The entry-level model costs $845 and features a 2.0-GHz Intel Core i3-5005U processor, a 500GB 7200 rpm hard drive, 4GB RAM, and an HD display (1,366 x 768).
Our configuration of the Yoga 12 costs $1,484 and comes with a 2.3-GHz Intel Core i5-5300U processor, a 180GB SSD hard drive, 8GB RAM, and a full HD (1920 x 1080) touch-screen display with stylus.
Lenovo backs the Yoga 12 with a one-year year parts and labor warranty, matching the standard offerings for the Surface Pro 3 and Spectre x360. It's similar to Apple's AirDrop service (but not as deeply baked into the system).
Lenovo also pre-installed its SHAREit file-transfer protocol, which works between Windows, iOS and Android devices. It took about an hour, but for business users and IT departments, the peace of mind is worth the time. Running a full hardware scan tests the processor, verifies the integrity of the RAM and the hard drive, and runs through video-card capabilities and the Wi-Fi card performance. The Lenovo Solution Center provides a detailed system-monitoring package, covering system alerts, security, support and a hardware-scan utility. MORE: 10 Laptops with the Longest Battery Life Both the Spectre (9:48) and the Surface Pro 3 (7:42) lasted longer, and the category average is 8:05. We saw a slightly shorter 7 hours and 49 minutes on the more demanding Laptop Mag Battery Test (Web surfing via Wi-Fi at 100 nits). Lenovo claims the ThinkPad Yoga 12 can last up to 8 hours when playing video. The Yoga 12 also scored the highest mark (54,733) in 3DMark's Ice Storm Unlimited benchmark test, topping the Spectre (54,116), the category average (37,615) and the Surface Pro 3 (33,614). However, when we cranked the WoW settings to max, the Yoga 12 managed just 22 fps at 1,366 x 768. When I was playing World of Warcraft with the effects on auto-detect and display set to 1,366 x 768, the Yoga 12 delivered a solid 38 frames per second, better than the Spectre x360 (32 fps) and the Surface Pro 3 (21 fps). The Yoga 12's integrated Intel HD Graphics 5500 card proved strong enough for some light gaming. On the Open Office spreadsheet test, the Yoga 12 (4:46) was just slightly slower than the Surface Pro 3 (4:43) at matching 20,000 names with their addresses, but still faster than the Spectre (5:04). However, the Yoga 12's SSD duplicated 4.97 GB of multimedia files at a rate of just 104 MBps, notably slower than the category average of 186 MBps, the HP Spectre (141.4 MBps) and the Surface Pro 3 (145.4 MBps).
However, I had to first turn off Volume Leveler in the Dolby Digital Plus control panel. The ThinkPad Yoga 12 has very capable speakers. It beat the Spectre (1.25), the category average (3.5) and the Surface Pro 3 (9.9).Īlthough Lenovo claims the Yoga 12 has a smudge-resistant Dragontrail display, I noticed some fingerprints, primarily when viewing dark scenes. The machine scored a 1.07 in our Delta-E color-accuracy test, where a score between 0 and 1 is ideal.
The Yoga 12 is also below the 79.1 percent category average.Įven though it doesn't have a wide range of color, the Yoga 12 is accurate in rendering color. For example, the Spectre x360 and the Surface Pro 3 register 103.2 percent and 97 percent, respectively. That's well short of the standard that we look for screens to achieve or potentially surpass: 100 percent representation of the spectrum. Our tests revealed that the screen can reproduce just 64.9 percent of the sRGB color gamut. Only whites, oranges and blacks seemed especially saturated, such as in sunset-lit landscapes, dimly lit back alleys and bright snowy fields. The waters those same polar bears swam through seemed dull and muted. Unfortunately, the colors were rarely as vivid as the display was bright. Both the sharp jags in the ice and the details in the two actors' suits were easy to see. Details came out clearly in everything from a polar bear floating on an ice floe in Planet Earth to a moment of shady backroom scheming between Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright on House of Cards.