Lenovo Yoga TAB 3 8-inch Review

Introduction

Android tablets as a whole have been seeing a tremendous slowdown over the last couple of years, nowhere close to the feverish levels of what they were a few years back with the segment’s genesis. Lenovo’s Yoga tablet series, surprisingly enough, has been on a consistent release over the last few years spawning a series of models since its introduction. With this latest 3rd generation model, some folks will be leery about the Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 8-inch’s specs reduction over its predecessors, but its significantly lower starting cost might make them think otherwise.

The package contains:

• Lenovo Yoga Tab
• microUSB cable
• Wall charger
• Users guide
• Warranty information

Design

The price is cheap, but the design makes it feel like it costs more.

The Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 8-inch replicates the same signature design of the series, but it mixes things up a bit because the chassis is now covered in a matte finish. The tablet’s weight has also increased, for better or worse.

Changes to its design include a new spring activated system for locking its kickstand in place. It’s a small new feature we know, but something that indicates refinement to its design. Another notable shakeup is the fact that there’s now a single, rotatable camera placed on its hinge, which is useful in not only positioning it precisely for a shot, but also knowing that you’re not getting an inferior camera for selfies as well. Aside from that, it still offers the same myriad of ‘yoga’ poses with its kickstand, to better have it propped for particular occasions – whether it’s typing something up, or merely kicking back and watching a video.

Display

Sporting a lower resolution screen, everything about it screams subpar.

In reaching its inexpensive cost, Lenovo had to reduce the display’s resolution over last year’s model, matching that of the first-generation Yoga tablet. What we have here is an 8-inch 800 x 1200 IPS-LCD display that seriously sores the eyes with its fuzzier looks – it’s just nowhere as sharp as the 1920 x 1200 resolution of the Yoga Tablet 2’s screen.

Looking at the display alone with our eyes, we can tell it’s attempting to divert our attention towards its overblown colors. Some might take fancy in that, but it doesn’t really produce realistic, real-world colors.

Diving deeper, its cold ~8100K color temperature, 1.99 gamma value, and peak brightness of 345 nits reflect the screen's unsatisfying characteristics. Throw in its weak viewing angles, it’s something that washes out and is nearly impossible to see on bright sunny days. Quite frankly, your eyes are going to need to work just a bit harder using this screen.