Lenovo Yoga 3: specifications and reviews

Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro is so close to perfection that it's rather difficult to notice its shortcomings. In terms of form and practicality, its design can be called the best among devices released in 2015. The Yoga hinge, reclining 360 degrees, is made in the form of a thin metal strip (not thicker than the watch strap), while it is quite flexible and allows you to instantly convert a netbook to a tablet and vice versa.

The new gadget is surprisingly thin and light, it is quite different from any other thin 13-inch netbook or transformer.

Another innovation that can be considered advanced is the new core of the Intel CPU M CPU. This chip is specially designed to ensure the perfect operation of thin high-end tablets and transformers, which correctly combine performance, battery life and energy efficiency. The big plus of this kernel is that the systems using it can be run with minimal cooling or even without fans at all, which allows devices to be thinner and lighter than ever.

It can be argued that the power of this gadget is enough for everyday use, although from competing products Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 slightly falls behind this parameter. The battery life is also lower than other devices of the same value: it is about seven hours. However, for a simple user these parameters are quite enough: the transformer allows you to simultaneously use several web browsers, play streaming video, music and work in office documents. All this is processed fairly quickly. But such advanced tasks as games or editing HD-video, it is better to perform on more powerful computers.

Housing

The main body is made of aluminum. In addition, the developers of Lenovo decided to use in this model black textured material on the back of the tablet. Manufacturers call it an imitation of the skin, and this comparison is quite appropriate. Externally, the gadget is similar to the Motorola Moto X series smartphones: the glass front, the metal frame and the leather trim of the rear panel.

The weight of the device is 1.18 kg, the approximate thickness is 13 mm. Thanks to this, the gadget feels surprisingly light in the hands, even ahead of MacBookAir. 13.3-inch touch screen has a very high resolution - 3200 x 1800 pixels.

The physical design of the transformer looks great and allows you to stay ahead of competitors in appearance.

Design and characteristics

The line of Yoga laptop transformers has determined the main trend in the mobile PC design, starting with the original version of 2012. Since then, the idea of a folding netbook with two 360-degree swivel hinges has been implemented not only on several subsequent Lenovo products, but also on devices from Dell, Toshiba, HP and other manufacturers.

If you are not familiar with how the devices of this series look, you might be surprised. At first glance, the device looks like an ordinary slim folding notebook, but the display cover can be tilted 360 degrees to form either a thick tablet or a stand for thin (when the lid is half-folded).

In Lenovo Ideapad Yoga 3 Pro, the loop still leans back 360 degrees. The difference lies in the fact that the new hinge is a single mechanism working across the entire width of the device.

Instead of two loops (which are usually plastic or aluminum), the new accessory looks like a long metal strap made of more than 800 individual pieces of steel and aluminum, with six mounting points across the width of a 13-inch display.

In addition to being visually interesting, the new hinge allowed Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro to be 17 percent thinner and 14 percent lighter than the Yoga2 Pro model. While the percentage difference may seem small, the visual difference from the old device is simply astounding.

As already mentioned, the hinge allows you to flip the cover 360 degrees in one of four different modes: a standard laptop, a "tent", a vertical and a tablet. The "tent" mode is perhaps the most functional - thanks to it the device takes up less surface area, and the work in Windows 8.1 applications remains very convenient.

Keyboard and sensor

The keyboard retains all the good features that are specific to Lenovo devices, including a slight rounding of the bottom edge of each key (this avoids typos with quick typing). But in order to make the gadget so compact, the manufacturer still had to compromise: the keys are too small. Other thin notebooks (such as the MacBookAir) have a much more comfortable keyboard, allowing you to typing long texts without fatigue. However, Lenovo offers key illumination, which is a significant advantage.

The case of the keyboard is covered with a thin rubber material. Some users believe that the traditional metal surface is more familiar and preferable. However, the rubber coating allows for some soft touch when the device is on a hard surface.

The ClickPad's touchpad works well and responds quickly to finger-clicking, but you may have to tinker with its settings to make use comfortable.

