We welcome you to the future of portable computers and tablets. And its name is... Yoga Book, manufactured by Lenovo. Lenovo Yoga Book is falsely presented as a two-in-one device, but when we got our hands on it, we realized it's a laptop, tablet, digitizer, drawing device, and many more. Take a look at our detailed presentation for this sleek, elegant, lightweight device.
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Who is Lenovo
Even though Lenovo's brand began in the early '00s, the company has a much richer history.
More specifically, it was established in 1984 in China under the name "Legend Holdings", and within four years, it became the biggest computer company in the Asian market.
Legend Holdings changed its name to Lenovo in 2004, and in 2005, the Chinese company bought IBM's department of personal computers, known as the initiator of PCs since 1981.
Lenovo continued its rapid growth in new technologies, and in July of 2014, bought the American Motorola Mobility.
Nowadays, the Chinese giant is one of the top computer and smartphone brands around the world.
Why should I choose the Lenovo Yoga Book?
The list of reasons why someone might want to get Lenovo Yoga Book is a lengthy one, but we will sum it up and mention only the important reasons why Lenovo's laptop shines.
Yoga Book has a stunning design. It is the first device from the Yoga series in which the company replaced the physical keyboard and touchpad with digital ones.
If that's not enough for that this is the first device with a digital keyboard, then we might get convinced by the fact that Yoga Book's keyboard also acts as a Wacom digitizer.
We must also note, Yoga Book is one of the few laptops that support Windows and Android without the slightest difference on the hardware.
In conclusion, if innovation is worth something to us, or if we draw/sketch a lot, and if we want a two-in-one device, then Lenovo Yoga Book is perfect for us.
Features
We can find Lenovo Yoga Book in two versions - one with Windows 10 Home Edition or Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, with the same hardware.
On this guide, we will present you the Windows version, which we will analyze, check its gaming benchmarks, multitasking, etc.
Yoga Book's main drawback is the processor since it has the Quad-Core Intel Atom x5-Z8550 clocked in 1.44GHz, with a frequency of 2.4GHz and Turbo Boost technology.
The memory of 4GB LPDDR3 on 1600MHz allows us to run several basic tasks, and it's enough for what an average user would want to use Yoga Book for.
Lenovo didn't splurge when choosing the storage of Yoga Book. The storage space is eMMC with only 64GB, expandable to 128GB with a microSD.
The integrated graphics card is an Intel HD Graphics 400, which allows us to run various tasks easily. Maybe we won't be able to run the new Far Cry 5, but we'll almost certainly be able to play most games on medium or low with relative ease.
Generally, laptops aren't designed for heavy gaming, so we don't blame Yoga Book for this weakness.
The touchscreen is FullHD and has an IPS panel, which means the colors look realistic, and the quality is incredible, no matter the viewing angle.
Moreover, the screen ratio is 16:10 (WUXGA) and the maximum resolution is 1920x1200.
Finally, it is available in five colors: black, silver, ruby red, pearl white and champagne gold.
To recap, all the features of Lenovo Yoga Book:
Hardware
- CPU: Intel Atom x5-Z8550 @ 1.44GHz, 2MB cache
- RAM: 4GB LPDDR3 1600Mhz
- Storage: 64GB eMMC expandable to 128Gb with a microSD
- GPU: Intel HD Graphics 400 with dynamic memory
- Camera: 2MP Fixed-Focus Front Camera and 8MP Auto-Focus Rear Camera
- OS: Windows 10 Home Edition
Screen
- Type: Touch Capacitive, IPS LCD with AnyPen technology
- Size: 10.1"
- Resolution: 1920x1200 pixels, 224 PPI
- Brightness: 400 nits
Connectivity
- WiFi: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
- Bluetooth: v4.0
- Ports: microUSB, microHDMI, 3.5mm audio jack
Keyboard and touchpad
- Halo Keyboard with US layout
- Digital Touch Keyboard
- Digital touchpad
- Wacom Digitizer 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity
Battery
- Capacity: 8,500mAh
- Charger: 100-240V / 5V / 2.5A
Dimensions
- Size: 256 * 170 * 96 mm
- Weight: 0.69 kg
Unboxing
Since we saw what Yoga Book offers as a device, it's time to see the box and its contents.
