Introduction
Lenovo is having quite the showing at IFA 2016, too. The Moto Z lineup gets another member - the midrange Moto Z Play, accompanied by a 10x zoom Hasselblad camera True Zoom MotoMod, and theres a couple of new sleek Yoga convertibles (or three, if you count the Yoga Books Android and Windows versions separately).
Before we move on to our impressions, the usual rundown of the key specs is in order.
Lenovo Moto Z Play at a glance
- 5.5", Super AMOLED display of 1920x1080 pixels resolution, 403ppi
- Metal frame, glass back, water repellent nano-coating
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 chipset, octa-core 2.0GHz Cortex-A53 CPU; Adreno 506 GPU, 3GB RAM
- Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow with Moto Display, Moto Actions and Moto Voice
- 16MP c amera with f/2.0 aperture, dual-color LED flash, Laser + PDAF; 4K video recording
- 5MP front-facing camera with f/2.2 aperture, Perfect Makeup mode
- 3,510 mAh Li-Ion battery
- SIM + microSD card slot combo tray (up to 2TB)
- USB Type-C for charging and data transfer, 3.5mm headphone jack (unlike the other Moto Zs), magnetic connectors on the back for attaching MotoMods
Hasselblad True Zoom MotoMod at a glance
- 12MP Type 1/2.3" BSI CMOS sensor, 1.55 micron pixel size, ISO100-3200
- 10x optical zoom, 25-250mm equivalent focal length, f/3.5-6.5 aperture range
- Optical image stabilization for stills, electronic stabilization for video
- 1080p/30fps video recording
- Xenon flash
- Uses the phones battery and storage
- Compatible with Moto Z, Moto Z Force, and Moto Z Play
Then there is the Yoga Book , coming in your choice of OS, either Android Marshmallow, or Windows 10 Pro. For this 2 in 1 Lenovo chose to scrap the physical keyboard altogether, for better or worse, and instead go with a touch sensitive pad, which doubles as a virtual keyboard.
Lenovo Yoga Book at a glance
- 10.1" IPS LCD display of 1,920x1,200 pixels resolution, 224ppi
- Metal build, 2 in 1 form factor, capacitive touch sensitive pad, virtual keyboard
- Real Pen stylus, 2048 degrees of pressure
- Intel Atom x5-Z8550 chipset, 2.4GHz quad-core CPU
- Wi-Fi ac, LTE, GPS
- Android 6.0 Marshmallow / Windows 10 Pro
- 8MP main camera, 2MP front-facing camera
- 8,500mAh Li-Po battery
- Thin (9.6mm) and light (690g)
For a more conventional laptop experience there is the Yoga 910 - still fully convertible, but with a proper keyboard instead.
Lenovo Yoga 910 at a glance
- 13.9" IPS LCD display of 3,840x2,160 pixels resolution, 317ppi
- Aluminum body, 2 in 1 form factor, backlit keyboard
- Top configuration with Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD
- Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 4.1
- Up to Windows 10 Pro
- 720p webcam
- 1x USB 3.0 Type-C, 1x USB 2.0 Type-C, 1x USB 3.0, audio combo jack
- Fingerprint reader
- JBL stereo speakers with Dolby Audio Premium
- 1.4kg weight, 8.8mm thickness
Well kick off on the next page with the Moto Z Play and Hasselblad True Zoom Combo, as its right up our alley, but the Yogas did get a few moments of hands-on time, so well share those as well.
Moto Z Play hands-on
The Moto Z Play is the latest member of the Z lineup this year complementing the Moto Z proper and Moto Z Force (add a Dr oid moniker to those if youre in the US). The Moto Z Play carries a lot of the family traits, including the magnetic connectors on the back and sizable camera hump.
Lenovo chose to announce a new Hasselblad-branded MotoMod alongside the Moto Z Play and thats the big news this time.
But first things first. The Moto Z Play is a midrange smartphone that looks a lot like its more upmarket brethren with one notable difference - the back panel isnt made of metal, but glass.
The Play is as thick as the Force at 7mm, and consequently thicker than the regular Moto Zs 5.2mm. In terms of weight, its 165g are virtually identical to the Forces 163g, both substantially heavier than the Moto Z (136g) - its not just the numbers, the difference can be felt in real life.
5.5-inch FullHD AMOLED on the front • Glass panel on the back
Control placement is the same as the other Moto Zs and that means a textured power button on the right with volume up and down above it. The SIM/microSD card slot is on the top, and on the bottom next to the Type-C port there is a pleasant surprise - a 3.5mm headphone jack, which is missing on the higher-end models.
Bare lef t side • Buttons on the right • Card slot up top • Type-C USB and a 3.5mm jack on the bottom
On the front you have a fingerprint sensor below the display (not a Home button, mind you), which isnt to love from a looks standpoint, but does work quickly. The front-facing camera and the flash that accompanies it have traded sides on the Moto Z Play, compared to the other two models, but other than that, theyre the same.
