Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro: One step forward, two steps back

Big shoes to fill

Let us be absolutely clear, the Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro has huge shoes to fill. After all, its predecessor - the Yoga 2 Pro - was the winner of our Best Ultra Portable Notebook category in the last Tech Awards. But to begin, how are things looking for Lenovo?



Well, things are looking pretty rosy for Lenovo. Lenovo is now the world’s number one PC company and has also made notable inroads in other businesses, such as tablets and smartphones. It is also the third biggest smartphone brand in China, closely behind Xiaomi and Samsung. And the company has been experiencing growth for the past couple of years, which is impressive, especially when compared to its competitors and also bearing in mind of the fact that the PC market on a whole is in a decline.

Integral to Lenovo’s achievements is its success in the convertibles market. At a recent event, Jessie Quek, Lenovo’s country general manager for Singapore, told us that Lenovo accounts for a whopping 48% of all convertible devices sold. While impressive, this is not entirely unexpected as the old Yoga 2 Pro was the best convertible device in the market by some margin.



Its successor, the Yoga 3 Pro, was launched earlier last month and it features numerous upgrades over its predecessor, most notably Intel’s new Core M processor. Let’s find out what else is new. But first, here's a quick video overview of the product:-

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The Hardware

The Yoga 3 Pro is particularly noteworthy because it is one of the first notebooks in the market to be powered by Intel’s new “Broadwell” Core M processor - specifically the dual-core Core M-5Y70. For those unfamiliar with Intel’s microarchitectures, Broadwell is the 14nm die shrink of their Haswell microarchitecture. Typically, a die shrink can provide both performance and efficiency improvements. And in the case of the Core M-5Y70, its TDP is so low - just 4.5W in fact - that Lenovo was able to employ a fan-less chassis design for the Yoga 3 Pro.



With such a low TDP, we are not expecting stellar performance from the Core M-5Y70. A die shrink alone typically cannot provide such low TDP without sacrificing some performance, especially if you remember that the older Yoga 2 Pro has a Core i5-4500U processor that has a TDP of 15W, so something has got to give. Furthermore, the Core M-5Y70 in the new Yoga 3 Pro has a base clock speed of just 1.1GHz, whereas the Core i5-4500U’s base clock speed is a much higher 1.8GHz. The Core i5-4500U also has a higher turbo frequency of 3GHz as compared to the Core M-5Y70’s maximum turbo frequency of 2.6GHz.



Processor aside, the Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro also comes with 8GB of RAM and a choice of either 256GB or 512GB of flash storage. Graphics processing duties are handled by the integrated Intel HD Graphics 5300 GPU. This is a new integrated GPU part that is introduced along with the new Broadwell processors and on paper seems to be a match for the older Intel HD Graphics 4400 which is seen in processors that are powering a lot of the Ultrabooks in the market today.

Design & Features

On first impressions, it seems that little has changed in the Yoga 3 Pro. It is still remarkable slim and also fantastically light. In fact, thanks to the new Core M processor and the fan-less chassis, the Yoga 3 Pro is both slightly thinner and lighter - 12.8mm vs. 15.5mm and 1.19kg vs. 1.39kg. The difference might not look like much, but if you do the math, it is around 15% thinner and lighter, and in our hands, the Yoga 3 Pro really feels fantastically thin and light. Thinness and lightness aside, the Yoga 3 Pro also looks and feels like a premium notebook. The lid and base of the Yoga 3 Pro is aluminum wheres the keyboard is surrounded by soft touch plastics.

Like its predecessor, the Yoga 3 Pro features a specially designed hinge that allows it to be used in various modes - laptop, stand, tent and tablet. The hinge on the Yoga 3 Pro has been completely redesigned and features what Lenovo calls a "watchband hinge." Said to be inspired by the bracelets of watches, the hinge is made up of over 800 stainless steel and aluminum components that allows the Yoga 3 Pro to be folded almost completely flat. The hinge looks unlike any we have seen on a notebook and is well constructed, requiring a fair amount of force before users can move it.

