Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro - Verstaile, Lightweight, and Powerful
Disclaimer: I received the Yoga 3 Pro from Lenovo as a Lenovo INsider. Opinions are my own.
If you are looking to buy a new laptop for work or for personal use there is definitely no shortage of options with a wide range of price points. If you are interested in having the latest technology in a compact, lightweight, and versatile form factor with a decent amount of power, speed, and storage then the Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro may be the one for you.
The Yoga 3 Pro is one of the latest Ultrabooks to come from Lenovo. It is much more than an Ultrabook though. It has a watchband inspired hinge that allows it take on 4 different form factors; Tent mode, Stand mode, Tablet mode, and Laptop mode, making it the most flexible Ultrabook on the market.
Watchband inspired hinge assembled from 813 pieces of aluminum & steel
If portability is a must have in a laptop then the Yoga 3 Pro may be the most portable laptop on the market. It weighs in at only 2.6 lbs and at its thickest point, it is 14 mm thin. Just look how thin it is when lying flat!
One might think that a laptop so light and thin, must not have any room for multiple USB ports, let alone a SD card slot, and a micro HDMI port. Well, if you thought that you would be mistaken. On one side, the Yoga 3 Pro has a USB charging port, that when not being used by the charger, can double as a USB 2.0 port. This side also has a USB 3.0 port, a micro HDMI port, and a 4-in-1 card reader (SD, MMC, SDXC, SDHC).
The other side has another USB 3.0 port as well as an audio jack. Also on this side is your volume rocker, screen rotation lock, power, and reset buttons. I'm not sure how Lenovo managed to provide so many useful ports into such a thin body, but I'm glad they did!
The Yoga 3 Pro has a 13.3-inch QHD+ (3200 x 1800) TFT IPS LCD display with 10-point multi-touch support. The colors and detail on this display are pretty breathtaking. It is such a high quality that my cat thought she was going to be able to reach out and get that bird!
13.3" QHD touchscreen (3200 x 1800 resolution)
I really like the keyboard on the Yoga 3 Pro. The keys provide good feedback with the distance they travel when being pressed. The keys are also backlit which makes it easy to use in low light and adds a nice aesthetic. The keys are surrounded by a perforated panel with rubber finish. This panel makes it comfortable to rest your wrists for long hours. The trackpad works pretty well and supports the basic Windows 8 gestures.
Island style keyboard
The charging block is actually a bit too large, making it difficult to plug into a crowded power strip. And the short length of the cable makes it difficult to use if not really close to an outlet. Good thing the battery lasts almost an entire day so it hasn't really been an issue for me.
Overall, this is a pretty solid device. It combines the power and productivity of a laptop with the portability and convenience of a tablet. The Intel Core M-5Y70 processor (4M cache, up to 2.60 GHz) is powerful enough to perform any basic task as well as some more processor intensive tasks. However, it is not a "workhorse" so if you edit videos or you are a big gamer this would not be the one for you.
If you are considering buying a Yoga 3 Pro or any other Lenovo device, feel free to use my access to the Lenovo INsider store for some good discounts on their products. Store is for US customers only.