Introduction, design and specs
Lenovo proved that it's ahead of the curve in the 2-in-1 laptops space with its widely lauded Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro. Now, the company has done one better, and then some, with the $1,349 (about £832, AU$ 1,524) Yoga 3 Pro, a laptop of almost funny slimness and clever design.
Thanks to Intel's Core M-70 (Broadwell) processor, the Yoga 3 Pro is completely fanless. That means Lenovo was able to make its flagship hybrid laptop thinner and lighter than ever – 17% slimmer and 14% lighter, by Lenovo's measurements.
The Yoga 3 Pro measures exactly 13 x 9 x 0.5 inches (W x D x H) and weighs a lithe 2.62 pounds. That's lighter than the 13-inch MacBook Air's 2.96 pounds and generally thinner throughout. (The MacBook Air ranges from 0.11 to 0.68 inches, end to end.)
Design
Lenovo didn't have to change much about the Yoga 2 Pro's design ID, but here we are. To make the super slim chassis work, the laptop maker had a complete rethink on the notebook's hinge. The result is something that, when I first saw it, thought wasn't even final hardware.
In my time covering laptops, I have never seen something like this. Lenovo calls it a "watchband" hinge, inspired by the look, feel and rigidity of wristwatches. The hinge is comprise of more than 800 individual pieces of aluminum and steel at six articulation points. At first, it looks as if something is missing there, but the aesthetic quickly grew on me.
Honestly, with as thin and rigid as the hinge was as I switched the laptop between positions, it's a wonder that Lenovo managed to connect the screen to the rest of the hardware. Speaking of which, the company kept with the bright, 3,200 x 1,800 QHD+ multitouch panel. That's to be expected, though I still consider it overkill – 1080p or even 1440p would have been just fine.
Lenovo also went back to the drawing board on the palm rest, opting for a pocked soft-touch plastic, rather than the brushed feel of the previous model. The keyboard deck is also deeper than before, and the bezels surrounding that vibrant screen are a tad larger.
That means that the Yoga 3 Pro is slightly taller and longer than the previous. (I imagine this is due to the slimming – those parts gotta' go somewhere.) Sitting the two next to one another makes the difference obvious, but I doubt it's something you'll notice after using the laptop for a few days.
Specs and performance
While it's tough to say much about performance from just an hour using it, I think it's safe to say that the Yoga 3 Pro won't have much trouble running circles around your average workload. (The Intel Core M benchmarks are already promising.)
Lenovo can stuff its new hotness with up to 8GB of memory to support the CPU, and a cool 256GB of solid-state storage comes standard. Of course, Intel's integrated graphics are all this lean machine can run, so don't expect to game much here.
More specs, performance and early verdict
Rounding out the Yoga 3 Pro spec sheet is future-ready 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0. On the hard connectivity front, Lenovo jam-packed this laptop with ports, considering its size: two USB 3.0 ports, a 4-in-1 card reader, micro-HDMI and an audio combo jack. Not to mention that Lenovo's unique DC power jack also doubles as a USB 2.0 port.
All of this hardware can last for up to 9 hours on a charge, according to Lenovo. With such a sharp screen, I'm suspect, but we'll leave that to the full review to decide.
Mo' room for mo' modes
The vastly improved profile that Lenovo achieved here clearly leaves more room for the device to bend into various modes. So much so that Lenovo touts a different approach to its Tablet mode: vertical over horizontal.
With the expanded keyboard deck and palm rest, holding the Yoga 3 Pro in this orientation makes more sense now. Though, I still wouldn't recommend using this laptop as your one-handed train buddy – Gorilla Glass screen or not.
More importantly, Lenovo enhanced its adaptive software, now dubbed Harmony. The tool is designed to, over time, adapt to how you use the 2-in-1 laptop and change various device settings accordingly. (Like adjusting screen brightness and color temperature when reading a book in Tablet mode.)
It's subtle improvements like these that should make switching modes less of a hassle and more fluid. However, nothing changes the fact that your fingers can still touch the deactivated keyboard in Tablet mode. It still feels weird, and likely will never feel right. Regardless, Lenovo clearly sees the kinks in hybrids that need working out, and it's slowly massaging them out of its systems.
Early verdict
The Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro is a sight to behold. I just called the Razer Blade one of the best-crafted Windows laptops of all time, and already that's being challenged. I'm still squeamish on the laptop-first approach to 2-in-1 device design, but if any company is remotely close to winning me over, it's these guys and gals.
Being a premium product, however, the Yoga 3 Pro comes with a premium price tag. Starting at nearly 1,400 bucks is pretty brave. But, in the grand scheme of things, it's more affordable than most premium 13-inch laptops, save for the MacBook Air. Regardless, I'm told that more configuration options are in the works, hopefully for a more palatable price.
If you're not wowed by bullet-point features like "3K", "17% thinner" or "fanless design," then their are plenty of Ultrabooks that will serve you just as well for less. But if you want the absolute best, the Yoga 3 Pro is already gunning for top of that heap.
I, for one, cannot wait to get more time with this nigh-weightless wonder in our full review. The Yoga 3 Pro launches at the end of October in Best Buy stores across the US and on Lenovo.com in three colors: Clementine Orange, Platinum Silver or Champagne Gold. I have a good feeling which might sell out first.
from www.techradar.com
