The Lenovo Yoga Book is a 2-1 tablet that is available with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow and Windows 10. The most appealing feature of Lenovo’s new product: it has no keys. The display can become a virtual keyboard or a Wacom drawing tablet. But the Yoga Book faces too many limitations, including lack of ports and a bad Windows performance where most apps collapse.
This is not the first time Lenovo launches a product which is both tablet and laptop, but it is the first time that the company offers a “keyboardless” product with appealing options to designers: the Wacom surface and its opportunities to digitalize work.
The Yoga Book is a portable device that weighs 1.5 pounds, but it seems lighter, which you might think is a good thing. However, its lack of weight makes it difficult to balance the laptop on your lap. About the design, there is another error: The Lenovo Yoga Book measures just 9.6 millimeters with the two surfaces closed together, and the problem is to separate them. According to the Verger, there is no indentation or lip along the front edge of the Yoga Book, making it hard to open the device if you have short fingernails.
The Lenovo Yoga Book is made of magnesium-aluminium alloy and has a 10.1-inch full HD multi-touch display. The new product is built with the same hinge that is found in Lenovo’s bigger Yoga laptops. The hinge is what makes the Yoga Book a 2-in-1 device because you can fold it into a tablet, use the keyless surface as a prop for the display, or just use it as a traditional laptop.
The Yoga Book that runs Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow costs $499, and the variant using Windows 10 costs $549, but the RAM in the tablet-laptop hybrid is not enough to support Windows 10.
The device runs on a 2.4GHz Intel Atom X5 processor and 4GB of RAM, and although it works with the Android OS, it is deficient when the Yoga Book has Windows. It takes several seconds to boot up, and apps stuttered or froze up.
There is a shortage of ports as well: The Lenovo Yoga Book only has a Micro-USB charging port, an HDMI port, a microSD port, and a headphone jack. There is no full-size USB or even USB Type-C ports.
The battery is another appeal in Lenovo’s new product, and for a change, it is not disappointing. It is supposed to last 15 hours, although it depends on how much and for what you use the Yoga Book. If you use it compulsively, the battery lasts about eight hours, but those who plan to use it as an alternative device and not as a primary product to get work done, the battery can last a day at work and the next morning without charging it.
The ‘Halo’ keyboard: Futuristic but not practical
The Yoga Book’s keyboard appears on the matte black surface of the device as a glowing touchpad keyboard. To help you know when you are pressing a key, it vibrates, although it feels like the whole panel is moving and not the isolated key you thought you pressed. It is challenging to get accustomed to the keyless keyboard, and users find themselves constantly looking at the board to type letters and function keys.
The clean surface has some troubles recognizing presses from fingernails, and the hard surface can be exhausting for those who type for an extended period. But Lenovo’s Yoga Book most appealing feature is not a complete failure. It does not lag, and it is faster than using the onscreen alternative.
The touchpad is highly sensitive and every time users were typing and their palms brushed against the touchpad, it sent the cursor outside the screen. Its multi-touch functions are rough, and zooming in or out and fast scrolling are challenging.
The Yoga Book Wacom feature is less disappointing and useful for designers
The Wacom surface requires buyers to use Lenovo’s “Real Pen” stylus, but there is nothing to worry about since it is included in the box. Users can draw directly into the surface, or they can put a real piece of paper over it and start drawing with a real pen. While users use the surface, both with the paper or not, their work is immediately digitized by the Yoga Book.
Reviewers found the stylus is accurate and responsive and has a feature that allows you to use it as a real pen, although you must be careful and make sure you only use the actual variant on paper and not the surface.
People has forgotten the had the real ink mode available and have spread ink all over the metallic surface. To switch from the stylus pen tip to a real pen tip, you have to grab the tip with a small hole in the pen cap and pull the tip out.
There are more cons regarding the stylus: It cannot be used on the display itself. The significant oversight forces users to swap between the stylus and their fingers to correct or move something on the screen. Another con is that the Wacom surface gets dirty quickly.
The Lenovo Yoga Book, despite all its flaws, it is an appealing device because of its futuristics features. And although it does not encourage most people to buy it right away, it tempts you to try it, especially if you work designing digitally.
Source: The Verge