As in the previous version, the ultrabook Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro has an excellent high-quality display. 13-inch screen will please with a resolution of 3200 x 1800 pixels. This is better than standard screens with a resolution of 1080p, but today there are more and more 4-kilo-pixel displays on sale. This higher resolution is now not something unusual, as it was a year ago. Nevertheless, the screen looks great even at a large angle, which is especially important when using it by a group of users (for example, when watching a video together).

LENOVO Yoga 3 PRO: technical specifications

• Video micro-HDMI.
• Audio stereo speakers, a combined headphone jack / microphone jack.
• 2 USB 3.0 ports, 1 USB 2.0 port, SD card slot.
• Network 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth.

Connectivity, performance and battery

For a thin laptop, the only real trade-off for ports is to use Micro-HDMI for video output. You will need a special cable or adapter to use it. The power connector can function as a USB 2.0 port, in addition, there are two standard USB 3.0 ports.

Lenovo Yoga 3 has the same characteristics as the previous model: display, processor, RAM and other functions. The only differences in the color of the case and the size of the internal SSD flash drive. In the standard configuration (256 GB SSD memory) the cost of the gadget is within $ 1300, in the updated (512 GB) - is approximately $ 1500.

Display

If we talk about other characteristics related to Lenovo Yoga 3, the screen of the device is quite bright and the colors are clearly conveyed. Images and videos are displayed simply fantastic, and the high density of pixels completely excludes the appearance of "grains." In addition, compared to other similar gadgets, Yoga 3 has a smaller frame, which gives the tablet a more compact size.

QHD technology improves the quality of the image, despite the fact that the resolution remains 3200 x 1800 pixels, as in Yoga 2 Pro. However, now you can adjust the image magnification settings in Windows 8.1 to 150%, and also significantly increase the fonts, making the text more clear.

Such high resolution values give great opportunities for editing multimedia files and processing graphic documents. In some cases, this can be a real advantage, but in general such powers are superfluous for a 13 inch screen.

One good configuration option is to reduce the resolution to 2048 x 1152 (16: 9), which will preserve the clarity and readability of the screen contents with an increase of 100%. In addition, at maximum settings, the display may be too bright to be used indoors.

Battery Testing

The short battery life of Yoga 2 Pro was one of the main drawbacks of the device, and this time the situation did not improve significantly. The developers promise nine hours of continuous use, but in practice this time is much less.

If you use the Lenovo Yoga Tablet 3 tablet very actively, browsing the websites, making several Skype calls, viewing video clips on YouTube, editing documents and images, the device will not work more than seven hours. The situation and the settings of the Power Saver battery control panel are essentially changed and the brightness is reduced to 75%. Naturally, the backlight of the keyboard, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi consume energy pretty quickly.

Thus, battery life is the most basic problem of the device. The rapid development of Intel and the last few generations of processors for laptops have seriously affected the battery life. The speed and power are directly related to the power consumption, which directly affects the battery life. As the testing shows, Yoga 3 can work without recharging for 6 hours and 46 minutes. This is not too different from the Yoga 2 Pro, which could be used continuously for 7 hours and 30 minutes with similar actions. However, when compared with other competitors, with a screen size of 13 inches, in particular a MacBookAir with its 16 hours of 26 minutes of battery life, the difference is obvious.

This makes it clear that Lenovo Yoga 3 is not an ultrabook that you can use all day without interruption. At the same time, the battery charging time is very short. With the appropriate software settings for charging in normal mode, the battery is fully charged in 2 hours and 30 minutes. Energy-saving mode will require about four hours of charging, but it helps to extend the battery life with regular connection to the network.

Characteristics

When testing applications, Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 proved to be quite competitive device. Even when watching high-definition streaming video, simultaneously opening multiple browser tabs or running multiple applications, the device worked much better than many transformers and laptops on Intel Atom or Pentium processors. In other words, the Intel Core M processor, which is equipped with Yoga 3, perfectly copes with everyday tasks.

Lenovo Yoga Tablet 3 operates on an Intel processor running at 1.1 GHz (turbo boost is available up to 2.6 GHz). The device is based on Intel Broadwell technology, which allows to produce ultrabooks without a fan (making them thinner and quieter as a result). Yoga 3 Pro is not fanless, but it works very quietly. You will only occasionally hear the sound of the fan running from significant system loads under the CPU or when running powerful graphics applications.

