Skip the Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro and go for the Surface Pro 3 instead

A few days agone, I managed to choice upward a Yoga iii Pro to review for the site. Run across my unboxing and tour hither if you missed it. I am still feeling out the ultra slim Ultrabook, but I tin can already reply one question for yous. If you are choosing between ownership the Surface Pro 3 and the new Yoga, you should laissez passer on the Lenovo.

This conclusion is not to say the Yoga 3 Pro is bad, but rather I so far find it underwhelming. Let u.s.a. compare.

Processor

The Surface Pro 3 ships with an Intel Core i3, Core i5, or Core i7 Haswell processor. The Yoga 3 Pro, on the other hand, has a brand new Core M-lxx Broadwell.

Putting aside benchmarks and raw speeds for now, I tin can hands state that the Core i5 (and especially Core i7) are much faster in performance. The Core K then far has uneven functioning for applications, especially in Chrome browser (IE 11 fares much better). The Core M does well with Windows viii.1 Mod apps, which bodes well for the chip when it heads to tablets after this year, but for desktop apps it is not very impressive.

To give y'all a real-world reference, the Core M so far feels like an Cantlet processor to me. Of grade, you may be thinking 'Well, at least the battery life is better with the Core M and Lenovo, correct?' Wrong.

Battery

Lenovo claims "up to nine hours" with the Yoga 3 Pro. Now, I am always skeptical of those numbers, equally they are usually nether ideal conditions with many aspects of the hardware tuned down. The Yoga 3 Pro though can peradventure get five or half dozen hours tops from standard usage. This bombardment life is, of class, with the processor tuned down using the bombardment-saver mode and the display substantially dimmed.

Is the bombardment life terrible? Not when yous call back that this is a 2.six-pound Ultrabook. Nevertheless, this number is well below what Lenovo is advertising, and when you combine it with an uneven performance, at that place is no benefit. Indeed, I am quite positive my Surface Pro iii with a powerful Core i7 volition last longer, and that processor obliterates the Cadre Thousand for performance.

Display

The Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro comes with a 13.three-inch QHD+ display at 3200 x 1800 (276 PPI). The Surface Pro 3 has a smaller 12-inch display at a lower resolution 2160 ten 1440 (216 PPI). Putting aside your preference for size, the display on the Yoga 3 Pro is much better than its predecessor the Yoga ii Pro. The reason for that is Lenovo wisely went with a Samsung panel this time around, so there is no yellow colour-cast or other anomalies.

In terms of brightness, the Yoga three Pro is around 300 nits, while the Surface Pro 3 is upwardly of 370. Winner here would be the Surface.

Although 3200 x 1800 on the Yoga 3 Pro is impressive, even on my 15-inch Dell XPS 15 I find it a piffling overkill. There is also little uncertainty that powering such a loftier-resolution display taxes the battery, which I already suggested is non that swell on the Yoga iii.

In that location is a reason that the 11-inch MacBook Air even so ships with Apple's bottomless 1366 by 768 display(142 PPI) even in 2022, and that is to attain that ridiculous 12-hours of real-world usage. The Surface Pro 3 comes nowhere near that 12-hours of battery life that the MBA has, just it can effortlessly clasp out vii-8 hours.

Fan

Much to my surprise, the Yoga 3 Pro does take a fan in it, although a small tranquility one. The Surface Pro 3 also has a fan and it is known to come up on occasion, whirring up a piffling storm.

Both fans are repose though, particularly when compared to most laptops. Regardless, the Yoga 3 Pro's fan is on almost constantly. The Yoga'due south fan doesn't just plough on when it is warm, similar the Surface nether heavy workload, merely when browsing the web or using the Os. Information technology just feels odd.

Support

In the by, I have had decent support with Lenovo, simply others here have had other experiences. All I can say is if I had to choose between Microsoft and Lenovo for long-term hardware support, including firmware updates, I would choice Microsoft.

