Lenovo Horizon 2e Review

 Lenovo Horizon 2e Review

The most affordable of Lenovo's portable all-in-ones, the Horizon 2e gets closer to the ideal table PC than the company's prior attempts and boasts innovative software. But it's still a bit heavy and short on battery life. Aura interface shows promise of table PC concept Innovative connection options to Android devicesShort battery life So-so performance  Heavier than competing models

 

Introduction & Features

Along with Sony (the VAIO Tap 20 technically came first), Lenovo was the table PC trailblazer with the original Horizon, a huge and expensive Frankenstein PC that was part all-in-one desktop and part jumbo tablet that you could run for a short time on battery power propped up on a coffee table or lying flat on a card table. (It was too big and heavy to be held in your hands or rest in your lap.) With its large 27-inch display and special Aura software for communal gaming, photo viewing, and other pastimes, the first Horizon was built to draw a crowd around its 10-point multi-touch screen.
Today, Lenovo has expanded its flat-folding all-in-one line with the Flex 20$824.99 at Best Buy and rolled out the Horizon 2$899.99 at Lenovo, a refined version of the 27-inch original. And now with the Horizon 2e and 2s models, Lenovo has added two more steeds to its table PC stable.

Lenovo won't say what the letters in 2e and 2s stand for, but we're prepared to guess it's economy and slim, respectively. While the 19.5-inch Horizon 2s weighs just 5.4 pounds (and is in our pipeline for review soon), the 21.5-inch Horizon 2e reviewed here is the lowest-priced in the lineup at $749 at Best Buy. It features a full HD (1,920x1,080) display and a built-in kickstand that lets the system go from propped up in desktop mode to horizontal in table PC mode.
The Horizon 2e features basic budget specs: an Intel Core i3 processor with integrated graphics, 4GB of memory, and a 1TB hard drive. It turned in predictable results in labs testing, finishing a step behind Core i5-based all-in-ones. We could live with its tepid performance because a system in this price range can't reasonably be expected to create and edit media with alacrity or play intensive 3D games smoothly. No, such a machine is meant for media consumption and casual touch games, and the Horizon 2e proved itself worthy on both counts.

   

   

We did, however, harbor hopes and dreams of better battery life, but the Horizon 2e showed only meager improvement over the Horizon 2. Battery life remains perhaps the chief demerit of the Lenovo line. In contrast, the slightly smaller and pricier Dell XPS 18$1,499.99 at Dell lasted more than five hours to the Horizon 2e's three hours in our video playback test.
The XPS 18 we reviewed in October was a high-end Core i7 configuration that cost $1,499, but Dell offers Core i3-based models starting at $899. Plus, the XPS 18 boasts a stellar design and, with its 18.4-inch display and five-pound weight, is ideal for pulling double duty as a desktop and a tablet.

Design

With a piano-black bezel framing the display, edge-to-edge glass, and a silver back panel, the Horizon 2e features the standard tablet look of today. It measures roughly 1.5 inches thick, which doesn't make the system portly by any means, but smaller portable AIOs measure less than an inch thick. Smaller systems are lighter, too, with the Horizon 2e tipping the scales at 10.1 pounds.
A U-shaped kickstand sits on the back panel, and lets you position the display from nearly vertical to completely horizontal. For connectivity, there's 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, and assorted ports residing in a recessed panel on the Lenovo's left side. You get three USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI port, an audio jack, and a flash-card slot. On the right edge you'll find the power button and volume rocker.

   

   

Features

The 21.5-inch display features LED backlighting, a matte finish, and 1,920x1080 resolution that supports 1080p HD video. Despite the backlights, which typically result in a bright image, we found the Horizon 2e's screen to be on the dull side. While its default settings dim the display on battery power, the panel looked flat and washed out even when running on AC power with brightness set to maximum.

The accompanying audio was fairly impressive. It can get louder than the typical laptop's audio output with better bass response, but you'll want a set of external speakers for music playback unless you are seated within a few feet of the system.
Lenovo bundles a wireless mouse and keyboard with the Horizon 2e. The keyboard is thin like a blade, but comfortable. Its chiclet-style keys feature shallow travel that makes it feel like a laptop keyboard (though there are, thankfully, dedicated Home, End, PgUp, and PgDn keys). A few keys are smaller than you might be accustomed to, most notably Backspace and the right Shift key.
The matching mouse is ambidextrous with an optical sensor. It features a middle button that conveniently lets you toggle between your open application and the tiled Windows 8 Start screen. You can also swipe the middle button to scroll.

Conclusion

We're willing to overlook the Horizon 2e's lackluster benchmark scores because they're right in line with what we expected. More to the point, the system provides enough muscle for basic home use and for a smooth and responsive experience with the Aura software.

The Aura interface is well designed and a big hit with this reviewer's six-year-old son, but we're not sure it would see regular use after the honeymoon period. Aura feels more like an admittedly impressive way to show off 10-point touch technology than a truly useful, everyday application. Perhaps we're just set in our ways, but we'll continue to manipulate our photos and videos in the regular Windows 8 interface rather than convert to Aura.

   

   

Even if you embrace Aura and have an Android phone or tablet to take advantage of the system's Android-friendly connection features, you can't help but find the Horizon 2e's battery life disappointing. For a system that you'd like to lug to the living-room coffee table for an evening, you'll find yourself running short on battery life before the night is through.

The Dell XPS 18 runs for hours longer on a single charge, and we prefer its smaller screen because it allows the system to function better as a tablet that will be toted from room to room. It sounds strange to recommend a similar system with a smaller screen and a higher price, but these table PCs are strange machines. For now, the Dell sits in the convergence sweet spot in terms of fulfilling the dual roles of small desktop and oversized tablet. We'll see if Lenovo rings the bell with its remaining entry, the Horizon 2s.