Forsaking my iPad Professional for a week-long journey to Autodesk College 2025 felt reckless. Apple’s pill has lengthy been my inventive security web, the best go-to for a distracting doodle, its energy and pace greater than able to most duties, and, after all, Procreate.However for a return flight from London to Nashville, I packed mild and carried solely Lenovo’s Thought Tab (the Professional mannequin is decreased for the time being). A earlier close to miss of dropping my iPad Professional made me anxious. And never that I hate the concept of dropping my Lenovo (wait, is that an REM music?), at a fraction of the worth, my checking account mentioned, ‘take the Lenovo’. What I found is that for journey sketching and notes, I didn’t miss the iPad Professional in any respect… besides once I actually needed that one app.The Thought Tab is a compact, 11-inch gadget that leans extra towards sketchbook than studio. At simply over 600g, it slips simply right into a backpack with out weighing you down. The construct is slim however sturdy, and whereas the shiny display displays each overhead mild in an airport lounge, the problem fades when you’re immersed in drawing, notably on a purple eye. A matte, paperlike cowl would restrict (and I exploit Rock, Paper, Pencil on iPad Professional) the shine and add somewhat texture, however even naked, I rapidly tailored.
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The pool at my 2-Star keep, sketched as there’s not a lot else to do in a motel on the sting of Dallas. (Picture credit score: Ian Dean)What shocked me most was the stylus. Lenovo’s pen doesn’t carry the premium repute of the Apple Pencil, but it’s exact sufficient to vanish as a instrument. Strain feels pure, tilt works reliably, and features land the place you need them. Inside minutes, I discovered myself sketching into Heavy Paint – the passing clouds proved a enjoyable, stylised distraction – mid-flight with out excited about the know-how in my hand. Positive, it is somewhat primary in comparison with Apple Pencil, and there have been some latency quirks in ArtRage Vitae, however for unfastened sketches, it is a neat little stylus.Efficiency is, as anticipated, a notch under Apple’s flagship. The Thought Tab’s mid-range processor and Android OS hold tempo with light-weight apps and note-taking, however push into heavy, layered art work, and also you’ll discover some hesitation. That mentioned, I by no means as soon as felt held again when doodling or capturing concepts. For the sort of inventive work I do on the transfer, and I am no professional artist, it was greater than sufficient.The actual eye-opener, although, was battery life. Lenovo has packed in an enormous cell, and in apply, it simply retains going. Throughout every week of journey, sketching on the aircraft, checking maps, and watching the odd video, I barely frightened about charging. My iPad Professional, compared, calls for extra frequent top-ups. For journey, this distinction alone shifts the expertise from anxious to carefree. I used to be not speeding to a plug for a cost.Lenovo room service
(Picture credit score: Future)Higher nonetheless, my flight house was delayed by 24 hours, and the Lenovo stored lighting up. Sitting in a two-star motel on the sting of Dallas, a pool with murky inexperienced water and nothing however rolling Fox Information on TV, I used to be glad to have the distraction of Lenovo and Heavy Paint.Day by day design information, evaluations, how-tos and extra, as picked by the editors.Organising the pill is painless. Log in with a Google account and every part syncs throughout. Gmail, Drive, Maintain, Docs, all of them really feel snug and able to go. The place I hit a wall was with inventive software program. I leaned on Heavy Paint and ArtRage Vitae for many of my sketches, and whereas they’ve their charms and strengths, neither is Procreate. (Learn our Procreate tutorial hub for inspiration.) Nothing on Android actually is like Procreate. That was the one level the place I felt the lack of Apple’s ecosystem: Procreate has change into the inventive shorthand for digital sketching, and its absence is keenly felt.
A Nashville doodle whereas I waited for my subsequent assembly at AU 2025. (Picture credit score: Ian Dean)But, for all that, the Thought Tab gave me a freedom I didn’t anticipate. It turned a light-weight digital sketchbook, all the time prepared, by no means begging for energy, and surprisingly pleasant to make use of. On this journey not less than, I didn’t miss the iPad Professional’s brute power or its bigger, squarer display (the Lenovo is proportionally tall and slim). I solely missed Procreate, and that claims loads about how properly Lenovo’s little pill carried me by means of.The Lenovo Thought Tab gained’t change my iPad Professional, however as a journey companion for notes, doodles, and sketches, it’s much better than you’d assume. Gentle, long-lasting, and straightforward to reside with, it proved a worthy companion on my travels.As we speak’s finest Lenovo Thought Tab Professional, Lenovo IdeaTab A2109A and Lenovo IdeaTab S2110A offers
