Hello.

I've recently purchased BOTH a Yoga 2 11" and the similar Yoga 11s. First I got the newer Yoga 2 11 with Pentium quadcore and then I was tempted to check out a refurbished 11S because I understood it had some great upgraded features and I could get it for just $100 more as a refurb.

I immediately thought the 11S was superior in most respects. The case is solid, the finish amazing. It has full HDMI and even the SD slot is fully recessed (among many other details). I was stoked that it might have better performance as well. The 11s has the 4210Y I5 processor, and a 128GB SSD. The Yoga 2 11 has a Bay Trail Pentium processor and a 500 GB HD. Both have 4 GB RAM. The 11s is running Windows 8 (I resisted upgrading immediately to run some tests and check it out right away). The Yoga 2 11 came with Windows 8.1.

In testing with Geekbench 3 for 64 bit windows I've found that the 11s tested almost exactly the same. This is disappointing although neither is slow at around 3300 points. I understood the 11s might reach into the mid 4000s or 5000 range. Is this only true of 11s Yogas with higher specs? Is there something potentially wrong here?

I love the 11s color scheme, build, finish, full size hdmi, and the great keyboard - so I'm stoked on probably keeping it and returning the Yoga 2 11. But with a tiny 128 GB SSD (reads only about 60GB free by the way) and some possible lacklustre CPU performance from the i5 I'm having some doubts coming on.

Thanks for any practical notes you can offer, especially regarding the testing I've undertaken.

Where did you buy your 11S? Here in the US, the only place it is available with the Haswell CPU is Best Buy. Anyway, I have a Yoga 11s Haswell and I have no interest in the Yoga 2 11 because of the lack of SSD and the smaller battery. I don't understand why Lenovo would design a Baytrail Unit and throw away the main Baytrail advantage of lower power consumption by putting in a smaller capacity battery. I will be keeping my 11s Haswell.

Jim    

I'd have to imagine the 11s is faster in real life applications though. Is the HDD removable? The one at Best Buy took about 20-25 seconds to start up (my GF's 11s boots up in under 10 probably).

The only reason I'd be concerned with the 11s is if it gets really hot, but so far she hasn't had any issues with it. I just got her an 11s yesterday, refurb at Micro Center for $499.

Thanks for your replies.

After just one day it's been an interesting comparison. I'm not too worried about the CPU tests and that sort of thing. The 11 2 has a powerful processor so I guess it could be as fast as the base model 11s.

Because you asked here's where I got the laptops and how much I paid. The Yoga 2 11 I bought at Futureshop, which is equivalent to Bestbuy (same owners) in Canada. I bought that a week ago. I then decided to get the 11s to compare because I liked the 2 11 a lot but had some doubts. I paid $599 for the Yoga 2 11 and $699 for the 11s (refurbished, regular version is closer to 900 - with 8 GBS ram instead of 4).

Basically I decided to see what the difference would be and I had a hunch that for $100 more an 11s would easily be superior. Turns out I was right but perhaps not in the CPU/RAM etc. It's all about build quality.

Here's a little breakdown in the differences:

- color: the 11s has the reverse color scheme and I think the silver exterior with all black inside looks more professional (even reminding of classic Thinkpads and definitely not looking like a Macbook imitation)

- display: it's the same great high quality 11.6" display except on my 2 11 there is a really ugly shiny Lenovo logo top left, whereas the 11s has no large Lenobo logo at all anywhere inside the computer display or keyboard area - of course both do the different poses via the 360 degree hinge so they're both versitile (and I can hold either in tablet mode in one hand for brief periods, though they are heavy for a "tablet" - stand mode is coolest to me)

- build: the 11s is clearly superior, as it's stiffer, and appears to have some metal layered into the construction

- keyboard: the 11s wins clearly here and it's a key difference - the keyboard on the 2 11 flexes and bounces and keys don't feel as nice

- HDMI / SD - I'm glad the 11s has full-size HDMI and a fully recessed SD port (I may use an SD for extra permanent storage) - the SD will stick out on the 2 11, and the HDMI mini is less versitile

- CPU/RAM - I don't think the base 11s is a big winner here, as my Geekbench tests show. I believe the 2 11 even has some small flash HDD to acommpany the 500GB HDD so it's really quite quick to boot up (advantage then is to 2 11 for larger HD while still maintaining good overall speed) - I think the 11s can be purchased in faster configurations though

- battery - I haven't tested extensively yet but I believe the Haswell 11s should get an hour or more extra battery life (and get 6-7 hours rather than 5-6, niether of which is close to a Macbook Air)

I am going to stick with the 11s and return the 2 11 in a few days. The Yoga 2 11 is a wicked computer but the 11s has superior build quality and I want that. Other people may find the 2 11 will suit their needs. It is fast, I can vouch that you can work with layered Photoshop files and have browser tabs open and run Word, and there's no slowness at all. If you look closely it looks a bit plasticky and inexpensive (I won't say cheap), but it does have the styling we associate with Macbook airs so it's reasonably attractive.   

