Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 260 Review: a well-built Windows 10 device
Summary: If you’re looking for a well-built traditional notebook where the screen can be reversed for presentations and the occasional movie, then the ThinkPad Yoga 260 is a good choice for any business professional. You’re paying extra for the ThinkPad’s durability, included pen, and extra security features, and probably a little extra for the ThinkPad name, but you’re getting a bit extra in the bargain. Make sure you shop around, though, because there are other competitive options at this price point.
Introduction
As I mentioned in my Lenovo 700 review, I’ve never been a fan of the folding-style of 2-in-1 machines. I mentioned their thickness in tablet mode, and the oddity of feeling the keys on the underside of the “tablet.” The Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 260 is superior in this regard thanks to its disappearing Lift ‘n’ Lock keyboard mechanism. When you fold the display, the keys are sucked into the keyboard deck and held firmly in place. You can still feel the individual keys, but they don’t move, helping avoid the impression (no pun intended) that you’re going to inadvertently enter keystrokes.
Also, the Yoga 260 is a touch thinner and lighter than the Yoga 700, just enough that it’s comfortable enough for tablet use. I’ll comment more on the screen later, but the unit’s chassis and overall size is that much more comfortable. It’s still no Surface Pro 4 (or iPad Pro, although I don’t consider Apple’s tablet in the same class of machines), but I could see myself using the Yoga 260 as a tablet insofar as its size is concerned.
Generally speaking, the ThinkPad Yoga 260 is an attractive machine outside of one major flaw. Here are the review unit’s specs:
- Price as reviewed: 1,268.10, direct from Lenovo
- 12.5-inch 1920X1080 IPS display
- Intel Core i5-6200U CPU @2.30GHz
- 8GB RAM
- 256GB SSD
- Intel HD Graphics 520
- 720p HD Webcam, dual digital-array microphones, VoIP-enhanced, stereo speakers with Dolby Audio
- 44 watt hour li-polymer battery
- 2 USB 3.0, mini DisplayPort, HDMI, OneLink, microSD
- 12.2 x 8.6 x 0.7 inches, 2.9 lbs
- Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC8260 (2X2), Bluetooth 4.1
Design and Build
The Yoga 260 feels like the ThinkPad that it is, with a rubberized plastic coating that evokes confidence in handling and makes for a premium device. The “i” in ThinkPad lights up to indicate power states, blinking when the machine is in sleep mode, and that’s an elegant touch. The classic ThinkPad keyboard looks the part, as does the traditional red TrackPoint controller embedded in the middle of the keyboard. Overall, it looks and feels like a ThinkPad, and that’s a good thing.
In terms of durability, the Yoga 260 is built to MIL-STD-810G specifications, meaning it should be relatively resistant to temperature extremes, vibrations, altitude, and shock. The keyboard is resistant to spills, and so for someone like myself who has killed a handful of keyboards with spilled coffee, that’s a real plus. The display’s back is made of carbon fiber, and the chassis is magnesium alloy. The screen exhibited just a touch of flex, but otherwise the overall design and build is quite solid.
Screen
If the Yoga 260 has a flaw, it’s this: the widescreen display in this form factor is just bad. I mentioned the same with the Yoga 700, and this really applies to all widescreen tablets. For some reason, it just stuck out to me as worse on the higher-end ThinkPad Yoga 260. Maybe it’s because the screen has such huge bezels, proportionally, and when you use it in tablet portrait mode it looks and feels ridiculous.
I’m sorry if I come across as harsh here, but I just can’t understand why Lenovo wouldn’t have figured out a way to stick in a 3:2 ratio screen. There’s more than enough space, and it’s not like there wasn’t precede–Microsoft had already shown the way by adopting 3:2 starting with the Surface Pro 3, which makes the screen in portrait mode feel like a piece of 8.5″X11″ paper.