However, while the hinge is well built, the same cannot be said for other parts of the notebook. The screen displays a worrying amount of flex. Fortunately this is only noticeable when you use the Yoga 3 Pro as a tablet. The problem is that as the Yoga 3 Pro is folded in tablet mode, there is a small gap of space between the base of the display and keyboard - see the photo above for a clearer picture. Holding the Yoga 3 Pro at the base of the display therefore causes the display to flex. Clearly, Lenovo needs more work on the hinge if the next Yoga convertible device is to be able to fold completely flat and avoid a repeat of this problem. Meanwhile, it's too early for us to accurately comment if the flex observed posses reliability issues to the device in the long run (though ideally, it's best not to have any flex).

One of the reasons we are so fond of the old Yoga 2 Pro is because of its high resolution display. Lenovo knows this and has retained the same 3200 x 1800 pixels resolution display on the Yoga 3 Pro. Needless to say, the IPS display on the Yoga 3 Pro is wonderfully sharp and exhibits lush colors. But if we were to nitpick, we would have liked the display to have a matte finish as its glossy finish is highly reflective. We would also have preferred the display to be a little brighter as even at maximum brightness we found it to be a tad too dim for our liking.

As for ports, the Yoga 3 Pro offers up two USB 3.0 ports (one more than the Yoga 2 Pro ) and its DC-in port can also double up as a USB 2.0 port when it is not being charged. There is also a 4-in-1 memory carder reader. Where connectivity is concerned, we are happy to find that the Yoga 3 Pro supports Wireless-AC and uses an undisclosed wireless module that supports 2x2 streams, meaning a maximum wireless data transfer rate of up to 867Mbps is possible. The Yoga 3 Pro also supports Bluetooth 4.0. Sadly, an adapter is required for users who want to pair the Yoga 3 Pro to an external monitor as it only has a micro-HDMI port for video output. Additionally, the placement of the power key can be improved as it is easy to accidentally press on it when using the Yoga 3 Pro as a tablet.

Like its predecessor, the Yoga 3 Pro’s keyboard is well-sized and easy to type. It also has backlights, so working in dimly lighted environments is no issue. The Yoga 2 Pro has keys that were criticized for being a tad too shallow and it is the same story on the Yoga 3 Pro. The thinness of the chassis necessitates such a design and while there is noticeably less travel in the keys of the Yoga 3 Pro, but we did not find it to be a deal-breaker. One other point you might want to be aware about is the lack of a dedicated function key row that often doubles up for multimedia and other quick notebook controls; instead most of these have been embedded within the remaining existing keys as you can see from the above photo. You could say it's prudent use of the existing keys and space, but it could potentially irk some users.

Keyboard aside, the clickable trackpad is also generously sized and responsive to use. We also found the Yoga 3 Pro’s touchscreen, which supports up to 10 touch points, to be accurate and responsive to use.

Performance Benchmarking

We will be testing the Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro using our usual suite of benchmarks. And as for comparison, we will be including results from recently tested Ultrabooks including the HP ZBook 14 and ASUS Zenbook UX302 and Microsoft's Surface Pro 3, which is arguably its keenest rival in this segment. Other contenders include HP EliteBook Folio 1040G1 and its predecessor, the Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro, which was the winner of our Tech Awards 2014 Best Ultra Portable Notebook category. Here is the list of benchmarks used:

• PCMark 8
• 3DMark 2013
• Tomb Raider
• Far Cry 2

And here is a quick look at how the Yoga 3 Pro compares against its rivals.

