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Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga and Yoga 920 side by side

Sometimes a laptop manufacturer gets it merely right. I've been living with a Lenovo X1 Yoga (2nd Gen) 14-inch review unit for the last few weeks as my primary computer, and my only problem is that I demand to send it dorsum. For anyone looking for a lightweight Windows notebook that still packs a lot of power and features, I haven't seen anything improve on the market place.

Past the Numbers

First, the second-generation X1 Yoga (Purchase at Lenovo; $2,820 as tested) can exist configured with a beefy processor by Ultrabook standards, up to a 7th generation Intel Core i7-7600U (dual-core) running at 3.9GHz. That's enough for annihilation about route warriors need to do. The unit of measurement I tested besides featured Intel'due south HD Graphics 620 GPU. I was pleasantly surprised by how well the combination of CPU and GPU handled the photo and video editing tasks I threw at it. Short of upsizing at a larger and heavier machine to get a quad-core CPU or discrete GPU, this is about every bit much ability every bit you can pack into a thin machine weighing about 3 pounds that also has great battery life.

Ane pleasant surprise for an Ultrabook these days is that the automobile has enough of ports, including 2 Thunderbolt three, three USB iii.0, HDMI, and a Mini-RJ45. You can drive two external 4K displays using the Thunderbolt ports. Unfortunately for photographers, there isn't a full SD bill of fare slot. There's a microSD slot, only it's under a cover and non swell for swapping cards. At that place's also a slot for a micro SIM. Y'all tin pack in up to 16GB of RAM and a 1TB PCIe SSD in also. Battery life is listed at 15 hours. Equally important for those aerodrome layovers or lunchtime recharging, the unit can charge an impressive 80-percent full in in a 60 minutes.

An Amazing OLED Display

You can get the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga either in traditional black or a more contemporary silver colorRole of what makes this car special, and potentially expensive, is the optional 2560×1440 pixel OLED impact-sensitive brandish. It's actually gorgeous. If you go ane, y'all will probably find yourself wanting to upgrade all your other monitors.

Going by sticker price, the OLED display along with the top of the line options bumps the X1 Yoga to nearly $three,000. Merely Lenovo always seem to take some steep discounts running on its website, and then y'all may be able to go one for less. You lot'll still be paying every bit much as yous would for a high-end 15-inch machine with a more than powerful processor, then the primal tradeoff is whether the lighter model with longer battery life is more of import to you lot than the next bump up in power.

As far as the hardware, the merely identify where I was underwhelmed was sound. I didn't discover the speakers living up to the quality of the display. Of course, if you're using headphones, yous won't care.

Enough of Cool Features

As befits the Yoga proper noun, the auto can fold back on itself for employ in "tent" mode or equally a large tablet. To accommodate tablet mode, the keyboard disappears into the machine when you fold the brandish back. Even ameliorate, the machine supports an active stylus that works seamlessly with Windows and Function inking features. In that location's a small "garage" for the stylus in the side of the automobile, which will also recharge it. As a result, the stylus is fairly pocket-size, but is comfortable to utilise and certainly more than adequate for taking notes or marking up documents. The only result I institute with using the motorcar as a tablet was the lack of a kickstand or similar native capability to take it rest at a camber, rather than flat on a desk or table.

Veteran ThinkPad users will also beloved that Lenovo has included a TrackPoint in the keyboard. It worked exactly equally expected, although the need to push the mouse keys upwards the keyboard to allow room for a trackpad meant they were a trivial as well shut to the TrackPoint for my taste, simply my hands are a trivial on the large side. Speaking of the keyboard, it is a consummate joy to utilise. I never tired of typing on it. Our review unit'southward keyboard was both backlit (a requirement for me these days) and featured a fingerprint reader (not as essential to me, but nice to have).

The ThinkPad X1 Yoga 2nd gen is remarkably thinIn one case, less really is more than: Less bloatware. Lenovo has been in trouble over the years for cramming various pieces of software onto its laptops that caused all sorts of issues. The company has clearly listened, and the X1 Yoga is bachelor as a Microsoft Signature Edition with Windows Pro and no extraneous software.

Is the ThinkPad X1 Yoga Right for You lot?

For shear features in a three-pound package, I don't know of a better machine. That's particularly true if you can beget the loftier-resolution OLED display. If you're well-nigh sold, only desire a picayune unlike prepare of options, the new Lenovo Yoga 920 is another promising alternative. I've just started to piece of work with a review unit, simply in the meantime it impressed the squad at our sister publication PCMag. The Yoga 920 is also one of the first to characteristic Intel's new 8th generation CPUs, and tin be configured with up to a 4-core CPU. However, it doesn't offer the impressive OLED display choice you can get with the X1 Yoga.

Both models do very well on PCMark'due south Artistic benchmark, with the X1 Yoga and its dual-core i7 scoring 4462 and the Yoga 920 scoring just over 4600 with its newer quad core i7.

At present read: PCMag'southward All-time Laptops of 2022