Lenovo Yoga 3

On CES 2015 company Lenovo shows new Lenovo Yoga 3 (11.6, 14, 15 inch).

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Lenovo Yoga 3 (11 inch) | Adaptable Multimode Ultrabook | LenovoÂ| Lenovo US
Lenovo Yoga 3 (14 inch) | Adaptable Multimode Ultrabook | LenovoÂ| Lenovo US

 

Lenovo Yoga 3 14 PLATFORM SPECIFICATIONS

 

Am I the only one disappointed with the downgrades from the Yoga 3 "Pro"? The Pro can't run the display it has and costs more while the Yoga 3 could easily run the 3200x1800 panel and even has better hardware. If this laptop had a 2560 or 3200 panel it'd be literally my dream laptop. It's like they took the bad parts of 2 spec sheets, mixed them, and made them into laptops. Lenovo, fix the screen!

 

Yes, I am disappointed from laptop Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro too :/

But on other side I am happy for laptop Lenovo Yoga 3 (14 and 15 inch)
because if Lenovo no lie and come with model with FullHD IPS and GeForce (maybe 840M?) so I will be very happy for this laptop.

If tech news no lie, that price version without "Pro" will be lower, so this will be super news for buyers.

I waiting on version without Pro, with specifications:
Lenovo Yoga 3 - 14' inch with i7, 8GB DDR3, 256GB SSD, FullHD IPS with gorilla glass & GeForce
(please lenovo give me minimal version geforce 840m or better)

 

LEAK

one laptop retailer gave me today some informations about laptops what will be relese in q1/q2 2015 in my country

and he say me that for example:

Asus Transformer Book Flip TP500 will be in April 2015 with specifications
15.6" Full HD, TOUCH IPS, i5-5200U, GT940M, W 8.1
15,6" Full HD, TOUCH IPS, i7-5500U, GT940M, W 8.1

and when I ask on Lenovo Yoga 3 without Pro so he say me that will be avaible in March 2015, and bigger version
on 90% percent maybe will have (version with descrete graphics) Nvidia GeForce 940M same as Asus TP500.

So, if will be this information right/true so it is good news

 

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/yoga-laptop-series/yoga-3-11/
http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/yoga-laptop-series/yoga-3-14/

Lenovo has the Yoga 3 available to order now. Rather pricey. $1249 for the 14" model with no discrete GPU, but it doesn't have Lenovo's typical "Instant Savings" yet so hopefully it will drop in the next month or so.

 

Do you think that a model with a discrete GPU will be added in the coming months? Or is this all that will be available? At CES Lenovo certainly made it sound like there would be a model w/ discrete graphics, so I'm surprised not to see it.

 

I imagine they'll add it eventually since it was announced.

 

man from store say me that version with discrete gpu will have on 90% gpu geforce 940m
and will come into my country (czech) in +- march, if begin or end month unfortunately not know.
(just keep in mind that nvidia gpu will have only bigger version, not 11 inch)
otherwise I think, that prices will be a little bit lower, after lenovo release out all versions. but I mean that not about much.

and why not exist now option preorder with discrete gpu? if I mean correctly,
so it's easy, because nvidia into this time not yet oficial release this gpu card
but after oficial release I mean that will be this option - but what I know maybe it will be differently

 

I just bought a Yoga 3 14". With my company discount, I got the i7 5500, 8gb, 256gb config for 1000.

 

Is it definitely only going to be the 940m? Pretty annoying this is the only bit of into they are holding back, I'd love to know in advance. Are there any 940m benchmarks?

 

I ended up ordering the same model and will be returning my Inspiron 13 7000. Despite costing nearly $400 less it just did not feel well enough made to justify the price tag.

I wasn't sure if I wanted the i7 or not but I figured for $50 it was worth the upgrade.

 

I not know on 100% that will be 940M. But man from store in my country say me that Yoga 3 with Nv GPU will have same gpu as Asus TP500 what come in May/April GeForce 940M (what I wrote in this thread in my post 9893609). So now I wait when lenovo this model release and we see. And if it will be true this information so what about performance? I mean that will be same as 840M, so 384cores 64bit GDDR3/5 etc. maybe only nvidia add some features and give more xGz in core/memory than in older.

