Lenovo Tab Plus Gen 2 Flips the Script on Entertainment Tablets

Verdict: A Tablet for People Who Care More About Sound Than Size

The Lenovo Tab Plus Gen 2 is an entertainment-focused Android tablet speaker built around a nine-driver JBL audio system and a 12.1-inch 2.5K display, designed to work both as a media tablet and as a Bluetooth speaker for parties and home listening. At USD 399.99 (approx. RM1,870), it is not a casual impulse buy, but you are paying for a very specific kind of hybrid device: part tablet, part boombox. From a reviewer’s hands-on experience, it sounds better than most budget tablets and many compact Bluetooth speakers, making it a standout option for movie watchers, casual gamers, and hosts who want one device that can fill a room with music. The trade-off is obvious the moment you pick it up: this thing is heavy and a bit awkward for long reading sessions, but if you measure value in decibels rather than grams, it earns its asking price.

Design: A Back-Firing Boombox with a Clever Kickstand

Lenovo has rebuilt the Tab Plus concept around audio hardware, moving the JBL speaker system from the sides of the first generation to the entire back panel and increasing the count to nine drivers. That rear array includes two passive radiators, three woofers, and four tweeters, turning the slab into something that looks and feels more like a compact boombox than a conventional tablet. The tablet weighs 1.7 pounds, and according to hands-on impressions, “it’s a 1.7-pound slate that gets tiring only after a few seconds of holding it,” which is the clearest sign that ergonomics took a back seat to acoustics here. A 360-degree rotating kickstand ring is integrated into the back; it doubles as a handle for carrying room to room, and you can flip it out to support either landscape or portrait viewing. The ring is metal and not the most comfortable to grip, but it is undeniably practical when you are treating the device like a speaker rather than a book.

Display and Audio: Where the Tab Plus Gen 2 Earns Its Name

The 12.1-inch screen has a 2,560-by-1,600 resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, and up to 800 nits of brightness, making it well suited to streaming and casual gaming. It supports HDR10 and Dolby Vision, and a reviewer noted enjoying its colorful, vivid presentation, which pairs nicely with the tablet’s punchy sound. Audio is the star: the JBL speaker system delivers crisp vocals and balanced mixes that keep drums, cymbals, guitars, and voices distinct even on more complex tracks. Bass-heavy songs have satisfying thump without turning muddy, and, crucially, the speakers remain clear even at maximum volume. Based on listening tests, this makes the Lenovo Tab Plus Gen 2 “one of the best-sounding tablets” that the reviewer has tried, and it gets loud enough that max volume can feel overwhelming in a small room. For an entertainment tablet, that combination of a lively display and overbuilt audio hardware is exactly what sets it apart from ordinary budget slates.

Tablet-by-Day, Bluetooth Speaker-by-Night

Beyond its usual Android tablet duties, the Tab Plus Gen 2 can moonlight as a Bluetooth speaker: you can beam audio from your phone to its nine-driver JBL system, treating it like a standalone boombox. Lenovo explicitly promotes this dual-mode functionality, and hands-on testing showed that pairing a phone and then using it as a remote works well for parties and house gatherings where you might want to roam while controlling the music. While at first this can sound redundant—after all, you could just run Spotify directly on the tablet’s own display—the ability to keep the tablet parked on a stand as a house speaker while guests control playlists from their phones is a credible use case. The 360-degree kickstand helps here, allowing you to angle the speakers as you like or prop the screen up for lyrics, videos, or visualizers. For people who want one device that covers both streaming shows and filling a living room with sound, this hybrid approach makes more sense than buying a separate Bluetooth speaker and tablet.

Price, Value, and Everyday Usability

Lenovo plans to sell the Tab Plus Gen 2 for USD 399.99 (approx. RM1,870), with a launch promised later this year, though no specific shelf date has been announced yet. That price pushes it beyond basic budget tablets, but when you factor in the nine-driver JBL speaker system and party-friendly Bluetooth speaker mode, the value proposition looks stronger for entertainment-focused buyers. It undercuts many tablets that try to be productivity workhorses, but it is clearly not designed as a note-taking or one-handed reading machine—the weight and speaker-heavy back make that clear. Instead, this is a living-room or kitchen-counter device: something you set on its kickstand to watch movies, stream music, and let guests play DJ from their phones. If your daily tablet use involves lots of handheld reading or commuting, the heft and metal ring will feel like compromises; if your priority is a loud, capable Android tablet speaker with a colorful screen, the Tab Plus Gen 2 earns its niche.

Buy if / Skip if

• Buy the Lenovo Tab Plus Gen 2 if you want an entertainment tablet that doubles as a house party Bluetooth speaker with loud, clear JBL audio
• Skip the Lenovo Tab Plus Gen 2 if you mainly read ebooks or browse the web one-handed and care more about light weight than sound quality
• Buy the Lenovo Tab Plus Gen 2 if you value a 12.1-inch 2,560-by-1,600 display with 120Hz refresh, HDR10, and Dolby Vision for streaming shows and movies
• Skip the Lenovo Tab Plus Gen 2 if you prefer a slim, conventional tablet design without a heavy rear speaker array and metal ring handle
• Buy the Lenovo Tab Plus Gen 2 if you want a single Android tablet speaker that can stay docked on a counter while guests control playlists from their phones during get-togethers
• Skip the Lenovo Tab Plus Gen 2 if you are looking for a productivity-first tablet and seldom use built-in speakers for loud music or movie watching