Lenovo exciting new Yoga Book laptop/tablet as announced just a few short weeks ago at IFA, and now it's on sale around the globe. The Yoga Book is a convertible laptop, but it's claim to fame is that it doesn't have a physical keyboard, instead rocking what Lenovo calls a "Halo Keyboard". Instead of keys, it's like a Holographic keyboard built directly into a full touch surface where a normal keyboard should be.
First impressions of the Yoga Book are pretty positive, actually. I was, like many of you, skeptical that the typing experience on the Halo Keyboard would be poor, but from my early impressions it doesn't appear to be. I'm already pretty good at touch-typing, and the Halo Keyboard is basically a touch-keyboard with physical enhancements. It has haptic-feedback and also outputs a sound too, so you get guidance that way too.
Yoga Book with Windows 10 Specs:
| Category | Specs |
|---|---|
| OS | Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro |
| Dimensions | 256.6 x 9.6 x 170.8 mm10.1 x 0.38 x 6.72 inches |
| Weight | 690 g (1.52 lbs) |
| Processor | Intel Atom x5-Z8550 Processor2M CacheQuad-CoreUp to 2.4 GHz |
| Display | 10.1" FHD IPS (1920 x 1200)Color Depth : 16.7 MillionColor Gamut : 70%Brightness : 400 nits |
| Memory | 4 GB LPDDR3 |
| Storage | 64GB |
| Expansion | microSD |
| Audio | Sound Dolby Audio Premium |
| Sensors | Haptic-vibrateG-SensorAmbient Light SensorHall SensorGPS |
| Camera | Rear 8 MP Auto-FocusFront 2 MP Fixed-Focus |
| Battery | 8500 mAhUp to 13 hrs |
| Connectivity | WiFi: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (DC 2.4 + 5 GHz)Optional: FDD-LTE, TDD-LTE DC-HSPA+, TD-SCDMA, EDGE |
| Slots | Nano SIM Card |
| Material & Color | Magnesium and aluminum alloysCarbon Black |
| Price & Availability | $549October 2016 |
What's probably the coolest part of the Yoga Book is the fact that the Halo Keyboard lighting can be turned off and turned into a full inking workspace, which works with the dedicated Yoga Book pen that comes included in the box. With this, you can ink into any app that supports it, such as OneNote, Paint, Photoshop and more. Writing on this surface feels real great, and in my opinion is the best inking experience on a device yet. You can even throw a paper notepad on top of the touch surface and draw on it and still have digitized inking.
There are some weird quirks with the Halo Keyboard, however. The FN key is in a peculiar spot, where the left CTRL button would usually be. I keep hitting it when wanting to select text or use a shortcut with CTRL, which is now positioned to the right of the FN key. I'm told you can switch this in the BIOS however, so I'll be taking a look at that.
The other quirk is with the trackpad — in spite of being sectioned off as part of a massive touch surface, isn't the best trackpad in the world. It appears to stick sometimes, and weirdly the left/right click buttons are on either side of the trackpad rather than on the bottom where you'd usually find them. Another peculiar button position change that I'm having to train my brain to get used to.
You can pre-order the Lenovo Yoga Book with Windows 10 directly from Lenovo right now. Hit the link below to get started.