 

I know that feeling. For me, it was about the weight. I looked very seriously at the Inspiron 13 7000 and the new XPS 13. I had that feeling of not being quality at the 7000. On the XPS 13, I had the feeling of going too far. Starting with a 13" laptop, I'd rather a bigger screen, sub 4" body than 13"/sub 3" body (no surprise, as I'm replacing a Dell XPS 15 9530, which was 15.6 4.5lbs). In lenovo's world, that meant choosing between the X1 3rd generation (~1700-2000 configured similiarly) if I wanted to go below 3lbs, or choosing between the unreleased T450s and the Yoga 3 14 at the 3.5lb point. I didn't want the 3200x1800 resolution, as I have been less than impressed with how it worked. I have wanted a Yoga series since seeing the Yoga 2 pro. I would have paid a ~100 premium for the Nvidia if offered but would not wait 2-3 extra months. If it's a Geforce 940, it looks to double the 5500's performance.

 

Yeah, sounds like we were looking at many of the same models. I doubt I'll use the tablet mode of the Yoga that often, hence the X1 and T450 being options. The XPS battery life was tempting but a 14" screen is more ideal to me. My major issue with the X1 beyond pricing was that it's currently only available with 4GB of RAM.

 

Lenovo increased the discount on the i5 models today so that the i7 is $100 more. I think I would have gone with the i5 had that been the case before. Oh well.

 

The X1 3rd can come with 8GB, but only with the i7 5600.

Lenovo just shipped my Yoga 3 14. Should be here within the week

 

I'm hoping it's more than the 940M. I'm not expecting something ridiculous like the 970M but if it's going to be used even for light gaming I still want it to be reasonable performance, which I honestly doubt a 940 is going to give, it's almost a useless dedicated GPU for gaming. Give a 950/960 and we're on to a winner. I don't want to fork out for a Razer Blade or Aorus X3 when I only want to casually play an MMO on the go yet still have a thin light laptop. Come on Lenovo I know you can do it!

 

Ah okay, didn't realize that. The i7 is well out of my price range with the X1 though.

Keep in mind it's a ULV processor, so the gaming potential will really be limited by that. A 950/960 would also require a much more robust cooling system than a 940.

 

Both fair points, it's either one extreme or the other when it comes to wanting to game on ultrabooks. Pay £1500+ for one that won't fall apart or don't expect to do any gaming on them at all.

 

There's always the Gigabyte P34G which runs the 860m (and will likely be updated to the 960 when it comes out). It's not quite as small as the Yoga 3 14 but it's a fairly similar form factor. You won't get the same battery life with the 4710HQ but it's much better paired to the X60m GPU. And at $1199, it's probably not that much more expensive than the Yoga 3 14 will end up being with a dedicated GPU.

 

Just bought mine yesterday same price with company discount. Great deal! Says to expect it in the first week of March though (standard shipping). any experience with estimated delivery dates and their accuracy?

 

I ordered mine last Monday night (Feb 2nd). The store page said "Ships in 10-12 business days) and when my order was processed it showed an estimated ship date of the 23rd. My laptop shipped from China on Friday and UPS says it will arrive on Thursday. So, much quicker than expected.

Edit: Well it apparently only made it from China to Japan in 4 days, so now it's scheduled for Monday.

 

I got mine. It seems to have come with the Evo 850 ssd. I'm going to replace it with a 1tb ssd so I don't have all my apps installed yet. I'm having a learning curve with the keyboard (coming from about 8 years of Dells and Sony's). Nothing wrong with it... just can't touch type at this point.
So far, I'm pleased. The screen is bright. The computer is light enough. it comes with the usb looking charger. Amazingly, the shipping weight was under 5.5lbs

 

When you do replace it please take some pictures of the process. I know I would highly appreciate it.

 

So I received mine yesterday as well. Here are my thoughts so far:

Screen

The display is great. Good viewing angles and I think 1080p is the perfect resolution for a 14" laptop (where things don't need to scale dramatically but are still good quality). My particular laptop has very bad backlight bleed, some of the worst I've seen, but it seems to be that the screen isn't seated properly. When I move the laptop (just adjusting it in my lap is enough) the screen distorts in a bit of a "wave pattern" along the sides at the bottom. I'm going to be contacting Lenovo about this.

Speakers

The speakers are about as good as you can expect from a 14" ultrabook. They're not fantastic quality, but they're loud enough to listen to a video with a couple people watching.

