Lenovo Legion Tab Gen 3 Review: The Portable Gaming Powerhouse
- hoeyeen
- 16 minutes ago
- 7 min read
Gaming tablets aren’t exactly flooding the market, but the Lenovo Legion Tab Gen 3 (Y700 2025) is here to make some noise. It’s compact enough to bring around without weighing you down, yet powerful enough to handle long, intense gaming sessions. No unnecessary bulk, no compromises, just pure performance in a smaller form. In this review, we’ll break down its features and see if this little powerhouse can really level up your gaming experience.
TL;DR
What's good | What's meh |
High Performance - Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, up 16GB RAM and 512GB UFS 4.0 storage | No Cellular Connectivity - Limited to Wi-Fi for online play |
Excellent Display - 8.8" 165Hz LTPS LCD with a 165Hz touch sampling rate. | No Expandable Storage - No microSD card slot |
Advanced Cooling - Legion ColdFront system with bypass charging | LCD over OLED - Some may prefer the deeper blacks of an OLED screen. |
Gaming-Focused Design - Dual USB-C ports and light weight | Basic Cameras - Functional for video calls but not for high-quality photography. |
Great Audio and Haptics - Stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos and dual X-axis haptics. | |
Good Integration with Legion Ecosystem - Quick content sharing with Lenovo Smart Connect, pairs smoothly with Legion gears |
What's in the Box?
Upon opening the box, you'll find the following:
Lenovo Legion Tab Gen 3 tablet
68W fast charger
USB-C to USB-C cable
Quick start guide and other user documentation
Folio Case
Glass Screen Protector (and tools to install)
Design and Ergonomics: Built for the Handheld Gamer
The moment you pick it up, the Legion Tab Gen 3 gives off a solid, premium feel. Its sleek, all-metal chassis with beveled edges gives it a robust yet stylish feel. Weighing in at just 350g, it’s comfortable to hold for extended periods, making it ideal for long gaming sessions. The compact 8.8-inch size hits a sweet spot, striking a great balance as it's not too bulky for handheld play, yet it's large enough to offer an immersive gaming experience that a smaller phone screen can't match.
The design also includes a thoughtful detail for gamers: two USB-C ports. One USB-C 2.0 is located on the short side, while the other USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 on the long side, which means you can charge the device while holding it in landscape orientation without the cable getting in the way of your hands. It’s a small detail, but it makes a huge difference for uninterrupted gaming. The one on the longer side further supports up to 10GBps data transfer speed and DisplayPort-out, which means that you can connect the tablet to a larger external display for an even more immersive experience.
Display: Visuals That Keep Pace with the Action
The Legion Tab Gen 3 features an 8.8-inch PureSight LTPS LCD with a sharp 2.5K resolution (2560×1600 pixels). Sure, some might wish for OLED, but this LCD still delivers vibrant colors, solid accuracy, and one huge win for gamers — an incredibly fast 165Hz refresh rate. Pair that with a matching 165Hz touch sampling rate and you get silky-smooth animations plus instant touch response.
In fast-paced games like shooters or MOBA, that high refresh rate is a real game-changer. Motion blur? Pretty much gone. Animations? Smooth like butter. You’ll notice every frame, every detail, and every tap responding instantly. The 165Hz touch sampling rate means there's virtually no delay between your tap and the action on screen, which is crucial for quick-reaction games, and honestly, once you get used to this level of responsiveness, it’s hard to go back. The 16:10 aspect ratio also makes the tablet excellent for widescreen media and gaming, making the most of every inch of the display for an immersive experience.
However, some games that require more-than-usual on-screen information, for example MOBA like Honor of Kings, might be better suited for a wider aspect ratio, such as the 20:9 format which is more common on many modern smartphones. For gamers who are used to this 'bar phone' aspect ratio, the 16:10 screen might feel a bit different, as it changes the field of view and that might affect how you usually played the game.
Performance: Uncompromised Power Under the Hood
The Legion Tab Gen 3 runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 mobile platform, paired with a generous 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB of fast UFS 4.0 storage. While the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 isn’t the newest chip on the market, it’s still one of the most powerful and is widely used in many flagship devices today. This combination delivers the kind of performance that can handle any game on the Google Play Store with ease. And for the Asian market, the tablet is offered in both 12GB + 256GB and 16GB + 512GB configurations, giving buyers more flexibility to choose based on their needs.
