Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro review: You say you want resolution

Posted: March 17, 2014 at 12:48 am


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"Tent" mode keeps the Yoga 2 Pro elevated for convenient, tappable use on a counter. But who the heck is Onouel? Wait, nevermind.

The Yoga 2 Pro has a knack for bending and folding. The first thing youll notice about Lenovos latest Windows 8 tab-top is its 360-degree hinge, which enables a range of poses. Keep pushing the multi-touch monitor, and it will turn from a keyboard-and-touchpad laptop (stretch) to an upright, counter-sitting tablet (streeetch) to a completely flat tablet (streeeeeeetch, ooh).

Thats not just a reason to make jokes about downward facing dog" (like the last model); this form-shifting functionality proves so useful, it now seems like a duh move for any multi-touch, keyboard-optional laptop. As such, Lenovo has gone to lengths to make sure the second iteration of the Yoga Pro line brings more to the portable party.

Most notably, the new Yoga has more pixels. The device now comes with a staggering 32001800 of those pixels, packed into the same 13.3-inch screen as the original model. Coupled with a slight reduction in chunkiness and a bump in specs, this could set this device up as the ultimate drool-inducing portable in the $1,000 range.

After extensive testing, the Yoga 2 Pros size and screen certainly earn it that river of drool. However, in spite of its best qualities (did we mention all of those pixels?), the biggest drawback is the operating system they'retied to.

The Yoga 2 Pro's chassis doesnt stray far from the last model for better and for worse. It has the same rubberized texture on the inside and out, which feels weird at first touch but proves quite comfortable for lengthy typing stretches. The original Yoga's chiclet keyboard has also seen no changes and fits my large hands pretty well; it lacks anything in the way of distracting design or key placement, and even better, the keys now come backlit.

The trackpad is seemingly unchanged, meaning its sensitivity and usefulness are a little funky. Unfortunately, it didnt take much time for the trackpad to noticeably darken where our fingers pressed it the most.

Weight has gone down from 3.4 to 3.1 lbs, and our tape measure confirms a thickness of 0.61 on both ends (meaning the tapering cut in material on the front end is mostly illusion). The sides show a minor port shuffling, the only major differences being the HDMI-out port shrinking to mini and the addition of an odd, fingernail-sized button that brings up a system backup menu. Again, Lenovo has elected to include only one USB 3.0 port and to place a USB 2.0 port on the opposite side (seemingly to toy with Ars poor Andrew Cunningham, who wants every USB 2.0 port to be replaced as soon as humanly possible, thank you).

The all-important hinge returns, continuing to straddle the fine line between firmness and bendability. It stays mighty still when the Yoga 2 Pro is in stand mode, in which the keyboard side lays flat on a table while the touchscreen faces the user, as well as in tent mode, in which the screen and keyboard sides form a tent at a roughly 30 degree angle.

Both of these poses benefit from rubberized coating on the edges, which plant the device and reduce its wobble. The laptop arrangement results in a teensy bit of wobble, as the screen doesnt completely lock into place at any upright angle, but youll really have to look to notice it.

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Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro review: You say you want resolution

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Written by simmons |

March 17th, 2014 at 12:48 am

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