The Lenovo Yoga Book was probably one of the strangest computers to launch in 2016. At first glance, the Yoga Book looks like a laptop with a convertible design that lets you tuck the keyboard behind the screen for use in tablet mode,

But take a closer look and you’ll notice something funny about the keyboard: it’s not really a keyboard.

Instead, the Yoga Book features a “Create Pad,” which is basically a touch-sensitive Wacom tablet that you can use with a digital pen for writing or drawing. There’s also a “halo keyboard” mode that you can enable by tapping a button to display the outlines of virtual keys that you can hit with your fingers.

Lenovo offered the Yoga Book with a choice of Windows or Android software, with prices starting at $499 at launch. In 2017 Lenovo introduced a cheaper model with a bigger screen.

And now it seems like a 2nd-gen Yoga Book could be on the way.

Bluetooth SIG

On the one hand, that’s not surprising. When Lenovo launched the first Yoga Book devices, the company said it was pushing this new form factor for a new category of devices, with plans to launch a number of models in the coming years.

On the other hand, the Yoga Book has never received stellar reviews, the keyboard is kind of tough to get used to, and Lenovo already scrapped plan to launch a Chrome OS Yoga Book.

That said, a recent listing at the Bluetooth SIG website describes a new Lenovo Precision Pen that’s designed to work with an unannounced device called a YogaBook2 Pro.

It’s hard to imagine that’s anything other than a next-gen Yoga Book.

Lenovo Yoga Book (1st-gen)

There’s no word on what new features the latest model has. The name suggests that it’ll be another convertible tablet/notebook-style device with pen input. I would expect a processor upgrade (the original Yoga Book had an Intel Atom Cherry Trail processor). And maybe Lenovo has figured out how to make a Wacom tablet that’s actually comfortable to use as a keyboard… or maybe the company has a new design for its 2nd-gen model.

But Lenovo already sells a number of convertible notebooks with physical keyboards under its Yoga and ThinkPad Yoga lines, so if the company is keeping the Yoga Book name alive, it seems likely that there will be something to differentiate this new computer from Lenovo’s other notebooks. So maybe the Create Pad is coming back.

via TabletMonkeys

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8 replies on “Lenovo may be developing a Yoga Book 2 Pro for some reason”

  1. Another person here that loves their Yoga Book.

    Several things I’d like: Chrome OS instead of Android, pen support on the screen instead of on the “Create Pad”, and USB C.

    But honestly, I use it like an Android tablet that occasionally has a keyboard that’s better than using the touch screen. It didn’t take much to adapt to the keyboard. This device has such a slim profile for a laptop-like form factor. Slips into my day pack, camera bag and satchel very nicely.

  2. I’ve got the Android version, not an artist, I use it for notes at work, planning out reports for uni, marking up engineering drawings.. I just used it last week to drive a PowerPoint presentation. I’m all for a new version!

    Keyboard isn’t hard to get used to either. Sure I can’t type as fast as I would on a normal keyboard, but it still works well

  3. If it has better connectivity, faster processor and preferably more RAM I’m sold. Windows version please.

  4. I love mine too. I run the windows version. I do carry around a small bluetooth keyboard with it, that fits directly over the halo keyboard but does not cover the touch pad if I am going to be typing longer. I love it so much as a tablet, for reading comics, consuming media and light work, that I am thinking my next real laptop wont be a convertible. I would rather have the yoga and a standard ultrabook than a big 2 in one that is two large to comfortably use as a tablet.

    My major complaints with the device are only 1 USB micro port, that is also used for charging, and it charges painfully slow. And there is an issue coming out of sleep that messes up the wifi and usually requires going in and out of airplane mode to fix.

    I would be very happy to see a successor with USB C, faster processor, edge to edge 11 in display (but not higher resolution 1080p is fine.

    1. You have to use the default charger. Using a normal 5v 2.1 (even 2.4) charger takes three to four times longer (with default charger it can get to ninety something in less than two hours). It has some fast charging tech that’s incompatible error QuickCharge (since it’s not Qualcomm) and incompatible with the Hendrick quick fast charge solutions I’ve tried.

      And yeah, I’d totally be on board with your upgrades.

  5. Personally I love mine (android version). If I rest my palms properly asking the edge I get my hands into a position where I can touch type better than I could ever type with an on-screen keyboard but I don’t have to worry about damage to the physical keys when folded back and it’s slimmer to boot. I would love one slightly larger (so I could use a notepad with a paper size closer to A4 and have more drawing space). The thing is I had a clear idea of what I wanted this for and what it was capable of. I still use a physical keyboard at home but this is great on the go.my only gripes are 1) the lack of 10-bit hevc video support and 2) weak processor. But I knew about the limitations before buying it (and there really are no alternatives).

    If they released a new one with chrome OS and a Snapdragon 660 or 710 it’s be perfect (or any chipset more powerful than that but preferably ARM for android app compatibility). For a Windows version ARM would only be reasonable if they worked with the developers of apps that would benefit from this kind of device to port them to ARM. Oh, and upping the RAM wouldn’t hurt.

    Oh. The only thing I that actually disappointed me was that the screencast feature was worthless when I came to video (for text and art it was serviceable as the image would eventually fix itself). But I’m guessing that came down to the atom processor.

  6. I can’t help but think that the tech media “had it out” for Lenovo and the Yoga Book. No reliable tech journalist criticizes a tablet for having only an on-screen keyboard, (but they criticized the YB for having an off-screen keyboard). They wouldn’t complain about lack of key travel on that on-screen keyboard, lack of being able to rest fingers on the home row, etc. And yet these same people complained about the Halo keyboard… failing to mention that the keyboard (unlike the onscreen keyboard) did not use up screen real estate. If some old geezer like me could “get” what Lenovo was doing, I find it hard to believe that the experts couldn’t.

    They seemed to ignore the benefits that the Halo keyboard offered, such as backlighting (a physical necessity in this case), or that when it is folded back on itself, that the smooth keyboard let the YB feel like a more traditional tablet. (instead of fingers resting on physical keys of other 2-in-1s)

    They didn’t seem to know that the Pen could be used on the createPad/Halo keyboard with pressure sensitivity *AND* directly on the screen itself (but without pressure sensitivity or palm rejection).

    That’s just to name a few things. It’s almost as if they took a look at the YB, couldn’t pigeonhole it, so they shrugged it off.

    I have the Android version of the YB, and except for the limitations of the quality of Android apps, this thing more capable than my iPad Pro. Offer a ChromeOS version and this thing would be near perfect for me.

  7. The group that this device really resonated with was creative types and graphic artists and most of the reviews coming from that niche community indicated that the display and the Wacom pen input were all spot on and excellent for sketching and light artwork. Ultimately, the processor was just too weak and the storage too low to be anything other than a mobile drawing pad, so an upgrade to the internals might be what the doctor ordered.

    Hopefully they revisit the Chrome OS powered one for the rest of us eventually, integrating the cool writing and note taking features from the Android version of the tablet into Chrome OS somehow. With the existing convertibles and the upcoming Chromebook tablets, the time is right to add another attractive candidate to the the ranks.

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