Last year Lenovo managed to capture everyone's attention with the launch of the Yoga Book. It was a hybrid laptop/tablet that shipped with Windows 10 Home or Android Marshmallow, but it also replaced the typical physical keyboard with a pressure sensitive "Halo Keyboard" that doubles as a drawing surface with pen support, and includes haptic (vibration) feedback to the touch.
The Yoga Book cost $549 with Windows or $499 with Android and shipped with a 10-inch display. Today, Lenovo unveiled the budget-friendly Yoga A12, which shares a number of features with the Book, but ships with a larger 12.2-inch HD display. The price is set at a considerably lower $299.
The A12 retains the Halo Keyboard and haptic feedback, but loses the pen support and drawing pad features. Inside there's an Intel Atom x5 processor, 2GB RAM, and 32GB of storage. Windows 10 is gone as an option, making this a purely Android experience.
The magnesium/aluminum mix casing can be adjusted between 4 modes thanks to the 360-degree Yoga hinge, allowing the A12 to be used like a laptop, tablet, or positioned for media consumption.
Although detailed specs have yet to be released, Lenovo claims the A12 is only 5.4mm thick (at its thinnest point) and weighs under one kilogram. For audio there's two speakers and Dolby Atmos support. Battery life is rated by Lenovo at 13 hours based on a "mixed use profile that includes online browsing, playing music and video, reading and typing."
The Yoga A12 will go on sale on February 8 for $299 in either Gunmetal Gray or Rose Gold finishes.