Our friends over at Lenovo have sent us the ThinkPad 8 for us to review, this device was announced at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show. This device left me with the feeling of excitement after I first got to play around with it. An 8-inch tablet that could power two full monitors, I left with the feeling that this tablet can increase productivity. A Windows 8.1 Tablet that could actually get the job done and one that is paired with the legendary ThinkPad brand and name. Now that I have gotten some time to test it out at length, it is time for the full review.

Let‘s Talk Design

The ThinkPad 8 is a powerful Windows 8 Tablet, that comes in at a relatively portable design and build. In fact it is both the lightest and thinnest in Lenovo’s ThinkPad tablet lineup to date. It comes in at 8.83-inches tall and 5.19-inches wide, while it is only 0.35-inches thick. In comparison to other tablets, this device is light at only 0.95-pounds, yes it is less than 1 pound. Lenovo’s ThinkPad brand has always been known for reliability and being built tough, to put it simply the ThinkPad 8 is no different. It has a strong build quality, as it is made from aluminum and for added protection you get rubber edging around the device. The main color of the device is black, as it is with most ThinkPad products, you do get the pop of ThinkPad red though. There is a red rim going around the back camera, as well as the dot in the letter “i” with the ThinkPad branding. It is a nice subtle pop of color and the optional Quickshot cover, has one side that is black and one side that is red. The ThinkPad 8 is a joy to handle, feeling very comfortable in the hand, the back feels very soft and does not attract to many fingerprints. For reading, you could very easily handle the device with one hand comfortably. You could bring it with you for the car ride or on the aircraft due to the portable design. The ThinkPad 8 is meant to be handled vertically, considering the Windows button is located on the bottom in a vertical ordination. Personally, I would say it is easier to handle in the vertical orientation as well.

Above the display you will find a ThinkPad logo, a few sensors, and a 2 megapixel camera that can record video in 1080p. Below the display you only have a Windows button in a silver color. The left hand side features a micro SD card slot and micro HDMI port. The bottom of the device features a headphone jack, while the right hand side contains your power button, volume rocker, and micro USB 3.0 port. The back of the device is home to an 8 megapixel camera with an LED flash, an Intel logo, two speaker grills, and a ThinkPad logo.

Let‘s Talk Speed And Battery Life

Speed and performance is important on any device, whether it be a computer, smartphone, or a tablet. Inside the ThinkPad 8 is an Intel Bay Trail Quad Core processor and this makes for a very fast experience. In fact this 2.39GHz processor is paired up with 2GB of RAM. In comparison to other processors, the one inside the ThinkPad 8 is up to four times faster and it is one of the latest processors. Turn on and turn off time is quite fast and using applications is a breeze. The ThinkPad 8 is a very powerful tablet and does beat out the competitors, including Lenovo’s own consumer Miix2 8 tablet.

Providing the ThinkPad 8 with power is a 20.5Whr battery and Lenovo says that it should give you to 8 hours. While depending on use, this is possible, our average time with the tablet gave us around six and a half hours of use. This is one of the few issues with the tablet and luckily there is fix, just bring the charger along with you. Battery life really does depend on how you use it, with light use of checking email and the web, I did get a full 8 hours. When you through in some more tasks, the battery life will drop down.

Let‘s Talk Display, Cameras, And Quickshot Cover

A key feature of a tablet would be the display and this is no different with the ThinkPad 8. All I have to say about the display on this device, is that it is phenomenal. Lenovo really hit the ball out of the park with the display, we have a 8.3-inch FHD 1920 X 1200 display. This display features a layer protective glass and anti finger print layer as well, plus you get 10 point multitouch which is a unique feature to the device. Images look very bright, vivid, and life-like on the ThinkPad 8, viewing angles are great with a full 180-degrees. Crisp and sharp is another good way to describe the 8.3-inch display, text is very easy to read even when you zoom all the way in. You might have noticed that you get an added 0.3-inches on ThinkPad 8 and while it is a small amount, it allows for a few extra lines of text and more space to be productive.

