Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11 2 review

The Yoga 11 2 is deceptively fast for a Pentium-powered laptop. These are usually much slower than a typical Core i3 laptop, but our review sample came with one of Intel’s latest Baytrail Pentium processors, the N3520, which has a clock speed of 2.1GHz. Paired with 4GB of RAM, it scored an impressive 31 overall in our multimedia benchmarks. This is the same score as Lenovo’s Flex 15D, but it completed the multi-tasking section of our test much faster, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble running several programs at once.

The Yoga 11 2’s battery life doesn’t suffer from having a Pentium processor either, as it lasted a huge 7h 36m in our light use test with the screen set to half brightness. You should just about get a full day’s work out of the Yoga 11 2 on a single charge.

The only disadvantage of having a Pentium processor is that its Intel HD Graphics chip is much slower than other integrated graphics chips, making the laptop unsuitable for playing 3D games. It failed our Dirt Showdown test on High quality at a 1,280×720 resolution, and we only just managed 21.3fps when we disabled the anti-aliasing and turned the detail down to Low. This isn’t quite fast enough to play games at a comfortable speed, so you’ll be better off sticking with simpler 2D titles if you want to play any games while on the move.

You shouldn’t have any trouble typing on the Yoga 11 2, as we were big fans of its keyboard. The keys are positioned much nearer to the Yoga 11 2’s screen hinge than other laptops, but this helped keep our wrists away from the slightly hard edge of the keyboard tray. We made the odd mistake here and there due to its compact layout, but overall the keyboard gave a good level of tactile feedback and the keys were a sensible size and well-spaced for an 11.6in laptop.

We liked its responsive all-in-one touchpad as well. Our cursor was easy to control as we clicked to open files and Windows 8 shortcuts and multi-touch gestures all worked without a hitch.

The IdeaPad Yoga 11 2 is by far our favourite version of Lenovo’s 11in Yoga. There are more powerful laptops available for this price, but none are quite so portable. It’s a much better buy than the similarly-priced Lenovo Flex 15D thanks to its great screen and long battery life, and its unique hinge also makes it a much more flexible device than many of its rivals. Its poor graphics performance just holds it back from award-winning territory, but if you’re looking for a quick 11.6in laptop, the Yoga 11 2 could be for you.