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Lenovo Yoga 8: The value of design

Although the Yoga 8 comes at a price, the value you get cannot be discounted.

Lenovo, of late, has been doing wonders in the PC vendor market. Some years ago it took on the PC business of IBM and turned it around. Recently it announced it will buy Motorola Mobility from Google for ?only? $2.91 billion; we may see the Chinese company creating a similar buzz with its buy-out. One of the reasons for its success has been that the company is consistently launching new, innovative versions of its products?the Yoga laptop series is a case in point. And its obvious extension?the Yoga tablets.

Lenovo recently launched the Yoga 8 tablet which, as the name suggests, has an innovative multi-mode design?a battery cylinder and kickstand on the side of the tablet which, when opened, offers three usage modes: hold, tilt and stand. In the ?hold? mode, you hold the tablet by the battery cylinder, and because the battery is the heaviest part of the tablet, the weight of the device falls into your palm rather than your fingers, making it more comfortable for reading and browsing. Then you can lay it down in the ?tilt? mode, and get a perfect viewing angle for typing or gaming. You can also flick the kickstand and rest it upright in the ?stand? mode to comfortably watch videos, listen to music or video-chat. That?s fun; some may call it yogic! And such a design doesn?t just optimise the tablet experience, it also makes the tablet a great looker.

Lenovo has been promoting the Yoga 8 as the one having a great battery life, and the tablet doesn?t disappoint. Lenovo says the battery lasts up to 18 hours, and we found it is more or less right. We fully charged the tablet, watched two movies, surfed the web on Wi-Fi for another two hours, used 3G for about an hour, then video-chatted for long and clicked some 100 photos. The tablet asked for a charge only by the end of all this. Now, that?s good. The tablet?s eight-inch HD (1280 x 800) display delivers high definition visuals, too. Another practical feature is that the Yoga 8 has front-facing speakers, rather than on the sides or at the bottom or top. Combine that with the Dolby Digital Plus

enhancement and you get an immersive sound experience, especially in the ?stand? mode. The tablet comes with a 5-megapixel rear camera and a 1.6-megapixel front camera, both of which are just about adequate. It also comes with SIM support for voice calling.

At Rs 22,999, the tablet definitely comes at a price, yet there can be some users who will find the Yoga 8 value-for-money. And then the rugged build ensures it will last long. What next Lenovo? A yoga smartphone, may be?

* Estimated street price: Rs 22,999

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First published on: 27-02-2014 at 02:33 IST
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