Lenovo introduces a unique form factor
Lenovo introduced the Yoga 8 and Yoga 10 tablets based on Android (4.2.2) that couple moderate performance with a unique form factor and stellar battery life.
Lenovo isn't a company that seems interested in slowing down. Just when you think the world of notebooks is getting boring, it releases products like the ThinkPad Tablet 2 and the Yoga 2 Pro. Today we are looking at another innovative product from Lenovo, the Yoga Tablet 8 and Yoga Tablet 10. While the tablets share the Yoga branding seen in recent convertible notebooks these are NOT Windows-based PCs – something that I fear some consumers might get confused by.
Instead this tablet pair is based on Android (4.2.2 at this point) which brings with it several advantages. First, the battery life is impressive, particularly with the 8-in version that clocked in more than 17 hours in our web browsing test! Second, the form factor of these units is truly unique and not only allows for larger batteries but also a more comfortable in-the-hand feeling than I have had with any other tablet.
Check out the video overview below!
You can pick up the 8-in version of the Lenovo Yoga Tablet for just $199 while the 10.1-in model starts at $274.
The Lenovo Yoga Tablet is available in both 8-in and 10.1-in sizes though the hardware is mostly identical between both units include screen resolution (1280×800) and SoC hardware (MediaTek quad-core Cortex-A7). The larger model does get an 8000 mAh battery (over the 6000 mAh on the 8-in) but isn't enough to counter balance the power draw of the larger screen.
The 1280×800 resolution is a bit lower than I would like but is perfectly acceptable on the 8-in version of the Yoga Tablet. On the 10-in model though the pixels are just too big and image quality suffers. These are currently running Android 4.2.2 which is fine, but hopefully we'll see some updates from Lenovo to more current Android versions.
Front facing speakers make the Yoga Tablet 8 and 10 better media consumption devices on your desk than most. They sound is pretty decent for such a thin device.
The most interesting part of these tablets is the form factor that includes a round "tube" shaped side that is used for both the battery as well as one hand gripping. Lenovo also built in a kickstand that is easily adjustable to use at nearly any angle.
You can use the kickstand in the standing mode or flip it on the surface for a keyboard-like design.
The Yoga Tablet 8 can stretch back pretty far without falling over, though obviously the Tablet 10 is more top heavy and isn't as flexible. Get it, Yoga?
Neither tablet scores particularly well in our benchmarks and you'll like find it in line with the performance of the NVIDIA Tegra 3 released in mid-2012. It was more than capable of handling web browsing and playing back video content but for advanced Android game the Yoga Tablets will likely suffer.
Not bad for use as a reader
Not bad for use as a reader device at those prices, but I’m really looking foreward to the Nvidia tegra K1 based tablets, running a full Linux distro, should not be hard to run the full desktop versions of GIMP, and Blender(provided the tablet device UI is updated) with full desktop versons of openGL, openCL, etc! I hope AMD will be providing full openCL, openGL, driver support for their Kaveri based tablet APUs also. Did you seen any Tablets that are Linux based at the CES?
I bought the Yoga 8 a few
I bought the Yoga 8 a few weeks ago i got it for $199.95 free shipping 20 minutes after i bought i got a email the price was $189.95 such is life. I bought my first tablet 3 years ago just a cheap one less than $70.00 to see if i would like using one the problem with the less expensive one was short battery life less than 2 hours and sound it had a small slit facing away from user it was bad. So this is why i bought the Yoga. The audio on the yoga is great. Some complain about the screen resolution but i think it is just fine i am not a tablet/phone snob the screen on the cheap tablet was 800 x 480 and it was slow if you had more than a few aps. And another thing i had a stroke a few years ago it effected my left side and my grip so the barrel grip on the yoga really helps. And the battery really goes on and on. The build quality fit and Finnish is firs rate. I like it
Love this design…pure
Love this design…pure genius.
I`d buy one with Windows on
I`d buy one with Windows on it right now !
I am the tablets supervisor
I am the tablets supervisor at Best Buy. I can say with 100 percent confidence that the yoga 7 is the worst tablet design in the history of tablet designs. I see it every day and have given it multiple times but come away disappointed every single time. The soc has horrible gpu performance and the ui lags immensely. The only way I see having a decent experience is if you always hold it in portrait mode. There is just too many comprises when you consider the $200 market. You have nexus seven for for google purists, kindle hdx for media. These both destroy the yoga in their respective categories . Try again Lenovo, I know your better than this – also, your not samsung.
I deeply doubt that you are a
I deeply doubt that you are a tablets supervisor at Best Buy! a bad one if it is!
There is no “yoga 7” at all!
There are yoga 8, or yoga 10, I really don’t think a “tablets supervisor” can make such low level mistake, even as a typo!
I’ve been using the Yoga 8 (not 7!) for a month, and use it (not just “see” it as what you described!) everyday, the GPU performance is just fine for me when playing “Angry Bird”, “Deer Hunt 2014”, and the UI never lags.
Almost all your comments are not truth! How can we take the claim about the “tablets supervisor” as a truth?!
