1 week Ago By Marcus Herbrich
Thanks to its lightweight and compact design and powerful Qualcomm SoC, the Legion Tab Gen 3 can be used for a range of tasks. Its stylus support makes the Lenovo tablet the perfect digital notebook and drawing pad. Plus, its two USB ports and desktop mode offer some practical functions for productive work.
A Legion-branded tablet is of course also suitable for video game fans thanks to HFR gaming. If it weren't for its shortcomings with regard to its connectivity, such as its lack of 5G connectivity and GPS functionality, the Legion Tab 3 could easily also have been a fully-fledged smartphone replacement. Despite its portable size, the device's screen isn't ideal for outdoor use, as the LTPS panel can't get all too bright.
On a positive note, however, the display shows no signs of PWM flickering, making it easier on your eyes. Another issue is its lack of a fingerprint scanner, which is disappointing for this price range and reduces convenience a little during everyday use. Lenovo also has some catching up to on the software side.
Delivering a 500-dollar tablet in 2025 with Android 14 and that only supports up to Android 17 can no longer be classed as up to date. The Lenovo Legion Tab Gen 3 costs $489.99 and can be ordered from Lenovo's online store .
In addition to laptops , Lenovo is now also using its "Legion" gaming division within the mobile segment, which includes the new Legion Tab 3. Although the 8.8-inch gaming tablet doesn't use the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite , it is still powerful with last year's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 .
No less important for gamers is the fact that Lenovo has installed a 165 Hz panel in the latest Legion Tab. It runs pretty quickly with a sampling rate of 288 Hz. Thanks to its compact design, the Legion Tab Gen 3 weighs just 350 grams, making the 8.
8-inch tablet very comfortable to handle. As a result, you can use it for longer periods of time without any problems. Its display-to-surface ratio of over 83 percent is just as impressive for a small tablet.
In comparison, an iPad Mini (2024) only achieves around 77 percent. The tablet's case is only available in Eclipse Black and has an IP52 certification, which means that it is only protected against splashes of water. The Legion Tab Gen 3 features a high-quality build, with its mix of metal and glass giving it a premium feel.
The back of the device, which has a matte finish, is relatively resistant to fingerprint marks. However, it's unclear which specific glass material was used on the front. Although the Lenovo tablet doesn't have an SD card slot or a 3.
5 mm jack, it is equipped with two USB-C ports. The port on the long side of its case supports USB 3.2, including data transfers at up to 10 GBit/s and image output via Display Port, while the second USB port on its short side only supports the 2.
0 standard. This opens up completely new possibilities for the device, even outside of gaming. For example, users can listen to music through headphones while the power supply is on or exchange data via USB OTG while using an external keyboard.
A connection within the Lenovo ecosystem is also possible thanks to Smart Connect. This allows data to be transferred between the Legion Tab Gen 3 and a laptop or desktop PC. Lenovo offers its gaming tablet with 12 GB or 16 GB LPDDR5x RAM and 256 GB or 512 GB internal UFS 4.
0 storage, according to its spec sheet. However, only the basic version was available at the time of testing. During our test, the Legion Tab Gen 3 ran outdated Android 14 and the in-house ZUI 16 interface.
This includes a gaming mode called "Game Assistant", which can be called up on the left side of the screen when running games and enables various performance modes or notification settings. A desktop-like mode, which displays programs inside a window, is also on board. According to Lenovo, the gaming tablet will receive three operating system upgrades, whereby users are already required to update it in order to get the latest Android 15.
Security patches will be available until 2029, but (probably) at most every six months, as our test device's latest one is still from December 2024. In the future, Lenovo could do with following Samsung 's example when it comes to software maintenance. By using bio-based materials such as bamboo and sugar cane, Lenovo ensures that the packaging of its devices is plastic-free.
The manufacturer hasn't stated whether and how many recycled materials have been used for the Legion Tab 3. In turn, Lenovo has provided a calculation of the CO 2 -equivalent emissions over its life cycle. The gaming tablet generates 57 kilograms, so around 10 percent less than its predecessor.
