Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro review: slim and sexy comes with some trade-offs

I haven’t reviewed an Ultrabook in months. It’s not because I’ve grown lazy; it’s because there just haven’t been many new models to test. Nearly every laptop that crosses Engadget’s reviews desk these days is a gaming notebook, a Chromebook or maybe one of those super-cheap netbook things. So here I am, dusting off my Ultrabook-testing skills with the Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro, the company’s latest flagship laptop. Like every Yoga that’s come before it, this new model has a 360-degree hinge that allows it to fold back into tablet mode. It also keeps that stunning 3,200 x 1,800 touchscreen. But that’s not what’s interesting to me. No, I’m curious about this because it’s the first notebook I’m testing with a new Intel Core M chip, which allows the Yoga 3 Pro to be 17 percent thinner than its predecessor, not to mention 15 percent lighter. As a result of moving to a lower-powered chip, the battery life should be better too. Sounds like a recipe for an all-around better Ultrabook, right?

 

  

 

 

PROS

  • Thin and light, even for an ultraportable
  • Versatile design
  • Generally fast performance
  • Gorgeous display

CONS

  • Relatively short battery life
  • Keyboard is shallower than on previous Yoga machines
  • Touchpad could use some fine-tuning
  • Start button on the bezel doesn’t always work, but a fix is coming
SUMMARY Lenovo’s third-generation Yoga laptop is as versatile as ever, except it’s noticeably thinner and lighter — so much so that it’s now one of the slimmest Ultrabooks on the market. The battery life has improved too, but it still lags behind the competition, no doubt because that slim design doesn’t leave room for a bigger cell.

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https://www.engadget.com/2014-11-25-lenovo-yoga-3-pro-review.html