The Yoga 260’s widescreen display in portrait is tall and thin, however, and surrounded by that massive bezel. The Lenovo feels like I’m using my 8″ Dell Venue 8 Pro, only with a relatively massive 12.5″ screen and–I’m repeating myself here–those huge bezels. Everything just feels wrong, and so I can’t imagine ever using it in portrait mode for taking notes or reading PDFs–or generally any of the ways that I use a tablet in portrait.
Outside of the unfortunate aspect ratio, the screen is also disappointing in terms of color and contrast. Nothing particularly pops, and it’s simply less than I’d expect on a relatively high-end machine. It’s passably bright, I suppose, and so that’s a positive. Once again, I think I’m terribly spoiled by the excellent screen on my Surface Pro 4, and judging by that standard the screen is pretty poor. This isn’t a 500 notebook, it’s a 1200 ThinkPad, and Lenovo has done it a real disservice by sourcing this particular panel. The screen’s only real positive is that it’s matte, meaning glare is minimized.
I’ll make note of a specific issue I ran into on my review unit: no matter what I did, I couldn’t get auto-rotate to work. Whether in tablet mode or desktop mode, I was forced to go into the display settings and manually switch from landscape to portrait or back again. The option to set automatic rotation was nowhere to be found. I managed to hunt down and install a Lenovo utility that is supposed to enable auto-rotation, but I couldn’t get that to work, either. This is either a bug with my review unit or an unfortunate omission on a machine that’s intended to double as a tablet.
In terms of touch, the Yoga 260’s display was perfectly responsive. Touch actions were crisp and accurate and multitouch gestures work perfectly well. In any of the machine’s multiple formats, the touch screen made for a good experience.
Performance
If there’s one thing I’ve noticed in working with modern notebooks, the combination of a 6th-gen Core processor (a Core i5-6200U CPU in this case), 8GB of RAM, and a speedy SSD naturally results in a well-performing machine that’s more than capable of handling most professional and consumer requirements. Yes, you’ll have trouble rendering the next Pixar feature film, and you won’t want to play Rise of the Tomb Raider on the Yoga 260, but for just about everything else the machine should offer more than sufficient performance.
I found thermal management to be adequate, but the machine does vent hot air towards the bottom rear. The vent doesn’t point straight down into your lap, but the hot air can get just a touch uncomfortable at times. It’s superior to the Yoga 700 in my opinion, but once again Microsoft’s Surface design with the vents blowing out of the top of the screen is a superior implementation. Compared to the traditional notebook, though, I didn’t find the Yoga 260 to be any better or worse in terms of heat production.
Battery life
I used the Yoga 260 as I would any other productivity machine, including browsing, taking notes, writing copy, and editing some photos. I also watched a bit of YouTube video and played some casual Windows 10 games. All in all, I enjoyed about six hours of work before getting a low-power notification. Unlike competitors such as Dell’s XPS 13 and Apple’s MacBook Air, the Yoga 260 likely wouldn’t get me through a full 8-hour workday.
Keyboard and Touchpad
The ThinkPad Yoga 260 has the traditional ThinkPad keyboard that it looks the part. However, it’s also the first ThinkPad keyboard I’ve used in years, and I can’t say it feels the way I remember a ThinkPad keyboard feeling. It’s a good keyboard, certainly, with sufficient key travel and spacing. The keys are sculpted like ThinkPad keyboards became in later generations. But it’s a little spongier than I remember from past ThinkPad keyboards experiences, and less clicky.
I simply didn’t find myself blown away. Is that because other manufacturers have caught up with Lenovo (or, rather, the ThinkPad) in designing excellent keyboards? Perhaps it is, because competing systems like the Dell XPS 13 are just as good if not better.
On the plus side, the keyboard deck has minimal flex, which is always a positive in my book. The keyboard layout is fairly standard, and so I was quickly up to my typical 80 wpm. Ultimately, I was both satisfied with the keyboard and underwhelmed by it. I suppose I simply expected better, for right or wrong.
