Introduction, display and specs
Lenovo has made a name for itself in computer hardware over the past few years. Boasting powerful, high quality and often affordable computers, this Chinese based company has provided plenty of competition for brands more established in the West.
However, Lenovo appears to have struggled to break into the tablet market in any meaningful way. Its A-series tablets are functional and cheap, but have received relatively little attention because of its utter lack of sleek design or distinguishing features.
Even Lenovo's most innovative series, the Yoga Tablet 10, was received with mixed emotions. Fortunately, Lenovo has learned from its mistakes with each iteration of the Yoga tablet it has produced. As a result, the Yoga Tablet 10 HD+ series made much needed improvements to the overall design and quality of its predecessor.
One of the largest complaints about previous Yoga tablets was price. While cheaper than most high-end tablets, many still didn't feel they were getting a fair deal. Hearing the complaints of its customers, Lenovo chose to release the Yoga Tablet 2 for less than the previous versions.
Priced at $249 (£199, AU$349), the Yoga Tablet 2 promises to offer an excellent bang for your buck. More importantly, this slate delivers a more premium experience than most sub-$300 tablets can even hope to muster.
Display and specs
Boasting a 1,920 x 1,200 resolution, the screen quality remains on par with the Yoga Tablet HD+.
The Intel Atom quad-core processor is also a wonderful improvement over the Qualcomm Snapdragon or MediaTek quad-core chips that the previous Yoga tablets have included. The Atom processor has held its own against more demanding apps that the first two Yoga processors often struggled with.
Storage is also easy with the Yoga 2. Already boasting 16GB of local storage, the tablet also includes a MicroSD card slot able to take cards as spacious as 64GB.
This Yoga 2 also comes with Android Kitkat built-in. While not 100% current, the software offers a great deal of flexibility and customization that rivals the flexibility of the tablet itself. If you aren't an Android fan, other versions of the Yoga 2 include the Windows 8.1 operating system instead.
Design
Compared to the other Yogas, nothing has changed about the overall look of the Yoga 2. The battery cylinder, which adds a bit of heft to one long edge of the tablet, is still intact. This cylinder holds the tablet's huge 9,600 mAh battery.
The cylinder also is the core of the Yoga branding of this tablet. Attached to that cylinder is a small and sturdy stand that gives Yoga 2 the ability to prop up at several different angles.
An added feature of the Yoga 2 is the new "Hang" position that allows you to attach the Yoga to the wall like a picture frame. The Hang feature has also increased the Yoga's flexibility by allowing the stand to bend an extra 90 degrees.
The stand gives you the ability to angle the tablet anyway you like. Though at certain angles the weight and size of the 10 inch tablet causes it to fall over, the base itself is very sturdy.
Lenovo also has built in positions for the Yoga, which they call Tilt, Stand, Hold and the aforementioned Hang.
In Tilt mode, you place the battery cylinder farther away from you. Due to the cylinder's size, the tablet is already tilted slightly upward toward you. Most of the time, I chose to tilt the screen even further. Using the built-in stand, you can tilt the tablet up to 45 degrees toward you.
Hold mode is the Yoga 2's attempt at recreating the normal tablet experience. With the stand closed, you can comfortably hold and use the tablet on the go. In fact, holding onto the cylinder makes the Yoga 2 more comfortable to wield one-handed than most other tablets.
Stand mode allows you to use the built in stand to prop the tablet up vertically. If you choose to use this tablet for watching movies or streaming TV, this mode is invaluable.
Once propped up, the Yoga 2's front facing, large chamber speakers provide full, deep sound. The Wolfson Master Hi-Fi sound is a much needed improvement over its predecessors' relatively weak and metallic speakers.
Hang is the most recent position created by Lenovo. Unlike previous versions of the tablet, the Yoga 2's stand now bends beyond 90 degrees and allows you to hang the tablet upside down from the battery cylinder. Great for traveling, the hang feature lets you to attach the tablet to any place with a hook.
The tablet's software allows you to set and switch between these modes easily. However, I found that I didn't use these features often. Mostly I left the system in its default custom mode, which would automatically switch the screens orientation based on need. The sensors inside the tablet were so accurate, that I didn't feel I needed anything else.
Ultimately, the positions have more to do with screen orientation than anything else. And while it might be a selling feature to some, the stand might be something that others will happily do without.
The cylinder is also the home of the power button, with a built in LED notification light and headphone jack. Both continue to be excellently placed, remaining out of the way and easily accessible.
Performance, features and battery
Lenovo continues to deliver with the performance of the Yoga 2. With its pairing of the Intel quad-core processor and 2GB of RAM, the Yoga 2 experiences little to no lag while cruising through apps. More powerful games can stutter or lag, but most of the apps and games that you will find available on the store will work without issue.
The smooth running tablet is matched well with the Android KitKat software. The apps and widgets that you download intermingle to create an accessible home screen.
