Design and Build Quality

Voyo A1 Plus is clearly a Yoga - like design, and for us this design seems more practical then the detachable 2-in-1 type devices, because you always have the keyboard in tow, ready to go.

That’s not all. This isn’t a tablet mated to a physical keyboard. The batteries, system board, along with all ports and controls, are placed under the keyboard, like in a proper notebook. This allows for a thin and sleek screen design, and it worked out great for this device. The lid is just a few milimetres thick, while the whole device measures 16mm at the waist (not counting the rubber feet).

With its orange and black color scheme it looks like a piece of Bear Grylls kit, ready for an outdoor adventure. Unfortunately, it looks too “Lenovoish” and we would have preferred some original colour options instead: white, black, cyan, red, you name it.

Although this is not a ruggedized device, we must note we liked the soft rubbery finish on the lid and base. The orange rubber has a soft feel and we appreciate the good grip it provides. The orange and black colour combination looks great, but it would have looked even better had Lenovo not used it on the Yoga. Nevertheless, so this device turned many heads and got a lot of attention from our colleagues during the past couple of weeks. Some people liked the bright colour, while others were impressed by the thin, compact design.

The keyboard has a matte finish, but for some reason it’s not that good at keeping fingerprints away. It proved to be a real magnet for smudges on the palm rests. It could have been much better if only the palm rests were also made from the same orange stuff used on the exterior.

Otherwise, the build quality is rather good. The Voyo A1 Plus Ultimate measures 290 x 196 x 16mm (11.40 x 7.70 x 0.63 inches) and weighs in at 1190 grams, thus it is very compact and lightweight. The sleek lid is just 6mm thick, while the bottom part with the keyboard is 10mm thick, not taking the rubber feet into account.

In full tablet mode, with the keyboard fully rotated under the screen, the device is 19mm thick (if you’re wondering where the extra 3mm came from, it’s the rubber feet).

The highlight of the device is its 11.6-inch IPS 1080p panel with great viewing angles and image quality. To be honest, we weren’t expecting such a good display, but we will get to it later.

The plastic power and volume buttons are on the left side of the device, as well as the keyboard lock switch, one USB 2.0 port and a 3.5mm audio output. A SIM slot is present as well, but we tested the WiFi version of the device without the integrated 4G modem. The power button is sometimes hard to distinguish from the volume buttons, so you can accidentally press it while trying to adjust the volume.

Yovo A1 Plus Ultimate sports front and back cameras, and this is the biggest distinguishing feature compared to the original Yoga design. However, the rear camera is useless in tablet mode, since it is completely covered by the keyboard when it’s rotated. Maybe it would have been better to have the 2 megapixel rear camera mounted in the front, and to completely forget about the rear camera?

The micro SD slot, micro HDMI, one USB port and a power connector are all located on the right side of the device. There is also a blue charging LED next to the power connector. Unfortunately, there’s no system activity LED on board.

Of course, the front and the rear sides of the device are port-free. The speakers are located on the bottom of the device, and the microphone is below the screen, facing forward.

The screen hinges are made out of some sort of metal alloy and they provide just the right amount of resistance in all configurations, whether you want to use it as a tablet, notebook, or something in between.