Look, admittedly I made a
Look, admittedly I made a mistake with size. The truth is though they are using out dated tech for the price point. I suppose if you haven’t used anything more powerful than tegra 3 I could see how this would be acceptable but if you’ve used a snapdragon s4 dual core or better you would find the performance lacking. Also, the screen resolution, are you kidding?! As far as the gpu, it’s a single cluster power vr 544. Single cluster. One third of phones like iPhone 5 and galaxy s4, not sure the clock speeds though. I’ve put maybe two hours of time in it. Why? Because there are much much better tablets. Yes it’s one of the cheapest 8 inch tablets but still, either spend more and get something worth owning or get a nice seven inch tab.
Noticed that you compared the
Noticed that you compared the tablets by numbers; but I compare the tablets by using them: I have Nexus 5, Samsung S4, Blackberry Z30, and I played my friends’ iPad Mini and Nexus 7.
The best tablet to read the book and watching movies is the Yoga 8, this is the reason I bought it.
Yes, the performance and the resolution of the Yoga is lower than some of the other devices, but for my normal use, it’s enough.
As of daily use, I use the Yoga 8 more than my other devices.
For me, “comfortable” is the most important benchmark.
The “tablet specialist” at
The “tablet specialist” at best buy has to be kidding me!! The Yoga 8 is an awesome tablet and pretty decent at consuming content. I have had 2 galaxy s3’s a, galaxy note 2, nexus 5 (which I still have) and an iPhone 5. Truth is “the tablet specialist” sounds like a guy who does everything based on numbers. The iPhone is like one of the best phones ever and its a dual core phone in todays “more power means better” society. And it runs like a charm. But were talking tablets and the Yoga 8 is one of those things were numbers don’t matter. The battery blows out the nexus 7 and the note 8 and …..(enter tablet here). Tablets ate used to consume content and media and it does that very well. And an micro SD card slot for even more memory. Someone said the word gamers and tablets to me one day and I laughed. Real “gamers” have consoles or built their PC’s. You can’t play Battlefield 4 on a tablet so by that standard, all tablets suck! But they all don’t. Who cares how many cores this tablet has.it works and works well. Because the screen is 720p…its crappy?! So when 55 comes out and the new oppo phone and they have 2k resolutions, the new HTC one will crap huh? So will new Sony and nokia’s and the next nexus lmao?! Come on they will be awesome. So “tablet specialist” please do your homework and spend some time with your hardware like a good sales person does (even though your not in sales). But know your product a give the customer a real tablet opinion.
Yeah , sure. Everything you
Yeah , sure. Everything you stated is the opposite IMO.
I’m a happy user of the Yoga
I’m a happy user of the Yoga 8 tablet.
I bought it for myself, but lately it’s seized by my wife; I think this is because it is good for reading books and watching movies.
I’m comfortable saying that this tablet is the best for reading books and watching movies among all the tablets!
I don’t think this is a good table for gamers: it’s hard to hold it while touching the screen for playing, at least for me with small hands.
I bought the Yoga 8 recently
I bought the Yoga 8 recently at the $200 price mark from Best Buy since they have a 15 day return policy.
Admittedly it seemed slugging at first, but then I realized it was the UI.
I downloaded NOVA and WHAM, smooth as can be.
It runs great, the cameras are better than what people will have you believe from the “numbers” due to them being rendered fairly well.
I have multiple apps on this include RDP and Teamviewer software, chat clients, Coach’s Eye, Kindle, Dropbox, 4 email accounts, Netflix and Hulu, and have no problems with performance.
I can use it pretty consistently through the day (I use it for work) and wait until the next morning to charge it because my battery is at 68%.
If you aren’t a tech snob who likes to just talk about all the numbers or your 5 second impression on a shelf, then you may realize this is a great table for the price.
Also, the Sound is AWESOME
This has the most
This has the most unapologetically ripped-off iOS GUI on a mobile device I have ever seen! It’s actually hilarious. Why would you ever want this over an iPad mini?
Is the iPad some type of
Is the iPad some type of feminine hygiene product ?
MOST OF YOU CAN’T SPELL
MOST OF YOU CAN’T SPELL CORRECTLY; GRAMMAR IS FLAKEY, TOO.
TIME TO GO BACK TO ENGLISH CLASSES, YA’LL. ANON.
I have a Yoga 8 and couldn’t
I have a Yoga 8 and couldn’t be happier. Sure, it’s not the best performer, but consider what you get:
Kickstand; I don’t know how you media freaks can live without it.
17 hours of battery life… I DEFY YOU to do better!
5Mpx rear, 1.3Mpx front cameras.
Micro SD slot.
Speakers you can actually listen to.
GPS that actually works!
Yes Lenovo’s default launcher sucks, but it’s easily replaced.
And performance is much improved since they updated to Kit-Kat 4.4.2.
For $169 at Best Buy, I consider it to be the best deal on technology I’ve ever found! I don’t know what the complainers expect for that kind of money, but I would normally expect to pay that much for the GPS alone!