Life with the Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro
by Brett Howse on July 30, 2014 2:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Notebooks
- Lenovo
- Windows 8.1
- Yoga
High DPI display
I was rather impressed by the display on the Yoga 2 Pro. The 13.3” IPS touchscreen at 3200x1800 gives the Yoga 2 Pro one of the highest pixels per inch of any current Windows 8.1 device at 276 PPI. Running desktop applications at 3200x1800 can cause some issues, and if so the only solution at this time is to drop the resolution down to 1600x900. It usually depends on the application itself and whether it supports a HiDPI mode. Some play nice and some do not. As one might expect, in a modern application environment the high DPI brings crisp font rendering and a sense of clear graphics.
Application issues aside, all is not perfect with this display either. As we know from past reviews, high PPI devices can have a higher battery draw because the amount of backlight required to push the same amount of light through a dense display is simply higher. One solution to this problem is a Thin-Film-Transistor (TFT) made of Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide (IGZO), which can be thinner than the amorphous silicon of a standard TFT and offers better transparency than the standard TFT. Some devices (like the Razer Blade which is also 3200x1800) have chosen this method. Unfortunately, likely for cost reasons, the Yoga 2 Pro has chosen to go with an RGBW pentile pixel arrangement. The white subpixel is used to improve the brightness of the display without having to overpower the backlight, but it comes with a cost of color reproduction and contrast ratio. The early runs of the Yoga 2 Pro suffered from very bad yellows. Since the initial release, Lenovo has updated the device firmware and software to help compensate.
Out of the box image quality
With the white pixel, one of the biggest things to suffer is the contrast ratio. The maximum brightness of the screen is not very high to begin with, with 249 nits at 100% brightness. At that level of backlight, the black level is 0.5 nits, giving a meager 497:1 contrast. The brightness levels are fine for indoor use, but with blacks that bright it really hurts contrast and can be pretty noticeable when using this laptop.
Contrast ratios aside, other elements of the display are pretty good for a consumer focused laptop. Out of the box, the greyscale DeltaE is an impressive 1.417. Blues are a bit low in the overall score, but only a bit.
The uncalibrated saturation is also decent at 3.1441. There is definitely some drift, but it is not terrible. The yellows are spot on for saturation, which is a good sign after the firmware and software fixes to correct that. Cyan and Magenta are off, which is a theme going forward.
For the Gretag Macbeth colorchecker, we once again have a reasonable result of 3.5337. This device is not going to be suited for a professional image editor, but it is not really marketed as a professional device. We are looking for values under three, and the Yoga 2 Pro is close.
Calibrated image quality
Next up we will take a look at the display after it has been calibrated.
Once calibrated, the already great greyscale gets even better, with a DeltaE 2000 of 0.7834 and a white point of 6570, but that excellent result does not carry over to the rest of the display’s abilities. Cyan is again our biggest culprit, with it having a DeltaE of around 7 when the display is calibrated. This actually pulls the GMB score higher than the stock settings.
Display conclusion
Just looking at the device specifications, this should be a great display with such a high resolution. But the pentile nature of the screen can and does cause havoc with both blacks and colors. Unfortunately this display is just OK. If it was compared against most laptop panels of only a year or two ago, it would likely be a standout with both IPS and high resolution, but unfortunately it falls somewhat short. The color accuracy is not ridiculous (at least patched) but the contrast ratio really hurts, and as someone who really prefers black levels very low, it is very noticable how much light gets through on dark content. However to be fair, the redeeming quality of the display is the QHD+ resolution and to achieve that at the price point Lenovo wanted they chose to go with RGBW. It’s a compromise, but one that really does deliver on the crispness of text and images.
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Egg - Saturday, August 16, 2014 - link
It's fixed with a recent Windows update :Droom200 - Thursday, July 31, 2014 - link
You cannot upgrade the wireless card. Even though the card is a common Intel card, the card has to be on the "whitelist". Lenovo and HP have been doing that to ALL of their laptops. When you put in a card not sold by them, you will be met with "1802: Unauthorized network card is plugged in - Power off and remove the miniPCI network card." And you will find that the computer will not boot! Unless you buy the wireless card from them (even though it is the same as the card you can get on Amazon), they have hard-coded identification information into the bios of the card. Also, most times they don't carry an upgrade, and when they do it costs 4 to 7 times what the Ebay/Amazon/Tiger Direct card costs.Egg - Thursday, July 31, 2014 - link
Dude do you know how to read? I own a Yoga 2 Pro. I *typed* the comment on 5 Ghz Wi-Fi.All you need is the correct card. I bought mine at mfactors; it cost me $40. I can't guarantee that ones from eBay or amazon will work, for some reason FCC stickers are a good sign that it will work.
lolTyler - Thursday, July 31, 2014 - link
How much better is the AC card in your opinion? I'm still running the stock card and it's incredibly flaky. I tried updating my drivers using the Intel's latest and the wireless drivers broken my trackpad. (Shit you not) - I haven't checked up on it 2 months though, may of been fixed.I was a day -4 Yoga 2 Pro owner. I got my Yoga a couple days before release when Best Buy posted it for sale early.
