LG G Pad 10.1: Top 5 Business Features

The G Pad 10.1 sports a big HD display Credit: LG

The LG G Pad 10.1 is the longest-lasting business tablet you can buy, period. The 10.1-inch (25.7 centimeters) Android slate offers marathon battery life, in addition to solid performance, a big display and handy software features. That includes two different ways to run multiple apps on-screen at once, paving the way for better multitasking. Another highlight is QPair, a feature that lets you pair your Android smartphone to the G Pad 10.1, so you never miss an alert. Check out a full review of the LG G Pad 10.1 at our sister site Laptop Mag, or read on for five reasons this slate is good for work.

Display

The G Pad 10.1 sports a big HD display that dwarfs previously-released G Pad devices. The 10.1-inch, 1280 x 800-pixel panel is significantly bigger than the screens on the 7- and 8-inch (18 cm and 20 cm) G Pads, giving business users a lot more space to work. Screen-intensive tasks such as editing documents or spreadsheets on your tablet are easier on a bigger display, and everyday tasks like managing your email inbox are also more comfortable. It's not as portable as LG's previous G Pad releases, but the 1.15-lbs. (0.5 kilograms) slate is still light enough that it won't weigh down commuters. And it matches the screen real estate of top business slates, including the Microsoft Surface Pro 2 and Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1.

Performance

In terms of performance, the LG G Pad 10.1 can't compete with premium slates such as the Surface Pro 3 or Galaxy Note Pro 12.2. But this $250 tablet still offers pretty good performance for the price, making it a good pick for budget-minded business users. Under the hood, it packs a 1.2-GHz quad-core processor with 1GB of RAM, giving it decent speed and snappy multitasking capabilities during everyday use. Overall, the LG G Pad 10.1 is about on par with other affordable Android slates including the Lenovo A10 and the Toshiba Pure Excite — and neither of those slates can compete with the G Pad 10.1's long battery life.

Battery life

Business users who depend on their mobile devices in order to stay productive away from the office can't afford to skimp on battery life. That's why the LG G Pad's super-long battery life is such a standout feature. In tests, the tablet ran for 14 hours while the user continuously surfed the Web over Wi-Fi. To put that into perspective, no other standalone tablet on the market can match the LG slate's longevity. For comparison, the average battery life among all tablets is about 8 hours and 20 minutes. That makes the LG G Pad 10.1 a tablet that can easily last through the end of one workday, and maybe into the next.

Multitasking

Most Android slates offer mediocre multitasking capabilities, with the ability to run just one app on-screen at once. LG breaks from that standard with a couple of features that make the G Pad 10.1 a multitasking powerhouse.

For starters, Multi Window mode lets you run two apps at once in a split-screen view. It works just like the Multi Window mode on Samsung smartphones and tablets. To get started, tap the Multi Window button next to the Home button on the tablet's navigation bar. From there, drag any two apps you want to run onto the screen. You can view the apps side by side in landscape mode, or turn the tablet into portrait mode to view them stacked on top of one another. The mode is particularly handy for some tasks, such as performing research in the Web browser while composing an email.

The second multitasking feature is called QSlide. Instead of running two apps side by side, QSlide lets you launch small "floating" apps over top of your main app. To access the QSlide menu, just swipe down from the top of the tablet's display. From there, tap an app to launch it in a floating window, which you can drag around, resize and minimize. You can't run every app in QSlide mode, however. The feature is only compatible with special LG apps, including a video player, Internet browser, calendar, email, file manager and calculator.

Software features

It's easier to get real work done on a large tablet than on your smartphone, but ignoring your phone can cause you to miss important emails, calls and other alerts as they arrive. QPair is a handy feature that solves that problem, letting you sync all your notifications between your Android phone and the G Pad 10. When a notification arrives on your phone, it will automatically appear on your tablet so you can take action. One button even finds the last app you used on your phone and opens it on your tablet, doing so with one tap.

Meanwhile, the useful Knock Code feature makes locking and unlocking your device quicker and easier. It works by allowing you to register a unique series of taps to activate the display, even when it's turned off. That lets you unlock your device quickly, with no need to mess with cumbersome lock buttons or password screens. It's a good security boost for business users who use their slates for work, especially those who store private business or client data on their devices.

Other minor features throughout the interface will benefit business users during daily use. For example, the LG keyboard includes a dedicated number row above the standard QWERTY layout; the default Android keyboard requires a few extra button-presses to access the numbers.