Keyboard

The keyboard is very nice. I've never owned a Lenovo but whenever I've used them for testing at work I've found the keyboards very easy to adapt to. Another possible defect, my escape key is very, very difficult to press. I was playing a game on the laptop last night and I had to tap esc three or four times to get it to actually recognize the keypress. It seems to be a bit "sunken in" so that could be the cause.

Touchpad

If you saw my earlier post, I returned a Dell Inspiron 13 7000 because of the poor touchpad. The touchpad here is better but not fantastic, though it seems to be a driver issue. It's very responsive and reads taps well, and there is support to allow a two-finger click to be the right mouse button. The issue is that there's no way to emulate a middle mouse button. My 11.6" laptop from 3 years ago with the tiniest touchpad I've used allows for three-finger tap to be a middle click, and yet this laptop does not. Quite disappointing. Maybe it can be fixed by editing some registry values, but I'm not sure. It does not allow for a two-finger tap or a three-finger click.

Performance

If you're ordering this, hopefully you know what to expect. The i7-5500u is a decent processor but it's still an ultra-low voltage processor. The graphics are only a minor step up over the HD 4400. I have not done any benchmarks but the SSD is quick.

Build Quality

The laptop feels very well constructed. There's no flex in the keyboard or the wrist rest and the back of the display is solid. The materials used have a good feel and are more "soft touch" than many older laptops but not quite as "sticky" as the Inspiron.

Summary

Assuming Lenovo will replace it and I get one without the defects mentioned, it's a great laptop. I don't even plan on using the Yoga capabilities but I can't think of another laptop that beats it at its price point.

 

Thanks for the review raptir. I've been looking at the same two options, this one and the Dell 13 7000.

Does the Yoga run hot, with the fan mostly on or off? How's the noise levels?

Also how's the wifi reception and does anyone know what kind of wifi card is in this laptop? Dual band? 2x2?

Thanks.

 

I second the question about the wireless -- Lenovo says "Lenovo AC Wireless". I can guarantee it's dual band (AC spec is 5GHz only), but I'm hoping it's 2x2 (it'd be silly if it was 1x1).

How is the battery life? And any indication on whether the screen is pentile like the Yoga 2 or full stripe?

 

This is awesome to hear. I've been looking for a 14 inch laptop for a while now and this may be exactly what I was looking for.

 

I have further thoughts now. I opened it up (need a torx screwdriver, which I had from upgrading my wife's XPS 13 9333's SSD a year ago. A few things of note:

1. The ram is upgradable. This doesn't affect me, but for those considering the 4GB config, you can upgrade the ram to 8gb at home.
2. The SSD is 7mm. I bought a transcend 370 1tb SSD and it's 9mm thick so it was a no go.

 

Very interesting, thanks. I wonder if one could potentially put more than 8GB there, the i7-5500U CPU supports up to 16GB.

 

That's unusual. Most laptops come with memory soldered on, in addition to an expandable slot, this seems to only have a slot..

 

Weird, I would have thought it would use a ngff m2 ssd like the yoga 2 13.

Are they torx or penta lobe, size? I thought I read somewhere that the xps was pentalobe.

 

The Yoga 3 is a little more expensive but the overall quality is much better than the Inspiron 13 7000. Quality wise it's closer to the XPS 13. The Inspiron is certainly not bad for being a $700 ultrabook though.

Even when pushing it and playing games that the system can't quite handle the temperature doesn't break 75C. It doesn't seem to be throttling as I don't see performance drops but I haven't done any specific tests. When doing less involved activities the fan spins up occasionally. It's pretty quiet though. It's audible but even when playing a game wouldn't bother someone else in the room.

I'll post the exact wireless card when I get home. It's a Qualcomm Atheros Wireless-AC but I don't recall the model number. Wireless performance is good though. I only have a 50/50 connection at home but I can utilize that connection consistently without any fluctuation.

The battery life is just OK. I get around 6 hours if I'm just browsing the web, 2-3 if I'm playing a game. Not a major concern for me though as the charger is nice and small and easy to travel with. One issue would be that the charger fills up one of the USB 3.0 ports, so you end up with just one USB 2.0 and one USB 3.0 available when you're charging the laptop.

I'm not sure if it is PenTile or not. I'll look at the model number when I get home. But the display looks good and text is easy to read.

 

Does anyone know if the 14" uses an ips panel?

