A giant tablet with a built-in projector
There’s a reason why we talk about the march of technology – not the sprint. When you look back 20 years, of course, it’s absolutely amazing what we have now. But that doesn’t mean every new gizmo that gets made arrives in the Computeractive office to a collective gasp of astonishment. Week by week, we can pretty much guess what Silicon Valley is going to throw at us next. A slimmer this. A faster that... yadda yadda. Sometimes – and don’t tell the boss we said this – but it can all begin to feel rather predictable.
Then Lenovo sends you a widescreen tablet that’s as broad as a laptop, as thin as an iPad, and comes with a built-in film projector. And you know you work in the right place after all.
Let’s get the technical moan out of the way first. It’s our job to review things, after all, not just gawp at them. This sliver of the future costs less than £400, so what won’t surprise anyone is that it’s not quite up to iPad Air 2 quality.
The Atom processor is as slow as anything you’ll find even in budget tablets, and Lenovo’s quirky version of Android KitKat makes it feel even slower. Web pages take a while to load and scroll, and this isn’t the machine to pick if your interests run to top-end games or creative apps. To take advantage of the big screen, Lenovo does let you use two apps at the same time, one of them appearing in a smaller window. iPad users won’t get that feature until version 9 of Apple’s iOS operating system comes out in the autumn.
The 13.3in display has only a few more pixels than Apple’s, but it’s nearly 70 per cent bigger. You do the maths. Yes, it’s not as sharp, but it still has considerably more dots per inch than most monitors. Unfortunately, its colours are relatively dull, more like an iPad Mini than Apple’s flagship model.
On the plus side, you can see it clearly from some distance, and it’s comfortable for watching videos. Two speakers are built into the cylindrical section that runs along one edge, at opposite sides for proper stereo separation and Dolby surround sound – and they sound great. Between them, a metal plate can be folded out to act as a stand. It has a hole cut out so you can hang it on a hook – ideal for following recipes in the kitchen – or slip your thumb through for extra grip. It’s 1kg though, so you won’t want to hold it for too long.
So don’t. At one corner is a lens that projects a video image on to a wall, automatically (or manually) adjusted to look straight. With the lights off, we got a 32in picture at a decent level of brightness. It’s like having an HD telly in your pocket (albeit a very big pocket) – even if an HD telly with this level of picture quality would probably get sent back.
All right, the Yoga Tablet 2 Pro isn’t perfect. And contrary to Lenovo’s 15-hour estimate, the battery only lasted a bit over seven hours. But allow us our moment of excitement. Danger Mouse would use this. That’s enough to brighten up our day.
VERDICT
Don’t buy this unless you really want the projector and can put up with the slow operation. But there’s no better device for watching videos.
SPECIFICATIONS
1.33GHz Intel Atom processor • 32GB flash storage • 13.3in 2560x1440-pixel screen • 6-megapixel webcam • 8-megapixel rear camera • MicroSD slot • 802.11n Wi-Fi • Android 4.4.2 • 222x332x22mm (HxWxD) • 950g • One-year warranty