Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro Review: One Step Forward…

Posted: December 20, 2013 at 9:45 am


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Lenovo's latest convertible laptop is thinner, lighter and sometimes more frustrating.

Lenovos been no stranger to experimentation with Windows 8, putting out lots of touchscreen devices that bridge the gap between laptop and tablet. But none have been as conventional, or as practical, as the Yoga.

At a glance, the Yoga looks like a regular laptop. The difference is that you can fold the screen all the way around until it becomes a tablet. Its still a notebook PC above all, but at least you can get the keyboard out of the way when you just want to use the touchscreen.

The Yoga 2 Pro is an evolution of last years IdeaPad Yoga 13. It has a thinner and lighter chassis, measuring 0.61 inches thick and weighing just over 3 pounds, and the screen resolution has ballooned to 3200-by-1800. The Yoga 2 Pro also uses Intels fourth-generation Core processors, which are more power-efficient than last years chips. The basic configuration, which has a Core i3 processor, 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB of solid state storage, lists for $1,050, though Lenovo is currently offering a $100 discount through its website.

The original Yoga 13 was a great laptop, with a couple drawbacks: The battery life was too weak, and the design felt a little too bulky, especially for tablet use. Unfortunately, the Yoga 2 Pro introduces some new frustrations while failing to fix the shortcomings of its predecessor. Its still a fine laptop, but it could have been so much better.

Jared Newman for TIME

Lets start with that 3200-by-1800 display. Its incredible on paper, but the real-world benefit of having quadruple the pixels is hard to notice at normal viewing distances. I was never put off by the original Yogas resolution, and a mere boost to 1080p probably would have been enough to soothe any videophiles.

Instead, Lenovo went way overboard with screen resolution, and paid a dear price: Battery life in the Yoga 2 Pro isnt significantly improved over last years model. In a typical work routine of writing, reading and researching on the web, I got about six hours of battery life at 50-percent brightness. Thats not bad for a laptop, and its not drastically worse than what I get from Microsofts Surface Pro 2, but lower screen resolutions tend to require less power. Its sad to think about what might have been had Lenovo practiced some restraint.

The reduced weight and thickness are more obvious improvements. The new Yoga is better for toting around in a laptop bag, and the thinner design carries itself quite well. Theres a slight taper around the edges of the base, so in laptop mode the Yoga looks even svelter than it actually is.

Jared Newman for TIME

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Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro Review: One Step Forward…

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December 20th, 2013 at 9:45 am

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