Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Let me start this review by saying by saying that the Lenovo Yoga Book 10.1" Android Tablet is amazing in some ways and Lenovo really outdid themselves, and completely flopped in other aspects. Of course with a device this small, compromises must be made, but some of these flops aren't compromises at all. I will also say that I am using this device as a college student for notes, and as a digital artist. So not only will I speak about this device from my perspective, but also will tell the modifications and additional accessories I've purchased on a budget to make this device worthwhile, at an affordable price. So on with the review, I'll start with what Lenovo did right with this machine. For the Android model, the hardware in here is amazing for the price point. The Intel Atom in combination with 4GB RAM and 64GB of storage makes this device a power house. It will serve any user well and should last years without any issue. Moving outside of the device, the Yoga Book sports the watchband hinge seen on the Yoga 910. It looks amazing, feels well built, but doesn't sound sturdy at times. The hinge actually has a little bit of a rattle too it. Yes, this is a very nit picky thing, but when you pay for a $500 device, rattling on the hinge doesn't sound too reassuring. However, I'm happy to say, this is nothing to really worry about. Just a nit picky thing that might confuse you the first time you hear it when you don't know exactly where it's coming from. As for the body, it is made from magnesium and aluminum alloy which are not magnetic metals. But there are strategically placed magnets inside the device for the notepad to connect. The body does pick up some fingerprints (as should be expected), but not too many. There are two cameras. One on the keyboard, and one at the top of the screen. The only buttons on the device are the power button and volume rockers which are located on the right side. Also on the right side is a standard 3.5mm headphone jack. There is a microUSB, microHDMI, and microSD/SIM card slot on the opposing side, and there is a speaker grill on both sides of the device. Now let's talk about the Halo Keyboard and Create Pad because this is where Lenovo focused for it's innovative selling point, but also dropped the ball. The Create Pad is wonderful. You can draw on it using the stylus that comes with the tablet using Wacom EMR technology. The pen doesn't need to be charged at all and has 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity. As an artist, this is great. I can pump out full on digital paintings using ArtFlow. As a student, what makes this even better is that you can swap the nib out and change it to an ink pen (I'll discuss the flaws here later). You can have a digital copy and hard copy of your notes as the create pad tracks the pen through a pad of paper up to 1cm thick. You can even flip the screen back, turn it off, and write on your notepad and when you open the device again, your notes are saved in Lenovo's Note Saver app. The pitfall of this feature is that you can only write with the screen off in Lenovo's Note Saver. Why they didn't partner with Microsoft and include OneNote compatibility is beyond me. On top of that, they also didn't include any handwriting recognition capabilities so that your notes are converted into text. This would've been another great selling point because then if you want to search your notes digitally, just hit "Find in Page" or Ctrl+F." What the heck Lenovo? As for the keyboard, it has definitely turned heads and aesthetically, it impresses everyone I show it to. However, it does not make you want to type. There's no physical keyboard and it accepts input from the slightest touch. It's no good for anything more than a simple facebook message. Now, to combat typing errors, Lenovo includes TouchPal which has autocorrect. However, I found that it's not very good. You can't use the numbers at the top to type numbers because you use numbers to select which word you want TouchPal to autocorrect to (not very automatic is it?). I found that SwiftKey (which is 100% free), works much better. Lenovo also includes vibration and touch tone for feedback while typing. You can turn these off individually or adjust the sensitivity of the vibration. Along with that, you can adjust the sensitivity of the keyboard, but there's not much difference. It's about the same on all settings .So if you want to type an essay on this, I recommend getting a Bluetooth keyboard. I think it's fine for taking notes in class though. As a suggestion fro Lenovo, a force touch keyboard would've been much better. Onto the screen, the Yoga Book has a 10.1" screen with a resolution of 1920 x 1200 at about 400 nits. It is beautiful and has great color reproduction, and I actually don't mind the bezel around the screen, although that would be something to improve on in a second generation. The screen is of course touch screen, but oddly enough doesn't support the pen it comes with. There is a setting called AnyPen which allows you to use an "conductive object" on the screen, but doesn't support pressure sensitivity. I was able to use a fork on the screen though I don't recommend it for anything more than testing. Moving onto the software, the Yoga Book ships with Android Marshmallow 6.0.1, and has a quiet a few updates out of the box (probably because I purchased it mid January 2017). I would've liked to see Nougat, but whatever, 6.0 is still a great OS. Because this tablet is in a laptop form factor, Android runs in a more traditional desktop format. I think Lenovo did an excellent job with their Launcher to marry the desktop and Android experience. However, there are some issues with screen rotation occasionally. This is most likely due to app developers not optimizing their apps for the Yoga Book. And Some apps also do not support window mode. Also most likely due to app developers not optimizing. The trackpad on Android OS is a new experience for me so I have nothing to compare it to other than a traditional laptop. That being said, it's very convenient so you don't have to tap the screen while using it in laptop mode, but also inconvenient because it does not support two finger scrolling. So you end up scrolling with the touch screen anyway. There are also no hard clicks. You simply tap just a you would on the touch screen. The keyboard and OS do support common shortcuts like Ctrl+C/Z/A and there is a function key with secondary controls on the F-keys, however the home, back, and menu buttons are all scattered (home is next to left ctrl, back is escape, and menu is F11). So overall this is a great device, but has its pitfalls that hold it back from being a top of the line best selling device. So where do I see improvements available? For one, Lenovo can definitely ditch microUSB and microHDMI and replace them with dual USB C 3.1 Thunderbolt ports. Lenovo can also add in a force touch keyboard, decrease the bezel size, and resolve the hinge rattling. Now for some secrets and accessories to make this device worthwhile and make the pen and paper feature more affordable. So for anyone who likes the magnetic charging feature available on the Surface Pro series and the older macbooks, I highly recommend a MicroUSB magnetic adapter. You can pick this up on eBay for $6. Lenovo sells ink pen cartridge replacements 3 for $15. That's a load of bull****. $5 for a pen that feels cheaper than a 12 pack/$1 BIC pen? No way. Pick up Schmidt 635 Mini Ball Pen Refill. Available in a pack of 6 for $6 on Amazon. Lenovo also has some bull**** mark up on their paper pad refills. Go pick up some 5x8" AmazonBasics notepads. 12 100-sheet pads for $6. Then get some magnetic tape to put on the back, or measure, mark, and drill 2 holes at the top to fit the Lenovo magnetic clip board. And last but not least is a convenience for anyone who doesn't feel like constantly swapping ink and stylus nibs. Pick up the Samsung Electronics Slate PC Digitizer Pen right here on Amazon for $40. It uses the same Wacom EMR technology and actually has better sensitivity with the Yoga Book than the included Yoga Pen. Lenovo Yoga Book- FHD 10.1" Android Tablet - 2 in 1 Tablet (Intel Atom x5-Z8550 Processor, 4GB RAM, 64GB SSD), Black, ZA0V0224US