Once upon a time, the Thinkpad X1 Yoga was Lenovo’s flagship enterprise convertible, becoming a member of the clamshell X1 Carbon on the high of the corporate’s enterprise hierarchy. These days, it has extra firm. We now have the paper-thin, titanium-coated X1 Titanium Yoga, the featherweight X1 Nano, and the powerhouse X1 Extreme kicking round, all of that are wonderful, expensive, and will fairly be thought-about flagships in their very own proper.

There’s a number of innovation occurring throughout the ThinkPad line, however the X1 Yoga retains a number of the hallmark options which have graced old-school ThinkPads through the years. (With a beginning tag of $1,493.40 — $2,315.28 as examined — that features the premium value.) There are some refined however essential upgrades, after all, together with a 16:10 (lastly) contact show, a brand new grey colour, a wider touchpad, and new safety features that can principally enchantment to enterprise customers. It’s removed from essentially the most cost-effective Windows convertible you should purchase, however it does have lots to supply — particularly to long-time ThinkPad followers searching for a contemporary spin on a longtime bundle.

Starting with what’s new: the 16:10 facet ratio is right here. This is a change that Lenovo has delivered to different high ThinkPads this yr, together with the X1 Nano. I a lot want this to the 16:9 panel we noticed on the Gen 5, as a result of it gives noticeably extra vertical area with out including a lot footprint to the chassis.

The different factor to notice about this show is its matte texture — you don’t see matte touchscreens fairly often. Writing on it with the stylus feels principally the identical as writing on a shiny panel, although the sound of the tip dragging alongside is a bit louder on the matte display. (I additionally want touching the matte texture, although preferences range.) Mainly, the matte texture makes colours look a bit muted in comparison with these on shiny screens, however you’ll additionally see considerably much less glare, and work in vibrant settings is a way more doable prospect. The colours had been sharp sufficient that watching movies was nonetheless pleasant, and I might make out the main points nicely sufficient, so I discovered the matte texture to be a optimistic total. The panel additionally didn’t retain any smudges or fingerprints throughout my testing interval.

The different notable change: the touchpad is greater. Specifically, it’s 4.33 inches large, the place the Gen 5’s (much maligned by reviewers for its small dimension) was simply 4. It is loads large now, although it’s nonetheless a bit quick, and my fingers hit the plastic body typically as I scrolled. If the trackpad is simply too cramped for you, the X1 Yoga affords you loads of different methods to click on: There’s a set of discrete buttons on the high of the touchpad (although they lack the pink accents that usually seem on ThinkPad clickers) in addition to the signature ThinkPad TrackPoint within the heart of the keyboard. And the unit comes with a tiny stylus, which lives in a storage on the appropriate aspect of the chassis.

And then there are a selection of up to date safety features, which Lenovo has drizzled throughout the ThinkPad line. There’s an optionally available IR webcam with human-presence detection which may routinely lock the pc when you’re not close by (the webcam itself has a bodily shutter, as ThinkPads historically do, and delivers a reasonably grainy image), a match-on-chip fingerprint reader within the energy button, a dTPM 2.0 safety chip (which encrypts person knowledge on the system), and an optionally available characteristic known as Privacy Guard which makes your display tougher to peek at from the perimeters.

But essentially the most noticeable replace is to the look. While the Gen 5’s chassis had some grey on it, the Gen 6 is grey in every single place, together with the keyboard, touchpad, and hinge. This signifies that the Yoga appears to be like a bit completely different from the ocean of different ThinkPads on the market, that are historically very black. It offers the X1 Yoga extra of a futuristic vibe than units just like the X1 Carbon and the X13, although pink and grey aren’t practically as placing as pink and black.

Anyway, to every their very own on the aesthetic. What’s barely disappointing is how simply scratchable the end was. I folded my unit right into a pill and positioned it onto an out of doors desk for a couple of minutes for some temporary drawing and writing, and once I picked it up there have been scratches on the palm rests. I used to be afraid to let the system close to something remotely sharp after that. If this was the impact of some minutes of writing, I fear about how scratched up this chassis might get from every day pill use.

Otherwise, I’ve no complaints in regards to the construct high quality. There’s a little bit of flex within the keyboard deck, however none within the show, and there wasn’t any display wobble whereas I used to be typing or touching the display. The end didn’t choose up many fingerprints (a difficulty I generally have with black ThinkPads). The hinge is easy, making folding and unfolding a breeze — I might pop it open one-handed, with some issue. It’s additionally a reasonably transportable product, at three kilos and 0.59 inches thick, although a bit heavy to carry as a pill for lengthy durations.

