A low cost Android tablet running Android Jelly Bean and sporting a quad-core processor sounds promising on paper, and while that's exactly what the Lenovo Yoga Tablet offers up, it's not a standout winner.
Apparently Lenovo sees multiple use case for its new Yoga Tablet, as it pushes three defined modes for the device - hold mode, stand mode and tilt mode. Or in other words, using the tablet in a few ways.
Lenovo's track record of Android tablets hasn't exactly been stellar, but it's looking to bite back with the Yoga Tablet - available in both 8-inch and 10.1-inch screen sizes.
The quad-core processor under the hood in both sizes may spark some interest, but a closer inspection reveals a lesser 1.2GHz MediaTek chip instead of a top of the line Qualcomm solution - plus 1GB of RAM isn't going to set the world alight.
That power is tasked with running Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, although it's been heavily modified with Lenovo's own UI skin on the Yoga Tablet.
Party piece
Lenovo claims it's done something different in terms of design, but the large wedge along one side of the tablet is reminiscent of the Sony Xperia Tablet S - but it does have a party piece. A stand.
Yes, the Yoga Tablet goes all Microsoft Surface with a pull down stand allowing you to easily prop your slate up for a movie marathon, and there's a claimed 18 hours of battery life to boot.
Stock features such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS reside under the hood, while behind the stand sits a microSD slot capable of holding cards up to 64GB in size to complement the 16GB or 32GB of storage found inside.
Tappy tappy
Productivity hasn't been overlooked here either, with a Bluetooth keyboard included with your purchase of the 10-inch Yoga Tablet, complete with mouse track pad and a quoted 75 day battery life (if used for 2 hours a day).
For the budding photographers out there both the 10.1-inch and 8-inch variants of the Yoga Tablet sport a rear facing 5MP camera and a front facing 1.6MP snapper.
Available from next week, the Lenovo Yoga Tablet will be exclusive to JB Hi-Fi, with the Wi-Fi only 8-inch version starting at $349, while the larger, Wi-Fi only 10-inch option will set you back $399.
We're yet to hear pricing for the larger 32GB versions, plus there will be 3G enabled Yoga Tablets as well, but once again pricing is being kept quiet for the moment.
- Read our hands on: Lenovo Yoga Tablet 10 review
