Lenovo Tab 2 A7-30 quick review – affordable and stylish 7-inch 3G tablet

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In January Lenovo announced one very intriguing tablet named Tab 2 A7-30. Now it is on the market and respectively, in our hands as well. Its capabilities and design look very promising but if you want to find more information about it, you have come to the right place.

It has some major differences when compared to its predecessor. It features a 7-inch IPS screen, 4-core MediaTek MT8127 processor, two cameras, 3450 mAh battery and last but not least, it has thin and good-looking design. And the best part is that all of this comes with great price tag. Currently you can find Lenovo Tab 2 A7-30 on the market for about 100-150 euro.

Contents


What’s in the box?

In the box of Tab 2 A7-30 you will find only a USB cable, charger and a user’s manual.
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Design and construction

Lenovo puts some thinking here and now we can see better design than its predecessor. It has a pleasant appearance and, in addition, there is a thinner profile (…) and it weighs less (257 g) than the first generation. When it comes to how comfortable the grip is, it is relatively good for holding in your hand, but keep in mind, that we are talking about a 7-inch screen. The main reason for this are the thinner sides. Wrapping things up, Lenovo Tab 2 A7-30 looks like a premium device despite the fact that it’s very affordable.

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The main camera is on the back, at the top-left. There are also two inscriptions – one of Lenovo (top) and one of Dolby (bottom). Both are gray-colored. There are two product stickers оn the lower back. The back has a matte finish but nevertheless it still collects fingerprints. On the front side there are the usual three touch buttons which are part of the screen (Back, Home and Multitasking). There is another inscription which is placed next to the front camera and under the speaker.


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The sides are equipped with Volume and Power buttons on the left, a built-in microphone, which is placed on the bottom, microUSB slot and 3.5 headset jack on the top and also on the left you can find a tiny lid, which covers the 3G SIM and microSD slots.

Display

Lenovo Tab 2 A7-30 has a 7-inch LCD screen with a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels. The pixel density is 170 ppi, which is not that impressive but it has an IPS matrix, so you can expect great colors wide viewing angles. To some extent, that makes the lack of screen detail less of an issue. Thanks to the thin frame, the display takes up about 69.5% of the entire front surface.

While things seem OK so far, we’ll have to slightly spoil the initial positive impressions. The touch screen doesn’t register some of the input from time to time, resulting in the need to re-swipe pages. We are not sure what the problem is, exactly, but we’ll be contacting Lenovo to see if they could weigh in on the problem.
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Specs sheet


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OSAndroid 4.4 (KitKat)
CPUMediaTek MT8127 (4 cores, 1.30GHz, Cortex-A7)
RAM1GB RAM
Memory16GB
GPUMali-400MP4
Display7-inch IPS LCD multi-touch display with a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels
ConnectivityBluetooth v4.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, GPS
Cameras2MP as main and 0.3MP as secondary
Features
  • microSD up to 32GB
  • microUSB 2.0
  • integrated loudspeakers
  • 3.5 mm audio jackк
Battery3450 mAh
Dimensions (W/H/D)190.5 x 104.1 x 8.9 mm
Weight257 g (9.06 oz)


Battery

The tablet has a 3450 mAh battery and Lenovo claims that it will manage to stay on for about 8 hours of usage. Of course, we tested its capabilities and you can see the results bellow. There is also a comparison with other models. Keep in mind that we measured battery life in specific conditions – 120cd/m2 screen brightness, turned on Wi-Fi, turned off GPS and Bluetooth. We tested the battery in our usual manner – web browsing, watching movies, and gaming.

Wi-Fi surfing

In order to simulate real-life conditions, we use our script to automatically browse through over 70 websites.

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The result is 506 minutes (8 hours and 26 minutes) which isn’t superb but it seems good enough.

3D gaming

In this test we used Epic Citadel to simulate 3D gaming

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Here, the result is 268 minutes (4 hours and 28 minutes). This isn’t much more than expected. However, keep in mind that we’re talking about a 3450 mAh battery.

Watching videos

We concluded the battery tests with the “Watching video” test, in which we used HD 720p video.

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Lenovo Tab 2 A7-30 managed to stay on for 362 minutes (6 hours and 2 minutes) – not a great result.

Software

The first thing that strikes us about the software is its operating system – Android KitKat 4.4.2. It comes with a Lenovo user interface, where all apps are placed on the Home screen. Part of them have a specific look, which differs from the classical one.
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In addition, there are some preloaded apps like Security HD for virus protection, SYNCit for synchronization with cloud services or SD memory cards, SHAREit for sharing information with other devices, WPC office for reading and creating Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents, txt ebooks for reading books, UC Browser for everyone who doesn’t want to use Google Chrome, and even a game – Tap the Frog.


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Performance

Lenovo Tab 2 A7-30 is powered by MediaTek MT8127, which is equipped with four Cortex A7 cores with a frequency of 1.3 GHz. It is also accompanied by the very typical for this class 1 GB RAM and Mali-400MP4 GPU. MediaTek MT8127 supports Full HD (1980 x 1200) displays, a 13 megapixel camera, Full HD video playback and recording, Dual-band Wi-Fi , Bluetooth and GPS. One might presume that the performance isn’t superb, but when it comes to smooth operation it seem to be doing the job just fine. We were able to test the processor by means of some popular benchmarks.