Square fingerprint reader • Front-facing flash
Hasselblads True Zoom snaps onto the back of the Moto Z Play (or any other of the Moto Zs, for that matter) just like the other MotoMods - via the magnetic connectors on the phones back. Note that the add-on covers the handsets own cam era completely - you need to remove the True Zoom in order to use the built-in shooter.
True Zoom detached
With the Hasselblad on, the ensemble looks and feels a lot like a dedicated point-and-shoot camera, only with a very large display. Its quite hefty - the True Zoom is 145g on its own and simple math gives us a total of 310g.
The thing feels very well put together and handles nicely - the experience is miles ahead of single-handedly taking photos with a phone alone. The two stage-shutter button is also a boon to photography enthusiasts.
The 10x zoom lens extends when powered up, and zooming all the way to maximum telephoto makes it stick out even further, but thats to be expected. The 25-250mm zoom range is very u seful, stretching from wide-angle for landscapes well into telephoto when you just cant get closer to your subject.
Even with a small 1/2.3" sensor such a range comes at the expense of aperture and the True Zoom is quite dim - f/3.5-6.5 means youd better have plenty of light. The optical image stabilization should help, but even so outdoor in bright daylight sounds like the best environment for the Hasselblad.
Moto Z Play + True Zoom
We snapped some photos with the Hasselblad, naturally, and had a Galaxy Note7 for compariso ns. The two have obviously exposed somewhat differently, but the Note7 benefits from its wider aperture, allowing it to use a faster shutter speed, thus minimizing the possibility for camera shake and motion blur.
The first set of images was shot at medium distance with no flash, while for the second pair we went up close and turned on the flashes.
Photo comparison: Hasselblad True Zoom • Note 7 • Hasselblad True Zoom • Note 7
We also shot a bunch of other things with the Hasselbla d to try and get a feel for its capabilities, but were not exactly thrilled. That said, venue floors are never the best spot to examine a cameras performance, so we wont be judging it harshly for now.
Hasselblad True Zoom samples
Thats all we got from the Moto Z Play/Hassleblad True Zoom pair. Join us on the next page for some Yoga.
Lenovo Yoga Book hands-on
The Yoga Book is quite a head turner - after all you dont get to see 2 in 1 convertibles with virtual keyboards everyday. Thats right, this one doesnt have a physical keyboard - instead, the entire non-display half of the device is a capacitive touch-sensitive area, that can function in a few different ways, depending on what you want to do with it.
Lenovo Yoga Book
Sure, you can use it for typing, though its obviously an experience very remote to typing on an actual keyboard. In this case a keyboard is projected on the pad (Lenovo has dubbed it a Halo keyboard), but you have no tactile feedback as to when a key has been pressed - haptic isnt quite the same. Also, what sense does it make to have virtual bumps on the F and J keys, when you cant possibly feel them?
A similar issue arises when using the touchpad. Putting aside the fact that its quite small, you have no way of knowing where it ends other than looking at it, and you may often end up pressing the space button.
Virtual keyboard has its issues
For all the downsides a virtual keyboard brings, the capacitive pad on the Yoga Book has a few neat tricks that you just cant get otherwi se.
The device comes bundled with what Lenovo calls the Real Pen. It has interchangeable tips (ink pen, and pencil, for example) and you can use it to write or draw with actual ink on actual paper on top of the touch-sensitive pad, and the Yoga Book will digitize it for you. Theres a clip to hold your paper in place, too.
Ink digitized
But if you think paper is obsolete, you can always just go ahead and use the Real Pen directly on the Creative Pad itself. That way the you can use both hands at the same time, drawing with one, and using the other on the display to do stuff around the interface. Its a little counter intuitive to draw in one place, and have the result appear in another, though.
The Yoga Book can be had in one of two OS flavors - either Windows 10, or Android Marshmallow. A cool bit about the Androi d version is that Lenovo has implemented a window mode support - that should arrive natively with Nougat, but Lenovo apparently has custom-built it in.
A couple of Yoga Books: Window 10 variant on the left • Android Marshmallow on the right
Also be sure to check out the brief video below for more on the Yoga Book.
Lenovo Yoga 910 hands-on
We also spent some time with the Yoga 910 - a more serious machine by all accounts. This one has a proper keyboard, a usable-sized display, and in its top spec it ca n be equipped with a Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM and a terabyte of SSD storage.
Lenovo Yoga 910 next to the Yoga Book
It has a great display, 4K resolution is obviously very sharp at that 13.9-inch diagonal, and the minimal bezels on three out of four sides really make it stand out.
Yoga 910: thin bezels • convertible convenience
After the odd experience on the Yoga Books virtual keyboard, the one on the 910 was a joy to use, and we appreciated the groove that the dedicated touchpad has to let fingertips know where its boundaries are. Theres also a fingerprint reader on the 910 for an extra bit of security.
Proper physical keyboard • Fingerprint reader
! ( hope useful)
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