User Interface, A/V Quality, Thermal Design
User Interface
For the most part, the ThinkPad Yoga’s keyboard looks and feels practically identical to that of the X240. The keys feature a smooth finish and are very tightly-fitted with absolutely no rattle, which gives them a high-quality feel. As with the X240, we would have preferred a slightly crisper stop and a bit more key travel (travel overall is on the medium to short side), and the actuation force of the Yoga’s keys is a little more than we normally prefer as well (the T440s, for instance, was just right). There have also been occasional complaints about the sizing and organization of some of the keys. But overall, this is an excellent keyboard—ahead of the Yoga 2 Pro’s, and in fact, ahead of most every Ultrabook out there… once again, Lenovo comes close to keyboard perfection.
The touchpad, on the other hand, commits precisely the same sins as the other recent ThinkPads we’ve reviewed. While our review unit’s pad didn’t seem to rattle quite as much as the ones in our T440s and X240 review units, it still exhibits a clattery and cheap feel compared to traditional touchpads. Moreover, the pointer jumpiness phenomenon also persists, afflicting many innocent taps with an undesired pointer movement that never ceases to annoy. And, of course, it follows that TrackPoint functionality is equally hobbled; the lack of physical buttons is something which makes its use subjectively very challenging, requiring much more conscious thought than it should.
Fortunately, as always, the touchscreen works as intended. Sure, it’s not difficult to find a functioning touchscreen on a mainstream notebook these days, but it is rather uncommon to see one with the added bonuses the ThinkPad Yoga implements. For starters, this is one of the few touchscreens available that does not incorporate a glossy finish—something which will certainly be appreciated by business professionals and notebook enthusiasts alike. The panel finish is referred to as “anti-glare”, but it only does a partial job of diffusing light sources; it’s more accurate to refer to it as “half-matte”. The next big benefit is the inclusion of a Wacom digitizer pen, providing for enhanced touch accuracy and versatility. Another variation of the ThinkPad Yoga ships without the digitizer and with an “anti-smudge” screen in lieu of the anti-glare one we received.
One complaint which we levy against such models rather frequently is the inability of the (massive!) hinges to hold the display still in the midst of even light tapping while in notebook form. Coupled with the much-appreciated semi-gloss screen, this problem could certainly be worse, but it’s still a nuisance in the presence of brighter light sources and well-lit environments in general. Not to mention the fact that the screen contents themselves wobble along with the lid (of course), which can be grounds for a headache after a bit of use. By the way, this problem also afflicts the use of the Wacom digitizer pen while operating in Notebook or Stand Mode to the point which it is nearly impossible to use reliably—so stick with the Tent or Tablet modes if you’re planning to use the pen.
One of our complaints about the original Yoga design was actually related to the sensation of holding the device folded into tablet mode with the keyboard exposed. It’s weird, because your fingers would depress the keys uncontrollably while you operated the tablet, which not only feels strange but probably isn’t ideal for long-term durability. The ThinkPad Yoga is the first in the Yoga line to correct this problem, and it does so with a unique approach: by lifting the keyboard surround (the surface in between the keys) automatically and progressively as the device is folded backwards. This happens painlessly and completely transparently to the operation of the computer; the only thing the user notices is that suddenly the keyboard has seemingly flattened out to become a mostly solid surface.
A/V Quality
Thanks in part to the semi-matte screen, the ThinkPad Yoga is pretty easily operated outdoors provided you aren’t sitting in direct sunlight. The screen seems quite bright (brighter than the X220 used to type this), and Lenovo quotes it at 400 nits, which seems pretty close to accurate. It’s also IPS, which makes for great viewing angles and stable color reproduction. The contrast seems very good, too, as should be the case for a panel of these specifications.
On the other hand, the audio is really nothing special. Dolby DTS post-processing or not, the ThinkPad Yoga’s audio is par for the course in terms of business machines: clear enough to discern the intricacies of the trebles, but weak enough in the low frequencies to warrant the usage of external speakers (or headphones) when any degree of music or film is on the agenda.
Thermal Design
The Yoga is one quiet computer. In fact, most of the time (during light use), the fan doesn’t even run—and the machine is essentially silent. It’s only when under a moderate load that it finally becomes audible, and it’s still relatively quiet. The only thing worth mentioning is that it has the same sort of high pitch to it as other thin ThinkPad models, and that means that some might describe it as a whine. Fortunately, since the exhaust vent is on the rear, it’s pretty hard to hear it regardless.
How well does this actually control the temperatures of this fairly slim machine, you ask? Externally, there are no issues: only the right-hand bottom side of the unit retains any sort of bothersome heat, and even then it’s still just overly warm under load—and while idle, it’s not a problem at all. Internally, it’s a different story: under any sort of moderate stress, the machine quickly heats up and refuses to cool down without sacrifice. The effects of this unchecked temperature rise are mostly felt in the realm of performance, and as such, we’ll cover this more thoroughly in the performance section of our review later on.
