After establishing
an impressive reputation for itself in the global market with conventional
notebooks and tablets, Lenovo has taken a fresh leap into Android tablet
segment and has launched new tablet the Yoga Tablet 10.
Much like other Yoga devices in Lenovo's line-up, the Yoga Tablet 10 features multimode design and can be used in different 'modes'. The Chinese giant has been touting the Yoga tablets as the company's biggest launch of the year.
But
can the combination of decent hardware, revamped tablet design with sleek form
factor make this the turnaround vehicle for Lenovo's tablet segment in India? Let's
try to find out in this review.
Design/
Build
As far as looks go, Lenovo's Yoga Tablet 10 is a complete departure from the tablet norm and features a cylindrical end design at one end, which is reminiscent of a folded magazine, while the other end has a sleek profile. The company has been promoting the Yoga tablet's cylindrical design as being more user-friendly when compared to other conventional tablets.
While
using the Lenovo Yoga Tablet 10, we experienced that the cylindrical design at
one end made it easy to grab and move the tablet around. Further, while using
the tablet in portrait mode, the Yoga Tablet 10's cylindrical design was more
comfortable to hang on to with the left hand, for example for when reading
eBooks or for browsing on the tablet. It took some time to get used to
the tablet's cylindrical end, though after that period it was quite easy to use
the 10-inch tablet with one hand, at times.
However,
the tablet does feel a tad heavy at the bottom when using the Lenovo Yoga
Tablet 10 in landscape mode and after a point of time; it doesn't balance well
in the hands. At around 600 grams, the Lenovo Yoga Tablet 10 is heavy when
compared to some 10-inch counterparts.
The Chinese major is touting Yoga Tablet 10's
multimode design, offering three modes to work - hold, tilt and stand. The
tablet's cylindrical end shape is responsible for these modes.
First is the stand mode which enables doubling up as a hinged stand that can be folded back at the back of the tablet. Second is tilt mode, which refers to placing the tablet on a surface with the cylindrical end offering a tilt shape for users to work. The last is the hold mode, which apparently means holding the tablet by the rounded end. We must confess that we used all the three modes of the tablet, and were impressed with the modes.
Lenovo
Yoga Tablet 10 includes both the aluminium and plastic material in build. The
company has smartly used the aluminium on the hinge stand and also at the edges
giving tablet a premium look; although in another places the Yoga Tablet 10 is
built of plastic material. The rear panel of Yoga Tablet 10 features textured
plastic material which doesn't help much in gripping the tablet.
Another interesting feature of the Lenovo's Yoga Tablet 10 design was
the power button, which has been built-in the cylindrical end of the tablet at
one end, while the other end houses the 3.5mm audio jack. There was no problem in hitting the power button, sometimes even
when not looking at the tablet, thanks to the placement. The top of the tablet
houses the Micro-USB charging port, while the volume rocker buttons are placed
at the bottom, when using the tablet in portrait mode.
Display
Lenovo may have spent a lot in terms of R&D for the new Android Yoga Tablet 10 but unfortunately, much of that effort goes in vain due to the display of the tablet. When we first time switched on the tablet, the 10-inch display was a let-down.
At
1280x800 pixels resolution, the Yoga Tablet 10 display offers a pixel density
of just 149ppi. The resolution and pixel density of the Lenovo Yoga Tablet 10
is far lower than some of its 10-inch tablet competitors such as the year-old
Nexus 10 that offers a resolution of 2560x1600 pixels or the Apple's new iPad
Air which offers 2048x1536 pixels. However, the prices of both the Nexus 10 and
iPad Air are way above the price of Lenovo's Yoga Tablet 10. There is no doubt
that Lenovo has chosen to compromise the screen of the Yoga Tablet 10 to bring
down the price.
Camera
The Lenovo Yoga Tablet 10 sports dual cameras --- a 5-megapixel rear camera and a 1.6-megapixel front-facing camera.
