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
General Performance
With an Intel Core i5 4200U, 4GB of DDR3L-1600, and a 256GB Samsung SSD inside, we are right in the middle of the road as far as the Yoga 2 configurations available. It is standard fare for an Ultrabook, though the 4GB models are thankfully being phased out by most OEMs now. Being that this device can pull double duty as a laptop or a tablet, we will also do some comparisons on the tablet side.
Performance Graphs
We’ll start with general performance. PCMark gives us an evaluation of several scenarios, as well as storage performance. Being designed as a laptop, the Yoga 2 Pro does not suffer as harshly from throttling as something like the Surface Pro 3 does, although the SP3 does have the slightly faster i5-4300U.
Performance is right where we’d expect it to be for the 4200U. There were no signs of throttling during normal operation.
For storage, the Yoga 2 Pro comes equipped with a Samsung OEM SSD. This is likely the same drive used in other devices such as the Surface Pro 3, and the performance is similar. We'll likely need to wait for the next generation Yoga before we see M.2 PCIe SSDs improve storage performance.
Gaming Performance
While the Yoga 2 Pro is certainly not considered a gaming machine, a user may want to play the odd game on it. With Intel HD 4400 graphics though, it would be practically impossible to game at the native resolution of this panel.
With the Intel HD 4400, the Yoga 2 Pro does fine in low demand benchmarks such as Ice Storm, but it is quickly taxed to the point of being unusable on titles with more graphically intensive workloads. Tomb Raider and Bioshock, even at the value settings, are almost unplayable on the Yoga 2 Pro. You'll want to either drop to minimum detail settings or stick to older/less demanding titles (and thankfully there are plenty of those available).
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Brett Howse - Wednesday, July 30, 2014 - link
That's great to hear the Wireless is a real drawback on the unit we received. I'm still hoping they will get back to me with the time on when they switched it over. The specs on the website still show the old card so I can't guarantee someone will get AC at the moment.DrShawarma - Wednesday, July 30, 2014 - link
I've been reading this site for quite a while, but this will be my first post.I bought a Y2P about a month and ago and am surprisingly pleased. It's quick, fun and feels good in the hand.
I do however have 2 tiny complaints-
1) Adobe programs won't scale correctly, requiring a microscope to work with. Don't care about that too much though.
2) The trackpad is like a fingerprint\oil magnet, that on the other hand is driving me nuts, how do I clean it? (I tried an LCD cleaning solution with a towel, did nothing)
Brett Howse - Wednesday, July 30, 2014 - link
Adobe showed off their new products with High DPI support at the Surface Pro 3 launch I believe. That's been a big complaint of mine, especially since Adobe should be on top of this because their target market would likely benefit from HiDPI more than the average consumer. Looks like version 13 at the moment but of course that will mean an upgrade cost as well.HighImStan - Wednesday, July 30, 2014 - link
They have since updated their the CPU to i7-4510u and dual band wireless ac-7260 card. I just bought mine, manufactured in mid June, and it hasn't had any wifi issues. Also, uninstalling the McAfee bloatware helped. Still has the greenish yellow though on the display.DigitalFreak - Wednesday, July 30, 2014 - link
Supposedly it's better than it was, but it's just a side effect of the screen technology they chose to use.wpcoe - Wednesday, July 30, 2014 - link
I read that the RAM is soldered to the motherboard, so not user upgradable, but is the SSD user upgradable? I'd prefer the i3 model, but with a larger SSD.KingGheedora - Friday, August 1, 2014 - link
You can upgrade the SSD, it is M.2 slot though. But the SSD it comes with is surprisingly fast. I felt no need to upgrade it (512gb model).Samus - Wednesday, July 30, 2014 - link
My problem with the Yoga is the price. Although they can definitely be had for less than MSRP, they're still more expensive than a Surface 3 WITH a type cover. The rest of the specs, other than the screen size (obviously Yoga is two inches bigger) are about the same, but the Surface has more flexibility. One of my clients picked up both the Surface 2 Pro and a Yoga 2 back in March, and he likes the Yoga 2 more, and perceptively thinks its lighter.But I think the Surface 3 gives it a run for its flexibility.
HighImStan - Thursday, July 31, 2014 - link
I got the Y2P because my Surface Pro 2 was stolen. Originally, I was planning on waiting for the i7 Surface 3 to arrive in August but eventually settled on the Y2P because1) A 256 i7-4650u with HD5000 is $1549 + type cover $130. For around the price of the Y2P, I can only get 128 i5-4300u with HD 4400 $999 + type cover $130 and only 4gb of ram too! Y2P was only $1200 for i7-4510u with HD4400 and 8gb. I'm on a tight budget this month so Y2P got me the best bang for the buck.
2) My Surface 2 Pro kept having connection issues with the type cover. Brought it to Palo Alto's Microsoft store and they have no idea what was wrong. I played with some of the Surface 3 for an hour and found connection issues that was on and off with one of the displayed Surface 3. I was about to bring back my Surface Pro 2 for fixing after my Fourth of July vacation but it was stolen. So in a way, losing that device is a blessing in disguise...I was able to discover Y2P.
3) I never took off the type cover on my Surface Pro 2 anyways so the Y2P doesn't pose a problem. I treated the SP2 like the Y2P anyways by bending back the keyboard and using it as a laptop. Only difference, I don't have to worry about problems of keyboard connection. Only thing I miss from my SP2 is the mini display port (better than the micro hdmi imo) and the ability to change the keyboard lighting's brightness. Yes, it was lighter too but the weight of the Y2P never bothers me.
Samus - Thursday, July 31, 2014 - link
That's crazy about your connection issues. I have dozens of clients with Surface 2's and none of them mentioned that. A firmware update fixed some wifi issues people were having back in March though.As far as price, nobody pays retail for Surface. They can always be had for 20% less (just like the Yoga 2) but with that in mind, I agree that it's only really competitive at the base level. But that's where most people are buying, anyway.
I just picked up a Surface 2 256GB 8GB i5 for $800 new with a type cover on eBay... That was a buy-it-now too. There's a lot of auctions for used ones that include BOTH covers for even less.