While the best tablets have plenty of standalone utility, another solid use case for the highly portable and often beautiful screens is as an external monitor for other devices. Now typically this is leveraged for extending your laptop screen as with Sidecar on macOS and iPad OS, but a new tablet from Lenovo may take it further.
This Android tablet possibly named the Lenovo Yoga X, was spotted in leaked documents by Android developer Till Kottmann and a corresponding image was shared by frequent leaker Evan Blass on his Patreon page, according to the documents this tablet will feature a microHDMI port allowing users to easily use it as a monitor for anything from a laptop to a Nintendo Switch (via Android Authority).
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While a wireless solution would be fantastic, this implementation certainly gives users a lot more flexibility and of course reliability as anything with an HDMI port or support for HDMI via a USB-C hub will be able to take advantage of the feature.
According to the leaked documents, the tablet goes into a distinct display mode when connected to another device via HDMI that will only allow you to adjust the volume or brightness on the tablet. However, users can still choose to unlock the full Android tablet by entering their PIN or password.
Unfortunately, the rest of the specs for the tablet along with potential pricing remain a mystery at the moment, which will definitely move the needle on how we feel about this tablet as opposed to something like HP's E14 G4 portable monitor.
Given the difficulty that Android tablet manufacturers have had competing against the iPad, it's good to see someone trying something new, we'll be keeping a close eye on any new developments as at the right price point with a nice display this could be an excellent little portable productivity and gaming companion that just happens to double as an Android tablet.
