If you were waiting for a full Windows 8 convertible tablet/laptop combo, the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S ($999) has potential. Its innovative design gives you a laptop full time that you can use as a tablet part time. It's a good leap of faith by Lenovo, but internal components and battery life in particular hold it back from being great.
Design and Features
The IdeaPad Yoga 11S is the little brother to the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 ($999) we saw last year. The Yoga 11S looks a lot like the Windows RT-powered Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11 ($669) we looked at earlier this year, thought the Yoga 11S is a smidge thicker and heavier.
The Yoga 11S measures about 0.67 by 12 by 8 inches (HWD), and weighs in at 2.96 pounds. Like the other IdeaPad Yoga systems, the Yoga 11S is a convertible tablet that acts like a laptop. When you first open the system, it looks very much like a normal clamshell laptop. Once you swing the lid past 180 degrees, however, you'll be able to use the system's tent mode (like an a-frame), stand mode (screen out, but keyboard facing the table), and tablet mode (just what it sounds like).
The tent mode and stand mode are innovative, though limited to specific uses (mainly to present videos or presentations on a table without needing the keyboard). When in tablet mode, the Yoga 11S works like a somewhat heavy slate tablet PC. Compared to the Editors' Choice Microsoft Surface Windows 8 Pro ($999) or the Dell Latitude 10 ($749), the Yoga 11S is a little heavier and a little more awkward on account of its larger chassis. The Surface Pro and Latitude 10 have smaller 10-inch screens, and hence are easier to carry.
On the other hand, the Yoga 11S has a very comfortable and sturdy keyboard that is a joy to use in laptop mode. The keyboard isn't backlit, but the trackpad is multi-touch. The screen also has 10-point touch, so you have quite a few ways to interact with the bright IPS screen. The screen sports a 1,366-by-768 resolution, which is short of the Microsoft Surface Pro's 1080p screen, but the Yoga 11s' screen is bright and quite clear. You may not miss the extra screen space unless you're working on large spreadsheets or megapixel images.
When you swing the lid over past 190 degrees, the keyboard and touchpad automatically deactivate, but they are still tactile, i.e. they are not a smooth surface like on the back of a true slate tablet. If you think this will bother you, you may want to try the Yoga 11S out in a store first. That said, slate tablets above are a lot less comfortable to type on, even the Surface Pro with the Microsoft Type Cover. If there's any real nit to tablet mode, it's that the system vents warm to hot air right into the arm that's holding the tablet or on your supporting palm, depending on how you have the tablet oriented. This is a consequence of using a ultrabook-class Intel Core i5-3339Y processor instead of a lower powered Tegra 3 processor as in the Windows RT-equipped Yoga 11.
The Yoga 11S comes with a capacious 256GB SSD in this configuration, along with 8GB of system memory. This means you'll have plenty of space for files before you have to resort to using the SD card slot for additional storage space. The system comes with one USB 2.0 and one USB 3.0 port for connecting a mouse and external hard drive, respectively. The system also comes with a full-size HDMI port for connecting an external display. The Yoga 11S comes with a 2.4GHz 802.11 b/g/n WiFi adapter for connecting to your home router.
The system comes with an ambient light sensor to control the screen's brightness, but it's a little overly aggressive. The screen dimming and brightening frequently while in use distracted and annoyed us, often when we were reaching for the touch screen. The room itself was brightly lit, so it was the process of using the laptop that made the screen dim. Also, you may need to get used to the screen rotating due to the built-in gyroscope and accelerometer. Lenovo added its motion control interface to Windows 8, and while novel it's more of a gimmick than a useful interface, especially since the touch screen and touchpad are so responsive. Essentially, you can interact with the Yoga 11S in a plethora of manners, so if you're looking to develop an innovative software package, interface, or use for the PC, this is the system to get.
The Yoga 11S comes with quite a few pre-loaded programs, including McAfee Security Advisor, Accuweather, Kindle, Rara music, Evernote Touch, Zinio, Lenovo Companion, Lenovo Support, Skype, Encyclopedia Britannica, Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Enfeel Birzzle (a touch-based block puzzler), SugarSync, FilmOn Television, an ad for Microsoft Office, Intel AppUp, and eBay. The Yoga 11S comes with a one-year base warranty.
Performance
The major disappointment for the Yoga 11S is its short rundown time of 3 hours 31 minutes battery rundown time on our standard battery test. This is short of other ultrabooks and tablets in this price range. The low battery life is probably due to the Yoga 11S's smallish 42WHr sealed battery. If battery life is important to you, recent Haswell-powered laptops have shown promise, so you may want to wait for the next rev of the Yoga with 4th-generation Intel Core. However, there is no official word from Lenovo for when or if that will happen.
As an innovative next-generation form factor, the Lenovo Yoga 11S is a cool experiment and shows potential. As a usable laptop and convertible tablet, the Yoga 11S isn't quite all there yet. It's usable, yes, innovative, yes, but has far too short a battery life to replace both the laptop and tablet in your life. Maybe next year this will be an irresistible combo. For now, the Yoga 11S shows promise, but is held back a bit by what it can deliver.
BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS
COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Lenovo Yoga 11S with several other laptops and tablets side by side.
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