Lenovo Yoga A12 Review – A Really Cheap 2-in-1

Lenovo Yoga A12 is not only beautiful looking but is definitely among the cheapest in the Yoga series. It has a 10.1-inch screen and the most interesting thing about this device is that it really looks like a notebook and I guess it could become a popular gadget in various colleges.

DESIGN

The A12 is made from two(2) rectangles of thick carbon black metal. It has a width of just 9.6mm when closed. This 2-in-1 is perfect for students and travelers.

It weighs under two pounds and is easily the lightest 2-in-1 around. I love the way the logo appears on the back because this makes using the Yoga A12 vertically look perfectly normal. I am sure that book readers would wonder why this type of device was not released five years ago.

PORTS

The Yoga Book looks like it really takes its inspiration from a real-life notebook and doesn’t have too many ports on it. It charges through a Micro USB, uses a mini HDMI for video output, there’s a microSD card slot at the left side of the device, which is probably useful as the internal storage is only at 64GB, and it can support up to 128 GB microSD cards.

There’s also a 3.5mm audio jack on the same side as the volume rockers and the power button. The Yoga book also has speakers on both sides of the body which give a good enough audio experience.

KEYBOARD AND TRACKPAD

Lenovo introduced what it is calling the “Instant Halo Keyboard” with the Yoga A12, and it is a touchscreen. One can use it either as a touch keyboard or in pen mode. When the keyboard mode is enabled, a regular QUERTY-style keyboard pops beautifully and dims out once you switch to the pen mode. The keyboard won’t kill your battery as it is set to dim out every few inactive minutes.

I have to say that people who have used this device will tell you that the keyboard will take some getting used to, especially as there’s a noticeable lags of the haptic feedback behind the input significantly. You should also note that swiping the hands on the keyboard is not an option here, however, I hope that Swype keyboard will create a controller that could make using this easier.

The trackpad also fades in and out just like the keyboard but feels nicer to interact with than the keyboard. The only glitch is that the glass tends to kiss the fingers for too long and literarily never wants to let go.

DISPLAY

The main display is really cool. It has a 1920 x 1200 resolution, 16.7 million pixels and a color Gamut of 70%, images come out really vibrant. The brightness can also be adjusted and can be used in most lighting conditions.

Since the display is obviously touch-sensitive, most people might switch to the tablet mode by flipping the keyboard section around the back right when you want to get rid of the keyboard and just type as fast as one can on a phone/tablet.

OTHER NOTES

The Yoga A12 is best used for drawing as one will enjoy using the stylus on the glass keyboard area. In the battery section, it seems to perform well also as most people reported an average of 10 hours, however, Lenovo claims average battery time is around 12 hours.