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PCMark 8

As we noted earlier, we do not have high hopes for Intel’s new Core M processor and our fears were confirmed by the results on PCMark 8. The Yoga 3 Pro’s scores were generally underwhelming and trailed its closest competitor - the Surface Pro 3 - by around 20% to 30%. The Yoga 3 Pro is also significantly worse than its predecessor, which is powered by the pretty decent Core i7-4500U processor. If its any consolation its score on the Storage benchmark was pretty impressive, no doubt thanks to its fast internal SSD, which is supplied by Samsung.

Interestingly, while the Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro didn't quite excel in the synthetic tests, it managed to rank as well as the Surface Pro 3 when running Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Suite applications through tasks automated on PCMark 8. This is important for Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro because these test runs capture real-word performance better and is a better indication of the notebook's capability in productivity tasks.

3DMark 2013

The Core M-5Y70 processor in the Yoga 3 Pro also sees the debut of the new Intel HD Graphics 5300 integrated GPU. The Intel HD Graphics 5300 has 24 EUs (execution units), which is slightly more than the older Intel HD Graphics 4400 (20 execution units) but considerably lesser than the HD Graphics 5000 (40 execution units). The HD Graphics 5300 also runs at a lower range of clock speeds that only goes up to 900MHz, whereas the HD Graphics 4600 and 5000 maxes out at 1100MHz.

Unsurprisingly, the Yoga 3 Pro did not post encouraging scores and lost out to other comparable devices such as the Surface Pro 3 and even its predecessor by a fair margin. The Surface Pro 3, Yoga 2 Pro and Elitebook Folio 1040 are both powered by the Intel HD Graphics 4400.

Far Cry 2

Bearing in mind the Yoga 3 Pro’s disappointing showing on 3DMark 2013, we did not have high hopes for Far Cry 2 and our expectations were confirmed when the Yoga 3 Pro barely managed even 20 fps at the “Medium” settings. Still, its results were in line with expectations seeing that the Surface Pro, Yoga 2 Pro and Elitebook Folio 1040 all managed marginally better frame rates that were far from playable. On the other hand, the ASUS Zenbook UX302 managed playable frame rates at “medium” settings thanks to its discrete NVIDIA GeForce GT 730M mobile GPU.

Tomb Raider

Tomb Raider being a newer and more demanding saw even poorer numbers from the Yoga 3 Pro as it got only single digit results. The fact that its competitors got better results was also academic as all the devices in this category managed far from playable results. Clearly, if you want to play new games like Tomb Raider, you would require a dedicated gaming notebook like the Aftershock X13-V2 or MSI GS70 Stealth whose scores we've reflected below for comparisons.

Battery Life & Power Consumption

So far, the Yoga 3 Pro hasn't really excelled. In our benchmarks so far, it has been outperformed by its predecessor, something which we feared judging from the less than impressive specifications of the new Core M-5Y70 processor. However, with its low TDP, we thought even if it was outclassed in terms of performance, it would be able to impress in our battery and power consumption tests.

And the results proved that our gut feelings were right. Despite its slim size and high resolution display, the Yoga 3 Pro managed 4 hour and 25 minutes on a full charge - or 12 minutes longer than the Yoga 2 Pro. This is even more impressive when you consider that it has a smaller battery than its predecessor. And when calculating its power consumption, it was just a tad over 10W - an improvement of about 17% over its predecessor and the lowest we have recorded for an Ultrabook in our tests. 

Portability Index

Our Portability Index factors in battery life, weight and volume so you can see which notebook is the most worthwhile to carry around.  With its long battery life, slim dimensions and light weight, it is little wonder that the Yoga 3 Pro managed a respectable index of 4.239 on our Portability Index. This is even better than the Surface Pro 3 (with Touch Cover), which managed an index of 3.840. It is also a significant improvement over the Yoga 2 Pro’s score of 2.696. At this point, it is also worth mentioning that the Yoga 3 Pro has a really compact power adapter. The Yoga 3 Pro is really suited for users who are constantly on the move - and not sacrifice battery life.

