Best tablet for use on zwift - min 3-4 bluetooth channels?

General Discussion
1

Hi all, i have already seen a variety of posts regarding tablets on zwift etc. However there’s some more info i am trying to find to decide on a purchase.

What is a good tablet people use? I am thinking it would atleast need 3-4 bluetooth channels for the trainer (cadence and power probably are included within this one channel), zwift play, hrm and any other potential blue tooth connection.

I was looking at the Lenovo P11, would this suffice?

What other recommendations do people have?

Laptop isn’t an option, Apple tv might be, but looking for Tablet recommendations only.

Thanks!

2

I presently use an iPad 9th Gen and it works just fine. Until recently I was using a 5th Gen, and it worked just fine, also.

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Most devices do not have a fixed limit on Bluetooth connections. They have a certain amount of bandwidth and CPU performance to process the data, but the limit ends up defined by how busy the paired devices are.

It’s approaching 4 years since the Lenovo P11 was introduced so it’s not going to perform as well as more modern tablets that have a better CPU and more RAM, but it should be OK. It’s definitely above the minimum spec. All tablets get the same graphics profile in Zwift and are limited to 30FPS, so the really powerful tablets don’t necessarily perform better than mid-range models unless you end up in a situation where you are CPU bound. That’s a scenario that on some tablets with a weak CPU could happen in crowded events where there are lots of riders in a pack. Personally I would probably pick an iPad but might get a used one or not the latest and greatest new model. I would stick with the most popular manufacturers like Samsung, Lenovo, Apple. Definitely avoid Huawei since it has a bespoke OS that isn’t Android.

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4

My Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Plus (now over four years old) works well enough.

However, it is very much my preference to use a Windows touchscreen (preferably gaming) laptop for both running and riding.

I’m not riding/connected right now, but here’s my tablet in action with heavy rider population.

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@Cam_Stark_PWCC if you want to compare the P11 you were looking at to the S7+ that Tim mentioned you can pull up comparisons by doing a web search for “samsung galaxy tab s7 plus vs lenovo p11”. The Samsung tablet is pretty clearly better.

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I have the Lenovo P11 Plus and used it for nearly a year on Zwift and had no issues with it. Only reason I stopped using it was to move to a Windows PC.

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Huawei Mediapad M5 10" (over six years old) runs Zwift, but it’s VERY jerky. Not really up to the task.

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Maybe it would do at a pinch, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it crashed after a while. I certainly wouldn’t buy one for Zwift nowadays, or anything of similar spec. This is bottom of the barrel.

Also it’s stuck on Android 9, so forget about security updates.