Lenovo has been quite aggressive when it comes to entering the Android tablet market, and the new Yoga 3 series is a refinement of a product line that is becoming increasingly popular. First, the industrial design has had a shake-up: Lenovo has kept is cylindrical design, but the build quality and design level went up significantly. As usual, the Tablet has an integrated stand (which means no bulky cases are required) and can now be hung to a wall as well – all you need is a nail. Your kitchen will thank you.
The surface treatment in the back has been upgraded to a leather-pain which looks and feels more premium than before. The overall look is just more attractive. The stand design has been refined with a metal that looks more expensive and softer corners. There’s also a button to release it, which is nicer than trying to pry it out with one’s fingers.
Lenovo has upgraded the camera to a 13 Megapixel model, which is nice, but the most important camera update is the 270-degree rotation capability, which makes it easy and practical to use. For example, it’s possible to snap photos of a whiteboard while the tablet is in keyboard mode on a table. Try that with most tablets…
Lenovo has also integrated its AnyPen technology, which allows people to literally use any pen or hard surface to write on the display. We have looked at it during CES 2015, and this is the exact same technology applied to the Android platform. Check it out:
Finally, a huge difference when compared to last year’s model is that Lenovo is now using a stock Android (or near-stock), which means that the user interface is no longer customized. How this will affect the firmware upgrade cycle is unknown, but I think that it is a very good decision from a user interface (UI) standpoint. Of course, this device launches with Android 5.x.
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