With the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, you can expect running graphically demanding titles at their highest settings while maintaining smooth, steady frame rates. Throughout my gaming sessions, games are running consistently at their respective FPS settings without much noticeable spikes. It also supports hardware-accelerated Ray Tracing for more realistic lighting and reflections in supported games. Meanwhile, UFS 4.0 storage keeps load times ultra-fast, getting you into the action almost instantly.
Cooling: Maintaining Performance During Intense Play
For serious gamers, the Legion Tab Gen 3’s ColdFront cooling system is one of its standout features. It uses an upgraded vapor chamber that’s 14% larger than the previous model, paired with a 3D heat dissipation structure. The setup pulls heat away from your hands and spreads it out efficiently so the tablet stays comfortable to hold. This smart thermal management is crucial because without proper cooling, even the most powerful processors would throttle to prevent overheating.
With the Legion ColdFront system, the tablet maintains steady performance even during hours of intense gameplay, so you won’t run into sudden frame drops or lag in the middle of a match. It's worth mentioning that Lenovo has also included “bypass charging”, which powers the tablet directly from the charger instead of the battery when plugged in. This not only reduces heat buildup but can also help extend the battery’s lifespan over time.
Audio and Haptics: Immersion You Can Feel and Hear
Audio plays a big part in completing the whole gaming experience and Lenovo nailed that as well. The Legion Tab Gen 3 packs two powerful 2712 superlinear stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos support, delivering crisp, clear audio that can get surprisingly loud without distortion. It also features dual X-axis haptics, adding subtle vibrations that sync with in-game actions.
The stereo setup creates a spacious, directional soundstage, making it easier to locate enemy movements or fully immerse yourself in a game's sountrack. Dolby Atmos adds even more depth and realism to the audio, while the haptic feedback brings an extra layer of engagement, providing tactile feedback for in-game events like gunshots, explosions, or character abilities, making the experience more engaging and immersive.
Battery Life and Charging: A Balance of Capacity and Portability
The Legion Tab Gen 3 uses a 2-cell Li-Polymer 6550mAh battery that strikes a good balance between capacity and portability. While it may not last for days of heavy gaming, it's efficient enough to handle several hours of play at max settings without trouble. And when it’s time to recharge, the included 68W fast charger gets you back into action quickly.
The aforementioned bypass charging feature is a key benefit here. By powering the device directly while you play, it not only helps with thermal management but also protects the battery from the stress of being charged and discharged simultaneously during a heavy load. This preserves the long-term health of the battery, which is a major concern for any gaming device.
Other Features to Note
Beyond its core gaming capabilities, the Legion Tab Gen 3 comes with a few extras that add to the overall experience. It runs on a clean version of Android 14 with minimal bloat, with a few useful additions from Lenovo like the Legion Space gaming app. This software suite gives you fine-grained control over performance settings and game-specific optimizations. Also it provides support for three OS upgrades over its lifetime so you could be rest assured that it could last longer than you ever needed.
On the connectivity side, the tablet supports Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 for fast, stable connections whether you’re gaming online or pairing accessories. Just keep in mind that there’s no cellular modem, so you’ll need Wi-Fi for online play. It also skips a microSD card slot, meaning you’ll be relying entirely on the built-in storage, either 256GB or 512GB depending on the model.
And if you're already in the Legion ecosystem, things just keep get better. With Lenovo Smart Connect, you can quickly share content between the tablet and your Legion laptop or desktop, making it easy to switch screens or transfer files. It also pairs smoothly with other Legion gear like monitors, headsets, and even fits neatly into a Legion backpack for travel. This level of synergy ties the whole ecosystem together, giving you a more cohesive and powerful gaming experience.
For cameras, you get a 13MP rear camera and an 8MP front-facing camera. While these won't be competing with flagship smartphone cameras, they are perfectly sufficient for video calls, scanning documents, or snapping quick shots. The front camera is also positioned for landscape use, which makes it much more natural for conferencing or streaming.
Verdict
The Lenovo Legion Tab Gen 3 is an outstanding device that delivers on its promise of a powerful and portable gaming experience. It stands out as a high-end Android tablet with a premium build, a sharp and smooth high-refresh-rate display, and a strong Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset kept in check by an effective cooling system.
Yes, it misses out on extras like a microSD card slot and 5G connectivity, but those feel like small trade-offs compared to what it offers. The thoughtful design and gamer-focused features make it one of the best small gaming tablets you can get right now. For Android users looking for an immersive, responsive gaming experience, it’s the best small gaming tablet right now and an excellent alternative to the iPad mini if gaming is your priority.
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