Yoga Book's package is simple and stylish, with orange details, and the model's name on the front, written with metallic paint.
On the back, we see a nice tag with the laptop's features. Even though we don't understand a thing, we trust it.
Continuing, with the inside of the package, the laptop is the first thing we see.
Right underneath the Yoga Book, we found many black boxes, with the first one containing a well-designed notebook.
Underneath that, there are two more boxes.
The first one contains instructions, and the manuals. Also, secured in the box, we find a pin to help us insert the memory card.
On the second box of that level, there is a stylish pen with three writing tips. We will be seeing more of that later in our presentation.
The last box for today is the one with the charger and the charging cable. It has a modern design, same as everything that came with the Yoga Book.
The charger is protected with a plastic film, which we can reuse, and the cable was placed elegantly inside the box.
The weight of the Yoga Book is justified by the hardware. Lenovo protected the device fully, inside and out.
In the back, we will find stickers for Windows, Dolby Audio, and others.
Intel's sticker, however, is on top of the keyboard.
First boot
During our first boot, Yoga Book was quick. The device wasn't preformatted, so everything was in Chinese.
However, it has Windows international version, so we can choose the language we want.
We had to do all the usual settings when installing Windows for the first time, and then the laptop updated to the latest Creators version.
First impressions
When we held the Yoga Book in our hands for the first time, we realized it had a sturdy frame.
The weight of the device is noticeable, and the finish is smooth to the touch.
Transporting the tablet isn't going to be a problem since we can carry it even with a simple tablet bag.
The first boot surprised us, and generally, it was rather fast during any task.
We were rather impressed by the great design of Yoga Book's joint, that allows it to rotate 360 degrees.
The IPS screen has rich colors, and the images look realistic and bright. Meanwhile, the viewing angles aren't restricting at all. Of course, it is impossible to capture all these in a simple picture.
The sound quality is particularly good since it's boosted by the Dolby Audio Premium.
Generally, our first impressions were positive, but let's analyze its performance and features.
Lenovo Yoga Book under PCsteps' microscope
After close inspection, we came across a few basic features we must mention.
Design and construction quality
Yoga book reminds us of an actual book. It has a luxurious magnesium alloy shell, a metal arm, and an industrial design.
It has the digital Halo Keyboard, the buttons have a metallic touch, and Lenovo's logo is on the front, made by a metal alloy.
All the details and the general quality give the feeling of a much more expensive device than the one we hold.
The laptop's dimensions are 10.1 x 6.72 x 0.38 inches, and the weight is only 24 ounces.
The arm allows the screen to rotate up to 360 degrees, turning Yoga Book into a simple tablet...
... a screen to watch videos and movies.
Or even a drawing device.
It can even be a simple laptop...
... or maybe all in one, which makes Yoga Book even more unique.
Halo Keyboard & Trackpad
Lenovo innovates by replacing the physical keyboard with a digital Halo Keyboard, and the touchpad with a trackpad.
Halo Keyboard has a standard keyboard layout, and the dimensions of the standard keys are 0.6 x 0.6 inches.
The total width of the keyboard is 9.4 inches and the gaps between the digital keys are 0.11 inches.
The first time we used the keyboard it felt like we were typing on a touchscreen. So, people who usually type on a tablet won't face any difficulties with the Halo Keyboard. The rest of us will need some time to adjust.
We must note that Halo Keyboard doesn't support swipe typing. Nonetheless, the overall response from the keyboard was excellent.
The trackpad was a pleasant addition from the company. Especially if we consider that Bluetooth keyboards for tablets don't have something similar.
Of course, we will need some time to adjust to all of this, since we have to start our movement from the circle in the center of the trackpad.
Overall, the experience we had with the Halo Keyboard, as well as Yoga Book's trackpad was positive. For those who think the adjusting time as a negative, then let us say everything in life takes some getting used to.
Create Pad & Real Pen
The biggest selling point of Lenovo Yoga Book is the Create Pad and Real Pen from Wacom, a company known for producing digital drawing devices.
The Real Pen has an ergonomic design and feels like holding a regular pen.