The touchpad is large and comfortable, and the more I use modern Windows touchpads, the more convinced I am that Apple’s lost their advantage in this regard. Movements were smooth and controlled, multitouch gestures worked reliably, and palm rejection was perfect.
I didn’t use the TrackPoint controller much, having never liked the ThinkPad’s reliance on this controller. This one works as usual, and you’ll either love it or hate it like all similar nubs. And as usual, the inclusion of a set of buttons above the touchpad seem odd to me. Nothing that would get in the way of getting work done, mind, you, they’re simply an extraneous bit that I could just as easily do without.
Pen
The Yoga 260 comes with a ThinkPad Pen Pro, a small active stylus that feels more like the one that ships with Samsung Note phablets than Microsoft’s Surface Pen. It’s a Wacom device, and it offers 2,048 levels of pressure sensitivity, which bests the 1,024 levels of the Surface Pen. The pen feels good in the hand and I found that I could write as well with it as I could on my Surface Pro 4; I’m no artist, however, and can’t really attest to how will-suited it is for electronic drawing.
The pen’s diminutive size does support one nice feature: the pen slips into a port in the Yoga 260’s base, where it’s recharged. That means that the pen is less likely to get lost, and it’s more likely to remain charged and ready to use as well. By Lenovo’s measuring stick, the ThinkPad Pen Pro should last 19 hours on a single 20 second charge, and while I didn’t use it until it ran out, I don’t have any reason to doubt Lenovo’s claims.
The included WRITEit app adds the ability to handwrite in any window and have the transcribed text copy over to another application. It’s not so easy to use the app for entering information in small blocks (say, entering a URL in a browser), but it’s likely a decent enough solution for handwriting information into text editors and such. Of course, the pen supports direct handwriting in apps like OneNote and Edge that support inking in general, and for that purpose the Pen Pro is perfectly acceptable. Not to beat a dead horse, but again it’s too bad that Lenovo didn’t make use of the available room for a 3:2 screen–taking notes on such a thin strip of screen felt unnatural.
Speakers
The dual speakers are mounted in the hinge, and didn’t get muffled in pretty much any placement. Volume was fine, for watching movies in a relatively quiet room, but I wouldn’t expect to entertain guests with any thumping soundtracks. I’d rate the speakers as acceptable but a little tinny and lacking in bass, but passable for notebook speakers. Lenovo ships the machines with Dolby Audio on-board, and by tweaking things the sound quality can be improved just just a touch.
Additional Features
The Yoga 260 is equipped with a few additional features. Mainly, security is exceptionally well-ccovered with TPM encryption, a Smart card reader, and a fingerprint sensor. Bundled software includes the aforementioned WRITEit! Software, Lenovo Companion (update utility), Lenovo Settings (configuration utility for hardware buttons), and Lenovo ID (exclusive Lenovo features).
Conclusion
The Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 260 is an odd beast. It has much of what makes a ThinkPad a special machine, such as a very good (although not great) keyboard, the choice of two different finger-based input methods, tons of security, and a very solid build. It’s well-spec’d and fairly competitive within its price class in terms of overall performance. The ability to switch between traditional notebook, tablet, presentation, and tent modes makes it a versatile option.
However, the screen’s poor colors are disappointing. In addition, the choice of a widescreen display rather than the much more comfortable (for a tablet) 3:2 aspect ratio severely limits the Yoga 260’s experience as a tablet in portrait mode. Seriously, those huge bezels look downright silly on such a high-end machine.
In the final analysis, if you’re looking for a well-built and comfortable traditional notebook, and want the versatility to use it in presentation mode, then the Yoga 260 is a solid choice. If you want to use a machine as a tablet in portrait mode, then the machine becomes a less-than-optimal solution. It’s light and thin enough that it would be perfectly acceptable for reading and annotating, but screen’s aspect ratio severely limits it’s functionality in this regard.
Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 260 Review
Just another black box. That’s how the uninitiated tend to describe Lenovo’s ThinkPad series of devices. Those of us who’ve spent more than a passing moment know the truth. That durable black frame is unassuming. ThinkPad machines are battle tested, durable, faster notebooks built for the mobile warrior. The 989 Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 260 doesn’t buck the trend. It’s a Windows 2-in-1 that’s stuffed with extras and understands that looks aren’t everything. Available online for purchase from Newegg, the ThinkPad Yoga is thin and light, but includes the latest Intel Core i5 and Intel Core i7 Processors. It’s definitely a thin and light notebook first, but it brings some improved tablet tricks that older devices didn’t have. I like the Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 260. I suspect a lot of other people will too, and they won’t have a problem with its matte black frame.
Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 260 Review – Design Internals
When Lenovo set out to make an incredibly thin and light ThinkPad notebook with a lot of features, it didn’t play around. The Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga is about the size of a real one subject notebook. Even better, it’s just as light as one, weighing 2.9 pounds. From top to bottom it measures.70-inches. As for the design itself, what I’d describe as the hallmarks of the ThinkPad experience aren’t changed in the ThinkPad Yoga 260. The lid of the ThinkPad Yoga 260 is black with a ThinkPad logo and status light on the right edge and the Lenovo word mark embossed on the left edge.
All ports are on the edges of the ThinkPad Yoga 260, with power, OnePlus port, DisplayPort and USB 3.0 on the left. The USB 3.0 port can charge other devices when the notebook is closed and in sleep. On the right edge are a full-size HDMI port, another USB 3.0 port, MicroSD port, SIM Card port and combo audio jack on the right edge. The OnePlus port is for quickly docking accessories to the device with just a single cable. Volume buttons and a power button are on the right edge of the device too because the Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 260 has metal hinges that allow its touch-screen display to fold backward. The ThinkPad Yoga 260 is also a tablet. As you fold the screen backward, the still ridiculously nice ThinkPad keyboard retracts to make this mode more comfortable. This hinge also makes Stand and Tent Mode possible, for presentations and video watching.
Internals
Thin notebooks don’t necessarily have the best internals. Notebooks with the latest internals don’t always have the thinnest profile. Throwaway those notions for the ThinkPad Yoga 260, the internals that you want are an option – provided that you aren’t looking to render video or play games with a discrete graphics card. Models come with either a high-definition 12.5-inch display with a resolution of 1366 x 768 or a full 12.5-inch FHD display that’s capable of 1080P video. Configurations can come with either an Intel Core i5 or Intel Core i3 processor. 16GB of RAM is an option for heavy multitaskers too. A 512GB solid state drive is a possible addition too, though not the default. What does come default is Bluetooth 4.1, TrackPoint sensor, spacious trackpad, Wi-Fi, and a fingerprint reader. The model I used had 8GB of storage, 8GB of RAM, an Intel Core i5 Processor and 256GB of solid state storage.
Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 260 Review – Experience
As a thin and portable notebook PC, the ThinkPad Yoga 260 checks all the boxes. Full days were spent at Starbucks, writing away, free from a power cable and all. I loved it. Productivity apps – Microsoft Word, a web browser and even Photoshop Elements – worked just fine on the notebook. The machine was whisper quiet during almost every task. The ThinkPad keyboard, trackpad and TrackPoint weren’t anything out of the ordinary for a ThinkPad notebook. That is to say, they were fantastic. Each key is springy and comfortable without it sounding like you’re tap-dancing on a table as you type. As for being a tablet, the ThinkPad Yoga 260’s lack of girth lends itself well to it. Smartly, Lenovo didn’t make the power button stick out from the machine. As such, you don’t accidentally end up turning the machine off. Volume button placement is fine too, with only the placement of the headphone jack standing out as awkward in a tablet situation. Also awkward is the capacitive Windows button that sits below the ThinkPad Yoga’s display and adds to a really sizable bezel. The wide bezel does mean that you don’t have to worry about touching the display accidentally when you hold it in Tablet Mode. Your thumbs will have to work a little harder to tap something when you’re using the device in portrait mode.
