Android Gamer: Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 Pro software: an unfixed problem

Lenovo is a company renowned for hardware, but software has never been the company’s selling point. While experimenting with its tablets, Lenovo has tried a few different things to try and set them apart through software. Unfortunately, the company’s software touches are worse than the alternative of leaving their tablets with stock Android.

Lenovo’s software draws heavily from iOS, with similarities in color, design and function. The color schemes of the two are remarkably similar, with Lenovo copying the simple white background with splashes of color in several areas. Notably, in the settings menu can you see a similarity, with Lenovo’s software looking nearly indistinguishable from iOS 8. Lenovo has yet to realize that many of its customers use Android because they don’t enjoy the iOS alternative. Rather than mimicking the competition, Lenovo needs to embrace Android’s beauty.

Other areas of the UI follow in the same steps of an iOS rip-off, such as the notification tray or the quick settings menu. But the similarities are more than cosmetic, with Lenovo also designing its UI to function in ways that are akin to iOS. Lenovo’s launcher, for example, also ditches a dedicated app drawer and instead confines them to homescreens, taking away one of the most integral parts of Android.

Fortunately, there are parts of the UI that we enjoy. Multi-window is extremely handy for productivity, which is something that’s being pushed with the large size of the Yoga Tablet 2 Pro. Other nice software additions include Lenovo eFrame and Dolby sound customization. Lenovo eFrame transforms your tablet into a digital picture frame, which is great when you consider the size of the Yoga Tablet Pro 2. The Dolby equalizer allows you to tweak your sound to the exact output that you desire.

Lenovo’s software is also fairly speedy. While occasional bits of lag aren’t uncommon with the Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 Pro, the software itself is speedy and seems to be fairly light on the performance end. This is a much-needed bump from previous versions that were slower than a snail caught in molasses.

For the most part, Lenovo’s software is fine. It’s a blatant copy of iOS, but it runs well. That lack of originality holds it back, though. Lenovo has an opportunity at making great tablets, but it continues to mar them with poor software. Next time around, Lenovo should leave the software as stock Android. If it wants to, it can see about integrating multi-window and couple of its useful apps. But please, Lenovo, leave the design work to those who are good at it.

Check out a few screenshots below.