Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro is so close to perfection that its flaws are pretty hard to spot. In terms of form and practicality, its design can be called the best among devices released in 2015. The 360-degree hinged Yoga hinge is made in the form of a thin metal strip (no thicker than a watch strap), while it is quite flexible and allows you to instantly convert a netbook into 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 Intel M processor core. This chip is specially designed in order to ensure the perfect operation of high-end thin tablets and transformers that correctly combine performance, battery life and increased energy efficiency. The big plus of this core is that systems using it can be started 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 quite enough for everyday use, although Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 lags behind competing products in this parameter. Battery life is also lower than other devices of the same cost: about seven hours. However, for a simple user these parameters are quite enough: the transformer allows you to use several web browsers at the same time, play streaming video, music and work in office documents. All this is processed quickly enough. But advanced tasks like games or editing HD video are best done on more powerful computers.
Housing
The main body is made of aluminum. In addition, Lenovo developers decided to use black textured material on the back of the tablet in this model. Manufacturers call it imitation of skin, and this comparison is quite appropriate. Externally, the gadget is similar to the Motorola Moto X series smartphones: a glass front, a metal frame and a leather back 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 hand, ahead of even the MacBookAir. The 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 the competition in appearance.
Design and specifications
The Yoga Transformer Notebook line has identified a major trend in mobile PC design since the original 2012 version. 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 in this series look, you may be surprised. At first glance, the device looks like an ordinary thin folding laptop, but the display cover can be folded 360 degrees to form either a thick tablet or a stand for a thin one (when the cover is half open).
In the Lenovo Ideapad Yoga 3 Pro, the loop still leans back 360 degrees. The difference is that the new hinge is a single mechanism that works across the entire width of the device.
Instead of two loops (which are usually plastic or aluminum), the new accessory has the appearance of a long metal strap made of more than 800 separate parts of steel and aluminum, with six mounting points across the width of the 13-inch display.
In addition to being visually interesting, the new hinge has made the Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro 17 percent thinner and 14 percent lighter than the Yoga2 Pro. While the percentage difference may seem small, the visual difference from the old device is simply amazing.
As already mentioned, the hinge allows you to flip the cover 360 degrees in one of four different modes: standard laptop, “tent”, vertical and tablet. The “tent” mode is perhaps the most functional - thanks to it, the device takes up less surface area, and working in Windows 8.1 applications remains very convenient.
Keyboard and Sensor
The keyboard retains all the good features typical of Lenovo devices, including a slight rounding of the bottom edge of each key (this avoids typos when typing quickly). But in order to make the gadget so compact, the manufacturer still had to compromise: the keys are too small. Other thin laptops (such as the MacBookAir) have a much more comfortable keyboard that allows you to type long texts without fatigue. However, Lenovo offers backlighting, which is a significant advantage.
The keyboard case is coated with a thin rubber material. Some users believe that a traditional metal surface is more familiar and preferable. However, the rubber coating provides some soft touch when the device is on a hard surface.
The ClickPad touchpad works well and responds quickly to finger taps, but you may have to tinker with its settings to make it comfortable to use.
As in the previous version, the Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro ultrabook has an excellent high-quality display. The 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 more and more 4 kilopixel displays are on sale. This higher resolution is now not something unusual, as it was a year ago. Nevertheless, the screen looks great even from a wide angle, which is especially important when used by a group of users (for example, when watching a video together).
LENOVO Yoga 3 PRO: specifications
- Micro-HDMI video
- Stereo audio speakers, combo headphone jack / microphone jack.
- 2 USB 3.0 ports, 1 USB 2.0 port, SD card slot.
- Network 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth.
Connection, 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 work 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 in the range of $ 1300, in the updated (512 GB) - it is about $ 1500.
Display
If we talk about other characteristics related to Lenovo Yoga 3, the device screen is quite bright and the colors are transmitted clearly. Images and videos are displayed fantastically, and high pixel density completely eliminates the appearance of "grains". In addition, compared with other similar gadgets, Yoga 3 has a smaller frame, which gives the tablet a more compact size.
QHD technology improves image quality, despite the fact that the resolution remains 3200 x 1800 pixels, as in Yoga 2 Pro. However, now you can adjust the image enlargement settings in Windows 8.1 to 150%, as well as significantly increase the fonts, making the text more clear.
Such high resolution indicators provide great opportunities for editing multimedia files and processing graphic documents. In some cases, this can be a real advantage, but in general, such power is unnecessary for 13 inches of the screen.
One of the good tuning options is to reduce the resolution to 2048 x 1152 (16: 9), which will preserve the clarity and readability of the screen contents with a 100% increase. In addition, at maximum settings, the display may be too bright for indoor use.
Battery testing
The short battery life of the 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 shorter.
If you use the Lenovo Yoga Tablet 3 tablet very actively, browsing the websites on it, making several Skype calls, watching YouTube videos, editing documents and images, the device will work for no more than seven hours. The settings of the Power Saver battery control panel and the decrease in brightness by up to 75% change the situation slightly. Naturally, the keyboard backlight, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi consume energy quite quickly.