Cameras on a tablet have always been a tricky subject, they almost always are step downs from you would normally get on a smartphone. Lenovo’s consumer 8-inch tablet, the Miix2 8, features only a 5 megapixel camera on the back; the ThinkPad 8 gets an upgrade to an 8 megapixel camera. The back camera on this device can take some good shots with good lightning, it does struggle a bit in low light. The better side of the optics is found on the front, the 2 megapixel front camera performs really well. I tested it out with Skype and it keeps the focus and clarity on you or whomever is speaking. It does record video in 1080pHD as well and it look good on both my end and the other persons end.

The Quickshot cover not only provides a nice way to protect your tablet. It provides a multimode experience, similar to the ones you can find on the Yoga line of products. While it is only one mode, it does come in handy, that mode is stand. If you ever need to give a presentation to a small group, simply launch Powerpoint and pop the ThinkPad 8 into stand mode. It is also great for watching movies and viewing images in this mode. Its microfiber lining will help to clean your 8.03-inch display and when you flip it over it does provide a pop of color and some texture. You will notice that when the Quickshot cover is closed, it does have lip on the right hand side and this makes it easy to open and close the cover. When you have the cover open, you will notice that flap that is above where the back camera lens is, when you engage the flap the camera application will automatically open and you will be able to capture images quite quickly. The Quickshot cover is an optional accessory for the Lenovo ThinkPad 8 and it retails for $34.99.

Let‘s Talk Software And Storage

The ThinkPad 8 can come with either Windows 8.1 or Windows 8.1 Pro, both of which are 32Bit. The Windows 8.1 variants starts at $399.99, while the Pro variants start at $499.99. The Windows 8.1 variants come with a full version of Office Home & Student 2013, this is not the case with the Windows 8.1 Pro models. After all Microsoft Office for Work is different from the Home & Student offerings. You get the full Windows 8.1 experience on this device and even bigger plus is desktop mode. Meaning that you can hook the ThinkPad 8 up to two monitors and be running many applications all at once. For instance have an Excel spreadsheet open on one monitor, a Powerpoint presentation on the other, and be working on email and Word document on the tablet it self. The quad-core processor inside the tablet gives you more than enough power to get the job done. Since the ThinkPad 8 is a business tablet, Lenovo has pre-loaded many productivity applications on the device. For instance Evernote is pre-loaded and will come in handy for when you need to take notes during meetings. Hightail, formally YouSendIt, will let you share files amongst your team or with clients. With Lenovo QuickCast you can share files, send messages, share a whiteboard, broadcast images or video, and much more to other devices. These are just a few of the many productivity applications that come pre-loaded and of course Kindle is there so you can take a break and enjoy a nice book whenever you would like.

The standard amount of storage in the ThinkPad 8 is 64GB eMMC, but out of the box this expandable. It is expandable via the micro SD card slot, so you can pop in a 32GB, 64GB, or even a 128GB micro SD card and get more storage. For an extra $140 you can upgrade the storage to 128GB eMMC internally.

The Bottom Line; The Lenovo ThinkPad 8 is truly the full

ThinkPad and Windows 8.1 experience thrown into a

powerful and portable tablet.

It truly is, the ThinkPad 8 is meant for productivity. It starts off with a durable and built to last design, which features plenty of ports to keep you going. For instance if you need to share a presentation on a TV or monitor, simply use the micro HDMI port to connect or use desktop mode. A fast quad-core processor is here to make sure you have fluid and swift experience. While the battery may not last a whole day, depending on use, a simple fix is bringing the charger along. A vivid and sharp 8.3-inch display is on board to provide a great viewing experience. The optional Quickshot cover makes it easy to capture images and you can video call with ease. Since it is a business orientated tablet, the full Windows 8.1 experience is on board, plus many productivity applications will come pre-loaded. Overall, the Lenovo ThinkPad 8 is a phenomenal tablet and is easily one of the best 8-inch Windows 8 tablets on the market. In fact it is the best 8-inch Windows 8 Tablet for business on the market currently, the Miix2 8 from Lenovo still gets recognition for being the best consumer 8-inch Windows 8 Tablet on the market. The Lenovo ThinkPad 8 starts at $399.99 for the Windows 8.1 model and the Windows 8.1 Pro model will begin at $499.99. For More Information On The Lenovo ThinkPad 8, Please Click Here. We would like to thank Lenovo for providing us with a copy of the “Lenovo ThinkPad 8”.

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