The Surface team has been aggressive in updating the firmware, optimizing performance, and getting Windows to hum nicely with their hardware. I am as well a big fan of buying through Microsoft, especially in their physical stores for two reasons: (ane) Signature experience with just the OS installed and no bloatware, (2) the very lenient return/exchange policy should yous have whatever bug.

Pen

Surface Pro 3 has one. Yoga 3 Pro does non.

Your mileage may vary on the "demand" for the Surface Pen, but for many people it is a pregnant selling bespeak.

Weight

Surface Pro 3: one.76-pounds (800 grams); ii.42-pounds (1097 grams) with Blazon Comprehend
Yoga 3 Pro: two.67-pounds (1211 grams)

Even with the Type Cover, the Surface Pro 3 is ten% lighter than the Yoga 3 Pro.

Thinness

Surface Pro 3: 0.iii-inches (ix.i mm); ~0.five-inches (12.8 mm) with Type Encompass
Yoga 3 Pro: 0.five-inches (12.viii mm)

In terms of how thin they are, both devices friction match up when you add the necessary keyboard to the Surface. Withal, the overall footprint of the Surface Pro iii is significantly smaller, partially due to the 1.3-inch smaller display.

Build quality

The Yoga iii Pro feels quite premium, and I cannot detect many faults with the overall quality. Nonetheless, the Surface Pro iii feels similar a feat of engineering science that information technology is. That stance is purely subjective, although I think many people would likely agree.

Price

Many people here were repulsed by the $1,394 price tag for the 256 GB Lenovo Yoga three Pro. In having endemic a few premium Ultrabooks, this toll did not daze me as it is in line with the finest in mobile PCs these days.

Now that I have used the Yoga 3 Pro for a couple of days, I cannot say I experience the price is worth it—at least not for the experienced battery and performance.

By comparison, a Surface Pro 3 starts at $799 for the Cadre i3 version simply is around $930 with the necessary Type Cover. To make more than things even, let united states bump it upwardly to the Core i5 version with 256 GB of storage, matching the Yoga three Pro:

Surface Pro 3 (Core i5, 256 GB, 8GB RAM) + Type Cover: $1,428.99
Yoga three Pro (Core M, 256 GB, 8 GB RAM): $ane,349.99

Okay, fair plenty, the Yoga 3 Pro comes in at $79 cheaper. Practice yourself the favor though, splurge on the extra $79 and go with the Surface. If y'all are a pupil, you tin shave off 10% ($142) off the Surface Pro 3 with Core i5 and 256 GB and save $63 versus the Yoga 3 Pro.

Conclusion

I should reiterate that I am not quite proverb the Yoga 3 Pro is a terrible device, but so far, I am underwhelmed by it. Sure, it is low-cal and thin, and some of information technology is swell (I love the facial ID recognition for unlocking the Os), but equally of now I am not in beloved with it. At least not nearly as much as I idea I would have been.

Perhaps my heed will alter some more than of the next few days, but as soon as I choice up and employ my Surface Pro 3, I immediately prefer information technology to the Yoga. For that reason, and those outlined above if you had to spend your money on one or the other, I think the Surface Pro three is a ameliorate bet. You acquire better battery life, a more powerful processor, and Microsoft'due south superior back up.

Moreover, equally cool as the Yoga 3 Pro is, the Surface Pro 3 is just cooler to use.

If yous are on a budget and would withal like something around thirteen-inches go for the excellent Dell XPS xiii (which I own too). You tin can choice up the Core i5 version with 8GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage for $899 at Microsoft. The xiii.three-inch display is infrequent, albeit a lower resolution at 1920 10 1080. Fifty-fifty compared to the Yoga iii Pro, I would catch this 3-pound (1.39 kg) Dell. You would go something much more affordable with a stronger processor, better battery, and the keyboard is awesome.

For more of my thoughts on the Surface Pro 3, you tin can read my full-review.

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