Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga review: The Yoga's keyboard assumes a new position

Lenovo's Yoga hybrid line has already gone through several iterations, from the original, fold-back screen version, to the 3,200x1,800 Yoga 2 Pro, to the recently announced lower-cost Yoga 2.

8.4

Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga

The Good

The <b>ThinkPad Yoga</b> has an innovative vanishing keyboard that solves a major hybrid problem. Construction, battery life, and ergonomics are up to Lenovo's typical high standards.

The Bad

The screen is smaller and lacks the higher resolution of the similar Yoga 2 Pro. The hidden keyboard adds mechanical complexity to what should be a rugged road system. The upgrades you'll want drive the price up quickly.

The Bottom Line

Lenovo solves half the Yoga equation with a clever hidden keyboard on the ThinkPad Yoga. If we could combine this with the higher-res screen and better looks of the consumer version, we'd have the ultimate hybrid.

Despite a strong fan base, if there's one thing that's bothered people about the Yoga products, it was the way the keyboard and touch pad remained exposed to the elements, even when the system was folded into tablet mode.

For the uninitiated, the Yoga, in any of its iterations, looks like an ordinary ultrabook-thin clamshell laptop, but its lid and display fold back a full 360 degrees to form either a thick tablet, or a stand/kiosk device when only folded halfway back. While the Yoga's keyboard is deactivated, it's still pointing out from the back of the tablet, which is suboptimal, to say the least.

Lenovo has a new take for the ThinkPad version of the Yoga that should make a lot of people very happy. This model has a re-engineered keyboard and chassis that pulls the keys flush with the body as you fold it over backward into the tablet mode. It's exactly what we've been waiting for in a Yoga, although it's a shame that this new feature is only included in the ThinkPad Yoga as of right now, not the more consumer-targeted IdeaPad Yoga 2 Pro and the upcoming (less expensive) Yoga 2.

To dive a little deeper, the keyboard itself doesn't actually retract. It's more that the slightly sunken keyboard tray rises up to be flush with the keys, while a secondary locking mechanism prevents the keys from being depressed while in tablet mode. Lenovo calls it a lift-and-lock system. Impressively, it doesn't feel much thicker than the standard Yoga, although the screen measures 12.5 inches rather than 13 inches.

What we're left with is a kind of split in the Yoga line, with the sharp, coffee-shop-friendly design and the impressive 3,200x1,800 display going to the consumer version, while the much-requested retractable keyboard goes to the business line. It's almost cruel to force laptop shoppers to choose between them, especially as both start at around $1,000.

A starker difference presents itself, however, when you go through the available configuration options for the ThinkPad Yoga. The $999 base model includes only an Intel Core i3 processor, basic 128GB SSD, and, most disappointingly, a 1,366x768 touch display. Our review unit includes several welcome upgrades, including an Intel Core i5 processor, 256GB SSD, faster 802.11ac WiFi, and a full HD 1,920x1,080 display, all of which drive the price up to $1,579. Not unreasonable, but at more than 50 percent over the base price, a different purchase calculation.

Design and features
We've said before that the Yoga line of hybrids mimics a traditional laptop so well that if you didn't know about its special hinge, you'd never think there was anything unusual about it at all. This goes doubly so for the ThinkPad Yoga, which shares so much of the very familiar ThinkPad laptop design DNA that you could set it in front of someone and there's a good chance they'd never see it as anything other than a common office ThinkPad, right down to the classic red track point in the middle of the keyboard.

While the ThinkPad Yoga is made of a tough, lightweight magnesium alloy, it doesn't feel as slick and high-design as the IdeaPad version, or even the high-end ThinkPad X1 Carbon. Instead, this is a basic matte-black box, and looks like it could have fallen through a wormhole from anytime in the past half-decade.

Still, it's got the look and feel of a ThinkPad, and that includes the extremely well-designed keyboard and touch pad. Even switching to an island-style keyboard layout across the ThinkPad line over the past few years has not slowed Lenovo's reputation in this department, and speaks to years of serious human interface R&D. The design signature that differentiates the Lenovo keyboard from other laptop keyboards is the slightly convex lower edge of each key, which bows out slightly to make for fewer missed key strokes.

The buttonless clickpad-style touch pad is also excellent, and even though there's still a track point nestled between the G, H, and B keys, the second set of mouse buttons it requires are now built into a tiny zone at the very top of the touch pad, rather than eating up a ton of their own real estate.

But the feature that really makes this system stand out from both other ThinkPads and other Yoga hybrids is the mechanical keyboard tray. In the original Yoga, when the screen is folded back into tablet mode, the keyboard and touch pad are deactivated but still exposed. You can feel the keys crunching under your fingers while holding the tablet, and even though they're not active, it's both distracting and unaesthetic.

The ThinkPad Yoga employs a clever mechanical fix. It doesn't retract its keyboard or slide a cover over it, but instead, the actual keyboard tray -- the slightly sunken part surrounding each key -- rises up to sit flush with the wrist rest and the keys, and locks in place. The keys also lock into place, so they can no longer be depressed. What you end up with is a surface that's not smooth, but at least is nearly level all the way across, with no more keys clacking against your fingers.

