Lenovo’s London global launch has revealed a range of new Yoga devices. Among them is the Yoga 3 Pro, which continues Lenovo’s line of folding convertible design, albeit with a redesigned hinge. Also announced was the Yoga Tablet 2, the tablet with a kickstand that now comes in either a Windows or Android option.
The Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro features Intel’s new Core M processor to create an even thinner and lighter convertible laptop. It is claimed to be 17-percent thinner than its predecessor, and is now lighter than a bottle of water (type of bottle not specified). Impressively, Lenovo has redesigned the hinge, doing away with the two moving parts on the older Yoga for a watchband style design with six points of motion. There is no idea if this helps the range of motion, but it does look very impressive at first glance.
Intel’s integrated graphics power the 13.3-inch QHD+ touch display that is capable of a resolution of 3200 x 1800. Inside is 8GB RAM, a 512 GB SSD, and integrated JBL speakers. Lenovo is claiming up to nine hours of battery life on the Yoga 3 Pro, which is apparently possibly by the low power consumption of the new Intel processor.
One the other hand, the Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 comes in either an 8- or 10-inch form. Customers can also choose between Windows 8.1 or Android 4.4 as their preferred operating system. Given the number of choices this could have easily have been two different product lines, but it appears that the company is content with putting it all under the Yoga Tablet 2 series.
Inside is an Intel Atom Z3745 quad-core processor with 2GB RAM. The display is a full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS touch display on both the 8- and 10-inch models; which essentially means that that the larger screen is getting a lower pixel density. Not that it will be very noticeable to the casual observer. Storage differs across the Windows and Android versions, possibly due to the larger space requirements needed to install the Microsoft operating system. The Windows 8.1 version of the Yoga Tablet 2 packs 32GB internal storage, while the Android version only has 16GB; both support microSD expansion of up to 64GB.
The Yoga Tablet 2 also features a new kickstand mode that Lenovo is calling hang. It is precisely what that sounds like. A small hole in the stand for users to hang their tablets on a wall or other convenient hook.
The Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro will be made available globally at the end of the month for EUR1599. The Android Yoga Tablet 2 is available overseas now for EUR229 and EUR299 (for the 8- and 10-inch models); while the Windows 8.1 variant will be arriving at the end of October for EUR399 (10-inch) and EUR249 (8-inch). There is no word on local availability or pricing yet.