 CPU performance

Geekbench 3 is a cross-platform benchmark test coded by Primate Labs. It aims to stress the CPU in different situations with single and multi-threading processes.
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Vellamo is a benchmark from Qualcomm and its Metal section tests the computing performance of the SoC.
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GPU performance

Demanding cross-platform test for the GPU performance. It is available in Android, iOS and even Windows.
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base

Games

We tested how pleasant the gaming is, and we can say that we didn’t see any serious lag, which is harmful to your gaming, so you can easily play games like Real Racing 3 and Dead Trigger 2 at medium settings.


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Temperatures and comfort

After two hours of 3D gaming we measured the temperature on the Tab 2 A7-30 back cover in three different areas, and we can say that it looks ok. The hottest spot was the area around the camera – 40 C. In the middle, we measured 30 C while on the bottom, the temperature was only 26.3 C. In any case, the tablet is not hot and you can hold it without any trouble.
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Camera

It’s a budget tablet, so we can’t expect much from this component. Tab 2 A7-30 comes with a 2MP camera, which features some interesting modes – HDR, Panorama, Face beauty and Multi angle view. You can also change the brightness, sharpness, hue, saturation and contrast of your picture. We took some sample photos, so you can see how good the quality is, and we would like to emphasize the fact that you should dramatically lower your expectations. There is also a front camera but don’t take selfies with it. It is adequate only for video conversation. If you are looking for a tablet that will take great photos Tab 2 A7-30 should not be your first choice.

A look at the menus


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Sample photos


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Video Recording


Conclusion

If you are looking for a budget tablet with compact size, pleasant interface and smooth user experience, Lenovo Tab 2 A7-30 is an adequate choice, and in addition, it has a great design with thin sides. Satisfying battery life and performance definitely contribute to the over-all equation. Last but not least is the cheap price.

This may not be the tablet to flaunt in front of your friends, but it could certainly be the one you use for everyday tasks thanks to its compact size, which also makes it easier to carry around. Perhaps the only major gripe one could have is the camera with its inability to take good quality photos. However, most users, who decide to put the burden of that task on their phones, would hardly find this to be an issue.

Pros

  • Affordable
  • Stylish and thin design
  • Useful pre-installed apps
  • Relatively pleasant and smooth gaming


Cons

  • Relatively low screen density
  • Low camera quality

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Himmat
Himmat
8 years ago

What’s the front camera quality? And is the rear camera only 2 MP?

Himmat
Himmat
8 years ago
Reply to  Himmat

Wait never mind I see it

Jeffery
8 years ago
Reply to  Himmat

This tablet is brill but please do not buy lenovo Google and accompanied contractors have gone to far to make the best cheapest most isable device a nightmare if u game and download mad with or without understanding of damages and. Or spacial retrospect don’t buy make developers contractors redesign the basic OS can’t even save to memory cards I have developer options every android control application all fkin useless until OS design basis changed noooo point unless u use less than 8g for every use ever!!!!!

oswaldo
oswaldo
8 years ago
vainpire
vainpire
8 years ago
Reply to  oswaldo

The touch display issue was fixed with updating a7-30 to Lollipop.

Its JP hello
Its JP hello
7 years ago
Reply to  vainpire

I just brought mine last night and was told not to update to lollipop ?… So far, I think KitKat will work for me since I’m only up for browsing, social media apps and document readings; and given the fact that I am on a budget when I bought this one… The specs weren’t that much (base on this page) but if you’re just a “light/basic user”, I think this tab will do. ?

Jacob Anthony
8 years ago

I have recently bought Lenovo A7-30 3G Tablet it is a blend of smart specification, amazing speed and powerful performance. I have been mesmerized by its 7 inch display. I am highly impressed with this tablet it runs smoothly without any glitches, does not heat up, excellent battery and has all the latest technologies with upgradable Android v4.4 Kitkat operating system along with 1.3GHz MTK 8382 quad core processor, 1 GB RAM and and WiFi, 3G, Voice Calling features. I recommend users must go for this device. For further details please visit http://amzn.to/1QjUqkV

Jeffery
8 years ago

No joke I’m genuine as it gets internal memory of í gig go buy a 32 gig download what u like rooted or not ur OS will not allow u to save to SD cards unless ur a techno neeeek who can manually partition still no guarantee this sucks don’t buy phone lenovo and haggle them for what ain’t worth shit they know this isn’t ask there developers and management

Jeffery
8 years ago

Deff do not upgrade either supposed to fix OS problem certainly doesn’t!!

David 71
David 71
8 years ago

Does this tablet have an FM Radio?

Podgorikanac
Podgorikanac
8 years ago
Reply to  David 71

Yes, it does, and it works smooth and easy…

Terrie
Terrie
8 years ago

Is it normal for the battery to get as hot as 45 degrees even on standby? Mine does and I ‘ve been told by the supplier that sending it back for a new battery won’t yield any better results either on battery temperature or battery life (6 hrs on standby)

Narsinha Deshpande
7 years ago

It’s support otg or not

Hughwan Lao
7 years ago

Yes it does support otg

sonny
sonny
7 years ago

i have run a system upgrade and upon installation it has gone for the whole day frozen displaying “lenovo , android”.what can i do to clear this or revert to old state

joan
7 years ago

does it have a music player?

frankgrozier.
frankgrozier.
7 years ago

Brand new 2A7-30 tablet.Takes 90 seconds to switch on. Normal, or not?

starjack22
7 years ago

The GPU that comes with Mediatek MT8127 chipset is Mali-450MP4 and not Mali-400MP4. I owned a different tablet with this same chipset and really does well with most demanding games.

cristina
cristina
7 years ago

It does not have phone to call somebody or to receive calls, only messages?

Mohit Saicharan
Mohit Saicharan
3 years ago

Why does my tab shut down continously when playing a game?