I have been looking for a tablet for myself. Mostly, for note/lectures taking and reading. And also for remote connections to Linux machines, when I'm at the beach for example.
When I first saw it, I immediately understood that I had to have it.
I bought Android version through Lenovo website. Windows just doesn't make sense to me on this device, it is not powerful enough, and it is a tablet! It is not supposed to replace a laptop. I don't find Windows apps ecosystem as good for mobile devices, as Android.
Waited about a week. Was very excited, when I finally got a package (yeah, I know, I'm a grown-up baby
). And, unfortunately, was disappointed right out of the box. The screen was defective (I even posted it here, lol): uneven color temperature to such level, that I cannot stand. But, I decided to give it a try anyways.
1. Hardware is impressive. Tablet looks fantastic. Sound is very good for the device of this size. I'm still blown away by a case itself. I liked the hinge, and how you can easily transform the tablet.
2. Halo keyboard looks futuristic. And it is OK for typing. I saw many reviews heavily criticizing it, but it is fine. Yes, you cannot type as fast, as on the mechanical keyboard, but it is still much faster than on the on-screen keyboard. Well, touchpad is bad and doesn't support multi-touch (though manual suggests it does), but I actually don't think one needs a touchpad on Android, so I don't complain here.
3. Drawing and note-taking on the Wacom surface is reliable and was a good experience for me. It is a little bit awkward in the beginning to physically write not directly on top of the area where image appears, but it is very easy to get used to. No buttons on the pen though.
4. Atom CPU is more than enough, device felt very responsive overall. However, I did notice it stuttered while charging, probably due to thermal throttling. But on battery I didn't notice any performance issues with the apps I used.
5. Now comes a weak part. Software.
Taking all that into account with my initial hardware problem, I just decided to return my YogaBook. I should say, it does feel sad a little bit as it is a very unique device. Honestly, I really wanted to love this device. But it definitely needs polishing, and if you're not a gadget enthusiast, you probably should wait for the next version.
When I first saw it, I immediately understood that I had to have it.
I bought Android version through Lenovo website. Windows just doesn't make sense to me on this device, it is not powerful enough, and it is a tablet! It is not supposed to replace a laptop. I don't find Windows apps ecosystem as good for mobile devices, as Android.Waited about a week. Was very excited, when I finally got a package (yeah, I know, I'm a grown-up baby
). And, unfortunately, was disappointed right out of the box. The screen was defective (I even posted it here, lol): uneven color temperature to such level, that I cannot stand. But, I decided to give it a try anyways.1. Hardware is impressive. Tablet looks fantastic. Sound is very good for the device of this size. I'm still blown away by a case itself. I liked the hinge, and how you can easily transform the tablet.
2. Halo keyboard looks futuristic. And it is OK for typing. I saw many reviews heavily criticizing it, but it is fine. Yes, you cannot type as fast, as on the mechanical keyboard, but it is still much faster than on the on-screen keyboard. Well, touchpad is bad and doesn't support multi-touch (though manual suggests it does), but I actually don't think one needs a touchpad on Android, so I don't complain here.
3. Drawing and note-taking on the Wacom surface is reliable and was a good experience for me. It is a little bit awkward in the beginning to physically write not directly on top of the area where image appears, but it is very easy to get used to. No buttons on the pen though.
4. Atom CPU is more than enough, device felt very responsive overall. However, I did notice it stuttered while charging, probably due to thermal throttling. But on battery I didn't notice any performance issues with the apps I used.
5. Now comes a weak part. Software.
- I liked the taskbar, it is nice and useful, but overall, stock software feels like it is a beta version, and it is very basic (to say the least). Especially Lenovo apps (including note-taking). Well, not a real minus, since there are good apps in Google Store. But Lenovo Android customizations definitely need polishing.
- Multi-window is almost useless, you cannot resize apps, but only have a smartphone-like size. And in windowed mode apps very often crash (I actually don't remember, when was the last time anything crashed on my Nexus 5, but I root-customized it...).
- Some settings simply don't work: no matter what you do, it resets itself back to the default value. For some reason, I couldn't select my Google account as a backup account... Encryption is enabled by default, and you cannot disable it (it actually resulted in a factory reset, see below). Transition animations constantly turned on/off by themselves. And manual is simply inconsistent with the actual software.
- I didn't find an easy way to switch Halo keyboard languages.
- No customization for note-taking app: every time you switch to Wacom input mode, annoying Lenovo note-taking small window appears, and you have to close it in order to continue drawing in your app.
- I had a nasty experience with an update. While updating everything seemed normal, but on the final boot I got a message "Encryption failed. Your tablet will be factory reset". And, yep, I got a completely fresh system, but it was updated. :good: And since there was no option to use my Google account for backup, I had to reinstall and reconfigure everything again. :silly:
Taking all that into account with my initial hardware problem, I just decided to return my YogaBook. I should say, it does feel sad a little bit as it is a very unique device. Honestly, I really wanted to love this device. But it definitely needs polishing, and if you're not a gadget enthusiast, you probably should wait for the next version.
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