We attended the launch, we unboxed it, and here’s the full tour. The Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro has a wristwatch-like hinge that allows its gorgeous QHD+ display to bend all the way back, until it’s flat against the back of its backlit keyboard. You won’t believe how thin and light this P77k Windows hybrid can be.
The Yoga 3 Pro is proof that Lenovo listened to complaints about the previous Yoga’s, which were heavy and thick, so that tablet mode was a really thick laptop display folded against the back of the keyboard.
Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro specs:
13.3-inch QHD+ (3200 x 1800) IPS display, 276ppi
Intel Core M 5Y70 Processor (1.10GHz 1600MHz 4MB)
Intel HD Graphics 5300
8GB LPDDR3L RAM |512GB SSD
720p webcam
WiFi 802.11 a/c
Bluetooth 4.01
2x USB 3.0
1x DC-in with USB 2.0 function
4-in-1 card reader
micro-HDMI out
Audio combo jack
Integrated JBL stereo speakers w/ Waves Audio
9 hour battery life
Windows 8.1 OS
330 x 228 x 12.8 mm
2.63 lbs
Platinum Silver and Champagne Gold
P76,995.00
The Good
The thin and svelte, light and non-flexing physique of the Yoga 3 Pro is a joy to look at and to hold (and to show off and to be seen with and to use as a conversation lure for women at coffee shops.) You need to touch the Yoga 3 Pro to feel how premium the body is. You need to lift it with one hand to know that it will weigh nearly nothing when it’s in your bag. You will sincerely hate your current laptop for being so thick and so heavy.
The gorgeous display wows anyone passing by. QHD+ display (3200 x 1800) means that Fonts look crisp, images vivid, colors pop out, viewing angles excellent. Movies look spectacular. If on one evening the world doesn’t feel right, by all means watch a movie and you’ll forget the world. It’s that glorious. Paired with a Rapoo S500 Bluetooth Headset (also thin and light and svelte) and you have a private cinema in QHD+ resolution.
For something this thin, Lenovo managed to smuggle in three full-sized USB ports.
The modes are more practical now that the entire device is thinner and lighter to bend around any time. If you ever fantasized of flipping the Yoga 3 Pro from laptop to either tent or tablet mode and then handing it over to a client to impress, well, dream come true. Client impressed. The Yoga 3 Pro is THE laptop to take to bed because of how easy it is to carry around and put away.
If you can get a pressure sensitive pen for sketching, the Yoga 3 Pro’s tablet mode can be awesome.
Effectively, the Yoga 3 Pro has 3 USB ports for something this thin. The new MacBook, thin as its is, only has one USB port. The Yoga 3 Pro’s power port doubles as a USB 2.0 port.
Solid heft, no creasing or flexing, and holding the notebook never feels like a chore. Premium through and through.
Backlit keyboard. Very useful for those long nights of work.
Rubberized area around keyboard helps with grip, provides slightly soft palm rest.
Keyboard and palm rest area does not heat up, great for long hours of usage.
No flexing when using the keyboard, very solid typing experience.
I love the touchpad – responsive, generously spaced, with the click through satisfying. You really feel that that webpage is going to load because you felt the click-through on touchpad.
You can play touch-ready games available on the Windows Market, but some games are not comfy to play on a touch screen this large.
A touch screen within reach is useful, since sometimes you just want to tap something or scroll or pan or zoom.
Tilt back feature means you can adjust for glare, especially outdoors.
Tent and stand mode vacate space formerly occupied by the keyboard, so you have room to set your food (if you love to eat while watching movies) or your notebooks / pads (if you like to think by writing things down). Very nice. Also, tent mode is loved by cats since it’s warm and a tight space.
The Bad
Intel Core M + 8GB RAM still results in choking when multiple apps are running – what else would you do on such a gorgeous display if not to abuse it? A middle weight spreadsheet plus multiple Firefox tabs with 3 Youtube streams and 5 Windows Explorer folders open – something you’re used to on an Intel i5 laptop – won’t work here. You need to dial down your multitasking habits.
If only the Yoga 3 Pro had a long enough battery life, that gorgeous screen would be great for a photographer to sort through and tweak his shots on site for his client.
Default display resolution is overkill – it renders the menus and texts of some apps like Photoshop too tiny; and while a display like this is great for watching videos and editing images, it seems to consume too much power. You’ll want to either lower the resolution or blow up text and icons to a comfy level.
The space in front of the display normally occupied by the keyboard can now be occupied by another keyboard or by whatever you want to eat.
The rubberized surface around the keyboard, soft as it is, is a magnet for hair, dirt, oils, etc. That means setting the Yoga 3 Pro on a table when it’s on tablet mode (with the keyboard serving as the backside) is not a good idea.
For P77,000.00, there is no bundled with MS Office or stylus and the battery life maxes out at 4-5 hours.
And this is what happens when you make a tent out of your laptop.
Glossy screen, but you can tilt the display further back than normal laptops, so you can reduce glare.
Underbelly’s right side, rubberized upper area of keyboard (close to the hinge), and the lower part of the display gets warm from long usage. But this doesn’t affect your palm area of the keyboard itself.
Keyboard travel is a bit shallow, but the notebook compensates by offering rubber-bouncy keys.
Sound appears to be only adequately loud, and voice distinct – I still keep reaching for my earphones when watching videos. But in a quiet room, it’s fine.
Tablet mode feels too big (wide) to be a tablet, I would much rather the Yoga 3 be a laptop-only, because of its laptoppy size and thinness. When in tablet mode, your hand feels the squishy keyboard and you don’t want to put this down on a dirty table for fear of smearing and staining the keyboard.
The Verdict
The Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro is undoubtedly beautiful, thin, and slim. That display will own you and the lightness of the package is something your hands, shoulder, and laptop bag will “feel”. But for P77k, you’re getting a laptop that can slow down while Intel i5 laptops half the price do not; there’s no MS Office subscription bundled in; neither is there a stylus to take advantage of the touch screen; and battery life is a meager 4 hours.
You’re better off waiting for a price drop if you truly want this spectacularly thin and light hybrid laptop. For an alternative, check out the ASUS Transformer Book T300 Chi and our hands on with it.
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See also:
- Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro is Slim, Svelte, Sexy and I Want One
- Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro Unboxing and First Impressions
