One Of Consumer Reports' Favorite Small Tablets Isn't Made By Apple

The iPad mini 7, with its high-end specs packed inside a compact body, can be a great choice for buyers looking for a powerful tablet that's not too heavy and doesn't take up too much space. It's Apple's smallest tablet, taking the top two positions in Consumer Reports' rankings for tablets with displays of about eight inches. Coming in third in Consumer Reports' ranking is a different powerful tablet with a small footprint, one that's not made by Apple. The Lenovo Legion Tab Gen 3 is the device in question, a tablet launched in January 2025, a few months after Apple introduced the iPad mini 7.

The Legion Tab Gen 3 originally matched Apple's price point for the Wi-Fi iPad mini 7, at $499.99, but the device is now available at lower prices, starting under $450. The Legion Tab Gen 3 features a slightly larger screen than the iPad mini 7's 8.3-inch panel, an 8.8-inch display that supports 500 nits of typical brightness and 165 Hz refresh rate. The Legion-branded tablet also supports Dolby Vision and HDR 10, and has a higher resolution than the iPad mini 7 (2,560 by 1,600 compared to 2,266 by 1,488).

Other specs include the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, 12 GB of RAM, 256 GB or 512 GB of storage, a vapor chamber, a dual-lens camera on the back (13-megapixel and 2-megapixel sensors), and an 8-megapixel sensor on the front. The 6,550 mAh battery supports 45 W charging. Connectivity-wise, the Legion Tab Gen 3 features Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, and two USB-C ports, one of which supports 10 Gb/s data transfers. The tablet weighs about 350 grams and has a thickness of 7.79 mm.

In its reviews, Consumer Reports evaluates various aspects of the tablet experience, including the screen, overall performance (including battery life), and ease of use. The consumer advocacy group also tests the camera capabilities and the device's build and connectivity options. The Legion Tab Gen 3's display, performance, convenience, and ease of use scored highly in the tests, but the tablet's camera features failed to impress. Similarly, Consumer Reports pointed out another downside: the lack of more connectivity options (HDMI and microSD card). 

Comparatively, the iPad mini 7 also lacks additional ports and expendable storage, though the Apple tablet only has a single USB-C port. Consumer Reports also found the iPad mini 7 to offer a better display experience than the Legion Tab Gen 3, even though the latter has the better screen hardware. The iPad mini 7 also came out ahead in convenience and ease of use, tying the Legion Tab Gen 3 when it comes to performance.

Consumer Reports highlighted the Legion Tab Gen 3's display quality, including the high resolution, the color experience, and its fast response to touch input. The tablet is easy to set up, can run two apps side by side, and supports most common file types without additional apps. The tablet's high score for the performance section indicates it can comfortably run more demanding apps without issues. Battery life was also a highlight. The Legion Tab Gen 3 lasted 16.4 hours in web browsing tests and 13.5 hours in movie playback tests. Consumer Reports also found that a 30-minute charge is enough to give the tablet 12.8 hours of battery life.

Consumer Reports offers scores for various categories in its reviews, but those numerical ratings aren't necessarily objective. A more objective score is the Geekbench 6 benchmark score for the Legion Tab Gen 3, with the tablet reaching 2,226 and 6,986 in single-core and multi-core tests. Comparatively, the iPad mini 7 scores 2,910 and 7,236 in the same Geekbench 6 tests. This supports the idea that the Apple tablet can offer slightly better performance than the Lenovo device, something the Consumer Reports rankings also indicate. On that note, the Legion branding indicates the device targets gamers, so it's positioned as a higher-performance tablet.

Other reviews have also praised Lenovo's smaller tablet. For example, Windows Central calls the Legion Tab Gen 3 "the best Android-powered iPad mini alternative," finding the device to be a great tablet for everyday tasks, not just gaming. The outlet also highlighted the tablet's lightweight design, strong performance, and long battery life. Similarly, Tom's Guide said they thought the iPad mini 7 was the "perfect small tablet" until trying the Legion Tab Gen 3. The Android tablet's power, battery life, Wi-Fi 7 support, and remote-play experience are highlights. Finally, 9to5Google labeled the Legion Tab Gen 3 as "Android's iPad mini."

We've also included the Legion Tab Gen 3 in our list of top five Android tablets more powerful than the iPad mini 7, pointing out the various hardware advantages the Android tablet can offer over Apple's tablet. That said, Lenovo has upgraded the Legion Tab series twice since the Gen 3 model's release. The latest alternative, as of this writing, is the $849.99 Legion Tab Gen 5, which should offer an even better experience than the Gen 3 model.