'due south ThinkPad two tablet provides a shine experience for about mutual activities; spider web surfing, checking your email (even with Outlook), typing up a report in Word, opening upward programs and streaming music. Despite only having a 720p screen, 1080p and high quality content from various online sources (east.g. YouTube, Hulu, Netflix) worked without any notable hiccups.

Although the inclusion of Clover Trail silicon holds the ThinkPad 2 dorsum from being a true PC contender, it performs well enough in context to what information technology is: a fanless, portable tablet. Having two cores and iv threads certainly provides some multi-tasking benefits, although I found information technology interesting that Windows 8 would only bear witness CPU usage as though it were a unmarried core.

Really though, its shortcomings don't surface until visiting media heavy websites, multi-tasking with resource intensive desktop applications or scrolling through web pages with lots and lots of busy elements. During these times, swiping and tapping tin can become a scrap sluggish. Of course, graphics editing, video editing and media conversion are to be performed at the user'southward ain peril.

In Futuremark's browser-based benchmark Peacekeeper, our ThinkPad 2 scored a 420. This means it fared slightly ameliorate than Acer'southward Iconia W500 and was on par with Apple tree's iPhone 4S. That puts it in the same league as some solid tablets like the Nexus 7 and Milky way Tab 10.1. In all of its desktop-meets-Metro complexity though, Windows 8 seems a lilliputian tougher to run than either iOS or Android.

In 3DMark 2006, the device managed a paltry 455 -- a score indicative of its general uselessness for PC gaming. Being a fanless Cantlet-based tablet though, should nosotros await better? No. Yet, owners will find Angry Birds and other tablet-centric titles run quite well.

Under CrystalDisk, I found solid storage operation typical of mid-range to higher-end tablets. Sequential 1024K read/write scores hover around 81 MB/sec and 34 MB/sec, respectively. Meanwhile, smaller 4K read/writes slowed down to 8.6 MB/sec and two MB/sec. Although not anywhere shut in performance to most standalone SSDs, opening applications and common file operations felt snappy and responsive.

When information technology comes to booting up, the ThinkPad 2 goes from off to Windows 8 logon screen in about 8 seconds.