Here's my list of things I've found wrong the device that hasn't been stated:
- Terrible driver support. The Yoga 2 Pro is "flagship" ultrabook from Lenovo, yet it hasn't seen a major driver update since November 2013, other than a "Lenovo Motion Control" update pushed out in April '14
- Mustard Yellow: (Already stated, but I really want to nail this one home) This still isn't fixed and Lenovo won't recognize it. I've done the fix and only in Daily (or High Performance) mode with the brightness on max is the yellow issue fixed. As a programmer who needs to also do a lot of design work, the lack of rgb accuracy in certain brightness modes is a huge problem.
- Shutdown problems: Ever so often I shutdown my Yoga and it just hangs on a black screen with the keyboard lit up and won't turn off without my holding the power button. Happens every 1 out of 10 times. Might be a program I installed, but this has happened since day one for me.
- Keys stuck/still enabled when switching modes: Sometimes when I switch my Yoga from laptop to stand/tent/tablet modem, Windows detects keys as being pressed and won't stopped repeating the key press until I switch my Yoga back to laptop. ~(1 out of 30 chance) Also, on rare occasions, the keyboard and trackpad aren't disabled in tablet mode. ~(1 out of 100 chance)
- Wireless: The stock wireless card is abysmal, but this isn't just a Yoga problem. I get better reception on my phone sometimes and other times my Yoga fails to connect or drops connection. Depends on the router. The lack of 5GHz dual-band and AC is a joke.
- Rubberized material: Apparently they fixed this on the lower end Yoga 2 (non pro), but the rubberized texture on the lid is a massive blemish magnet. I just went on vacation and something in my backpack rubbed up against my Yoga which was in a black case and left a dark smear across the lid of my Yoga. I tried cleaning it with Alcohol and also baking soda; but because of the material, it won't come out. http://i.imgur.com/x8fxa7t.jpg
- Yoga is cooking itself?: I noticed this right before my vacation. The corners of my Yoga by the heat vents are slowly turning brown: http://i.imgur.com/FlrPWiB.jpg & http://i.imgur.com/OTHQ37J.jpg - Notice these are opposite sides by the yellow AC jack in the first picture. I've never owned a silver laptop before, so I don't know if this is common. But for a device that's less than a year old and "premium," this is a let down. This might just be a lack of material experience on my part. I don't do anything too intense on my Yoga, most gaming I've done is for ~18h total over the live of my Yoga.
- Windows 8.1 Hidpi: (Everyone's saying this, but again, huge deal) Not Lenovo's fault, but Hidpi mode is a mess. Sure, it's gotten better, but it still sucks. Chrome, my primary browser is also a mess.
Papa - Thursday, July 31, 2014 - link
There is a bios fix for the mustard yellow issue. No need to fiddle with modes anymore.I think this is it:
http://mobilesupport.lenovo.com/us/en/downloads/DS...
lolTyler - Friday, August 1, 2014 - link
Oh wow, that's a new BIOs fix, less than a month old. I'll check it out, thanks!lolTyler - Saturday, August 2, 2014 - link
Just did this "fix," and it's still a no go. Yellows are as mustardary as ever.I also tried locating the "new" Energy Manager that was released recently, which is suppose to help. I couldn't find a legit download. Only users posting random fileshare sites on Lenovo's forums with 60 minute download times and questionable package names.
I tried updating my current install of Energy Manager and I get a network error. Lenovo is really dropping the ball on their customer service.
I have a huge love/hate relationship with this laptop. My feelings for it are bio-polar, changing on a dime. When it works, it's great. When it doesn't, it fails hard.
KingGheedora - Friday, August 1, 2014 - link
The shutdown/restart problems will only get worse. BEWARE THIS LAPTOP. I have owned the Y2Pro since February, and at first the shutdown problem happened once every few weeks, but then I started getting random reboots and lockups with corrupt screen image while watching XBMC, which seemed like they were happening due to heat. Once that started happening everything went downhill. The laptop wouldn't boot up, it just kept trying to boot, the keyboard backlight would flash, and then it would try to boot up again. That just keeps happening over and over.Initially I could leave the laptop alone for a while and then it would eventually boot. But the problem got worse and worse until 3 weeks ago. I haven't been able to boot it up at all. I even opened it and disconnected the battery and then tried booting, still not working.
This is a common problem with this model. There are many users in the Lenovo support forums who have had this issue, had their laptop replaced, and had the issue again with the replacement model they got back. Some users eventually got a full refund. I just got the RMA set up and will be sending mine in for the first time this week.
lolTyler - Friday, August 1, 2014 - link
Wow, mine hasn't been that bad. I got my first lock up two weeks ago. The funniest part about it is someone was admiring my Yoga when it completely seized up. I'm sure it's a software issue, but like I said, the drivers haven't been updated in forever, so go figure.I've thought about trying to RMA or get a refund, but I'm still "partially" satisfied with my Yoga and there's nothing else on the market that intrigues me outside of a MBA.
Egg - Saturday, August 16, 2014 - link
Sorry for late reply.I haven't experienced the mustard yellow problems, shutdown problems, key sticking problems, or the wireless problems. I've used stock wireless on other Yoga 2 Pros and haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary, but not for too long.
I haven't really bothered to update the drivers, but I think you're right that there aren't many new ones. I probably don't mind any but the graphics drivers. I guess I got lucky; a friend had the boot issues out of box, sent it back, and got a perfect one.
I just switched back to Chrome after discovering Chrome 37 (on the beta channel) has HiDPI support and fixes the kerning issue :)