Traditionally, products that are this svelte usually trade battery stamina and overall performance, but as we've found out, while the Yoga 3 Pro may not best its predecessor, it can match some of it abilities and deliver a more desirable form factor and our Portability Index below certainly shows:-

An inconclusive 'successor'

With a huge 48% market share of the convertibles market, it is clear that Lenovo knows a thing or two about what users want when it comes to making such devices. In light of this, the Yoga 3 Pro is a curious device because it improves on its predecessors in many areas but it is also outclassed in some others.

To begin, performance was somewhat disappointing, though not entirely unexpected. As we mentioned at the start of the review, the new Core M processor from Intel is not the beefiest and certainly not in the same class as the ultra low power Core i5 and Core i7 processors typically seen in comparable Ultrabook and convertible devices. And this is not just a case of benchmarks, in real world usage scenarios, we could feel that Yoga 3 Pro is less snappy than, say, the Microsoft Surface Pro 3 - arguably its closest competitor. Of course, that is not to say that the Yoga 3 Pro is woefully slow, but anyone who has been used to the power of a Core i5 and Core i7 notebook machine is going to be able to notice the loss in performance. Clearly, the new Core M processor is a step up from the Atom Z series, but not quite up to scratch to compete with the mid-range Core i3 and Core i5 processors.

We talked about display resolutions before, such as in our Surface Pro 3 review, but perhaps the Yoga 3 Pro would have benefited from a lower resolution screen. Yes, a high resolution display like the Yoga 3 Pro’s looks awesome, but it does affect performance and considering the already lackluster CPU and GPU performance of the Core M processor in the Yoga 3 Pro, we felt that perhaps a compromise could be reached by reducing the resolution a tad.

Performance aside, there are also some worrying aspects about the Yoga 3 Pro’s build quality. The screen flexes too easily in tablet mode and this could be a problem for ham-fisted and brutish users. The placement of the power button could also be improved, and having 800 components in the hinge sounds a bit like a recipe for disaster. Isn’t having less components usually better as it reduces the possibility of something going wrong?

However, there is also quite a lot to like about the Yoga 3 Pro. For one, unlike the Surface Pro 3 which does not have a full rigid keyboard (the Touch Cover keyboard is good, but we would take a proper keyboard over it anytime), the Yoga 3 Pro has a proper notebook keyboard with backlighting. And as our Portability Index shows, the Yoga 3 Pro is actually the more portable device when compared to a Surface Pro 3 with an attached Touch Cover keyboard. This is pretty impressive. Furthermore, its display boasts of a higher resolution (with a slightly larger screen at 13.3 inches) and it has more USB ports than the Surface Pro 3 - the Surface Pro 3 only has a single USB 3.0 port, which is extremely restrictive.

The Yoga 2 Pro was positioned as a premium convertible and its successor is no different. The Yoga 3 Pro will be offered with either a 256GB SSD or 512GB SSD and prices for both devices are S$2,299 and $2,599 respectively. If we were to look at the prices of the Surface Pro 3, we can see easily that it is really priced to compete. But bear in mind that while the Surface Pro 3 offers far more powerful processors, the Type Cover is an optional accessory that costs an additional S$183. However, if you catch the right promotions, you can either get the Type Cover free and/or enjoy Microsoft Office 365 subscription for a year. Another thing to note is that the Yoga 3 Pro costs much more than its predecessor. At launch, the Yoga 2 Pro with a comparable 256GB SSD was just $2,099.

All things considered, the Yoga 3 Pro is a curious successor that improves in some areas, but is worse in some others. We liked that its super slim and portable, but we are also disappointed at its loss of performance. In the past, we would have heartily recommended the Yoga 2 Pro to anyone who is looking for an ultraportable notebook, but we cannot do the same for the Yoga 3 Pro since there are competent alternatives elsewhere. Nevertheless, users who are in the market for an ultraportable notebook should definitely still include the Yoga 3 Pro as a candidate for consideration.

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