At first glance, a tablet equipped with a projector seems like a great novelty, but a limiting idea. After spending several days with Yoga Tab 2 Pro, my first impressions have changed. Check out our full review of Lenovo Yoga Tab 2 Pro below to see if it’s worth having a device with this function.
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Take a shortcut:
- Design and quality of construction
- Screen
- Special features
- Software
- Performance
- Camera
- Battery
- Technical specifications
- Final verdict
Evaluation
Pros
- Projector
- Great speakers
- Good battery life
Cons
- Weak camera
- Unintuitive interface
- Strange design
Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 Pro – Design & Build Quality
Lenovo Yoga Tab 2 Pro has a long name and unusual design. It has the aluminum housing and has the rounded and thicker base, typical of Lenovo, where the extra-large battery is.
On this thick base are also located two of the most interesting functions of Yoga Tab 2 Pro: a Pico project and a support that can sustain the base while typing or to watch videos or movies. You can even hang it on the wall.
The Lenovo Yoga Tab 2 Pro is very thin, very large and has a projector. © ANDROIDPIT
The tablet is quite large, but weighs just under a kilo (0.94 Kg). Considering that it is the same size as many current laptops, the weight is very good. The front of the base features two 1.5 Watt JBL stereo speakers, and the screen is surrounded by a large black frame. A camera completes the functions of the front, along with an ambient light sensor.
On the left side, just above the base, are the volume buttons, the USB 2.0 input with OTG and a headphone jack. An overly large power button has been integrated to one side of the base, and the projector is on the other. The right side has a single button to turn the projector on and off.
The base has a large battery. © ANDROIDPIT
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On the back of the Yoga Tab 2 there is a button near the projector lens. It serves to open a tablet holder. It allows the device to tilt like a laptop screen. In addition, there is a camera, a focus regulator button and a 5-watt subwoofer at the top center of the rear.
Yoga Tab 2 Pro has a great look, but the more you use it, the less you like its design. Everything seems positioned in a strange way. When we hold the tablet with one hand, it is almost impossible not to touch the camera lens, and when we take a picture it is likely that we will fill the projector lens with fingerprints.
The sectioned part turns around, becoming a stand for the tablet.. © ANDROIDPIT
Price and availability
The worldwide presentation of Lenovo Yoga Tab 2 Pro was in October 2014. The Brazilian website of the company already has a page of the device. We contacted Lenovo Brazil, and we were informed that there is still no deadline for the tablet to arrive in the country, but that it will be brief. Its suggested price will be R$ 2,799.00. It is the only Yoga Tab 2 to run with Android and have a projector.
Lenovo Yoga Tab 2 Pro can also be hung on the wall. © ANDROIDPIT
Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 Pro – Screen
Yoga Tab 2 Pro specifications include a 13.3-inch IPS LCD screen and QHD. Even with a resolution of 2,560 x 1,440 pixels, the huge screen makes pixel density not optimal: only 221 pixels per inch. This is the same density as the first Nexus 7.
The LCD display itself is very good; the colors are vivid and clear, with good visibility at inclined angles. It’s easy to identify individual pixels with the naked eye, so don’t expect super sharp images on this tablet.
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The coolest function of Yoga Tab 2 Pro: the projector. © ANDROIDPIT
Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 Pro – Special Features
The main differential of Yoga Tab 2 Pro is the projector integrated into its base. The image projected by it is very good, despite its low resolution (WVGA or 854 x 480).
I designed a two-meter-wide 16:9-shaped film on to my 4-meter wall. Although the film was almost exclusively at night, the quality of the image impressed me. The focus regulator helps to improve sharpness. The resolution may not be the best, but the overall experience is more than satisfactory.
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Despite the low resolution, the projected image is good. © ANDROIDPIT
Having the option to design whatever you want on any flat surface is great. There’s no need for cables, projectors or any type of add-on: Yoga Tab 2 Pro is always ready for a presentation, a projected game or a movie session, wherever you are.
That said, although yoga tab 2 has automatic Keystone correction (a common image distortion in projections), it didn’t seem to work well for me. I could see the correction attempts, but they rarely resulted in a perfect rectangle.
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Support for the tablet works. © ANDROIDPIT
I found the support a little strange. I had to support the device on several objects to find the best angle to project on my wall. Also, if hung on a single nail or hook, the tablet can lean, because the opening is quite large.
The iPad home screen, I mean, yoga pad 2 pro. © ANDROIDPIT
Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 Pro – Software
Yoga Tab 2 software looks a lot like iOS, no app drawer, and apple-like app icons. The interface runs quite smoothly, but tends to be somewhat slow. The tablet currently runs with Android 4.4.2 KitKat.
The activated drawer by swiping your finger from the bottom up generally replaces what Android puts in Quick Settings: it has access to various settings and options such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, Airplane Mode and brightness.
An Apple-like command center is shown sliding its finger from the bottom up on the homescreen. © ANDROIDPIT
This drawer also has Lenovo-specific functions such as a shortcut to the projector, a button for screen capture, Lenovo’s Smart Switch (which adjusts display settings depending on how you’re using your tablet: holding it, hanging, over the stand, etc.) and Dolby audio.
