Lenovo Yoga 8 Tablet – Innovative Design, consistent Performance [Review]

Lenovo has experimented with, and pioneered many innovations on their laptop range such as, ultra-light weight high-performance laptops, laptops that convert to tablets, etc. The Chinese manufacturer has since then launched an array of unique, innovative products. And we’re going to review one here – the Yoga 8 Tablet.

Design

The Yoga 8’s unique design incorporates a battery cylinder and kickstand on the side of the device, shifting the center of gravity and opening up multiple usage modes: Hold, Tilt, and Stand. Because of this you can use the device in pretty much any scenario and the added options are a huge bonus. The device tapers to a mere 3mm at the edge, a laser-etched back housing prevents scratches and makes it comfortable to hold, and chrome-painted trim completes the look. The 8 inch tablet is sufficiently large enough to watch movies, play games and even work; yet it’s portable enough to an extent where carrying it around isn’t cumbersome.

Display

The 8 inch display is HD with a resolution of 1280 X 800 and deliver stunning, crystal clear images and videos. Forget about ever not seeing things clearly on this display; it’s a jaw-dropping 178 degree viewing angle thanks to the in-plane switching technology. The 16:10 aspect ratio is leaps and bounds over what’s available on most other devices and this really comes in handy with on-screen buttons that eat up a bit of vertical screen space.

Technical Specifications

The core of this tablet is a quad-core MediaTek MT8389 processor running at 1.2GHz. Backing this up is 1GB of DDR2 RAM and the device’s OS is Android 4.4.2. The in-built memory is 16GB but you can expand this with a micro SD card up to 64GB. An interesting thing to note on this device is that voice calling is indeed supported. With a micro SIM slot you can use 3G (and soon to be launched 4G) on the move but the addition of voice calling places this it at an interesting niche in the market.

Camera and Audio

A quick note on the two cameras – the rear camera is a 5MP one while the front is a 1.6MP one. Needless to say, this is not the best camera we’ve seen on a tablet, but it gets the job done. Considering all things, we were quite satisfied with the performance.

One area where this tablet does shine is the audio. The tablet’s speakers face the user, rather than facing down or backward like most other devices. This coupled with Dolby Digital Plus enhancement ensures that you have a rich sonic experience that’s some of the best we’ve experienced on a device in this range.

Performance

When we first picked up the Lenovo Yoga 8, we were curious as to what would differentiate this from the other tablets on the market. Well, the design is certainly one of the factors. But upon using it, the Yoga 8 does really offer a great experience to the user. The operating system coupled with a unique design and phenomenal audio quality makes it a winner. We loved using it. We watched movies, played games and even tried working on it as a substitute for a laptop. It does it all just fine.

A big contributor is the battery life. This monster lasts for up to 18 hours. The unique, cylinder-shaped side chamber allows more room for battery storage – and more time between charges.

Verdict

We really like the Lenovo Yoga 8. It’s got some really cool features and it’s great to see Lenovo come up with a fresh outlook on the tablet right now. The unique design coupled with a fantastic display, phenomenal audio and stellar battery life make this a winner.