The Lenovo Yogabook - long term review

I've had the Lenovo Yogabook for something like three and a bit years now and it's turned out to be not too bad a purchase. When originally released, there were two models, one with Android and one with Windows 10 - the model I chose. It's a 10.1 inch convertible powered by an Intel Atom x5-Z8550 quad core processor, comes with 4GB of non-upgradeable LPDDR3 RAM and 64GB of storage. A powerhouse, this is not. The touchscreen display resolution is a better than full HD (1920 x 1200) and is bright enough to use comfortably both indoors and out. It is, however, reflective as hell. Also, with such a high resolution in such a small size, the default settings make text very small. You can scale the resolution and that may help for those of you with less than brilliant eyesight but even I can't handle more than a couple of hours working with text on here. Two cameras (one above the display, one to the top right of the keyboard) provide video call options in whatever format you use the device. Storage is expandable by up to 128GB via an SD card slot and you also have mini HDMI and micro USB ports for attaching displays and other devices. Note though, the micro USB port also doubles as the charging port so in reality, you're very limited to what you can do if the battery needs charging. Speaking of the battery, the blurb promises up to 13 hours. The device itself is quite light and handy, yet feels reassuringly solid with its magnesium alloy construction.

You can see the reflections in the bezel, the screen is exactly the same.

What really caught my interest when looking at this laptop was the design and the keyboard. The unique (for a laptop) Watchband hinge permits both laptop, tablet and tent mode, and is firm and stable in use. It keeps the screen in position when used as a laptop, nicely folds in tablet mode and is rock steady when used in tent mode. The keyboard, however, is the main talking point. This is the much vaunted HALO keyboard, where the 'keys' are illuminated sections of a capacitive panel. You can select haptic feedback that gives a little buzz every time you hit a 'key' but that got a bit annoying after a while. Without the feedback, you'll have to concentrate on your typing and even with the best will in the world, you're not going to hit your regular typing speeds. In fact, during the initial familiarisation with the laptop, you'll be making more than a few mistakes and some users might get more than a little frustrated with the concept. Put the time in though and it's ok. 'Key' size is decent, even if some of the lesser used keys are a little on the small side. The trackpad beneath the keyboard is, however, tiny and the two mouse 'buttons' are also similarly finicky to use. Overall though, if you're used a phone or touchscreen keyboard, you'll know what you're getting.

Not great connectivity.

The choice of keyboard, however, also permits the Yogabook's biggest draw. You can draw on it. The supplied Real Pen stylus uses the digitiser pad (with 2,048 levels of sensitivity) so that you can draw to your heart's content, something that works very well. You switch between the pen and keyboard modes via a small round pen icon at the top of the keyboard. Replace the nib with a supplied ink cartridge and you can clip the Book pad (a posh notepad) onto the digitiser and start writing notes on paper that are picked up by software on the Yogabook. This is an accurate system that works well with text, drawings and the like. It certainly adds to the versatility of the device.

So what do I use it for?

It started off as an on the go text input and content consumption device - although the keyboard did prove slightly too cumbersome for regular use so I ended up buying an OTG USB adapter and a Logitech wireless keyboard. The Yogabook did turn out to be an excellent tablet replacement, certainly for magazine scans and pdf's. It's just the right size to read scans at full resolution and light enough not to feel tiring after an hour or two of holding it. It does stutter at times, especially when loading from an SD card and realistically, Windows 10 prefers more than 4GB of RAM but it's usable, especially when I installed Libre Office. Battery life never approached the claimed 13 hours; 9 to 10 hours of usage for reading was pretty common, especially in the early days. Currently though, it's more like five to six hours and that means that a replacement is probably due at some point. Once again, I start thinking of the Armbok...

This was a cracking magazine in its time. But those bloody reflections...

So now that this machine is less of a workhorse and more a leisure device, I am spreading my wings a bit as to how this can be used, gaming being one suitable option. By gaming, I certainly do not mean anything recent - hell, anything at all with 3D graphics is going to hammer this machine into the ground. No, I was thinking retro console and DOS games, and there is certainly enough power here to run RetroArch, my go to emulation app. It handles Megadrive and SNES titles with ease, but anything more recent, the 3DO for example, is a tad too much for the device. That still leaves thousands of titles for the numerous 8 and 16-bit consoles, as well as handy 8-bit computer emulation with the keyboard. As you can see below, when teamed up with the Hyperkin Duke X-Box controller, you get an idea of the size of both devices. I'll probably get round to buying an 8BitDo Bluetooth controller that will be a bit more portable and not take up the the micro-USB port. Combine that with the HDMI out and you have a very nice little retro games machine that slips easily into a bag and is good for a few hours play.

Good old Desert Strike... plus reflections.

The controller is big, the laptop is small...

When launched, this was a niche device and one that wasn't overly successful. There was a follow up laptop with the HALO keyboard but that was discontinued a couple of years ago. Like most convertibles, the Yogabook ends up being neither fish or fowl, with the addition of the keyboard proving less practical than you'd want, whilst Windows 10 is not a tablet OS even with touchscreen accessibility. Despite that, it is a useful machine and has seen good use since I purchased it, especially once I discovered the joys of Archive.org and the Out of Print Archive for old PC and gaming magazine scans. A note of caution though. Visiting Archive.org is very much like journeying down the rabbit hole and it is a very interesting time sink.

The lack of ports is a bit of a bother at times and I do feel that with enough use, that micro-USB port is in danger of breaking - it certainly feels loose when plugging in cables and that is a major concern given that this is the only means of changing the battery. Time will tell. The battery is also non-replaceable, a feature that has kept my Asus Eee-PC is use for over a decade. As for a replacement, that's going to take some consideration...