Lenovo Yoga Book

With its virtual keyboard and fantastic writing surface, the Yoga Book could be the blueprint for future laptops.

- Nathan Spendelow

When Lenovo first announced its fancy new 2-in-1 Yoga Book at IFA in September 2016, I got a little caught up in the mad rush of excitement. “Hybrid of the future” claims were bandied about the office, and I was in full agreement. After all, this is a device that looks truly different to everything else. Now that it’s here in my hands, I’m pleased to say Lenovo has created a unique hybrid worthy of the hype.

For starters, there’s no physical keyboard. Instead, there’s a virtual one with illuminated, futuristic looking keys that appear as though they’ve been pulled straight from an episode of Black Mirror. They vibrate when you tap them, giving a reassuring sense of haptic feedback as you type.

This isn’t a mere aesthetic touch, as the Yoga Book’s real party trick is its ability to turn that virtual keyboard into an electromagnetic resonance (EMR) writing surface, allowing you to draw or scribble down notes with its bundled stylus. Simply press the small stylus button in the top-right corner and the illuminated keys disappear, leaving plenty of room to play.

It’s incredibly versatile, and the lack of physical keys helped Lenovo to pare back the Yoga Book’s aluminium-magnesium-alloy chassis to a mere 9.6mm when closed, making it the world’s thinnest hybrid (or so Lenovo claims). At only 690g, the Yoga Book won’t weigh down your bag during travel either.

A new way of typing