Lenovo’s Yoga Book is an Android powerhouse for entertainment, creativity and work

The Lenovo Yoga Book is a powerhouse for anyone that doesn’t need to do hardcore gaming. Built on Android 6.0.1 this might just be the line for the next gen mobile on the go everyday use. Office work? No problem. On The Go? Sure and why not throw in the average home user?

Tech Dreams, Instant Means: Up to $5000 at Your Fingertips

This all-in-one Tablet features everything you need, besides the hardcore gaming. Released in September 2016 the Yoga Book made the news with a lot of different sites that slammed it for not being a “powerhouse” or for using microUSB vs other standards. While this is true, the Yoga Book does make use of quick charge tech as well as provide you with the ability to cast, connect to an HD tv or monitor via the micro HDMI port.

It comes with minimal applications installed, very much close to stock and on top of that you are running Android 6.0.1. The 64GB storage it comes with should be enough for most anyone and if you did have a need to beef it up, you can add p to 128GB via the microSD slot.

When it comes to the keyboards flat panel surface with backlit laser keys, you will need to take to get adjusted, it’s not as easy as it looks, but after a few hours on it I can easily draft up this review with minimal effort. The keyboard surface also doubles as a Wacom pad which enables you to use the pen and do some awesome artwork. If you’re interested to see some pretty wicked designs you can check out ArtFace on YouTube.

- Advertisement -

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFnZmP9QHnE[/embedyt]

The pen is used for taking notes, drawing as a pointer, but more so you’ll get real use out of it if you do artwork. One may think that latency could be an issue when used, while this can be true with other devices, I haven’t seen any here.

Using a pointer device such as a Bluetooth mice seems to be a must have for this type of setup. I’ve to notice that single clicks seem to be a hit & miss by an average of 30% which is too high. I’m going to be digging into this to see what the cause could be or if there’s a setting somewhere I can change.

The production value with this tablet/laptop is obvious, but what isn’t so noticeable is the entertainment side of it. It sports some decent speakers that can provide a level of sound that can be quite enjoyable when viewing videos on YouTube or simply playing your favourite tunes from Spotify. I did entertain earlier on that you can do some light gaming and this is true for many of the titles available on the Google Play store.

While we’re on the subject of entertainment, I took a go at Kodi and loaded some of my favourite add-ons for some of the entertain I will require while on the go or simply when I’m sitting on the train on my way to Toronto. With Kodi as my main media consumption device, this should be a breeze.

I’m a power user and I work with various piece of equipment during my day to day activities. In the business world, USB storage devices are still a thing, while some solutions have become wireless, there’s still a need to use them via the old fashion way. This confirms that USB OTG is available over the micro USB port allowing me to tap into 256GB of SSD storage. Could be useful if I have large amounts of data to copy over in either direction. There’s the ability to map a network share via “\\name\folder”

How’s the battery life on this? You’re looking at 8500 mAh worth of juice. In terms of usage, most people aren’t “constantly” on it for 8 hours at a time, there’s period of time where we’re not touching it. So… At this time I’m in 10 hours of usage and I’m at 30%.

The Yoga Book features 2 cameras, one is set on the display and one is on the keyboard portion. There’s nothing spectacular about neither one of them, they are basic and they’ll serve the purpose of doing selfies and make video calls if you really need it. While the front facing camera gets you a 2-megapixel picture size, you’ll notice that if you do manage to take a good shot it’s not terrible, but it’s also not the greatest. On the other end, the camera options on the keyboard/Wacom side seems to be doing a better job, maybe that’s due to the nature of the 8-megapixel camera.

- Advertisement -

For myself, the use of the camera will more than likely be relegated to doing Skype, Hangouts, Duo calls with people rather doing photography. I can’t understand the need to use a 10-inch tablet to take pictures in highly compressed JPEG’s vs using a nice high-end low-cost point and shoot. You’ll get much better pictures. Smartphone photography has gotten better, but it won’t replace a DSLR.

Overall the Yoga Book is the perfect companion for someone who doesn’t need the power of a high-end laptop. Perfect for business, leisure and entertainment and provides a good balance between them. It capable of doing a lot of multi-tasking in real-time provided that the applications do support multi-window mode. Would I recommend this for anyone? Yes!

You’ll have to take into account your needs before you go ahead and spend $699.99 on this all-in-one tablet/laptop. This is meant to be a power-house for entertainment and work. The key aspect is portability, ease of use, powerful for creative people, well adjusted for business needs.

Tech Dreams, Instant Means: Up to $5000 at Your Fingertips

Lenovo Yoga Book detailed specification:

Visit the Lenovo Canada site for more information and buying options.