If you’re tired of the cheaper tablets lacking Widevine level 1 certs for Netflix and Amazon Prime Video in FHD or want the next level up in a premium tablet this Lenovo is definitely the tablet to go for. Locally the Lenovo P11 Pro is a complete rip-off, for me here in Spain Lenovo wants an insane 649 Euros and this is why I haven’t reviewed it up until now. Luckily the Chinese version costs almost half the price as the local model and is exactly the same tablet and places like Banggood where I got mine from also flash the global ROM. The best part, the tablet is only 321 euros currently.
Below is the detailed XiaoXin Pad Pro review video:
Lenovo P11 Pro / XiaoXin Pad Pro key specs:
- 11.5″ 2560 x 1600 OLED HDR10 fully laminated 350 nit Dolby vision screen
- 5.8mm thin, 486 grams
- Snapdragon 730G
- 6GB of RAM with 128GB UFS 2.1 storage + MicroSD support
- Type-C USB 3.1 with video out (Clone mode)
- 4 x JBL 1.5W speakers with Dolby Atmos support
- BT 5, GPS, hardware compass and Wifi AC
- Haptic feedback motor
- 13MP + 5MP rear cameras 1080p max with LED flash
- 8MP front camera + 8MP IR ToF sensor for portraits and face unlocking
- Capacitive always-on fingerprint reader and power button in one
- Android 10 Global ROM with OTA updates
- Optional full-sized hardware keyboard (pogo connection) type cover case and stand
- Optional 4096 pressure level active stylus with 2 buttons and palm rejection
The Pad Pro build quality and finish is top-end
The XiaoXin Pad Pro is without a doubt a premium tablet, with a super-thin 5.8mm build and an alloy unibody that weighs only 486 grams all up. It has 4 x JBL tuned loudspeakers with Dolby Atoms that sound fantastic some of the best I’ve heard. A build quality that is on part with the expensive Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+ and those four loudspeakers sound just as good as the Tab S7+.
The P11 Pro / XiaoXin Pad Pro has a super-thin premium build and amazing speakers.
Display
The screen is an 11.5″ slim bezel fully laminated OLED with a 2560 x 1600 resolution with a 60hz refresh rate. Due to the pentile arrangement of the pixels, it doesn’t look quite as sharp as a 1600p IPS screen would, looking close enough you’ll see jagged edges on fonts. But at your standard tablet viewing distance, it’s not an issue at all. The display is good 340 nits and the deep blacks look great. It supports HDR and Youtube at 1440p60 max. Netflix and Amazon Prime at FHD 1080p.
Netflix & Amazon Prime Video in Full HD 1080p?
Netflix is preinstalled on the global ROM and so is Google Services, but due to the tablet lacking the Play Protection Cert, Netflix in Google Play states the app is unsupported on the P11 Pro. However there is an easy fix, simply download the latest Netflix APK. You can find details on that here in this post: Fix Netflix on the XiaoXin Pad Pro.
Amazon Prime Video works great and once the video starts in a minute or so the resolution goes from SD to HD and then FHD its maximum supported.
Performance:
The Snapdragon 730G paired 6GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD offers smooth performance throughout and only shows its a weakness when pushing hard multitasking with games running in the background did it lag. The Android 10 ROM is quick and seems well optimised with no bugs so far in over a week’s use. There was one OTA update when I loaded up the tablet for the first time. The Antutu scores are a mid-range modest 271,000 whereas the top of the line Android tablets (Tab S7+) can get over 500,000 points but also cost a lot more. The 128GB UFS 2.1 internal storage offers decent speeds for the spec. Very good random reads and writes.
Wifi, BT 5, and GPS with a hardware compass are also working fine.
Active stylus support, Yes!
The P11 Pro / Pad Pro supports an active stylus with 4096 pressure levels and two buttons. It’s the same stylus tech used on the Microsoft Surface Pro 4,5 and 6 including the Surface Book and Book 2. It’s use used with a number of Lenovo tablets plus windows devices and other brands also use them. So very easy to source a cheaper stylus. In my review, I bought the Precision Pen 2 which is 64 euros all up. However, my Cuber Thinker i35 and Surface Pro pens worked fine. The stylus is accurate and quick as long as you close down background apps.
Palm rejection works about 1-2 cm from the screen as soon as the stylus is detected the touch input is disabled with apps that support it. It supports a hover function. If you’re after a cheaper alternative for about 20 euros you have a perfectly good stylus with all features here on Aliexpress.
Face And Fingerprint Unlocking. Not Great!
The Xiaomi Pad Pro supports face and fingerprint unlocking and is by far the worse aspect of the otherwise awesome tablet. Face unlocking while aided by the 8MP IR ToF sensor and the main 8MP front cameras is slow and tedious. The fingerprint reader is a little hit and miss with an odd location at the top left. However, I’ve had much better luck with adding 5 fingerprints max (3 of the same finger) and now it’s working way better. I hope an OTA patch can improve the speed. But it should be better!
The fingerprint and face unlocking is rather poor on the P11 Pro.
Gaming Performance:
The SD730G games better than you think, but it’s no iPad. Games that kill phones like Genshin Impact run fine on this tablet with a steady frame rate but you have to lower down the settings. Call of Duty Mobile runs great at max frame rate options and high visuals. Even on almost max settings, the game is smooth.
Conclusion:
Without a doubt, if you can get it for under $400 USD or around 320 euros this the best Android tablet you can buy for the price. An all-round premium package offering so much more than the typical cheap Chinese tablet. And if the price is too rich for you I also highly recommend the Alldocube iPlay 40 which sells for about half the price.