Sitting in an alcove just to the left of the ThinkPad Yoga 260’s volume buttons is the ThinkPen. This stylus is a standout feature for the Windows 2-in-1. It’s less like an actual pen than the Surface Pen, with side buttons and a thin profile. On the other hand, it’s more pressure sensitive than the Surface Pen and recharges in that alcove from the notebook’s battery. Lenovo pairs the pen with its own Write software, which is serviceable. The time it takes for a pen stroke to surface on-screen with the ThinkPen is minimal. Lag is always a worry with any digital stylus. This being a business notebook, Lenovo keeps the software pack-ins to a minimum beyond Write. The company does include a software utility for enhancing battery life and swapping audio settings. The utility even allows the ThinkPad Yoga 260 to double as a wireless router for other devices. Location awareness is built into the app too; letting you change some of the notebook’s settings based on your location. I don’t just like this feature. I love this feature. Windows 7 and Windows 10 are both options, though I urge everyone to go with Windows 10. It’s more stylus and finger friendly. I’ve beat up on Lenovo for including too many software extras for a long time. I’m glad to see them making some significant progress in the apps that they do choose to install. Lenovo hands over control of the built-in fingerprint reader to Microsoft with Windows 10. The operating system uses the reader as a quick way to login and authorize purchases with Windows Hello. The fingerprint reader on the ThinkPad Yoga 260 worked the first time, every time.
Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 260 Review – Should You Buy?
The Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 260 is an amazing device. Its thin profile makes it just as convenient to carry as any tablet, honestly. You get the battery life of a tablet too, something Windows 2-in-1s still fail to do today. The touchpad is accurate and the keyboard is fantastic, as they always are. If you’re looking for a Windows 2-in-1, this is your machine. I love the ThinkPad Yoga 260, I absolutely love it.
Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 260
Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 260 is a Windows 10 laptop with a 12.50-inch display that has a resolution of 1366×768 pixels. It is powered by a Core i5 processor and it comes with 8GB of RAM. The Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 260 packs 256GB of HDD storage.
Connectivity options include Wi-Fi 802.11 ac, Bluetooth and it comes with 2 USB ports, HDMI Port, Multi Card Slot, Headphone and Mic Combo Jack, VGA Port, Mic In, RJ45 (LAN), RJ11 ports.
As of 30th May 2023, Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 260 price in India starts at Rs. 282,659.
Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 260 Price in India
| Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga 260 Laptop (8GB RAM, 256GB HDD, Intel Core i7, Black, 12.5 inch) | ₹ 282,659 |
| Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga 260 Laptop (Windows 10, 8GB RAM, 256GB HDD, Intel Core i3, Black, 12.5 inch) | ₹ 382,428 |
Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 260 price in India starts from ₹ 282,659. The lowest price of Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 260 is ₹ 282,659 at Amazon on 30th May 2023.
Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 260 Full Specifications
| Brand | Lenovo |
| Model | ThinkPad Yoga 260 |
| Price in India | ₹282,659 |
| Model Number | 260 |
| Series | ThinkPad Yoga |
| Dimensions (mm) | 343.00 x 38.40 x 8.90 |
| Weight (kg) | 2.2 |
| Colours | Black |
| Operating system | Windows 10 |
| Number of USB Ports | 2 |
| HDMI Port | Standard |
| Multi Card Slot | SD Card Reader |
| Headphone and Mic Combo Jack | Yes |
| VGA Port | Yes |
| Mic In | Yes |
| RJ45 (LAN) | Yes |
| RJ11 | Yes |
Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 260 Competitors
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Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 260 User Review and Ratings
The reason I purchased this Ultrabook vs a Surface Pro 4:- I can upgrade the memory and SSD, and add a broadband card later when I have the money. With the surface pro, I would have to accept what I could afford at that moment in time as upgrading the Surface Pro is really not an option (for me).- The battery for this unit can be easily replaced.- It has 2 USB slots (which gives me options).- Price. 800 (much cheaper than Pro 4)Some items after purchase:- It is heavier and bigger than the Surface Pro (including the keyboard)- It is a little bulky to hold in tablet mode.- In tablet mode, I can see smudges (more so than on my iPad), and even more in laptop mode.- I really like the feel of the case, feels sturdy.
