Steve Jobs once said that people do not exactly know what they want, until you show it to them. The statement came out once Jobs figured out that people would not be interested in buying a gadget like a tablet, especially when smartphones and laptops were already in use. In addition, when the first iPad was launched, there was huge skepticism surrounding its use, but once people realized that the iPad was selling like hot cakes, other manufacturers, who were earlier criticizing the product, started manufacturing tablets too. Tablets, with all their versatility, became so popular that laptops soon started losing their importance and laptop manufacturers had to do something innovative to regain what they have lost. Unlike the tablet innovation, experiments with laptops did not always appeal the end consumers and the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 is a clear result of experiments gone terribly wrong. Here are a few reasons why the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 is one of the biggest disappointments from the brand and there seems no reason why someone should spend more than a grand to buy it.
- Not a convertible
No matter what Lenovo might say, the IdeaPad Yoga 13 is NOT a convertible. Rather, simply put it is just a laptop with the swiveling display. The reason we say this is because of the fact that the laptop’s display cannot be detached from the base, like the HP Split X2, but it can just be turned around a full 360 degrees to the back. A true convertible is a laptop where the display’s operation doesn’t depend on the base, but can work independently as well.
- A 1.5Kg tablet…?
Tablets are loved because they pack a handsome amount of processing power, a good display, a good battery, webcams and other ports, in a package that weighs less than a pound, the lesser the better. On the other hand, the IdeaPad Yoga 13 weighs a whopping 1.5kg, forbidding its use as a tablet. Moreover, the device measures 13.3 inches, which will make you like a fool. Users nowadays prefer tablets that don’t weigh more than a pound, and don’t have a display size more than seven inches. While the first iPad was 9.7-inches diagonally, users soon started facing problems with the size and hence companies started rolling out smaller versions with seven-inch screens. In this time, Lenovo’s 13.3-inch machine is by no means a handy tablet. Not to mention that in this case you will end up using a tablet that has a large keyboard attached to its back.
- Pathetic Display and touchscreen
While Lenovo says that the display is a 13.3” HD + IPS Capacitive Multitouch Display, the fact is that, the display is not as good in quality as the specs read out. Actually, the display resolution is 1600X900, which is HD Ready and not 1080p HD, which is a common sight in most tablet computers. The specs would have been good if the machine was billed simply as a laptop, as you will not find any pixilation when it is viewed from a distance. However, when you will be using this machine in its billed Tablet Mode, every pixel counts and with a screen size of 13.3 inches, you’ll easily be able to identify the loss of PPI. Apart from that, the touchscreen is highly unreliable and often it reads your swipes as a tap and misses your screen taps altogether. On the other hand, touchscreens commonly included in high-end smartphones and tablets are highly reliable and do not miss on these inputs.
- Lack of I/O ports
The IdeaPad Yoga 13 comes with one USB 2.0 port, one USB 3.0 port, a combo jack, a card reader and an HDMI port. However, most laptops being sold these days come with at least four USB ports so that additional hardware, such as a printer, additional keyboard, mouse and your smartphone can easily be connected to it. With the IdeaPad Yoga 13 you can connect at most 2 peripherals or spend additional money in buying a good quality USB hub.
- Not a gaming machine
While most laptops that retailing on a similar price range come with HD displays, HD gaming cards and a good amount of RAM, the IdeaPad Yoga 13 has no additional graphics card, has just a HD ready display and comes with just 4GB of RAM. Moreover, the storage space is limited to just 256GB on the top-end model of the machine. While it might allow you to play a few flash games, it will not by any mean support high-end games such as Call of Duty – Modern Warfare 3.
- Lack of Storage
The one specification that left us flabbergasted was the storage capacity of the IdeaPad Yoga 13. The storage is limited to 128GB with an optional 256GB that obviously costs more. On the other hand, most laptops, even those costing much less than the IdeaPad Yoga 13, come with 500GB or even more of storage capacity. The 128GB model looks like one from the history books, when movies were of 700MB and most games less than 300MB. In times such as the present, when a good movie download will cost you 3GB of data and a game even more, the 128GB HDD will soon look too small.
- Poor Performance
Performance issues are not a new thing in the IdeaPad Yoga 13. Right from the day it was launched, people started reporting issues with the poorly constructed track pad, which doesn’t even include additional click buttons. Moreover, presently there are some driver issues with the track pad and all is not as smooth as the look of the track pad itself. Further, the machine often fails to connect with your Wi-Fi router after coming back from Sleep Mode even if it detects the Wi-Fi signal. It is simply a shame that Lenovo could not sort out these issues in a machine that falls under the Premium category of laptops.
- Poor Keyboard Design
The experimenting with the IdeaPad Yoga 13 didn’t just end on the unique specifications of the product. The keyboard too shows signs of poor experiments and there is no dearth of unhappy buyers who simply can’t get used to its unique design. The keyboard has concave keys that Lenovo thinks are more comfortable to use, but the right-hand side of the keyboard has Shift and Backspace keys half their normal size. Since most people are right handed, they end up pressing the wrong buttons when trying to press the Shift and the Backspace key on it.
- Frequent heating and poor battery life
The Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 is prone to heating due to its unique design, especially when being used in its “Tablet Mode”. When in Tablet Mode, the display covers the fan openings and hence the fans cannot get enough air to cool the processor. This does not just make the machine too hot to handle, it even drains battery power as the fans remain continually turned on trying to reduce the excess heat buildup.
- Not a laptop, not a tablet, not a netbook even
Conventionally, laptops have to have a display size of 15-inches, tablets are most loved in the 7-inch form factor and netbooks are usually sold in the 10-inch configuration. One the other hand, the unique 13.3-inch IdeaPad Yoga 13 does not simply do justice. It cannot be called a laptop because of its unique swiveling display, it cannot be billed as a netbook as it is too large for that and cannot simply be called a tablet.
- User reviews
We are not the only ones complaining about the IdeaPad Yoga 13, as there are lots of unhappy buyers relating their tales about this premium-priced machine that doesn’t suit any need. Here are excerpts of just a few reviews:
- The buyer states that the wireless connectivity is poor when comparing it with other laptops selling for half its price. The buyer stated that you can only successfully connect it with your router if you’re sitting right next to one. Once you move 10-15 feet away, the connection will be lost.
- Here the buyer gave some test results where he saw the processing drop of half the speed when comparing with similarly priced Dell XPS 12. Moreover, the performance on a Samsung Galaxy S4 was much better.
- There are several consumers in India who have sent a legal notice to the company stating that Lenovo is selling a product in India that has known problems.
- A buyer commented about the after-sales service of Lenovo as he had to wait for one week just to find an engineer who can work on the laptop.
- Several buyers had issues with the onboard battery that stopped charging out of nowhere on a IdeaPad Yoga 13 that was just a month old.
- The Bottom line:
The Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 has serious issues pertaining to its design, its use and its classification as a convertible laptop-tablet. The problems seem even worse when considering the fact that the machine retails for a price of more than a thousand dollars and the company has not been able to take care of some known problems in it. For now, it would be better to leave the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 in the showroom and buy something that is more reliable and more powerful. Even if you are looking for a convertible laptop tablet, you can invest in the likes of HP Split X2 which performs much better and is definitely more reliable than the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13.