If you are talking about 2-in-1 ultrabooks, then the first name that comes to our mind is the Lenovo as the company has sold more convertible laptops than any other company. One of the Lenovo Yoga 2-in-1 laptop, the Lenovo Yoga 3 is a 14-inch ultrabook which is a pretty solid laptop and is also budget friendly. Even though its body is a little bigger and heavier, you still get a 14-inch display and true 2-in-1 design. We can also say that its not only the best value for money 2-in-1 laptop, but also one of the best 2-in-1 machine out there in market. So, here is our review for the Lenovo Yoga 3 laptop.
Lenovo Yoga 3
Design
The Yoga 3 14-inch looks pretty simple in appearance, featuring an utilitarian design with a stiff, chunky hinge. The laptop has a matte-plastic lid with a silver Lenovo logo in the upper right. The lid opens to reveal a black, brushed-aluminum deck, and two thick, metal hinges. The bottom transitions back to plastic, with rubber feet at each corner and large vents toward the back. If you don’t like black, you can get the same configuration in light silver or white (but white will cost you an extra $50).
Image Source: Tech.Firstpost
Lenovo included a discrete button for screen rotation which is there between the volume rocker and the power button. But, you need to be careful not to accidentally press the Novo button next to the rotation lock as it’s only there to initiate a factory reset and recovery functions. When transforming the Yoga 3 14-inch into one of its four modes (laptop, tent, stand and tablet), the hinge provides just the right amount of resistance, allowing you to open and close the lid without feeling like you’re wrestling with it.
Image Source: PC Mag
The Yoga 3 14 has a total of three USB ports, but because the lone USB 2.0 port also doubles as the power jack, you’ll have access to only two USB 3.0 ports when charging the notebook. Other ports include a headset jack and a SD card reader on the left side, and a micro HDMI port on the right. For photos and videos, the Yoga 3 14 features a 720p camera above the screen. The pictures clicked from this camera are often too dark when compared to the similar camera of other ultrabooks.
Keyboard and Touch-Pad
The Yoga 3 14 features a well-spaced back-lit keyboard, but with its short key travel (1.1 millimeters) and light actuation weight (50 grams), typing can sometimes feel a little slow as the keys on the laptop are too soft to type on.
The touch-pad, on the laptop is a silky-smooth surface and measures a spacious 4.1 x 2.75 inches. Although the one-piece touch-pad lacks discrete mouse buttons, the Yoga 3 14 never confused left and right clicks. Gestures like two-finger scrolling and pinch to zoom were swift and quick responsive every time.
Display
The Yoga 3 14’s 14-inch full-HD 1920 x 1080 pixel screen can move and flip into various positions, but it looks a little dim and dull some times. Specially in the dark surroundings, the display lacks producing good colors and brightness. The Yoga 3 14 produced just 224 nits of brightness, which is less than the thin-and-light-laptop average of 242 nits, the non-touch Dell XPS 13 (298), the Yoga 3 Pro (318) and the HP Spectre x360 (339).
Image Source: Tech radar
And as expected, the Yoga 3 14 failed to create good colors. The laptop created just 59.9 percent of the sRGB spectrum. That’s less than the category average of 76.6 percent, the XPS 13 (91.7), the Yoga 3 Pro (99.3) and the Spectre x360 (103.2).
Though, the Yoga 3 14’s screen produced more color accuracy, as it notched a strong Delta-E rating of 1.2 (closer to zero is better). That beats the Yoga 3 Pro (4.3) and the non-touch Dell XPS 13 (8.2), but it’s comparable to the Spectre x360 (1.25).
Graphics and Audio
With its integrated Intel HD Graphics 5500, the Yoga 3 14 is good for light gaming. It easily handled less-demanding games like Hearthstone and Hotline Miami 2. The laptop is not meant for hardcore gaming such as Witcher 3, Far Cry etc. The Yoga 3 14 scored 597 on the 3DMark Fire Strike benchmark. That’s higher than the Yoga 3 Pro (384) but less than the Dell XPS 13 (704) and the HP Spectre x360 (710).
Image Source: Lenovo.com
With JBL stereo speakers, the sound on Yoga 3 14 is quite impressive. The max volume of the laptop is enough to fill a room with its crisp and clear sound. The sound quality improves when the device is in tablet and tent modes, but can be distorted in laptop mode because the speakers are on the bottom.
Performance
The Lenovo Yoga 3 14-inch is powered by 2.2 GHz Intel Core i5 processor that comes with 8 GB RAM and 256 GB SSD storage. The laptop offers you good performance during typical use like streaming 1080p videos with another 10 tabs of Google Chrome running at the same time.
On the Geekbench 3 test, the Yoga 3 14 scored 4,588. That’s slightly ahead of the Yoga 3 Pro’s 4,571 but behind the non-touch Dell XPS 13’s 5,530 and the HP Spectre x360’s 5,614.
Image Source: TechTickerblog
The SSD on the Yoga 3 is also pretty fast. To duplicate 4.97 GB of multimedia files, he Yoga 3 14 finished with a time of 39 seconds, resulting in a transfer rate of 130.5 Mbps. That’s faster than the XPS 13 (87.7 Mbps) and a little behind the Spectre x360 (141.4 Mbps) but about 30 percent slower than the Yoga 3 Pro (175 Mbps).
The heat control on the Yoga 3 14 is a bit disadvantage for the laptop. The Yoga 3 14’s keyboard and deck stay pretty cool, but even in normal use, the bottom can become a little too hot for comfort. As per the Laptop Mag’s heat test, after streaming an HD video from Hulu for 15 minutes, the bottom of the system (near the fans) reached 99 degrees Fahrenheit, which is above the 95-degree tolerance threshold.
Battery Life
On the Laptop Mag Battery Test (continuous Web surfing over Wi-Fi at 100 nits), the Yoga 3 14 lasted 8 hours and 9 minutes on a charge. That’s longer than the Yoga 3 Pro (6:29) and the thin-and-light-laptop average (6:08) but less than the non-touch Dell XPS 13 (11:42). One of the few 2-in-1s to beat the Yoga 3 14 was the HP Spectre x360, which lasted an impressive 9:28.
Configuration Options
The Yoga 3 14 comes in five configurations, starting at $799 (approx INR 53,500) for a Core i5 processor, 4 GB RAM and a 128 GB SSD. It tops out at $1,100 (INR 76,300) for a Core i7 model with 8 GB RAM and a 256 GB SSD. One of three mid-range models that feature a Core i5 CPU, 8 GB RAM and a 256 GB SSD. The only difference is the color of the case, which comes in black and light silver for $949 (INR 63,500), and in white for $999 (INR 66,900).
Verdict
Featuring a solid set of components (i5 CPU, 8 GB RAM and a 256 GB SSD), a sturdy hinge and a fairly strong 8 hours of battery life, the Yoga 3 14 is a fine 2-in-1. However, the HP Spectre x360 does almost everything just a bit better (screen brightness, performance and battery life) for just $50 more, and it’s prettier, too. Though, the likes of the Lenovo and its domination in 2-in-1 convertible laptops can’t be ignored.
Lenovo Yoga 3
