Brittany Hillen

Remember Lenovo's Yoga 2 Pro? The company has rolled out a similar model, the Yoga 2 13, featuring the same multi-mode design and similar specs. Aimed at the more casual user, the Yoga 2 13 rests on the foundation set by its higher-res sibling, but does it hold up to the Yoga device standards we've come to expect? Read our full review to find out.

If first impressions are everything, the Yoga 2 13 makes an excellent one. Bearing a design that is distinct from the traditional Thinkpad style but with underpinnings that any brand fan will recognize, the machine is several things: solid but slim, with a large trackpad, shallow keyboard, and crisp, bright display. Lenovo was spot-on with the latest Yoga's design, and any issues you find with it in that regard will come down to personal preferences.

The keyboard, you'll notice from the images, isn't quite the same as the well-known Thinkpad offering (it is a Yoga, after all). The keys are a bit flatter and more shallow, though they type just as well as their larger, rounder counterparts. The design looks more modern than what you'll find on the, for example, Thinkpad 10's keyboard dock, and -- as demonstrated in the image above -- the backlight manifests well even in relatively bright settings; the light is even and bright, and serves as a solid aid in using the device. This is as opposed to the Thinkpad X1 Carbon, which bears a backlight that, unfortunately, seems so deeply embedded in the machine that its aid in casual use is rather minimal.

As with other Yoga laptops, the Yoga 2 13 is flexible, able to assume different positions tailored for different types of use. The Stand Mode, featured above, is handy when watching movies or performing touch-centric activities like drawing, for example, while the other modes -- Tent, Tablet, and Laptop -- are likewise beneficial. Obviously, when the laptop is folded into tablet mode, it makes for a thick tablet, though it isn't too unwieldy to use.

As far as specs go, the Yoga 2 13 features an Intel Core i5-4200U 1.6GHz processor, as well as 4GB of DDR3L memory and a 500GB SSD. The display is a 13.3-inch Full HD 1080p IPS offering with wide viewing angles and a 16:9 aspect ratio. There's Intel HD Graphics, as well as Intel Wireless-N 7260 and integrated stereo speakers with Dolby Home Theater v4 support.

Users get a modest one USB 2.0 port and one USB 3.0 port, as well as a standard 3.5mm combo audio jack, a 2-in-1 card reader that supports SD and MMC, and a micro HDMI-out port. The laptop, as a whole, measures in at 13 x 8.71 x 0.68-inches, and weighs 3.65lbs.

The Yoga 2 13 includes an "app area" for seeing recommended apps that are applicable to each type of mode, as well as four included apps, each that works alongside a specific mode.

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Lenovo Yoga 2 13 Review