The 14.5-inch Tab Extreme from Lenovo is a giant tablet that can replace a laptop

Lenovo finally has a solution for Samsung’s enormous Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra after a year of development. The company has unveiled a 14.5-inch Tab Extreme that is advertised as both a large Android media tablet and a laptop replacement. The 3,000 x 1,876, 120Hz OLED display should make it great for watching movies and working, and in some markets, it comes with a Magic Keyboard-style add-on to make it a productivity machine. The stand stores a stylus bundle.

Although the Tab Extreme isn’t particularly powerful, performance should not be a concern. The tablet is equipped by Lenovo with MediaTek’s eight-core Dimensity 9000 chip, 12GB of RAM, 256GB of expandable storage, and two USB-C ports—one 3.2 and one 2.0—that support reverse charging and DisplayPort monitor connections. The four microphones and eight JBL speakers that can play Dolby Atmos sound well. The 13-megapixel front- and rear-facing cameras, as well as the secondary 5MP fixed-focus camera on the back, make for decent cameras with an estimated 12 hours of video playback.

Software also plays an important role. Similar to Apple’s Sidecar, you can mirror or extend your Windows PC’s desktop with the Freestyle app. Additionally, OS updates might not cause you as much concern. The Tab Extreme is preloaded with Android 13, and Lenovo promises four years of security updates in addition to three major version upgrades. Even though that isn’t as robust as Apple’s or Samsung’s update policies, it should keep your tablet reasonably up to date.

The competition may be the primary obstacle. The Tab Extreme is expected to be available from Lenovo sometime in 2023, with a starting price of $1,200. Even though it could be a better deal than a Tab S8 Ultra with a similar configuration but no keyboard, that rival device is nearly a year old. After Samsung and other rivals have introduced more powerful alternatives, the Lenovo model may appear in stores.