I must add to that I feel with both computers that the 11 inch screen is a tad too small for long stretches of work, whether that's Office, Photoshop or whatever. I already have a 27" iMac that screams so this is my second computer and I love the portability and ability to use the Yoga quickly in all kinds of short-term situations around the house or on the go.

Overall - I am totally falling in love with the 11s. It's my perfect tiny notebook. Love the multi-position and I'm enjoying Windows 8 as an alternative from using my Mac.

I think the base configuration 11s is worth $700+ CDN dollars. (This is a little more than $600 US).

I think the 11s is overall the nicer computer but in my experience it is not faster than the Yoga 2 11. It just has a better build quality and some of the elements like keyboard and build make it superior..

I have the exact same situation with You ! lol

I bought yoga 2 11  at best buy  for  550 ? including tax   original price was 499

and just got a yoga 11s  from ebay  ,  for $680

however mine has slightly different  spec

3rd generation Intel® Core™ i5-3339Y (1.50GHz 1600MHz 3MB) Max Turbo Up to 2.0GHz

8GB DDR3 SODIMM

128GB DDR (double data rate) SSD (solid state drive); HDD Interface: m-SATA II (SATA300); DMA Mode: Transfer Multiword DMA mode-2, Ultra-DMA Mode 6; User Upgradable: No

I don't think its a haswell..  (is it ?.. idk)

well I just love the 11s better ! so far

however, I haven't returned  the 2 11.  Have you noticed anything else ? or perhaps any advise ?

Thanks !

Oh yea  and one more.

Haven't you notice that 11s does get kinda more warmer on the bottom?

and 11s is kinda more noisy. with the fan I guess.  (11s has a fan? or whatever on the rear, and 2 11 doesn't

From what I remember in my research, the 3339y is an Ivy Bridge processor. I think performance wise, it is similar to the 4210y, but the 4210y probably offers around an hour more or battery life (which could be negligible to some people). All in all I think it's very similar to the 4210y (Haswell) chip. It might run a little hotter, but both run fairly warm - most likely negligible to our senses.

Nice job on the RAM though. I'm unsure, but do the 11s' have swappable RAM/SSD/HDD? I know the RAM in my Y2P is soldered on.

It's an awesome, awesome computer. I still can't believe I got the refurb for $499. The girlfriend feels like she's in the future with this thing.

Edit: Yes, the Yoga 2 11 is a fanless computer. It is designed with the Bay Trail chip to be low voltage and not use much power. For normal browsing and stuff, I'm sure the difference between Bay Trail and Haswell is negligible. I think you start to see differences if you want to do any light image editing or light gaming. The Yoga 2 11 also doesn't have the SSD, which I'm sure can be noticeable (boot up time should be around 20 seconds vs. 8 or 9).

yea, most of the 11s are 4gb  but it says its expandable to 8gb.

and do you know the difference between the power cord  125V 2.5A  and 125V 7A  by any chance?

My 11s came with 7A (im not talking about the adapter ,  the power cord, or plug)

and 2 11 came with 2.5A

is 7A better?

which one should I use ?

I am not sure what you mean by "power cord". If you mean just the cord that connects the adapter to the PC, then the 7 amp cord just has slightly larger wires to handle 7 amps. It should make no difference in charging or running on AC, The adapter is what determines charge rate.

Regards, Jim

UPDATE: Really disappointed by discovering the 11s has a serious volume problem and I'll have to return it.

This is insane. The volume has only two settings - there is "0" as in it is silent - and then there's "loud" - it does not increase gradually when raised from 0.

No joke. The volume goes to full when hit the arrow key and raise it from 0 to 2. It's absolutely heartbreaking and when stuff like this happens it makes you question getting refurbished, and getting that particular notebook.