The Legion Tab Gen 3 is somewhat limited in terms of its connectivity. It doesn't have a cellular modem, an NFC chip or a GNSS module. Instead, the compact gaming tablet features fast WiFi 7 including MU-MIMO support.
It can also make use of the less busy 6 GHz network for Wi-Fi networks. During our test using the Asus ROG Rapture AXE11000 reference router, the Lenovo Tab only scored with high speeds in the receiving direction. When sending data, on the other hand, its speed fell significantly below the level of the comparison devices.
The 8 MPix camera built into the frame above the display uses a fixed focus and delivers decent results in daylight, although the exposure is anything but optimal. Videos can be recorded in FHD quality. The 13 MPix camera on the back of the device, which focuses automatically, shows better quality.
The lens, which has an f/2.2 aperture, performed almost surprisingly well in good lighting conditions during our test, delivering plenty of detail and a decent sharpness. A look at our comparison photos with the Apple iPhone 16 Pro revealed the good quality of the Legion Tab 3—especially for a tablet.
In addition, the Lenovo tablet is suitable for photographing documents, as it features an extra mode for this. However, other manufacturers, such as Xiaomi with its Pad 7 Pro , do even better in this discipline. The Legion Tab 3 often only recognized one page of a book and didn't want to capture the entire contents.
The back camera module is completed by a low-resolution macro lens with a 2-MPix resolution. In controlled lighting conditions, we analyzed the 13 MPix main camera's color reproduction in comparison to the actual reference colors. In this scenario, the Legion Tab 3 showed a clear brightening and rather high deviations.
We observed some rough outliers in color fidelity (>15) in the ColorChecker passport. In German-speaking countries, the Lenovo tablet's packaging doesn't include a fast charger. You have to buy a corresponding 68-watt USB-C wall charger separately, and the same counts for the Lenovo Tab Pen Plus.
There are various bundles available for the Legion Tab 3—our test device comes with a super high-quality folio case and a protective film. Its scope of delivery also includes a USB 2.0 cable and a quick start guide as well as safety and warranty information.
Lenovo offers different warranty conditions for its gaming tablet. Generally, its warranty runs for 24 months, either as a "bring-in" or a courier service. According to its data sheet, however, there are also warranty packages lasting for one or three years.
Inputs on the tablet's 8.8-inch LTPS display are implemented accurately right into the corners of the touchscreen. Thanks to its high refresh rate of up to 165 Hz, the Legion Tab 3 runs very smoothly during everyday use and animations look smooth.
A dual X-axis vibration motor isn't standard for a tablet, and although it's certainly not at the level of current flagship phones , it still provides a nice haptic feedback while gaming. If you want to use the Lenovo tablet as a digital notepad or for drawing, you can connect the Lenovo Tab Pen Plus to the Legion Tab 3. The 14-gram stylus supports 4096 pressure and tilt recognition levels, but we were unable to test its functionality as our test sample didn't come with a Tab Pen Plus.
The device doesn't feature a fingerprint sensor for biometric security. The Legion Tab 3 only has less-secure 2D facial recognition using the front-facing camera. The Legion Tab 3's 8.
8-inch LTPS panel has a high pixel density of just under 350 PPI thanks to its 1,600p resolution, and it refreshes its touchscreen very frequently with a refresh rate of up to 165 Hz. Its sharpness is sufficiently high, and pixel structures are hardly recognizable on closer inspection. During our brightness measurement, the Lenovo tablet disappointed with a maximum of 441 cd/m2, which isn't the best for this price range and is slightly below the manufacturer's specifications of 500 nits (HBM).
Unsurprisingly, due to the technology it uses, our APL18 measurement revealed a maximum of 465 cd/m2, which was only slightly higher than when the LC screen showed a full white display. According to Lenovo, it should manage a peak brightness of 900 nits, which would easily be enough for HDR content. HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision are supported.
The panel also has a total of three certifications from TÜV Rheinland (Flicker Free, Low Blue Light, Precise Touch). PWM-sensitive people will be happy with its LTPS display, as we didn't measure any screen flickering on the Legion Tab 3. We examined its color calibration using the Calman analysis software.
