New Yoga hybrids get smaller and last longer
The Yoga 710 and 510 offer smaller screen sizes, optional graphics and better battery life.
- Author of the award-winning, NY Times-reviewed nonfiction book The Tetris Effect; Longtime consumer technology expert for CBS Mornings
The Yoga line of hybrids from Lenovo runs from the very high-end Yoga 900 to the more affordable 700-series and 500-series models, along with a few business-minded systems (the ThinkPad Yoga line) along the way. All share the same central feature -- a 360-degree hinge that folds back to take the design from a clamshell laptop to a hefty tablet.
New at MWC 2016, Lenovo has added some new models to the midprice Yoga 700 series and the budget-minded 500 series, with newer CPUs and the promise of longer battery life. The Yoga 710 has a premium look and feel but loses the unique watchband-style hinge found on the highest-end Yogas in favor of a standard laptop hinge.
The 11-inch Yoga 710.
The 710 line is expanding with a new 11-inch model, which now sits alongside a standard 14-inch model. The 11-inch uses Intel's Core M line of low-power processors, as seen in systems such as Apple's 12-inch MacBook, in this case up to a Core m5, along with 8GB of RAM and up to a 256GB SSD. The 14-inch Yoga 710 has a more standard configuration, with standard Core i-series CPUs, up to an Intel Core i7, and optional Nvidia GeForce 940M graphics. These are still fairly light, and the 11-inch Yoga 710 weighs 1.07kg/2.35 pounds, while the 14-inch model weighs 1.65kg/3.63 pounds.
Both sizes have 1,920x1,080-resolution IPS screens, which means they should look good even from side angles. The 11-inch Yoga 710 will start at $499 (approximately £619 and AU$1,245) in the US and the 14-inch Yoga 710 starts at $799, while slightly different configurations available in Europe start at €799/€899 (approximately £619/£697 and AU$1,245/$1,400).
The Yoga 510, which will be sold in the US as the Flex 4.
More interesting in some ways is the Yoga 500 series. In the US, this is known as the Lenovo Flex line, and it brings the same 360-degree flexibility of the more-expensive Yogas to well-equipped laptops at very reasonable prices.
The new Yoga 510 gets a bit of a visual makeover from the previous versions, which were functional but very plain-looking. The 510 gets a more pronounced taper to its front edge, as well as a diamond-cut palm rest. Both 14-inch and 15-inch models have 1,920x1,080 IPS touchscreens, and run the same current-generation Core i-series CPUs as the pricer Yogas. The Yoga 510 (which will be called the Flex 4 in the US) will start at $599 (£417 and AU$838).
In Europe, the 710 and 510 models will be available in May and April. In the US, both are expected in July.