Elsewhere, the X1 Yoga is superb. ThinkPad keyboards are world-renowned, and this one — whereas flatter than these of a few of its siblings — remains to be snug with wonderful journey. Note that like most ThinkPads, the Yoga has half-sized arrow keys, and the Fn and Ctrl keys swapped from the place they’re on the vast majority of different laptops, which takes a number of getting used to. (You can remap these keys, however having incorrectly labeled keys can nonetheless be an eyesore to some.) The port choice is nice, together with two Thunderbolt 4 ports (a brand new addition to the X1 Yoga), a USB 3.2 Type-A, and an HDMI 2.0 on the left, in addition to a USB 3.2 Type A, a headphone jack, and a lock slot on the appropriate. The 4 360-degree microphones did a fantastic job of choosing up my voice. And the Dolby Atmos speaker system sounds nice, with audible bass and really clear vocals.

The X1 Yoga Gen 6 has one million and one configurations, with every kind of add-ons. One fascinating factor: the most affordable listed mannequin (presently $1,493.40) is definitely a Linux mannequin. The base specs embrace a Core i5-1135G7, 8GB of RAM (soldered), and 256GB of storage. My check mannequin (working Windows 10 Pro, not Linux) is listed at $2,315.28 at B&H and features a quad-core Core i7-1165G7, 512GB of storage, and 16GB of RAM.

Then there are the assorted extras. Windows 10 Pro will value you $60 greater than Windows 10 Home. You can bump as much as a 3840 x 2400 display, or a 1920 x 1200 display with Privacy Guard. Both of those choices are solely accessible with the IR digital camera, which is $30 over the common digital camera. Human Presence Detection, additionally solely accessible with the IR digital camera, is an additional $15. And you may add 4G and 5G cell broadband; costs range relying on the modem you choose.

The Core i7 utilized right here is identical processor present in most of the finest laptops in the marketplace and is sufficient for every kind of demanding workloads. Intel’s Iris Xe graphics card can assist with work duties and lighter gaming, although the X1 Yoga isn’t a gaming laptop computer by any stretch. Apps launched rapidly, and I didn’t discover a lot stuttering or slowdown throughout my day stuffed with streaming, photograph modifying, and Slacking on high of round a dozen Chrome tabs. Performance does rely considerably in your battery profile greater than with different Windows laptops — I needed to change off of Battery Saver once I was attempting to run a Zoom name on high of a heap of tabs and apps as a result of all the pieces began freezing.

Speaking of battery, the X1 Yoga’s life span isn’t a catastrophe however was nonetheless simply fantastic for a convertible at this value level. I averaged eight hours and 7 minutes of steady use with the display at medium brightness. That’s not a foul end result, however I’ve seen higher from the highest ultraportables at this degree.

The remaining remark — which I’m in all probability a bit too comfortable about — is that there’s no bloatware on this factor. No McAfee, no Norton, no nonsense that I needed to uninstall as quickly as I turned it on. I usually hope that laptops above the $1,000 mark gained’t come loaded with these items, however I recurrently see them on expensive client laptops from every kind of corporations (together with Lenovo). I’m glad that the ThinkPad isn’t loaded with any junk, however shoppers ought to get this expertise, too.

With so many add-ons and configurations, and costs starting from $1,500 to over $3,000, the ThinkPad X1 Yoga can actually be what you make it. It could be a midrange convertible with fundamental specs, or it may be a premium enterprise laptop computer with the safety emphasis attribute of the ThinkPad line. Among the saturated sea of convertible ThinkPads on the market, it’s completely one to think about.

With that stated, it’s fairly an expensive line for a client or self-employed employee. For context, you will get a comparable mannequin of Lenovo’s high client convertible, the Yoga 9i, for simply $1,529 — which even has the Core i7-1185G7, a step above the chip that got here with my check mannequin. X1 Yoga fashions with that processor begin at $1,938. Like the X1 Yoga, the Yoga 9i has a convertible type issue, a bodily webcam shutter, a built-in stylus, a one-year guarantee, and many of the similar software program from Lenovo.

That raises the query of what all that extra cash is actually paying for. The X1 Yoga’s 16:10 facet ratio is definitely a bonus, as are the dearth of bloatware and the matte show. On the opposite hand, the 9i has higher battery life (as do many client convertibles at that value), distinctive audio, and a few really modern options like a haptic touchpad and an ultrasonic fingerprint reader. At a sure level, X1 Yoga consumers are actually paying a premium for the ThinkPad construct. ThinkPads have some distinctive points — their TrackPoint and the distinctive keyboard association will all the time have their devotees — however additionally they have a modern, skilled feel and appear. They’re identified for his or her excessive sturdiness (and the X1 Yoga is MIL-spec examined, although the X1 Yoga’s scratch-prone chassis and the flex in its keyboard offers me some pause on that entrance). Overall, just like the MacBook’s bitten apple, the ThinkPad brand is a graphic anybody will acknowledge. It’s related to a excessive degree of construct high quality, longevity, and efficiency — it instructions a sure standing amongst enterprise customers and shoppers alike.

Which is all nicely and good, if that’s what you need. If you’re searching for a contemporary ThinkPad that’s aggressive with immediately’s finest laptops, and particularly when you’re focused on tidbits like Linux and human presence detection, that is in all probability your dream machine. I simply really feel obligated to notice that when you’re so-so on the ThinkPad branding, you will get most of what this affords for less expensive.

Photography by Monica Chin