Lenovo Thinktab X11 Gen 1 – Durable yet flexible tablet

“Oh, how easy it is!” I think when I first take the Lenovo Thinktab X11 Gen 1 out of the box. It turns out to have an explanation when I look in the box for what else comes with it and find the battery.

The plate thus has a removable battery inside a battery cover. In theory useful in that you can have more than one battery and replace it when it starts to die. The usefulness of it is of course limited by the fact that you need to have the battery in the plate to be able to charge it. That Lenovo still thinks about this user scenario is shown by the fact that you can actually change the battery without turning off the tablet. It doesn’t have a small second battery to keep the plate alive, you simply have to have it connected with a power cable when you do it.

The Lenovo Thinktab X11 Gen 1 has two USB C ports, one on the long side and one on the short side. In addition to being able to charge it as it is most convenient, the idea is that you should be able to have connected accessories and charge the plate at the same time.

These are two examples of unusual elements in Lenovo’s durable tablet. That it is particularly durable is not so unusual, nor is it unusually durable, but here too we see a smart solution.

Shockproof, with the shell

The plate is waterproof according to IP68. Nothing exceptional about it, so are Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S tablets. The EU measurement of shock resistance does not give an exceptional result, but it comes with a rubber shell in the packaging of our sample. With that shell, the plate must withstand falls from a height of 1.5 meters, something we have no doubts about with the substantial rubber strip that the shell provides.

The shell also has room for a pen that comes with it. This means that the plate with the shell on becomes a little thicker on one side, but on the other hand it gives a good grip. The pen is not charged from the plate but has a AAAA type battery and has no button. But it supports different degrees of pressure, and when I type on the screen, I find the response to be quick.

The tablet is powered by the Snapdragon 7s gen 3 chipset, a mid-range chipset that has been around for almost two years. Not very fast, then, but not so slow that it bothers you either. Both when I try to play games and when I draw and write, the tablet’s response feels fast enough that I don’t have to think about the performance. It can also be mentioned that the tablet supports Wifi 6E, otherwise it is not uncommon for mid-range tablets to cheat with slow wifi.

The screen, the tablet’s most important feature, gets pass without excelling. It is of the LCD type with acceptable maximum brightness, and in direct sunlight a transflective surface behind the liquid crystals helps to enhance the image. The screen’s refresh rate is 90 Hz, but I’m more concerned with the lag created by the liquid crystals in the screen when swiping and scrolling.

The Lenovo Thinktab X11 Gen 1 has stereo speakers but not quite as rich sound as I find I usually get from Lenovo tablet speakers. Here I think it feels as if the upper register of the treble is flattened, and the maximum volume could be a little higher.

Our measured battery life of almost 11 hours of screen time at maximum brightness is good for a tablet. I think the standby time is even better. During the test period, it happened that I was busy with other things and put the tablet aside for a week, and when I came back to it, it still had three quarters of the battery charged.

Three system updates

The tablet comes with Android 16 and Lenovo’s user interface. Lenovo doesn’t add much to the system beyond a couple of extra apps, such as note-taking apps that fit the stylus. A separate function worth mentioning is Smart Connect, where you can connect a computer, tablet and Motorola mobile to share the screen and content between them. Lenovo promises three major system updates for the Thinktab X11 Gen 1, and four years of security updates.

Lenovo Thinktab X11 Gen 1 is sold for SEK 7,550 in Lenovo’s online store. It’s quite expensive for a mid-range tablet like this in terms of screen and performance. But at least that price includes the shockproof case and stylus, and that’s with 256GB of storage. If you are prepared to pay a little extra for the shock resistance and extra long battery life, the Lenovo Thinkpad X11 can definitely be seen as affordable.

Questions and answers

Does the plate have a memory card slot? Yes, but it’s behind the battery, so you have to open the back to insert the memory card.

Does the plate have NFC? Yes actually, so you can blip payments with it against payment terminals.

Does it come with a charger? Yes, a 45-watt charger is included in the box.

An alternative

Ulefone, which manufactures durable mobile phones, also has several durable tablets in its range, but they are generally heavier and clumsier.