Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 8 Review: A Budget-Friendly Android Slate
Camera & Battery Life
You have to expect some hardware compromises with a $170 tablet, but a decent camera is a must for most users. In fact, we’d balk at a tablet that doesn’t have both front and back cameras – even if you’re not one for selfies, you’ll probably want the front camera for Skype video chats and the like. As we mentioned earlier, Lenovo found an interesting way to handle the dual-camera issue: the Yoga Tab 3 8 has a single camera that you can rotate to the front or back. Moving the camera (instead of tapping a button to switch from front to back) takes a little getting used to, but it works out just fine.
Lighting is always important for photography, but it’s absolutely critical with the Yoga Tab 3 8, as the 8MP camera doesn’t feature a flash. In outdoor settings, the camera took bright, reasonably-clear pictures. Getting crisp close-up shots took a little work, but it’s easy to see whether your picture is clear or not on the Tab’s 8-inch display. If you get a blurry shot, you’ll know right away.
Indoor Photos, 8MP Camera
Outdoor Photos, 8MP Camera
We were somewhat impressed by how well the camera handled indoor shots without a flash. Shadows abound when you’re dealing with light from nearby windows, but our pictures came out reasonably well as you can see in the sample above. They may not be on par with a decent point and shoot camera, but most of the photos we shot were fine for use on social media.
Lenovo has a lot of confidence in the Yoga Tab 3 8’s “extended 20-hour battery,” so our battery run down tests looked like a chance for the tablet to set itself apart from the pack. We’re not talking about minimal usage during those 20 hours, either: Lenovo’s website boasts that one charge is “enough to watch two series of your favorite TV show back to back.” Whether you want to spend a day binge watching on an 8-inch screen is another matter.
Lenovo wasn’t kidding; the Yoga Tab 3 8 has killer battery life. The tablet blew past all of the other devices in AnTuTu’s Android-specific battery test. It passed the current champion, Lenovo’s 10-inch Yoga Tablet 2 to take the lead, with Dell trailing in third place by 1,280 points. Then, the Yoga Tab 3 8 topped our own custom battery test, running for nearly 16 hours on a single charge.
Lighting is always important for photography, but it’s absolutely critical with the Yoga Tab 3 8, as the 8MP camera doesn’t feature a flash. In outdoor settings, the camera took bright, reasonably-clear pictures. Getting crisp close-up shots took a little work, but it’s easy to see whether your picture is clear or not on the Tab’s 8-inch display. If you get a blurry shot, you’ll know right away.
Indoor Photos, 8MP Camera
Outdoor Photos, 8MP Camera
We were somewhat impressed by how well the camera handled indoor shots without a flash. Shadows abound when you’re dealing with light from nearby windows, but our pictures came out reasonably well as you can see in the sample above. They may not be on par with a decent point and shoot camera, but most of the photos we shot were fine for use on social media.
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Lenovo has a lot of confidence in the Yoga Tab 3 8’s “extended 20-hour battery,” so our battery run down tests looked like a chance for the tablet to set itself apart from the pack. We’re not talking about minimal usage during those 20 hours, either: Lenovo’s website boasts that one charge is “enough to watch two series of your favorite TV show back to back.” Whether you want to spend a day binge watching on an 8-inch screen is another matter.
Lenovo wasn’t kidding; the Yoga Tab 3 8 has killer battery life. The tablet blew past all of the other devices in AnTuTu’s Android-specific battery test. It passed the current champion, Lenovo’s 10-inch Yoga Tablet 2 to take the lead, with Dell trailing in third place by 1,280 points. Then, the Yoga Tab 3 8 topped our own custom battery test, running for nearly 16 hours on a single charge.