Thus, the battery life is the most basic problem of the device. The rapid development of Intel and the last several generations of laptop processors have seriously affected the battery life. Performance and power are directly related to power consumption, which directly affects the battery life. As 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 30 minutes with similar actions. However, when compared with other competing devices with a screen size of 13 inches, in particular with the MacBookAir with its 16 hours and 26 minutes of battery life, the difference is obvious.
This makes it clear that the Lenovo Yoga 3 is not an ultrabook that can be used all day without interruption. However, 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 30 minutes. The power-saving mode will require about four hours of charging, however, it helps to extend the battery life with regular connection to the network.
Specifications
When testing applications, Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 proved to be a very competitive device. Even when watching high-definition streaming video, opening several browser tabs at the same time or running several applications, the device worked much better than many transformers and laptops with Intel Atom or Pentium processors. In other words, the Intel Core M processor that the Yoga 3 is equipped with does an excellent job of everyday tasks.
Lenovo Yoga Tablet 3 runs on an Intel processor running at 1.1 GHz (turbo boost to 2.6 GHz is available). The device is based on Intel Broadwell technology, which allows you 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 from significant system loads under the CPU or when you run powerful graphics applications.
Unfortunately, the move to Broadwell technology has had a negative impact on computing power compared to the Yoga 2 Pro. The previous model showed very good test results, even when starting games. The new device has more modest performance.
The device works without heating most of the time. When it begins to heat up as a result of heavy loads, the heat is concentrated in the upper right corner of the base and never reaches too high a mark.
Other features of the Lenovo Ideapad Yoga 3 include 8 GB of RAM and Samsung’s 256 GB SSD. All Windows 8.1 applications work at a high level. You can easily use any programs and services available in the Windows Store.
The graphics features are implemented by Intel's integrated HD 5300 service, which means some limitations in launching games. Certain modern games can only be launched at low resolutions without displaying detailed details. For example, Skyrim can only be played at 30 frames per second at a resolution of 1280 x 720.
Most tasks can be completed without any signs of slowdown. 1080p video plays quickly and without freezing (including when outputting to a large monitor or TV). GIMP allows you to work with images up to 300 MB: they can be scaled and resized with delays of tens of seconds, not minutes.
Multimedia & Applications
The speakers of Lenovo Yoga tablet 3 Pro are typical of most 13-inch laptops: the sound is played loud enough to fill a small room, but the sound is sorely lacking in bass. For this reason, you need to configure the output to an external device if you plan to use it for playing music at parties, for example.
At default settings, the speakers may produce slightly distorted sound. This is easily fixed if you go to the Windows 8 device manager, remove the Realtek driver and replace it with an HD audio driver.
On the front panel of the Lenovo Yoga tab 3 Pro, the tablet is equipped with a 720p webcam, which allows you to create a fairly clear video image for Skype calls (the quality is comparable to the cameras of middle-class smartphones).
In terms of the software supplied by Lenovo, the company offers its own adaptive solution "Harmony", which is intended for settings when using the device for a long time. While reading an e-book, for example, the device can automatically change the contrast and brightness of the color in accordance with the surrounding lighting.
This service can also apply the sepia effect, which is designed to simulate the pages of a book. This is a useful feature, although at first it can distract from reading, its use will reduce eye strain when used for several hours in a row.
conclusions
The Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro tablet is undoubtedly an amazing device: an amazingly thin gadget that combines high functionality and the ability to use in various modes. If you value these attributes above all, the device will be appreciated by you.
This peculiarity 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 of the same price category.
Positive features
Notebook Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro - a thin and lightweight gadget with a bright original design, making it one of the most attractive modern devices on Windows 8.1. Its display is not the brightest among competing devices, but its resolution is QHD: text, images and interface elements look very clear and provide high performance.
Its excellent IPS display means content is easy to view from all angles. In addition, you can use the device by multiple users at the same time by setting one of four different modes.
For lovers of compactness, the lack of an F-row of keys slightly reduces the functionality of the keyboard. The backlight and the small size of the keyboard made the device small and light.
In addition, fast loading of SSDs means that you never have to wait long to start a task, and application windows open and close instantly. Thus, speaking about the Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro laptop, reviews about it are generally positive.
disadvantages
This is a fairly expensive ultrabook that is equipped with a too weak battery. Of course, if you set the display to 25% brightness and only browse a couple of sites a day, you can probably use it for nine hours, but you can't call it convenience.
In addition to a too low-power battery, the device has weak graphic support.
The ultrabook is incredibly beautiful and portable, but its graceful dimensions were achieved due to the build quality. The cover is not overly flexible, and the monitor is too sensitive to color changes, no matter how you hold the device.
Final verdict
Lenovo Yoga 3, reviews of which are generally positive, still does not justify its high price, since the main advantage is only an attractive design. The gadget has too many drawbacks, so it is unconditionally suitable only for style lovers and those who want to have only the latest model.
On the other hand, it is one of the thinnest and lightest devices on Windows 8.1, which is quite suitable for everyday tasks, be it browsing websites, light games or working with text documents.