Within the sRGB color space, the DeltaE values we measured were clearly within the target range (<3), and the differences to the reference colors weren't noticeable. The tablet features a slightly higher black value of 0.5 cd/m2, resulting in an average contrast ratio of around 900:1.
The response times we measured were good to average, which should definitely be enough for most casual gamers on a gaming tablet. We don't have much to criticize about the Legion Tab 3's viewing angle stability. Colors don't appear distorted in normal viewing conditions.
The typical uneven brightness distribution of an LCD is only slightly pronounced on this model. However, the gaming tablet quickly reaches its limits outdoors; reflections on its glass surface are particularly annoying. In the summer, you can only use the Lenovo tablet in the shade, and only to a limited extent.
With its Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 , the Legion Tab 3 has achieved a considerable increase in performance compared to its predecessor . During the Geekbench CPU benchmarks, the 2025 model managed almost 30 percent higher multi-core values. Its system benchmark results were also remarkably strong.
As with other devices fitted with the Qualcomm chipset, the Lenovo tablet didn't perform as well in the AI tests. The tablet's GPU performance may be a little more interesting for gamers. Users will certainly not be disappointed by its Adreno 750 , even if tablets with the Snapdragon 8 Elite are a good deal faster.
Compared to its predecessor , we noted around 35% more graphics power on average during our test and important gaming features, such as ray tracing, are now also supported. During everyday use, browsing using Chrome feels smooth and without any significant delays. This was reflected in its browser benchmark results, although the differences compared to last year's Lenovo Legion Tab are less striking.
The tablet's fast UFS 4.0 storage ensures high values of over 3,000 MB/s, greatly benefitting the loading times of games. Since Legion devices are designed for gaming, the Tab 3 comes with relevant software customizations.
With the so-called "Game Assistant", users have access to a range of settings and game modes. Installed games can also be managed via Legion Space. We used the GameBench app to determine exact refresh rates and see to what extent the Lenovo tablet is really suitable for HFR gaming.
Despite its display having a pretty high resolution, the Adreno 750 managed a very strong gaming performance during our test. We noted a frame rate of up to 120fps when running various games from the PlayStore. However, we couldn't get the maximum out of the 165 Hz panel.
Even during League of Legends , which Lenovo uses as a gaming example in its performance characteristics of the Tab Gen 3, "only" 120 frames per second were possible. According to Lenovo, this model's 14 percent larger vapor chamber heat sink compared to the previous version should ensure sufficient cooling. It comes with a 3D heat dissipation structure to keep the warm air away from your fingers.
In fact, the values we measured for the Legion Tab 3 are slightly lower than last year. Even so, the 3DMark tests clearly showed that its performance drops under long load phases were around 10 to 25 percent higher than on the TB320FC. However, the frame rates that the Legion Tab 3 managed were also significantly higher when throttled.
The Lenovo tablet uses a dual speaker system with Dolby Atmos and produces really good stereo sound. The sound generators are missing some low tones, but they sounded slightly fuller than their predecessors in the pink noise measurement. You can output to external peripherals either wired using both USB ports or wirelessly via Bluetooth 5.
4. The latter supports a large number of codecs. The Legion Tab Gen 3 features a 6,550 mAh Li-Polymer battery.
Particularly noteworthy is the tablet's ability to quickly charge its energy storage device via two USB-C bypass charging ports at a maximum of 68 watts. Its support of common protocols, such as PD 3.0 or PPS, also enables flexible use of power banks, as an appropriate power supply unit is not included.
Using the Xiaomi 25000 , we needed around one hour for a full charge during our test. In our measurement, the 8.8-inch tablet consumed slightly more than its predecessor, so there is still potential for improvement in this respect.
In real-world conditions during our tests, the Lenovo Tab delivered very good runtimes for a compact tablet at a display brightness of 150 cd/m2. Managing over 17 hours on Wi-Fi and 20 hours of video playback, the energy storage kept the Legion Tab Gen 3 alive for a long time. The Legion Tab Gen 3 is a jack of all trades and offers a strong overall package—and not just for gamers.
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