The Yoga Tab 2 Pro also features a kind of mini app drawer, accessed by the small button on the lower left corner. It activates a kind of application list for quick access to multiwindows. By swiping from top to bottom, you open a somewhat sparse notification window, with a shortcut to settings – but only notification settings. Strange.
The settings menu is the only android family element in the interface. © ANDROIDPIT
In the settings, the menu looks more familiar, with a split-screen arrangement. Some things you might notice are the lack of NFC and tethering capability (yoga tab 2 pro does not have a SIM card, although it has an internal memory expansion slot by microSD).
We will have dedicated sections to adjust projector performance, sound (Yoga Tab 2 Pro comes with Dolby and Wolfston audio processing, and the sound quality is really very good), multi-user profiles, automatic power off , a power manager and multiwindow mode.
Multiwindow mode is good, but you can’t change the size of app windows./ © ANDROIDPIT
Yoga Tab 2 Pro also comes with some pre-installed apps like Skype, Facebook, Twitter, Kindle and Evernote, but these are apps you’d install anyway. Lenovo also has its native applications on board: SYNCit, SHAREit, CLONEit and Sketchpad. They are useful, but can also be easily replaced by similar services of your choice.
The Lenovo Yoga Tab 2 Pro runs with an Intel Atom CPU. © ANDROIDPIT
Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 Pro – Performance
This is where Yoga Tab 2 Pro starts to fall (not for lack of a support). The hardware does not impress on the face as in the case of many high-end tablets. Although Lenovo does not officially place Yoga Tab 2 Pro in the category of a high-end tablet, the presence of the word ”Pro” in its name seems to imply otherwise.
The tablet is packed with a 1.86 GHz quad-core Intel Atom Z3745 processor with 2 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal storage. This is good enough for a familiar tablet, but don’t expect to play heavy games satisfactorily or use it as a working tablet. Of course, the screen size makes it great for spreadsheets and other work-related tasks, but it just doesn’t have enough power in the processor for fast multitasking. However, if you use Yoga Tab 2 Pro for tasks like searching your photo album, posting on social networks and reading emails, then this tablet will suffice.
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A JBL subwoofer and an 8 MP camera are in the back. © ANDROIDPIT
Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 Pro – Camera
This is another weakness of Yoga Tab 2 Pro. The 8 MP main camera is capable of taking regular photos, but has problems in non-ideal lighting conditions. Low light and cloudy skies already make the Yoga Tab 2 Pro camera produce noisy photos. The color accuracy is very good, without leaning towards supersaturation, but the focus is one of the slowest I’ve ever seen on Android. There is no HDR mode, but we have the macro, panorama mode and for night photos, plus some manual controls and settings.
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Although the camera performance is poor, the camera app has some interesting functions. © ANDROIDPIT
This is another point where the size of the tablet becomes a problem: it’s actually very difficult to hold the tablet, tap the screen to focus on a certain area, and then push the shutter button without getting in the way or almost dropping the device. Of course, you can just rotate the tablet 180 degrees so that the camera is on top, but this is completely contrary to the way we usually use it the rest of the time.
Yoga Tab 2 Pro projector does not devour the battery. © ANDROIDPIT
Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 Pro – Battery
One of the best specifications of Yoga Tab 2 Pro is the battery. At 9,600 mAh, it is large enough to support this huge QHD screen during moderate use for more than two days. With brightness at 100%, I had 5 and a half hours of screen constantly on, without any function of managing power activated. With a few power settings, 50% brightness on the display and using the projector moderately, I gained another three or four hours, but never got close to the 15 hours alleged by Lenovo.
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As a familiar tablet for media playback, Yoga Tab 2 is very good. © ANDROIDPIT
Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 Pro – Technical Specifications
| Weight: | 948 g |
|---|---|
| Battery size: | 9600 mAh |
| Screen size: | 13.3 inches |
| Screen technology: | LCD |
| Screen: | 2560 x 1440 pixels (153 ppi) |
| Front camera | 1.6 megapixels |
| Rear camera | 8 megapixels |
| Android version: | 4.4 – KitKat |
| RAM: | 2 GB |
| Internal memory: | 32 GB |
| Removable memory: | microSD |
| Chipset: | Intel Atom |
| Number of cores: | 4 |
| Max speed. | 1.86 GHz |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth 4.0 |
Final Verdict
Your use of a tablet will determine whether or not you like Lenovo Yoga Tab 2 Pro. If you want a great colorful display, good battery, great speakers, lots of cool software functions and the amazing ability to design everything you want anytime and anywhere, then this is a great tablet for you. As a basic multimedia device, yoga tab 2 pro is more than suitable.
If your tablet idea includes an extremely crisp display, high performance specifications and high-resolution, ultra-portable games, this isn’t the device for you. The projector is great, the battery life is very long and there are some good software features, but the slow and unintuitive interface, poor camera and median performance take points from this beautiful and innovative tablet.
Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 Pro
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