Finally, I too have a “Yoga” device - and this first Yoga device happens to be the Lenovo Yoga 2 10” Tablet. Lets get straight into the review! But wait! First, I will need to provide a little bit of background on the Yoga Tablet series…
**History**
As you all may know, the “Yoga” branding was something that Lenovo invented for their 360° hinge Yoga Laptop line. It has been a big success for Lenovo, and something that many other PC manufacturers tried to copy. If you look at the new convertibles that the other PC companies have announced in the last year - I would estimate that 90 % of them are Yoga clones with 360 degrees hinge.
Moving on to the tablet side, the first Yoga Tablet was introduced about 1 year ago. I have the second Yoga 10” Tablet, which is why the number 2 exists in the product nomenclature. However, you could say this is the third model, as the first Yoga Tablet had a product update called the Yoga Tablet 10 HD+, which had a better and higher resolution screen backed up by a better CPU. The Yoga 2 Tablet 10 was introduced in early October of 2014, and this is the review of this particular tablet.
**Specs**
| ****Model Name**** | YOGA Tablet 2-1050F |
| ****CPU**** | Intel ATOM Z3745 (Quad-Core) |
| ****GPU**** | Intel Integrated |
| ****Storage**** | 16 GB; max. 80 GB with a 64GB microSD |
| ****RAM**** | 2 GB of RAM |
| ****Display**** | 1920x1200 16:10 10.1" IPS |
| ****Operating System**** | Android 4.4.2 "KitKat" |
**Hardware **
First of, to the hardware. The Yoga Tablet 2 10 is, as its name suggests, a 10” mid ranged Tablet. It is hard to be a 10 inch tablet, as there are so many competitors within that size category, but luckily, Lenovo never runs out of crazy and creative ideas. What made this tablet stands out in the crowd, is the Yoga concept, which still is one of the most brilliant product feature for a tablet, and the new generation 2 Yoga Tablet kicks up a notch again. The ‘inbuilt’ kickstand is really useful, you can instantly turn you Tablet into a small TV and video screen if you want without having to get some expensive case, the kickstand on the new Yoga 2 Tablet range provides you with nearly 180 degrees of adjust-ability, which no other products can provide. The kickstand makes the Tablet just so much more usable and i use this feature almost everyday, surprisingly that no other company have came up with the idea first. Here are pictures showing the different modes:
Another great feature that Lenovo thought to add to the second generation Yoga tablet, is the new ‘HANG’ mode. This new mode is basically where you fold out the kickstand to 180 degrees, and hang the tablet off a hook (there is a hole in the aluminium kickstand from which to hang the tablet):
The hang mode is another great feature to make the Yoga tablet even more usable in everyday life. (Editor note: i hang the tablet on the door whilst sitting on the throne). Some of you may know that is the large cyclindrical bulge that extends throughout one side of the tablet. This bulge allows you to hold the tablet much easier with one hand by giving you more surface area for grip. In addition, having this large bulge allows Lenovo to fit a larger lithium battery inside, which is the reason why the Yoga Tablet has such a long battery life (up to 18 hrs). In the new 13 inch Yoga 2 Pro tablet, one end of the bulge houses an integrated pico-projector - but this super cool function is unfortunately not available in the 10 inch model (which is understandable, as there is no room for it in the smaller format tablet).
I also would recommend to hold the Tablet at this bulge - its made out of high-quality milled aluminium, and a pleasure to touch. The rest of the back is made out of normal textured poly-carbonate (or plastic as most people would refer to it), which also helps to keep the weight of the tablet down and offer it amazing wireless signal. The plastic part does bend and creak slightly when you apply sufficient force to it, but that’s not relevant in real world usage, as you have to press quite a bit to get it to creak. The front side of the tablet is covered in synthetic glass similar to gorilla glass.
The most important component of a Tablet is of course its display. And while the first generation of Yoga Tablets only came with a lackluster 1280x800 WXGA IPS panel, the Yoga Tablet 2 comes with a more adequate WUXGA 1920x1200 display - of course in IPS flavor. The display is very bright has very good color gamut, and of course, typical for an IPS panel type, good viewing angles (both horizontal and vertical). For more details on the display, head over to the review of Notebookcheck.net, as they make very detailed display reviews.
My Yoga Tablet is the basic model, which means its WiFi only, in higher end model you can get WWAN as option.
So hardware-wise, the Yoga is a solid choice for the price - although some features can be improved, but in general, a well rounded package. Some details (battery performance and the ergonomic design) are stellar, these are the features that make the Yoga something special. Now, for the software and the “not-so-amazing” part…
**Software**
My Yoga comes with Android 4.4.2 preinstalled. Now, this is very personal, but I really hate Android as a system. I am a Windows’ user through and through, and Android is such a mess as an OS. Typical for many Android systems, microstutters are everywhere in the system. The system structure is messy and not well thought out. The store is way too overloaded with apps no one uses and wants - and something hard to overlook. Android doesn´t play nice in my ecosystem, which is else completely build on Microsoft services. Although an x86 CPU is used, it’s not a real PC or has features close to replacing what Windows can offer.
The good thing is: The Yoga Tablet 2 is also available with Windows (something i much prefer)! I really urge everyone to get the Windows version, and as I have read elsewhere, the performance of the Windows version should be much better. So, for the verdict:
**The Yoga 2 Tablet is a good tablet and recommended if you are searching for a 10” Tablet - however, my recommendation is to go for the Windows’ model.**