The iPad mini 7, with its high-end specs packed into a compact body, can be a great choice for buyers looking for a powerful tablet that isn’t too heavy or takes up too much space. It is Apple’s smallest tablet, occupying the top two positions in Consumer Reports’ rankings for tablets with screens around eight inches. In third place in Consumer Reports’ ranking is another powerful tablet with a small footprint, which is not made by Apple. The Lenovo Legion Tab Gen 3 is the device in question, a tablet launching in January 2025, a few months after Apple introduced the iPad mini 7.
The Legion Tab Gen 3 originally matched Apple’s price for the iPad mini 7 Wi-Fi, at $499.99, but the device is now available at lower prices, starting at under $450. The Legion Tab Gen 3 features a slightly larger display than the iPad mini 7’s 8.3-inch panel, an 8.8-inch display supporting 500 nits of typical brightness and a 165Hz 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 vs. 2,266 by 1 488).
Other specifications include Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, 12GB of RAM, 256GB or 512GB of storage, vapor chamber, dual-lens camera on the back (13-megapixel and 2-megapixel sensors), and an 8-megapixel sensor on the front. The 6,550mAh battery supports 45W charging. In terms of connectivity, the Legion Tab Gen 3 includes Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, and two USB-C ports, one of which supports 10Gbps data transfers. The tablet weighs around 350 grams and has a thickness of 7.79 mm.
Why Consumer Reports likes the Legion Tab Gen 3
In its analyses, 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 is also testing the camera capabilities as well as the device’s build and connectivity options. The Legion Tab Gen 3’s screen, performance, convenience, and ease of use scored very well in testing, but the tablet’s camera features failed to impress. Likewise, Consumer Reports pointed out another drawback: the lack of additional connectivity options (HDMI and microSD card).
Comparatively, the iPad mini 7 also lacks additional ports and expandable storage, although the Apple tablet only has a single USB-C port. Consumer Reports also found that the iPad mini 7 offers 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 on top in terms of convenience and ease of use, matching the Legion Tab Gen 3 in performance.
Consumer Reports highlighted the Legion Tab Gen 3’s display quality, including the high resolution, color experience, and its quick response to touch input. The tablet is easy to set up, can run two apps side by side, and supports the most common file types without additional apps. The tablet’s high score in the performance section indicates that it can comfortably run more demanding apps without issue. Battery life was also a strong point. 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.
What other reviews are saying
Consumer Reports offers scores for various categories in its reviews, but these numerical ratings are not necessarily objective. A more objective score is the Geekbench 6 benchmark score for the Legion Tab Gen 3, with the tablet achieving 2,226 and 6,986 in both single-core and multi-core tests. For comparison, the iPad mini 7 scores 2,910 and 7,236 in the same Geekbench 6 tests. This supports the idea that the Apple tablet may offer slightly better performance than the Lenovo device, which Consumer Reports’ ranking also indicates. On that note, the Legion brand indicates that the device is targeted at gamers, so it is positioned as a more capable tablet.
Other reviewers have also praised Lenovo’s smallest tablet. For example, Windows Central calls the Legion Tab Gen 3 “the best Android-powered iPad mini alternative,” saying the device is a great tablet for everyday tasks, not just gaming. The outlet also highlighted the tablet’s lightweight design, high performance, and long battery life. Likewise, Tom’s Guide said they thought the iPad mini 7 was the “perfect little tablet” until they tried the Legion Tab Gen 3. The Android tablet’s power, battery life, Wi-Fi 7 support, and remote reading experience are strong points. Finally, 9to5Google called the Legion Tab Gen 3 “Android’s iPad mini.”
We also included the Legion Tab Gen 3 in our list of the five best Android tablets that are more powerful than the iPad mini 7, highlighting the various hardware advantages that the Android tablet can offer over Apple’s tablet. That said, Lenovo has upgraded the Legion Tab series twice since the release of the Gen 3 model. The latest alternative, as of this writing, is the Legion Tab Gen 5 at $849.99, which should offer an even better experience than the Gen 3 model.
