Lenovo Yoga 11S Full Review

If you're in the market for a Windows 8 tablet
or laptop you'd be remiss to not check out
the Lenovo Yoga 11S.
Like:
Extremely portable; Strong hinges; Up to an
i7 processor; Starts at just $799; HDMI port;
Great touch-screen;
Dislike:
USB 2.0 not 3.0; Tablet mode leaves keys
exposed; No backlit keyboard; No Haswell
option;
Introduction and Design

Pundits have been predicting the "death of the
PC" for more than a decade. Of course, if you
looked at the balance sheets of former industry
juggernauts as HP and Dell you'd be inclined to
think that those prophecies may actually be on
the verge of coming true. And then there's
Lenovo. While other manufacturers are busy
pointing fingers as to why the PC seems to be
struggling in the face of competition from that
Cupertino-based company and myriad tablets,
Lenovo is both pumping out solid Windows 8
devices while at the same time, turning a profit.
Which brings us to the Lenovo Yoga 11S.
Lenovo is known for making primarily productivity
machines for productive people. Its Thinkpad line
is known the world over as a no-nonsense,
reliable Windows 8 machine. However, the Yoga
Lenovo has let its hair down and gotten a little
bit playful. A transforming ultrabook in silver or
metallic orange with an equally colorful screen,
it's just as functional but much "cuter" than
what we usually see from Lenovo.
Of course, this isn't Lenovo's first time on the
yoga mat. The 13-inch Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga
was released last year to very favorable reviews.
The appropriately named 11s is a size down. At
just 11.6-inches, it's the smallest form factor
that can support a full QWERTY keyboard.
Design
Sporting a rather heavy duty hinge, the flexible
Yoga 11S is designed to bend over backwards at
a moments notice. You can easily use the Yoga
11S as you would any other laptop, replete with a
full QWERTY keyboard. While it's relatively small,
we had no problem writing on this keyboard. This
review, for instance, was a breeze. That said, we
would have appreciated the Yoga 11S having a
backlit keyboard. While this is in no way a deal
breaker, it's a nice feature when using the laptop
in darkened classrooms or meetings.
Where the Yoga 11S really shines is the flexibility
that that hinge provides. If you want to use the
Yoga 11S as a Windows 8 tablet you simply fold
the keyboard all the way to the back. In this
mode, you're basically just using an 11-inch
tablet. Also, since the keys are still exposed in
this mode they're disabled. That said, it's still
sort of weird to feel them when you're sitting on
your couch using the device in tablet mode.
In stand mode you can orient the keyboard
around 30-degrees from the display, and you can
easily stand the Yoga 11S on a table or desk. In
our tests we found this mode great for
presentations or reading recipes in the kitchen.
It's also perfect for watching movies and
television shows in bed.
Specifications and Performance
The Yoga 11S boasts a nice selection of ports,
including an HDMI port and an SD card reader.
However, for some reason, Lenovo went with USB
2.0, not 3.0. What's more, it's a traveler's
delight - weighing in at only 3.1lbs. But again,
the lack of backlit keyboard means typing on a
dark nighttime flight won't be easy.
The display is sharp, and brighter than what
we've seen on Lenovo models like the Lenovo
ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch and the Lenovo
ThinkPad X1 Carbon. With a resolution of 1366 x
768, it's not full HD, but at only 11.6-inches it's
not really an issue.
Despite its playful exterior, there's real
processing power available for the Yoga 11S. You
can get up to an i7 processor in this ultrabook,
and complement it with a 256GB SSD and 8GB of
RAM. That said, similarly sized notebooks from
Apple and Sony are now shipping with Haswell
processors. While this may not impact speed
necessarily, Haswell-equipped machines will no
doubt experience much better battery life. The
Yoga 11S could do well with the battery life gains
that Hawsell promises.
Performance and battery life
Cinebench CPU test: 1.74 pts
Cinebench OpenGL test: 11.52 fps
3D Mark Pro Ice Storm: 25,169
3D Mark Pro Cloud Gate: 2710
Powermark Pro Balanced: 3 hours 49
minutes
Powermark Pro Productivity: 5 hours 40
minutes
Powermark Pro Entertainment: 2 hours 53
minutes
Verdict
Functional and flexible, the Lenovo Yoga 11S
looks to be just what we want in an ultrabook.
Light enough to travel easily, and so small it can
tuck in any bag with ease. It also has serious
specs. The combination of an i7 processor and
SSD make for a peppy Window 8 experience. That
said we think it would better compete if it was
rocking a Haswell processor.
We liked
We liked how versatile the Yoga 11S is. With
strong hinges, the Yoga 11S is both extremely
portable and it also feels nice and solid. You can
easily configure a Yoga 11S with an i7 processor.
We also really like the fact that you can start
configuring them at just $799.
We disliked
There isn't much we didn't like about the Yoga
11S. That said, we were puzzled that Lenovo
equipped it with USB 2.0 and not 3.0.
Additionally, the keyboard isn't backlit and going
forward, Lenovo is going to have to refresh it
with Haswell eventually to remain competitive.
Verdict
If you're in the market for a Windows 8 tablet or
laptop you'd be remiss to not check out the
Lenovo Yoga 11S.
While it currently lacks a Haswell option, it's still
plenty fast enough for whatever you want to do,
with the exception of hardcore PC gaming. We
took this model on several business trips and
experienced nary a hiccup. On planes its
diminutive size made it perfect for working or
watching videos and it easily tucks away nicely
into any bag you may be traveling with.