I’ve been using a TPY as my
I’ve been using a TPY as my daily driver since January (CTO, 1920×1080 + digitser, i7-4500U, 8GB, 256GB sSD). The only complaints I have with it so far are:
– The pen silo is sharp-edged, so unless you insert the pen with robotic precision every time, it will inevitably become heavily scratched. Merely a cosmetic issue
– Mini-HDMI. Fuck mini-HDMI, I’d much rather have DP. It’s usually docked when I’m using an external display anyway, but it means carting around an extra couple of adapters if I’m expecting to use an external display on the go
– The middle-click section of the trackpoint ‘button’ area CANNOT be set as a middle-click! It can be used as a ‘universal scroll’ button, but not to send the middle-button click command. This is frankly moronic. You can still three-finger-click with the touchpad, so I generally just use the touchpad (which I’ve had no issues with).
– If you leave orientation unlocked, and lift up the laptop by the side immediately after closing it, it will re-orient before it goes to sleep. this means that the next time you wake it, it will awaken in the wrong orientation, flip to the opposite orientation, then flip the the correct orientation. There’s an orientation-lock button on the outside, so this is rarely an issue.
– The matte finish on the display is applied over the gorilla glass, so can scratch easily.
Other than that, it’s a great laptop.
I would love a 2015 version
I would love a 2015 version with the following alternations:
– Ditch HDMI in favor of DP
– Add Broadwell or preferably (if available) Skylake processor
– Replace the 2.5″ SATA with a M.2 slot => gained room could be used for beefier cooling solution and / or battery
– Replace touchpad with a standard ThinkPad one
– If the hinges are as distracting as stated in this review: rework them 😉
I guess that would result in an almost perfect device for myself!
I got a dozen or so of these
I got a dozen or so of these and are prepping to deploy them. Some notes:
The Onelink Doc can’t be used to boot from network (PXE).
You can ONLY use the Thinkpad branded USB / Ethernet to PXE.
I wish I could swap the Mini-HDMI (WHY?) with Mini-DP and / or VGA. Built in Ethernet would also be awesome.
All of the new Thinkpads have horrible touchpad. Not sure what Lenovo is thinking with them?
Seems like most reviews of
Seems like most reviews of the newer Thinkpads don’t like the click pad. Where as it’s not perfect, I much prefer it to the physical buttons. The physical buttons require a lot of two handed work to do click and drag and such. Where as the click pad can single hand click drag and release for either left or right click. And three finger click for middle works better than a left+right click or other options with physical buttons. I agree that the click itself feels loose and could use some tweaking. That might help with repeated clicking which is harder than with the physical buttons. But I think it’s move in the right direction.
And I haven’t really noticed any issues with accidental clicking or moving while typing. I think I did when I rebuilt a T431S and didn’t have the most recent drivers installed. But after update it seemed fine.
Or course I understand a lot of the complaints for people who liked things the way they are. I have my things that I don’t like when they are changed.
Yes the business will reimage
Yes the business will reimage this with windows 7, so why should any enterprise spend money for touch when any enterprise will use their IT department’s approved system Image and Productivity software. And, there are plenty of last year’s model Core i7 quad core business laptops available from the resellers, at bargain prices(New in a sealed Box), that outperform this laptop, and last year’s model business laptop usually comes with discrete graphics, that OpenCL really accelerates those spreadsheets! There is nothing like Intel’s last year’s model core i series CPUs, that can compete with Intel’s this years overpriced and under-improved “New” offerings, that is in the CPU category, graphics, and OpenCL acceleration, is better left to AMD or Nvidia.
enterprise
resellers
There’s
enterprise
resellers
There’s your answer. In an enterprise environment, it’ll always be cheaper to buy new hardware and use the manufacturers warranty services, than to buy from resellers and handle repair in-house.
Besides, this isn’t a mobile workstation. Comparing it to a (e.g. Wxxx series) powerhouse with a discrete GPU is apples-to-oranges. I’ve seen plenty of X-1 Carbons and X2xx series without discrete GPUs used for regular office work.
All very good points guys and
All very good points guys and I wholeheartedly appreciate the dialogue. I take all of these things into account for future reviews.
In regards to the new clickpad, I have tried hard to adjust to its use and appreciate what it brings to the table. But, in an even worse turn than HP Elitebook's ForcePad, I just feel like it makes operation unnecessarily difficult. I'm not sure why all three of the ThinkPads I've reviewed have exhibited the pointer jumpiness, but I do know that the drivers on the Yoga were the latest release and I was still experiencing that problem. It is especially frustrating as it really doesn't buy that much additional room, and even a conventional clickpad could have been much better in my opinion (such as even that which was found on the X220 and X230).
Under “Pros” you stated RAM
Under “Pros” you stated RAM is upgradeable but I’ve read elsewhere that says the RAM is soldered in. Can you clarify this point?
Great review BTW.
@William:
Whoops, not really
@William:
Whoops, not really sure where that came from, heh. Thanks for pointing that out! Corrected.
Also, glad you liked the review! These things take a lot of time to assemble 🙂