Here’s the thing about the Lenovo Yoga Book. I think it’s a beautiful piece of engineering that’s both innovative and futuristic. However, there’s no denying that in its current form, it’s still more ‘cool toy’ than ‘serious workstation’.
That makes the RM2,599 price tag a little hard to swallow. But what if it was a little cheaper? And by a little cheaper I mean a lot cheaper. Meet the Lenovo Yoga A12.
So yes, there is no Book in its name, but its very hard not to see the similarities. First up, it’s a fully convertible machine so you can use it as a laptop or a tablet as well as everything in between.
It also comes with the Yoga Book’s Halo keyboard which is a touch-sensitive keyboard that is hard to get used to at first but promises to learn your typing habits and improve as you use it. Lenovo also promises a 13-hour battery life from this 5.3mm device.
Unfortunately, the Yoga A12 also retains some of the Yoga Book’s not-so-good features…plus a few compromises.
First up, it’s still powered by an Intel Atom x5-Z8550 processor but this time is only paired with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. Besides that, the Yoga A12 also doesn’t have Lenovo’s excellent watchband hinge design, opting for a more conventional hinge instead.
And, although the screen is larger, coming in at 12.2 inches versus the 10.1-inch panel on the Book, its resolution gets bumped down to just 720p HD. Oh, it also only comes running Android and the Halo keyboard doesn’t double as a digitiser so you can’t take written notes on it like you can on the Book.
That said, all the cost-saving measures do add up to a much lower price point. Lenovo’s Yoga A12 starts at just USD299 (around RM1,323). This makes the A12 a lot more attractive to the more practical buyer since you still get the futuristic looks, keyboard and experience but for a significantly lower price.
With this, it can be your Netflix device, your web browsing tablet and also your ultra-portable mobile workstation for stuff like word processing.
What do you guys think of the Yoga A12? Let me know in the comments below.
