Lenovo’s Enhanced Smart Tab with Alexa Smart Dock Tablet

Are you thinking about getting an Amazon Echo Show 2, but would prefer to have more flexibility and bang for your buck? Check out the Lenovo Smart Tab with Alexa. 

What I love about Lenovo’s Smart Tab with Alexa is that it wittingly combines the beauty of Alexa with the functionality of Android.

Why is this important?  Because if you love to stream content and have the flexibility of using the Netflix or YouTube apps, you can do it on the Lenovo Smart Tab with Alexa but you can’t do it easily on the Amazon Echo Show. 

Why? Because Amazon has blocked Google and Netflix streaming apps from its Alexa Show store. 

The Lenovo Smart Tab with Alexa takes functionality and flexibility even farther by creating an Android tablet that when docked in the included Bluetooth enabled docking station, it immediately opens up the Alexa Show mode.

The Show mode gives users a more visual Alexa experience and enhances the way users interact with their music, streaming content, control smart home devices, etc.

The Alexa Show mode allows you to easily ask Alexa questions and give commands or you can access the Android tablet to check your email, watch Amazon Prime videos, Netflix, YouTube, or search the web.

With it’s three far-reaching microphones, just ask the Lenovo Smart Tab with Alexa to stream music, play videos, check the weather, play the news, or find a recipe.

Using Alexa

Research has shown that tablets are often used by multiple family members for watching videos, browsing the web, checking email, or connecting to social media for 1-2 hours a day.  Sharing a tablet makes sense. 

Lenovo has enabled multiple profiles so each family member can organize the tablet and their apps the way they prefer.  This way, once they sign on, it’s like having their own personal tablet and they can continue right where they left off.

Combining the functionality of Alexa with an Android tablet brings a lot of functionality. 

There are many ways to use Alexa.

• Ask questions about things you’re curious about (great for kids!)
• See your calendar
• Get top news headlines
• Check sports scores
• Check the weather and multiple day forecasts
• Stream music from your favorite sources like Spotify, Pandora, TuneIn or iHeartRadio
• Access tons of fun Alexa skills to help you
• Play games with Alexa
• Dim the lights
• Change the temperature
• Ask Alexa to play specific things like Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan from Amazon Prime 
• Watch your favorite movies or shows on Vevo, or live TV and sports with a Hulu subscription
• Set a timer
• Set up compatible Zigbee devices without the need for a separate hub
• Control your smart home with compatible devices like Ecobee, Philips Hue, and WeMo
• Add items to your shopping list
• Play your favorite playlists
• See your To Do lists
• Make video calls with Skype or the Alexa app
• Watch recipe videos
• Set up alarms
• Hands-free video calling and messaging

Lenovo Smart Tab Options

To give their customers flexibility while being sensitive to price points for their customers, Lenovo has created 4 different Lenovo Smart Tab with Alexa versions…compared to one option for the Amazon Echo Show.

There are two main device models – the Smart Tab M10 and the P10.  Both are full HD quality 10.1-inch tablets and are the first non-Amazon Fire tablets to support Alexa.  Both come with a Smart Dock with toggle into Show mode once the tablet is charging.

The main differences between the M10 and the P10 are that the P10 has…

• more 3-4 GM of RAM (M10 has 2GB or 3GB)
• more storage – up to 64GB (M10 has up to 32GB)
• 7,000mAH battery (the M10 has a 4850 mAH battery)
• a fingerprint reader
• a higher price tag of $100+
• 2 additional front speakers
• a rear 8MP front and a 5 MP back camera (the M10 has a 5MP front and 2 MP back)

If you like to do a lot of multitasking, meaning have a lot of browser tabs open at once or have multiple apps open at once, or have music and videos streaming apps open from multiple sources at one time, it would be best to buy a Lenovo Smart Tab with Alexa with more RAM.

 

 

Speaking of multitasking, I love to watch the news or health videos while checking my emails on my phone in the morning!  Before I had to split the screen on my Note 8 phone to do both activities, now I get a better-sized screen!

 

Features:

Pros:

• I love that Alexa voice is paired up with an Android operating system rather than an Alexa OS – this gives you so many more options and apps to use
•  You can ask Alexa to launch apps like YouTube, Netflix, Pandora, etc. to launch an app
• Works with other Echo devices for multi-room audio
• Love the flexibility of docking Alexa but being able to take the tablet into the kitchen, family room, or elsewhere to use it where you need it temporarily
• An amazingly affordable tablet with docking station 
• You can still charge the tablet without the docking station – use a USB-C charger 
• Music sounds great and can fill a room
• The Alexa Show mode is active whenever you dock the tablet so she is ready to help you when you call out Alexa
• You can take this on the road to use as a tablet and an Alexa companion
• With the Smart Tab docked, I can watch videos and multitask while checking email on my phone
• I downloaded the apps to control my TV so it becomes a second remote and I can always find it in its docking station

Cons:

• Once the tablet is removed, the Alexa feature is gone from the speaker, but it can act still as a Bluetooth speaker for other devices
• You can’t easily cast content to a TV unless using a Chromecast TV, a newer Amazon Firestick, or USB C to HDMI cable

The Lenovo Smart Tab with Alexa is surprisingly affordable.  The least expensive option the Lenovo smart TAB M10 with 2GB RAM and 16 GB of hard drive space is on sale right now for $179.99 on the Lenovo site.  The smart TAB M10 Pro offers 3GB RAM and 32 GB of space at $249.99.

If you prefer a better sound, a longer lasting battery, and more space, the Lenovo smart TAB P10 offers 4 GB RAM and 32 GB of hard drive space discounted know for $249.99 and the premium Lenovo Smart TAB P10 Pro with 4 GB RAM and 64 GB hard disk space sells for $349.99.  All smart TABs include free shipping from Lenovo.

A Mom’s Perspective

The fact that the Lenovo Smart Tab M10 or P10 is a fully functioning Android tablet is essential to this equation.  It gives you the best of both the Alexa world with the Android world – with no conflicts of interests that occur between Google and Amazon.

On the Amazon Show product from Amazon, you can’t download the Netflix or YouTube app.  But you can with the Lenovo Smart Tab!  And you can take the tablet to any room or on the go.

It truly is a family tablet because each family member can have their own profile and switch to it easily to have the tablet customized for them and their apps.  Lenovo has thought of everything with this one.

If you’re a Google Assistant fan, you’ll love the Lenovo Smart Display with Google Assistant. 

It has a lot of great features too, but it is not a tablet.  If you unplug the Lenovo Smart Display with Google Assistant, it takes a while to reboot.

This is not the case with the Lenovo Smart Tab with Alexa. Even when undocked, you can use the Amazon Alexa app to continue using Alexa.

You have a lot more flexibility and, in fact, you can even use Google Assistant on the tablet if you like Google Assistant too, it just doesn’t work with the docking station.

As a Google Home enthusiast, I didn’t anticipate enjoying the Lenovo Smart Tab with Alexa as much as I am.  For me, the fact that it is an Android tablet makes it even more useful..

* I was given a Lenovo smart TAB P10 with Amazon Alexa in exchange for my opinion.  All expressed thoughts are my own.