Lenovo Yoga Tablet 10 Review

Our friends over at Lenovo have sent us the Yoga Tablet 10 for us to review. The Yoga Tablet is a new family of products from Lenovo, this being the 10-inch version is the current leader of the family. This is the first tablet to have a design that goes in a different direction and that will truly separate it self from other products. Pair a unique design with some good hardware, and you might just have a winner on your hands. Did Lenovo find a betterway, keep reading to find out the answer!

Unboxing

Check out our first impressions of the Lenovo Yoga Tablet 10, as Jacob Krol unboxes the device.

Design And Modes

No longer does a tablet have to be all flat, Lenovo is shaking up this design and proving that it works. The key feature of the Yoga Tablet 10 is the cylindrical handle, which not only make the device more comfortable to hold, but it dramatically increases battery life. Yet, having a handle on the tablet does not increase the weight, it comes in at 1.33-pounds. The left hand side is home to the micro USB port, power/sleep button, 5 megapixel back camera(on the handle) and 1.6 megapixel front camera. Behind the kickstand is where you can find your micro SD card slot. Under the screen on the handle you will find the dual front facing speakers. Lastly, the right hand side has your volume rocker and headphone jack. You still have the nice silver color and a slightly textured back.

Like the Yoga laptops, there are different modes for the Yoga Tablet. Stand mode eliminates the need to buy a case, just show the tablet will stand up. By opening up the built-in kickstand you have the perfect mode for watching movies, video chatting, browsing photos, and more. I mentioned the cylindrical handle makes the Yoga Tablet 10 more comfortable to hold, it actually moves the center of gravity of the device to where you will be holding it. This puts lets of a strain on your hand and makes it more ergonomic to hold. Hold mode might be the most used mode, it comes in great for reading, taking notes, or browsing the web. With Tilt mode you get two choices, if you want a higher tilt, simply pop out the kickstand. This mode is great for taking notes in class, watching a video, playing games, and more.

Lenovo makes a case that compliments the design of the Yoga Tablet 10 as well. It is the Protective Cover for the Yoga Tablet 10. It comes 4 different colors choices, grey/green, grey/orange, grey/black, or white/grey. I am testing out the grey and green combination, the green gives it a pop of color. The inside of the of the case is lined with fiber, so it will keep your tablet free of scratches and keep it clean. It fits the device perfectly and is very comfortable to hold. Not only do you get the case in the box, but a screen protector and cleaning cloth as well. The Protective Cover for the Yoga Tablet 10 retails for $29.99.

Hardware

A 10-inch 1280 X 800 HD IPS display with 178-degree viewing angles is on the Yoga Tablet 10. The viewing angles are great, especially if you are watching a movie with a few people. Colors are very vibrant and images do have depth. At times text can appear blurry, but when reading on the tablet this does not seem to effect it too much.

A fast 1.2GHz MTK Quad Core processor with 1GB of RAM brings the speed to the Yoga Tablet 10. Applications open very fast and close just as quickly. Even when you have 6 or 7 applications open, multitasking is a very nice experience. The only time I experienced lag on this 10-inch tab, was every so often when I changed orientation. This did not happen every time, but it just took a second or two to make the change. Boot up and boot off time was pretty fast as well.

Having front facing speakers on any device, just makes sense. We first saw this on the HTC One with BoomSound, but Lenovo is bringing this idea to the tablet. The two front facing cylindrical handle and they are powerful. They aren’t just loud, but they produce quality audio. Dolby Digital Plus DS1 is built-in and will automatically enhance the audio for you, it knows when to increase the bass or lower or it. When listening to a live audio track, you can really hear the crowd singing along.  You can tell when this technology is turned on and when it is not, it really projects the sound and makes the experience much better. Lenovo did an excellent job with sound experience on the Yoga Tablet 10.

Camera’s are the not killer feature on a tablet, but it is nice to have. The 1.6 megapixel camera on the front is great for making video calls and taking selfies. The 5 megapixel camera on the back is not the best, but every once in a while you can get a nice photo. Video quality is average for tablets. I’m hoping on the next generation of tablets that the back camera will be better.

Lenovo has put the battery for the Yoga Tablet 10 in the cylindrical handle. This allows them to keep the main portion of the tablet very thin and put a laptop sized battery inside the device. You 9000mAh battery inside the Yoga Tablet 10 and I got 13 hours of battery life with it. Lenovo is saying you should get 18 hours, but I believe this is with mostly using the device as e-reader. 13 hours of juice, is still longer than most other tablets on the market and I was very impressed.

Software

Lenovo is not just changing the design of tablets, but they have a unique user interface on the Yoga Tablet 10. It is running Android 4.2 JellyBean with a Lenovo user interface. One of the first things you will notice is that the application drawer is gone, now it is simply built-in to the home screen. It is similar to the way it is organized in Windows Phone 8, I personally like this adjustment. It puts the applications front and center. You have plenty of room to store theses applications as well, thanks to 16GB of internal storage plus a micro SD card slot. Of course there are many cloud storage applications out there, some of the big ones are Dropbox and Box.

Many of the applications have new icons and they look very nice. You will find little tweaks throughout the operating system, for instance pull down settings bar has some new tools and systems. Brightness is now three levels for you to choose from, and auto level as well. The menu bar will pull up and more modern and simple set of choices. You can choose from three different themes, those being Classic, Age, or Da.Vinci. You can choose to mange your power and have the Yoga Tablet 10 turn on or turn off at certain times. Like other Android tablets, you can have multiple users. In terms of pre-loaded applications you will find File Browser, Camera, People, Settings, Calendar, Calculator, Recorder, Clock, Feature Guide, Dolby, Power Manager, Downloads, AccuWeather, Skype, Navigate 6, ES File Explorer, Norton Mobile, Voice Search, YouTube, Chrome, Goole +, Hangouts, Gmail, Browser, Email, Gallery, Play Music, Video, Play Store, Maps, Amazon Kindle, Google, Kingsoft Office, Local, Photos, Navigation, News & Weather, PlayBooks, PlayGames, PlayMagazine, PlayMovies, and Google Settings.

Bottom Line

The Lenovo Yoga Tablet 10 is a great tablet that does Android in a betterway. Having a multi-mode design is the biggest feature, it let’s you get more use out of your tablet. It Eliminates the need to go out and buy accessories, they are giving you what you truly need to enjoy the device right out of the box. A nice 10-inch display is matched with a very unique software experience. If you’re looking for speed the Quad Core processor will keep you going and a battery that will last the whole day is here as well. The best part about the Yoga Tablet 10 is that is costs only $299.99 and is available now. Lenovo is breaking the boundaries with design and price, they are making their latest devices very affordable. If you are looking for a 10-inch tablet, look no further than the Lenovo Yoga Tablet 10! For More Information On The Lenovo Yoga Tablet 10, Please Click Here. We would like to thank Lenovo for providing us with a copy of the “Lenovo Yoga Tablet 10”.