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Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga and Yoga 920 side by side

Sometimes a laptop manufacturer gets it only correct. I've been living with a Lenovo X1 Yoga (2nd Gen) fourteen-inch review unit of measurement for the last few weeks as my primary figurer, and my only problem is that I need to send it dorsum. For anyone looking for a lightweight Windows notebook that yet packs a lot of power and features, I haven't seen anything better on the market.

By the Numbers

Starting time, the 2nd-generation X1 Yoga (Buy at Lenovo; $two,820 as tested) can be configured with a beefy processor by Ultrabook standards, up to a 7th generation Intel Core i7-7600U (dual-core) running at iii.9GHz. That's plenty for anything most road warriors need to do. The unit of measurement I tested likewise featured Intel's 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 become a quad-core CPU or discrete GPU, this is about equally much power as you tin pack into a thin machine weighing about 3 pounds that also has great battery life.

One pleasant surprise for an Ultrabook these days is that the machine has enough of ports, including two Thunderbolt iii, 3 USB 3.0, HDMI, and a Mini-RJ45. You tin can drive 2 external 4K displays using the Thunderbolt ports. Unfortunately for photographers, there isn't a full SD card slot. In that location'south a microSD slot, but it'south under a cover and not corking for swapping cards. At that place's too a slot for a micro SIM. Yous tin can pack in up to 16GB of RAM and a 1TB PCIe SSD in too. Battery life is listed at 15 hours. Equally important for those airport layovers or lunchtime recharging, the unit of measurement can accuse an impressive 80-percent full in in a hr.

An Amazing OLED Brandish

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

Going past sticker price, the OLED display forth with the peak of the line options bumps the X1 Yoga to nearly $3,000. But Lenovo always seem to take some steep discounts running on its website, so you may be able to go one for less. You'll however exist paying equally much as you would for a high-end 15-inch machine with a more than powerful processor, and so the key tradeoff is whether the lighter model with longer battery life is more important to you than the side by side bump upwardly in power.

Equally far as the hardware, the only place where I was underwhelmed was audio. I didn't find the speakers living upward to the quality of the display. Of course, if yous're using headphones, you won't care.

Plenty of Cool Features

Every bit befits the Yoga proper name, the auto can fold back on itself for use in "tent" mode or equally a big tablet. To accommodate tablet style, the keyboard disappears into the machine when you fold the display dorsum. Fifty-fifty improve, the automobile supports an active stylus that works seamlessly with Windows and Office inking features. There's a small "garage" for the stylus in the side of the machine, which will also recharge it. As a result, the stylus is fairly small, but is comfortable to employ and certainly more than adequate for taking notes or mark up documents. The only result I found with using the machine as a tablet was the lack of a kickstand or similar native capability to have it rest at a camber, rather than flat on a desk or table.

Veteran ThinkPad users will also love that Lenovo has included a TrackPoint in the keyboard. It worked exactly equally expected, although the need to push the mouse keys up the keyboard to permit room for a trackpad meant they were a little as well close to the TrackPoint for my taste, just my hands are a little on the large side. Speaking of the keyboard, it is a complete joy to apply. I never tired of typing on it. Our review unit's keyboard was both backlit (a requirement for me these days) and featured a fingerprint reader (not every bit essential to me, simply nice to accept).

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

Is the ThinkPad X1 Yoga Correct for Y'all?

For shear features in a 3-pound package, I don't know of a better car. That'due south especially true if you can beget the high-resolution OLED display. If you're nigh sold, but want a lilliputian unlike set of options, the new Lenovo Yoga 920 is another promising alternative. I've simply started to work with a review unit of measurement, but in the concurrently it impressed the team at our sister publication PCMag. The Yoga 920 is also one of the first to feature Intel's new 8th generation CPUs, and tin be configured with upwards to a 4-core CPU. All the same, it doesn't offering the impressive OLED display option you can get with the X1 Yoga.

Both models do very well on PCMark's Creative criterion, with the X1 Yoga and its dual-core i7 scoring 4462 and the Yoga 920 scoring but over 4600 with its newer quad core i7.

At present read: PCMag's Best Laptops of 2017