Lenovo Yoga 3 hybrid bends to your needs

If you're buying a computer that you want to take on the go, you have a choice to make: laptop or tablet? Well, with Lenovo's hybrid Yoga 3 laptop, you don't have to choose. Thanks to its specialized hinge, you can bend its lid back until you essentially have a large tablet.

Like previous Yoga models, this year's version also bends into four different configurations—laptop, stand, tent, and tablet—and has enough raw performance between its processor and RAM that it can manage almost any task you'd want to do.

While it performs adequately, the Yoga 3 (14-inch) is ultimately an average laptop that does a few things well, without being exceptional at anything. But if you're just looking for a reliable machine that can handle most tasks and lithely switch orientations for a better experience, look no further.

The Yoga 3 isn't too notable for its looks, but the outside does have a nice matte finish that's virtually fingerprint-proof. Lifting the lid reveals a 14-inch, 1920x1080 display, which looks good, but not great.

Below the display, you'll find the backlit keyboard and a fairly large trackpad. The keys feel a little soft to type on, but they still have great travel, while the trackpad is large and was mostly reliable.

The Yoga 3 (14-inch) doesn't start to truly shine until you look at its hinge — it may not appear terribly important, but it's a linchpin of the entire Yoga line. The lid can be pushed back until you're left with something that looks like a tablet. In fact, you can use the Yoga 3 anywhere in its nearly 360-degree bendable arc.

With that said, the laptop and tablet modes will probably be the most practical, while the tent and stand modes work well in more specialized situations, like watching movies.

If you've bought or updated a Windows PC in the past few years you've likely gotten a taste of the Windows 8.1 experience, and it's no different here — for better or worse. Like many PCs running Windows 8.1, you'll have to wade into the sea of useless apps that come pre-installed on the Yoga 3.

While most of them are nuisances, at least a couple of these apps are actually quite useful. One is the free Dragon Assistant, which is a lot like Siri, Google Now, and the recent Cortana from Windows. It can be used to open or switch between apps, or even dictate whole messages with a surprising amount of accuracy.

Yoga Chef is another great app aimed at aspiring cooks. It has a diverse database of recipes to choose from, and the layout is simple enough that you shouldn't have a problem whipping them up.

Under the hood, the entry-level Yoga 3 comes packed with a fifth-generation 2.20 GHz Intel Core i5 processor. The Core i5 is the perfect middle-of-the-road processor in the Core series and you won't encounter any problems unless you get into incredibly intensive tasks. For that, you might want to shell out the extra $150 for the Core i7 model of the Yoga 3 (14-inch). We also opted to pay extra for 8GB of RAM to help run multiple programs at once.

The Yoga 3 (14-inch) is running an Intel HD Graphics 5500 graphics processor — and that's your only option. It's capable of handling most apps and tasks, and will only falter when you really push its limits.

When it comes to battery life, the Yoga 3 lasted about 2.5 hours in our intensive tests. While that's about half that of Apple's MacBook Air, it's actually pretty average for a lot of laptops. It really isn't cause for concern unless you use a lot of demanding apps without plugging in.

Like Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 Carbon series, the Yoga isn't meant to turn heads with a flashy design. Instead, this is a laptop that's meant to get to work. From a performance perspective, the model that we've reviewed is competitive and wholly customizable, letting you tune it to whatever you need.

If you're sold on everything but the portability of the Yoga 3 (14-inch), you might want to take a look at its sibling, the Yoga 3 Pro (MSRP: $1,199.99). Its performance is similar to the Yoga 3, but in a package that's a lot easier to carry around.

If the lid flexibility isn't crucial for you, you'd be much better off with something like the Dell XPS 13 (MSRP: $1,399.99 comparable configuration). It has a near-borderless display that helps it fit 13-inches of screen into a case normally reserved for 11-inch laptops.

While you're paying a little more compared to the Yoga 3 (14-inch), the XPS 13 is an amazing blend of power and portability. But if you're not looking for something exceptional — and want to save a little money in the process — the Yoga 3 isn't a bad choice at all.