 

It does, under Features it says:

The vibrant 14” FHD (1920 x 1080) display yields bright, detailed visuals for outstanding performance in gaming and multimedia. Ten-point multitouch technology provides a superior touch experience, greater responsiveness, and faster response times. In-plane switching (IPS) technology means Yoga 3’s display delivers clear visuals over a wide viewing angle – perfect for sharing content with friends.

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/yoga-laptop-series/yoga-3-14/#tab-features

 

Wow the RAM is upgradable / not soldered? That's awesome news. I was considering getting the 4GB due to the cost but being stuck with 4GB was holding me back, so if this is not a problem anymore then I'd definitely go with the 4GB/128GB SSD version.

 

I've found an in-depth review of this laptop on a Ukranian techie website. I can't read Ukranian but the output from Google Translate is quite readable. It appears it is the model with a discrete Nvidia graphics card! The GeForce 940M. They also run benchmark tests and have details on the SSD (Liteon LCS-256L9S).

Here it is: http://itc.ua/articles/obzor-14-dyuymovogo-ultrabuka-transformera-lenovo-yoga-3/

 

Good find francoeur, answer's the big question for me. Honestly don't know whether to take a punt on the 940m at running WoW or save up the extra money and go overboard and get a gaming ultrabook (Auros V3) in a few months time..

 

Dont know how I missed that.

 

Interesting, the SSD in mine is a Samsung.

 

I notice that there is no option for buyer to change any configuration. And there is no option for the GeForce on the Lenovo site.

Jim

 

I agree with raptir (I played with both the Dell XPS 13 2015 and the 13 7000 at the microsoft store. The Yoga is the same size/slightly lighter than the Inspiron 13 7000 with a bigger screen.

The only time I had issues with heat was using chromecast to stream video. That was insane as I had to use the computer in stand mode to get enough cooling to keep the computer from clocking down every 5 seconds. I looked up the problem and it's a intel driver issue (shared with the dells) and was resolved by disabling chrome hardware acceleration. Since then, I can stream videos without any heat issue or studdering.

Pentalobe, using the smallest screwdriver in my set of 6.

With my SSD upgrade, I found something unexpected (given I didn't read the service manual before). The computer uses a 5mm SSD, which currently limits the upgrade options. I spent alot of time thinking about this and my strategy is now to buy a Dell e7440 msata to 5mm drive bay and use a msata drive. This is most likely a good reason for people to wait on the nvidia option as Dell's 7450 with discrete graphics uses msata to make room for the card.

 

So is it 7mm or a 5mm ssd?

 

it is a 5mm ssd. It may be possible to fit a ~7mm ssd without the brackets

 

Hmm, I was really hoping to fit a 7mm Sandisk Extreme Pro in there. I wonder how secure it is without brackets. I have some pretty serious outdoor mounting tape that will hold ~90LBs per square inch. I wonder if maybe a small square of that would work.

Did either of you wipe the OS and do a clean 8.1 install? Did you encounter any problems?

 

Well, I bit on the Best Buy Yoga 3 11, 8 GB, 256 GB. The Best Buy model has a M-5y71 rather than the M-5y10c on the Lenovo store models. I chose the 11 inch as a replacement for my Yoga 11s Haswell.

It was only available for shipment to home, no store pickup. Supposed to be delivered by March 2.

If I don't find that it is an upgrade in performance and battery life to the 11s, it will go back to Best Buy before 15 days.

Jim

 

I had a look at the Yoga 3 11 today which caught my eye as a fairly cheap machine to keep me going for now after my brother killed my Vaio Duo 11. I've just returned a Dell XPS 13 as the QHD+ screen was too high resolution (causing a lot of scaling issues) and the fan was irritating plus I didn't need that high a spec (Dell UK are only selling the top spec models) but had a look at the Lenovo today and the screen seems good, no fan obviously and it's half the price. Only the 128GB model is available here which would probably be fine but anyone know if the SSD can be upgraded? There seemed to be a lot of bloatware on the laptop but it seems fairly standard hardware so I'm assuming a clean build would be easy enough.

 

I don't know what the form factor of the ssd is. But, unless it is one of those with the unusual connection, it should be easy to upgrade.

You might be able to check the Lenovo parts list to find what they used. Or better, use device manager to get the model number of the one installed in the one you saw.

Good luck, Jim

 

My curiosity got the better of me. I checked the Lenovo parts manual. The SSDs are 80 mm M.2 form factor. No unusual connection. They use either Samsung or Liteon. You may have limited choices, but there are options you could use for an upgrade.

Jim