Multi-tasking is also easy on this tablet. Some apps, including Email, Gallery, Calculator, Video, and Chrome, allow you to create new windows that you can drag around the screen. These windows can be resized and moved around for ease of use.
While the limited number of multi-tasking apps might be disheartening, any multitask app can be used on top another apps. As I searched the internet on Chrome, my video app (not multitasking supported) ran in the back ground. This did not create any issues of lag and did little to dull either experience.
Other apps help increase the performance of the Yoga 2. While many of these apps are standard across the Lenovo products, they are still incredibly helpful at allowing you to get the most out of your tablet experience.
SHAREit is one of my favorite apps to use on the Yoga. With speeds 40 times faster than Bluetooth, Lenovo claims, you can quickly transfer files between devices. One of the unique feature of SHAREit is CLONEit, which allows you to completely transfer all your old devices information to the new device. This is a fantastic feature if you don't want to spend hours transferring and re-downloading everything manually.
SYNCit is Lenovo's contact management system. You can sync contacts you have on your device to a cloud storage or an SD card. You can then download them to other devices as you need. It's a useful backup for individuals looking to use the Yoga 2 as a business tablet.
Security HD is the most useful app that comes with the Yoga 2. Acting as a task manager, ad blocker, app manager and permissions manager, Security HD allows you to quickly alter apps to improve the Yoga's performance.
In the Speedup menu, you can control which programs you want to auto-start upon boot, not to mention quickly clean up files that are redundant or taking up unneeded space.
The permissions manager is useful at customizing different application and how much they can do. These permissions provide an extra level of security as they allow you to disable certain apps from modifying or reading your contacts, SMS or call logs.
One app that was disappointingly missing from this Lenovo slate is the power manager. This allows you to change the power consumption of the tablet, similar to the power saver option on a laptop. It made managing your battery strength and life on the Yoga HD 10+ simple. Losing this feature will not affect the Yoga 2's overall performance, however.
Camera
While you won't get the best pictures with the Lenovo Yoga 2's 8-megapixel camera, the intuitive user interface makes sure you get the picture you want.
Buttons and sliders are found on the left side of the screen. The rear facing camera includes different color effects and shot modes that help you quickly jump into picture taking.
The sliders provide a much more intense and personalized picture taking experience. Allowing you to change the resolution, adjust screen mode, alter effects and guidelines. Though the 8MP camera doesn't really require adjustments of this scope, they are still fun to have for people who are interested in photography.
Included with the often standard 'Normal' and 'Panorama' mode, the Yoga 2 also includes 'Night', 'Macro', and 'Speech' mode.
Night Mode is Lenovo's attempt at allowing you to take picture in the dark. The tablet does not come with a built in flash. Instead, the camera attempts to catch as much light as it can. This reduces the quality of the picture, and does detract from the Night Mode's appeal.
Macro Mode allows you to take better photos of smaller objects. Zoomed in pictures tend to have a more crisp quality than the normal mode.
Battery Life
The Yoga 2 lasted through eight hours of screen time, which is impressive considering that I had maxed out the brightness and had attached Bluetooth speakers. The Yoga's battery life makes it the perfect tablet for long plane or car trips.
The downside of the impressive battery length is that it requires a great deal of time to recharge. This means you'll need to leave it plugged in for a few hours. If you aren't using the powerful wall-plug that comes with the Yoga 2, you might even need to wait overnight.
Verdict
At $249 (£199, AU$349), the Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 is aimed to compete with the big names in the budget tablet market, like Google's Nexus 7 and Apple's iPad mini 2. The hardware does well to keep up with media consumption and getting work done.
The Lenovo Yoga 2 is a good bridge between the mid-range and high end tablets. With a superb battery life, sharp HD display and strong performance, the tablet rises above its competition, and puts pressure on the high-end tablets on the market to step up their game.
We liked
The extensive battery life and crisp HD screen make the Yoga 2 a wonderful addition to your technology collection. The versatile stand makes the tablet incredibly useful for media use, and the multitasking options make it worthwhile for people looking for a business tablet.
We disliked
The tablet's battery cylinder makes it bulky at the base. On a related note, this is also a relatively heavy tablet, sacrificing a light-weight design for a longer battery life. As a result, it also takes much longer to charge than other tablets.
Final verdict
The Yoga 2 is a fun and powerful tablet that provides a great deal of versatility. For a 10-inch Android tab that's under 300 bucks, you can easily do much worse than the Yoga 2.
With its powerful battery life, front facing speakers and useful stand options, this Yoga is a fine media device for videos and mobile games.
For business, the multitasking feature and ability for Bluetooth keyboard connectivity makes work easy. Lenovo is known for its strong and reliable products, and the Yoga 2 is no exception. For the media nut on a budget, the Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 is well worth the price.
from TechRadar