It's still not a perfect solution. The ThinkPad Yoga makes for a thick, inelegant tablet, but the hidden keyboard trick is so fascinating, you'll find yourself folding the lid back and forth over and over again just to watch it in action. My only real concern is that the mechanism is complex, and adding small mechanical moving parts to a laptop is a potential invitation for future trouble. That said, the hardware worked fine in our hands-on time with it, and it felt sturdy.

The 12.5-inch display is a bit of an oddity -- a screen size we see only rarely. In real-world terms, it feels very much like a 13-inch display, so much so that you'd probably never notice the difference if not specifically alerted to it. A bigger issue is that the default screen resolution on the ThinkPad Yoga is 1,366x768, which is not what one would expect from a $999 laptop with a nearly 13-inch screen. A full HD 1,920x,1080 upgrade is available -- that's what we have in our review unit -- but it's an expensive $250 add-on (it also includes a stylus pen).

At least the display has a matte finish that cuts down on glare while still managing to look clear and bright. Especially if you plan to flip and fold the screen into its kiosk or table tent modes, the matte finish is a major plus. The 10-input touch screen works well with both fingers and the included digitizer pen, which tucks neatly into a slot along the front right edge.

Connections, performance, and battery
While the ThinkPad Yoga has fewer ports and connection than you may be used to from a business laptop, Lenovo hopes you'll connect one of its OneLink docks, a $119 add-on that includes USB, Ethernet, and HDMI ports. The built-in mini-HDMI port will be annoying, unless you carry an adapter, but it's interesting to see a business laptop with HDMI rather than DisplayPort. Our system also includes a $30 upgrade to 802.11ac Wi-Fi, but note that you'll need a compatible router to take advantage of faster speeds.

The base $999 ThinkPad Yoga is a tough sell, offering lower-end parts than I'd expect for that price. That means a current-gen Intel Core i3 CPU, 1,366x768 screen, plus a basic but reasonable 4GB RAM/128GB SSD combo. Add the better of two Core i5 options, double the SSD to 256GB, up the screen resolution to 1,920x1,080, and add 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and you end up with our review configuration, which tops $1,500.

With the upgraded Intel Core i5-4300U, the ThinkPad Yoga was a strong performer in our benchmark tests. Apple's 13-inch MacBook Pro, becoming more popular in business settings, may be faster in these tests, but the Yoga is comparable or faster than many similarly high-end 13-inch laptops. For everyday home or business tasks, such as preparing presentations, multitasking with office docs, or just Web surfing or streaming HD video, it's more than powerful enough.

Battery life is especially important for highly portable business laptops, and the ThinkPad Yoga turns in an impressive 6:48 in our video playback battery drain test. That's a hair less than the recent Yoga 2 Pro (which had a slightly slower CPU), and with some careful usage, likely enough for a full day of work or travel.

Conclusion
The clever keyboard-hiding mechanism in the ThinkPad Yoga is both a great conversation piece and a practical real-world improvement to an already popular design. But, why must I choose between sharp looks and an ultra-high-res screen on one hand, or a better tablet mode on another? This split in the Yoga line makes little sense to me, and I hope we'll see a unified feature set at some point.

Keep in mind that the Yoga 2 Pro gives you a Core i5 and 3,200x1,800 screen starting at $999, so you'll have to be prepared to spend more for a comparable ThinkPad version (still topping out at a 1080p screen). Consider the extra investment as payment for the sturdier ThinkPad hardware and all the helpful IT-friendly software Lenovo preloads, including security features your IT department may need to be able to sign off on this as an acceptable workplace computer.

Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga
Windows 8.1 (64.bit); 1.9GHZ Intel Core i5 4300U; 4GB DDR3 SDRAM 1600MHz; 1792MB (shared) Intel HD 4400 Graphics; 256GB Samsung SSD

Samsung Ativ Book 9 Plus
Windows 8 (64-bit); 1.6GHz Intel Core i5 4200U; 4GB DDR3 SDRAM 1,600MHz; 1749MB (shared) Intel HD Graphics 4400: 128GB SSD

Apple Macbook Pro 13-inch (October 2013)
OSX 10.9 Mavericks; 2.4GHz Intel Core i5-4258U; 8GB DDR3 SDRAM 1600MHz; 1GB Intel Iris Graphics; 256GB Apple SSD

Toshiba Kirabook
Windows 8 (64-bit); 2GHz Intel Core i7 3667U; 8GB DDR3 SDRAM 1600MHz; 32MB (Dedicated) Intel HD 4000; 256GB Toshiba SSD

Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 2 Pro
Windows 8.1 (64.bit); 1.6GHZ Intel Core i5 4200U; 4GB DDR3 SDRAM 1600MHz; 1792MB (shared) Intel HD 4400 Graphics; 128GB Samsung SSD

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