In our
testing of the Yoga tablet's rear camera in outdoor, dim and indoor
environments, we found that picture quality was average. The clicked images
were a bit washed out and grainy at edges. They were nowhere near to a
smartphone picture quality. The Yoga Tablet 10's camera disappoints while
clicking low-light shots, which had a lot of noise.
Users can
choose from a host of camera settings on the Yoga Tablet 10, like face
detection, self timer, ISO, exposure, colour effects, scene mode and white
balance. It also offers a burst mode, letting users click to 99 shots at
once; users just need to long-press the camera soft key on the display to take
burst shot.
Software/
Interface
The Lenovo Yoga Tablet 10 runs Android 4.2.2, which seemed to be the OS of choice in Android based tablets in the country until few months. However, Lenovo may soon roll out the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update for the Yoga tablet. The company might even think of skipping the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update and may directly release the Android 4.4 KitKat update for the Yoga tablet.
Talking
about the Yoga Tablet 10's interface, Lenovo has given it a complete overhaul,
which seems more inspired by Apple's iPad tablet interface. Initially, there were three homescreen panes filled with apps. It can
include up to seven homescreens.
After spending some time with the Yoga Tablet 10, we realised that Lenovo has removed the main menu which houses various apps and widgets in Android tablets. To find apps when required is a struggling task due to lack of menu view and at times had to use Google to search for pre-installed or downloaded apps on the tablet. Thankfully, the new downloaded apps on the homescreen panels sport a 'New' tag until someone opens the app for the first time.
Next
thing we noticed in the Yoga Tablet 10 was the oversized app icons, which
looked blurred. In an attempt to fix the issue by reducing the app icon size but
couldn't find a way to change it. When download the Temple Run and
Temple Run 2 on the Yoga Tablet 10, instead of showing the full name of the
later app, it only showed Temple Run for both the apps.
Performance/
Battery Life
The
Lenovo Yoga Tablet 10 is powered by a quad-core MediaTek chipset (MT8389)
clocked at 1.2GHz along with 1GB of RAM. There is 16GB of inbuilt storage,
which is further expandable up to 64GB with the help of microSD card.
Without any doubts, the Lenovo Yoga Tablet 10's specifications sound quite acceptable on paper. But unfortunately, the same is not the case in real life performance. The tablet was lagging in launching some apps although the lag is not that consistent but considering that a quad-core processor backs the Yoga tablet, it is quiet disappointing.
However, the biggest compromise for playing games for longer periods on
any device, a tablet or a smartphone, is the battery backup. But thankfully,
the company has equipped the Yoga Tablet 10 with huge 9000mAh battery and that
delivers. Overall, we got an acceptable gaming experience.
The Yoga Tablet 10 was able to play all popular formats including
MKV, MP4, MOV and AVI. Also, the tablet played full-HD videos with minimal
fuss.
The Verdict
There is no doubt that Lenovo has put in a lot of thought in the whole design
of the tablet, making it stand out from the routine crowd. Additionally, it's
worth pointing out that Lenovo's Yoga Tablet 10 multimode feature includes
those modes, which generally require a separate cover or a stand for a tablet.
While it does live up to what Lenovo's Yoga line-up is known for (multimode
design), a better chipset and a higher-resolution display could
have helped the cause.
The Lenovo Yoga Tablet 10
delivers in some departments but disappoints completely in others. And while
everything generally worked well on it, we did experience the odd lag, making
us wonder whether the MediaTek's quad-core processor was a good choice by the
company. Another deal breaker is the Yoga Tablet 10's display, being a 10-inch
device with a display sporting lower screen resolution looked awful. The
company has made changes to the UI of the tablet, but that too does not help
much in the overall experience. Further, the tablet sports dual front
loudspeakers but the sound experience was not that great.
At Rs. 28,999 for the 16GB and Wi-Fi + 3G
edition of the Lenovo Yoga Tablet 10 is priced decently. Those looking for
alternatives can look for the Apple iPad 2, which is a dated device but offers
a better package.
Pros
- New (refreshed) tablet
design
- Battery life outstanding
- Multimode design helpful at
times
Cons
- Disappointing camera
- Average speaker performance
- Low-resolution display
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