Verdict

Pros

• The full power of Windows 10
• Good battery life
• Impressively thin and light
• 64GB storage even for entry level model

Cons

• Windows 10 still can't compete for touchscreen use
• A touch pricey overall
• Pointy bottom corners uncomfortable

What is the Lenovo ThinkPad 10?

The ThinkPad 10 is a Windows 10 based tablet designed primarily for use in business environments. Impressively thin and light it offers true iPad Air 2-rivalling tablet ergonomics and battery life but will run all the standard Windows office software.

Available with an optional folio keyboard, stylus and 4G connectivity, it has the potential to be a great highly portable computing option.

Lenovo ThinkPad 10 – Design and Features

The ThinkPad 10 is testament to the fact that Intel-powered, Windows-running tablets are closing in on Android tablets and iPads for sheer portability.

With dimensions of 256.5 x 177 x 8.95 mm it is a little chunkier than the iPad Air 2 (240 x 169.5 x 6.1 mm), but not by much and certainly not to any extent that matters. Similarly it weighs just 597g compared to the iPad Air 2’s 437g.

The upshot is this is a tablet that should be comfortable to hold one handed. Should.

Unfortunately Lenovo has made the decision to have the two bottom corners – those that sit either side of the Windows button – be squared off rather than nicely rounded. That means the tablet digs into the palm of your hand.

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The company has done this because the optional keyboard nestles better onto the flat edge. However, Lenovo didn’t provide this nor any of the other accessories with its review sample so I’m left to judge the tablet on its own.

Otherwise the design is very nice. Black, soft-touch plastic covers the back and a neat ThinkPad logo, complete with illuminated dot on the ‘i’, adds a quirky touch.

However, the printed Intel logo and other accreditation information on the rear rather spoils the look – you can’t even remove it like you can with those annoying Windows stickers on laptops. Then again it is a business machine so looks arguably run a distant second to functionality.

Also on the rear are the stereo speakers which are again oriented in landscape mode. These are joined by a 5MP camera with an LED flash and a fingerprint reader.

Elsewhere, there’s a 1.2MP webcam on the front bezel, opposite the touch-sensitive Windows button that can be used to unlock the device.

Another physical button up top also locks and unlocks the screen as well as turning the device off when held down. On the bottom edge is the connection for the dock while all the rest of the connectivity is on the right edge.

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Here you’ll find the USB Type-C charging port, A full-size USB 3.0 port, microHDMI, a SIM slot, microSD, volume controls and a headphone jack. That’s a decent selection, making this a potentially versatile tablet – I used the USB port countless times in the course of this review – although the pathetic little plastic cover for the USB port is utterly pointless and guaranteed to get lost.

Inside there’s the 1,920 x 1,200 display whose pixels are pushed by a 1.6GHz, dual-core, Intel Atom x7-Z8700 processor with Intel HD Graphics (16 execution units, 200-600MHz) and either 2GB or 4GB (reviewed) of RAM, depending on which configuration you choose.

There’s also the choice of 64GB (reviewed) or 128GB of storage and the aforementioned optional 4G connectivity. All models include Wi-Fi 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.0.

Lenovo lists the various systems as ranging from £459.99 (Wi-Fi only, 2GB RAM, 64GB SSD) to £709.99 (4G, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD), though the entry level system can be had for around £310 in some shops.