Everything I expected, and more. The speed of the laptop is amazing. I still remember Windoze 3.1 and the speed that you could measure with a sundial. Touchscreen, pen and tablet. Although in the tablet mode, it feels a little awkward. Great bang for the buck.
Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 260
Lenovo narrowly misses the mark here: the Yoga 260 is close to being the ideal business-orientated convertible laptop but a mediocre-quality screen means it just falls short of the bigtime.
TechSpot Metascore
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Reviewers Liked
- Excellent productivity and graphics performance
- Vibrant 1080p screen
- Beautiful IPS display
- Business class build quality
- Good connectivity options
- Very good pen experience
Reviewers Didn’t Like
- Mediocre results on some multimedia tests
- Light, but not light enough to replace a dedicated tablet
- Battery life could be better
- Pen is a little small for adult hands
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Expert reviews and ratings
“The ThinkPad Yoga 260 is a tough, versatile and compact hybrid that’s worth every.
Lenovo Yoga 260 – Performance When it comes to computing performance, the Yoga 260 is typical of a slim and light laptop – which is to say it’s great for most day-to-day tasks, but will struggle a little with super-intensive workloads such as video.
Lenovo narrowly misses the mark here: the Yoga 260 is close to being the ideal business-orientated convertible laptop but a mediocre-quality screen means it just falls short of the bigtime.
The Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 260 is an excellent business-oriented convertible-hybrid laptop with best-in-class performance in a lightweight, but sturdy.
This convertible brings back the good stuff from Lenovo’s earlier business Yogas—a keyboard that flattens out in tablet mode, excellent ergonomics—and adds long battery life to the mix. (Plus, a silver version!) Read.
The word ThinkPad might conjure memories of bulky business laptops designed to handle whatever a mobile workforce can throw at it, but Lenovo’s ThinkPad Yoga 260 is a thin and light convertible Ultrabook will just about every bell and whistle you need.
Unsurprisingly, the ThinkPad Yoga 260 is a very good laptop but, at best, an imperfect.
The ThinkPad Yoga 260 tugs at my purse-strings in a way that few other business laptops do. It’s a great size and weight for carrying around every day, doesn’t compromise with a rubbish keyboard or touchpad, and the combination of the ingenious Yoga.
The Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 260 is a strong business ultraportable with a top-notch keyboard and an included stylus for the touch.
See related HP EliteBook Folio 1020 review: Fabulously beautiful, painfully expensiveDell XPS 13 9350 review: The Windows ultraportable, perfectedThe ThinkPad Yoga 260 tugs at my purse-strings in a way that few other business laptops do. It’s a great.
The smallest version of the Yoga 260 already costs 1131 Euros (~1234) in Lenovo‘s shop. It comes with an IPS HD panel (touch, matte), a Core i3 and a 128 GB SSD. The review sample is priced at 1480 Euros (~1614) with higher configurations (16 GB RAM.
The Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 260 is an odd beast. It has much of what makes a ThinkPad a special machine, such as a very good (although not great) keyboard, the choice of two different finger-based input methods, tons of security, and a very solid build.
We’re back again with yet another laptop review; specifically, the review of the Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 260, a versatile, lightweight, business ultrabook. Lenovo continues to push out excellent computer products from the low end to the high end. While.