Unfortunately, the transition to Broadwell technology had a negative impact on processing power, compared to Yoga 2 Pro. The previous model showed very good test results, even when running games. The new device has more modest indicators.

The device works without heating most of the time. When it begins to heat up as a result of heavy loads, the heat concentrates in the upper right corner of the base and never reaches too high a mark.

Other characteristics of Lenovo Ideapad Yoga 3 include 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of SSD from Samsung. The work of all applications of Windows 8.1 is provided at a high level. You can easily use any programs and services available in the Windows Store.

Graphics performance is realized by the integrated service HD 5300 from Intel, which means some limitations in the launch of games. Certain modern games can be run only at low resolutions without displaying detailed details. For example, Skyrim can only be played in 30 frames per second mode at 1280 x 720 resolution.

Most tasks can be performed without any signs of slowing down. The 1080p video is played quickly and without any hiccups (including when output to a large monitor or TV). GIMP allows you to work with images up to 300 MB in capacity: they can be scaled and resize with delays of tens of seconds, not minutes.

Multimedia & Applications

Lenovo Yoga tablet 3 Pro speakers are typical for most 13-inch notebooks: the sound is played loud enough to fill a small room, but the sound catastrophically lacks bass. For this reason, you need to adjust the output to an external device if you plan to use it to play music at parties, for example.

With the default settings, the speakers can play a somewhat distorted sound. This is easily fixed if you go to Windows Device Manager 8, remove the Realtek driver and replace it with the HD audio driver.

On the front panel of Lenovo Yoga tab 3 Pro the tablet is equipped with a webcam 720p, which allows you to create a sufficiently clear video image for Skype calls (the quality is comparable with the cameras of smartphones of the middle class).

From the point of view of the software supplied by Lenovo in the kit, the company offers its adaptive solution "Harmony", which is intended for settings when using the device for a long time. While reading an electronic book, for example, the device can automatically change the contrast and brightness of the color in accordance with ambient lighting.

This service can also apply the sepia effect, which is designed to simulate the pages of the book. This is a useful feature, although it can initially detract from reading, its use will reduce eye strain when used for hours on end.

conclusions

Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro tablet, of course, is an amazing device: an amazingly thin gadget that combines high functionality and the ability to use in different modes. If you appreciate these attributes first of all, the device will be appreciated by you to its true worth.

This distinctiveness is a double-edged sword, since the cost of the device is not the smallest, and the possibilities are somewhat limited. In particular, there is a weak battery and not very powerful performance, especially compared to other devices in the same price category.

Positive features

Laptop Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro - thin and light gadget with a bright original design, which makes it one of the most attractive modern devices on Windows 8.1. Its display is not the brightest among competitors, but its QHD resolution: text, images and interface elements look very clear and provide high performance.

Its excellent IPS display means that content can be easily viewed from all angles. In addition, you can use the device several users at the same time, setting up one of four different modes.

For fans of compactness, the lack of F-row keys slightly reduces the functionality of the keyboard. Backlight and small size of the keyboard made it possible to make the device small and light.

In addition, fast loading of SSD means that you will never have to wait long to start a task, and application windows open and close instantly. So, talking about Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro, reviews about it are generally positive.

disadvantages

This is a pretty expensive ultrabook, which is equipped with a too weak battery. Of course, if you set the display to 25% brightness and will only view a couple of sites a day, you may be able to use it for nine hours, but this can not be called convenience.

In addition to the low-power battery, the device has weak graphics support.

Ultrabook is incredibly beautiful and portable, but its elegant dimensions were achieved due to the quality of the assembly. The cover is not excessively flexible, and the monitor is too sensitive to color change, no matter how you hold the device.

The final verdict

Lenovo Yoga 3, reviews of which are generally positive, still does not justify its high price, because the main advantage is only an attractive design. The gadget has too many drawbacks, therefore it will be unconditional for connoisseurs of style and wishing to have only the latest model.

On the other hand, it is one of the thinnest and lightest devices on Windows 8.1, quite suitable for everyday tasks, whether it's browsing sites, easy games or working with text documents.