Lenovo Launches Refreshes Of The Yoga Line
by Brett Howse on October 9, 2014 5:45 PM ESTToday in London, Lenovo took the wraps off of a refresh of the entire Yoga series, starting with the new Yoga 3 Pro, then moving to the new Yoga Tablet 2, and finally, the release of a new member to the Yoga line – the Yoga Tablet 2 Pro. The key feature of the Yoga series is flexibility, hence the name, and for the Yoga products it comes down to the hinge. The Lenovo Yoga line were the first laptops to feature the fold around hinge, and then later they brought a shorter version of that hinge to their Yoga tablet lines in order to allow for multiple usage modes as well.
The Yoga 2 Pro, which we reviewed earlier this year, is a 13.3 inch convertible notebook which has a hinge that can be opened 180° to let the laptop be used in the stand mode, tablet mode, and tent mode, as well as the traditional notebook mode. It is a very well implemented feature with the Yoga 2 Pro, but Lenovo thought they could do better, and with today’s announcement of the Yoga 3 Pro, Lenovo has revealed a new “Watchband Hinge” which allows the laptop to be even thinner and lighter than the Yoga 2 Pro. The new model is 17% thinner at 12.8 mm thick, and 14% lighter than the outgoing model at 1.19 kg. The hinge now has six focus points, up from two on the Yoga 2 Pro, and the watchband hinge is constructed of more than 800 pieces of steel and aluminum. The 13.3 inch 3200x1800 QHD+ display is back, but we do not know yet if it still has a RGBW matrix or not. The display is now covered in Corning Gorilla Glass. One weak spot of the Yoga 2 Pro is the audio quality, especially when using the device in multiple modes which can have the speakers pointed away from the listener. Lenovo hopes to address this shortcoming with JBL speakers with Waves Audio which adjusts the audio depending on which mode the device is in. The Yoga 3 Pro is powered by the Intel Core-M processor, which should mean an increase in battery life (Lenovo claims 9 hours) and the possibility of it being fanless. Storage options are up to 512 GB of SSD, and Wi-Fi is now 802.11ac. There are three colors available, with Clementine Orange, Platinum Silver, and Champagne Gold. Prices start at €1,599 and the new device will be available at the end of October.
Lenovo Yoga Laptop | |
Yoga 3 Pro | |
CPU/GPU | Intel Core M-70 (2 core, 4 thread, 1100 MHz to 2600 MHz, HD 5300 GPU, 4.5 W TDP) |
RAM | Up to 8 GB LPDDR3L |
Storage | Up to 512 GB SSD |
Display | 13.3" 3200x1800 QHD+ IPS touchscreen |
Network | 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 |
Dimensions | 330 x 228 x 12.8 (mm) |
Weight | 1.19 kg |
Camera | 720p Webcam |
Battery | up to 9 hours |
OS | Windows 8.1 |
Speakers | JBL Stereo speakers with Waves Audio certification |
Next up on the docket was the Yoga Tablet refresh. The Yoga Tablet was available in both 10 inch and 8 inch screen sizes, with Android as the operating system. The new Yoga Tablet 2 models will also come in both 10 inch and 8 inch versions, but now the Tablet 2 is available with either Android 4.4 or Windows 8.1. The original Yoga Tablet had a barrel hinge on one side, which allowed the user to use the tablet in a stand mode, tilt mode, or the hold mode, and the Tablet 2 line will feature the new “Hang Mode” which is simple a slot cut in the stand to allow it to be hung from something. The hinge barrel allowed the Yoga Tablet a larger battery than other similar sized devices, and the Tablet 2 promises the same 18 hours of battery life. The screen resolution is now 1920x1200, with dual front speakers and LTE is available on both 8 inch and 10 inch Android versions, and the 10 inch Windows version. The CPU of choice for all of the Yoga Tablet 2 models is now the Intel Atom processor, which Lenovo is claiming gives them three times the CPU performance and twice the GPU performance of the outgoing models. The 8 and 10 inch Android models will be on sale starting today at a starting price of €229 and €299, respectively. The 10 inch Windows version will be available in late October for €399, and the 8 inch Windows model will come in November starting at €249.
Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 | |||||
Yoga Tablet 2 8" | Yoga Tablet 2 8" with Windows | Yoga Tablet 2 10" | Yoga Tablet 2 10" with Windows | Yoga Tablet 2 Pro | |
CPU | Intel Atom Processor Z3745 (2M cache, 4 cores, up to 1.86 GHz) | ||||
Display | 8" 1920x1200 IPS Touchscreen | 10" 1920x1200 IPS Touchscreen | 13.3" 2560x1440 IPS Touchscreen | ||
Memory | 2GB LP-DDR3 memory | ||||
Graphics | Intel HD Integrated Graphics (311 MHz Base, 778 MHz Burst) | ||||
Storage | 16 GB eMMC plus Micro SD up to 64 GB | 32 GB eMMC plus Micro SD up to 64 GB | 16 GB eMMC plus Micro SD up to 64 GB | 32 GB eMMC plus Micro SD up to 64 GB | |
Connectivity | Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n Dual-Band; BT 4.0; Optional 4G in some markets | Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n Dual-Band; BT 4.0 | Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n Dual-Band; BT 4.0; Optional 4G in some markets | Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n Dual-Band; BT 4.0; Optional 4G in some markets; Micro HDMI | Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n Dual-Band; BT 4.0; Optional 4G in some markets |
Speakers | 2x front large-chamber speakers, Dolby Audio, Wolfson Master Hi-Fi | 2x front large-chamber 1.5w speakers 5W rear JBL subwoofer Dolby Audio, Wolfson Master Hi-Fi |
|||
Dimensions | 210 x 149 x 2.7-7.0 mm 8.3 x 5.9 x 0.1-0.3 inches |
210 x 149 x 2.7-7.0 mm 8.3 x 5.9 x 0.1-0.3 inches |
255 x 183 x 3.0-7.2 mm 10.0 x 7.2 x 0.1-0.3 inches |
255 x 183 x 3.0-7.2 mm 10.0 x 7.2 x 0.1-0.3 inches |
333 x 223 x 3.7-12.6 mm 13.1 x 8.8 x 0.1-0.5 inches |
Weight | 419 g 0.92 lbs |
426 g 0.94 lbs |
619 g 1.36 lbs |
629 g 1.39 lbs |
950 g 2.09 lbs |
Battery Life (estimated) | 18 hours | 15 hours | 18 hours | 15 hours | 15 hours |
The final product announcement is the bigger Yoga Tablet 2 Pro. Lenovo conducted focus groups to get a better feel for what people actually do with their tablets, and they found 80% of users never take their tablet out of the home. They also found that 52% of users use the tablet to watch long form video such as television and movies, and 56% of users share the tablet with multiple users. In an effort to be “the world’s best home entertainment tablet” Lenovo has added some interesting features that have never before been seen on a tablet. As with the standard Yoga Tablet 2, the Yoga Tablet 2 Pro features a barrel hinge for the stand. Lenovo has placed a micro-projector inside of the barrel, in order to allow people to share content by projecting it. Coupled with that is a new 8 watt JBL 2.1 speaker system, which includes a 5 watt subwoofer on the back of the tablet. The final piece of the Yoga Tablet 2 Pro is to address users who never take the tablet out of the home. The Pro version has a 13.3” 2560x1440 QHD IPS display. With the additional battery space allowed by the barrel hinge, Lenovo is claiming 15 hours of battery life for the Intel Atom powered tablet. Unlike the smaller tablets, Android is the only offered operating system for this model. Pricing starts at €499 with availability the end of October.
The Yoga 2 Pro is an excellent device, and it should only get better with Core M inside. The tablets offer unique features over other models, especially the hinge which houses a larger battery. We should be able to dig deeper into all of these products if we get review units.
Source: Lenovo News Room
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Valis - Thursday, October 9, 2014 - link
Let me guess, all of the models part from the Core M-70 will have 32 bit windows? :-/TiGr1982 - Thursday, October 9, 2014 - link
Why such a thought? Should be 64 bit of course.Brett Howse - Thursday, October 9, 2014 - link
Extremely unlikely since they have 8 GB of memory.Flunk - Thursday, October 9, 2014 - link
Seeing as even Baytrail (Atom) has 64bit support now and that is Broadwell (Core) that's pretty unlikely.tipoo - Thursday, October 9, 2014 - link
So, going to sub 5W Core M should bring a dip in performance from the 17W haswell parts, right? Still at 1300 dollars...tuxRoller - Thursday, October 9, 2014 - link
Why does the android version of the 10" tablet have three more hours of battery life than the windows version despite being lighter? The only difference, from the table, are an emmc that is half the size of the windows tablet and an HDMI connector. I don't see how either of those should cause battery life to drop like that.MadMan007 - Thursday, October 9, 2014 - link
So I read the prices of the Yoga Tablet 2 and was confused and a bit annoyed. The 8" Android->Windows price difference is +20Euro, which is reasonable for the added storage, but the 10" Android->Windows price difference is 100Euro for...the same added storage and micro HDMI. Then I remembered MS is giving away 'Windows with Bing' for 8" and smaller tablets. Damn :/ that 10" one would make a pretty decent Windows tablet but the price difference is hard to swallow, even if it's only because there's a direct comparison available. I could see the price being more acceptable, and the tabletr being nicer as a Windows PC, if it had 64GB of storage.Dat free Windows :/ Sadly, Microsoft's strategy there will do more to kill mid-size and larger Windows tablets than anything else, and the 10-12" size is right where a Windows tablet/hybrid/convertible makes a lot of sense.
kyuu - Friday, October 10, 2014 - link
I don't think the price difference is primarily due to a Windows license fee, since I believe Windows 8 with Bing is reduced cost (free?) regardless of device size. Lenovo is also throwing in that Bluetooth keyboard/cover with the 10" Windows version as compensation. The only thing I'm really down on is that it should really come with 64GB of NAND. 32GB is just a bit too paltry, and while you can increase the storage with microSD, the random performance of microSD cards is too poor for performance-sensitive apps (though it's fine for legacy apps and media).MadMan007 - Friday, October 10, 2014 - link
It's not regardless of device size unless something has changed.http://blogs.windows.com/bloggingwindows/2014/05/2...
"We also announced that Windows will be available for 0 dollars to our hardware partners for Windows Phones and tablets smaller than 9-inches in screen size."
Anyway, including the keyboard thing isn't bad I suppose, although I'd rather see more storage because it is Windows after all, and the keyboard cover may not be very good anyway.
chizow - Thursday, October 9, 2014 - link
Man up to 9 hours for Broadwell Y is going to be fantastic. It's like the Bay Trail Atom battery life with actual Core performance and resolution.Looking forward to Core M on a Surface Pro 4, the Pro 3 has been fantastic so far.