Review: Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 (1050F)

Sony’s Tablet S and Lenovo’s Yoga Tablet 2 aren’t exactly the same, but you can see the way the ideas are working, as both companies have tried to make the tablet more something you can grip like a book or another printed publication.

Lenovo is going one step beyond Sony’s 2011 model, too, switching to a more refined version with aluminium used in the construction instead of all plastic. This use of a metal material means the tablet is very sturdy and feels insanely well built, so does it work with this unusual design?

Yes and no.

As a stand, as a tablet you can lay down and write on, and even as one you can hang up with the right hook, yes, Lenovo’s Yoga 2 makes a lot of sense, and we’re delighted to see a stand built into a tablet, making it one less accessory you’ll have to spend money on, so good stuff there.

But as a tablet you can hold by the hinge? That’s a little different, and in our hands, it wasn’t quite as firm a grip. It could be that the smooth metal is just too smooth and feels like it’s falling out of our hands, but it’s more likely just how heavy the Yoga Tablet 2 is, weighing in at 619 grams, which is heavier than the iPad Air 2 it’s technically competing with at 437 grams, and feels like it, too.

With the metal spine, it’s not an uncomfortable hold, but it’s sure not comfy either, and we actually found it was easier to hold the tablet with your less dominant hand holding the spine, simply because the textured back of the tablet not found on the spine made it easier for your dominant hand to grip.

It’s a design that won’t appeal to everyone’s hand hold, that’s for sure, but with the included stand, it’s also one worth checking out, because it could be useful for the kitchen, the office, or the car given what it can do.

And yes, just like last year, we’re still reminded of Apple’s keyboard and mouse, but it appears Lenovo is sticking with this idea, so there’s no need to talk too much about it. We’ll let the pictures do that for us.

Beyond the design, though, there’s the operation, so let’s get stuck into that.

For the second generation of its Yoga Android tablets, Lenovo has gone with Intel inside instead of a random quad-core 1.2GHz processor that didn’t fare too well. That’s a positive move, and we’re delighted to see the positively mediocre chip from the old model replaced with an Atom processor, the Z3745 quad-core chip clocked at 1.33GHz, paired in this model with 2GB RAM.

That’s enough of a combination to make the apps work without problems, though we did notice a spot of lag here and there.

For most things, you’ll find the speed is ample and definitely adequate for most applications you need to throw the way of the tablet, though Lenovo’s Android overlay can be seen as a little strange as it does get in the way. We’ll get to more on that later on, but for the most part, if you’re after an entertainment tablet, the Yoga 2 definitely passes with flying colours.

Battery life is another area where you’ll find solid returns, with a battery delivering around 15-18 hours of solid usage, and several days worth of standby time. The last of these — standby — was particularly noticeable, and if we left the tablet unused for a full day after a full battery charge, we still found 100 percent waiting for us when we wanted to use it.

That’s not bad at all — pretty impressive, actually — showing Lenovo has paid close attention to the excellent battery life from the last Yoga Tablet, and just brought everything else up to match.

Even the screen is an improvement, with Lenovo switching from the mediocre 1280×800 display of the old model to a bright and crisp 1920×1200 model in the second-generation model, with solid angles and only a smidgeon of wash-out when you take it to the extreme sides.

Front-facing speakers also make watching programs and playing games a little louder, and while they’re not quite as good as the BoomSound speakers HTC relies on, they’re still pretty good altogether.

In fact, “pretty good” appears to be an apt way to describe the Lenovo Yoga 2 Tablet, with enough of the typical features and a few of the different ones to make it a useful tablet for anyone looking to take entertainment with them, type on the go, or just have something they can read from.

But we’re not huge fans of the overlay Lenovo has thrown into this one, with some pretty noticeable changes to the way Android is designed that may confuse people in the process.

For instance, if you swipe up from the bottom, you’ll find the control panel shortcuts at the bottom of the screen, different from the top where Android overlays normally keep them. Down from the top, there’s a dropdown notification bar and a settings button, but that’s it.

Interestingly, there is no app menu like on other tablets, with Lenovo making its overlay more like Apple iPad operating system, iOS. This means your apps can be easily sorted, but that they’re on the home screens, with no specific app menu of their own. If you’re used to the iPad, you’ll find this familiar, but if you’ve come from another Android tablet, it’s a little foreign, especially for an Android device.

Wireless is also missing the latest and greatest, with 802.11ac WiFi not included here. That’s a real shame, especially when you realise the 802.11ac is now a couple of years old and really should be present in a tablet made for entertainment, which Lenovo definitely feels like it is channeling here.

Conclusion

Lenovo’s latest take on an Android tablet is indeed an interesting one, and the efforts made in this second generation product are far, far more usable than what we saw turned out from the company last year.

We’re still not sure about the design from a weight point of view, that said, but certainly for the desk, for typing, and for using the tablet in places you’ve never really thought about, the Yoga Tablet 2 is an intriguing proposition worth checking out.

Overall
Features
Value for money
Performance
Ease of Use
Design
Reader Rating0 Votes
Fold-out stand is one of the best inclusions in a tablet; Stand includes a window hole for hanging the tablet up; Excellent battery; Fantastic screen; Storage can be expanded with microSD;
Lenovo’s Android overlay can be a little confusing; No 802.11ac; No NFC; Form-factor can be a little awkward in the hands; Heavy;
4