The tip of the Real Pen is made of rubber and we can replace it with ink tips, which Lenovo offers so we can also write on paper.
Lenovo and Wacom worked together and came up with Create Pad, which activates by the press of the pen button on the top right of the Halo Keyboard, causing it to transform into a 9.4 x 6.2-inch digitizer.
Wacom offered its technical and technological know-how, resulting in Create Pad being able to understand 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity and 100-degree angle detection.
Also, with the ink tips, we can write over any type of paper and also keep a digital copy of our notes.
With Yoga Book, Lenovo offers 3 ink tips, and a notebook with magnets to snap onto the Create Pad.
Our tests revealed that we don't have to use a specific type of paper, as long as it's not thicker than 0.6 inches (wow) because then things get difficult. At 0.8 inches and above, Real Pen no longer communicates with the Create Pad.
As far as storing Real Pen, the laptop has four magnets - two on the left side, one on the bottom part, and one on the right side - so we can snap it there. A simple and interesting solution, but not really useful.
To conclude, Create Pad and Real Pen impressed us. Since these are the selling points of the device, Lenovo did an excellent job.
Battery
We put our Lenovo Yoga Book under as much stress as we could, watching Netflix through Wi-Fi and at full brightness. The 8500mAh battery lasted for over 7 hours.
That proves it can cope with a typical workday pretty easily.
Even if it doesn't make it until the end of the day, the laptop supports fast charging. On our tests, we only needed a half hour of charging with Lenovo's charger to restore 25% of the battery.
Ports and Buttons
The ports and buttons of Lenovo Yoga Book are few.
On the left side, we will see the micro USB, the micro HDMI, and between them the microSD port.
On the right side, there is a 3.5mm headphone jack, as well as the volume buttons.
Performance
During the time we used the Lenovo Yoga Book, we found out it can easily play FullHD videos, and web browsing is relatively easy.
Furthermore, it's a high-quality device, from the digitizer to the conversion from analog design to digital content.
However, when having 10+ Google Chome tabs open, as well as Slack to communicate with our colleagues, the low power processor couldn't cope well.
If we consider that the device was designed to keep us productive, then Lenovo must have missed the mark by quite a bit, since it can't cope with the typical use of a productive Windows 10 user.
Nonetheless, to be fair, we took our tests with the best tools, and here are the results.
As we can see, the Lenovo Yoga Book didn't do so well, and we can't say it took us by surprise.
The processor did well enough in every test, but the overall performance wasn't so good, especially in the graphics department.
Although we have to defend Yoga Book, since it's not just a laptop, and it's not made for gaming or heavy-duty tasks.
To sum up, we gathered all the benchmarks on the following board.
Price
As of this writing, we can find the Windows version of the Lenovo Yoga Book for $349.95 on Amazon. There is also an Android OS version, if we are so inclined, for about the same price.
The Yoga Book is the future of 2 in 1 computers and it will make you feel unique with its various innovations.
Conclusions
Even though Lenovo Yoga book is one of the few laptops that supports multiple operating systems and integrates input devices and digital touch surfaces, it has an impressive quality.
Lenovo truly did an excellent job, and we enjoyed using our device so much we didn't even think about the processor misstep.
Pros
- High build quality
- Beautiful and elegant design
- Excellent performance, despite the processor
- Excellent IPS display
- Fast charging and satisfactory battery life
- Display with AnyPen technology by Lenovo
- Digitizer with 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity
- The multi-slider arm rotates up to 360 degrees
Cons
- The screen is glossy, which means strong light reflections
- No USB port
- Low power processor
- There are no buttons on the pen or the digitizer
- Writing tips are only available on the Lenovo site
What are your thoughts on the Lenovo Yoga Book?
Lenovo Yoga Book could be the biggest innovation of portable computers in the recent years. As we saw, it's much more than a simple computer, and the selling point is the Wacom digitizer.
Lenovo has done a great job on the design and quality of Yoga Book. Moreover, the cost of the laptop/tablet is relatively low for its functions and quality.
Maybe the processor isn't great, but Lenovo wins every other bet on the design aspect.
Did you like the Lenovo Yoga Book presentation? Would you want the laptop/tablet to have few extra features? Don't forget to write your impressions in the comments.
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