The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Review: OLED and LCD Tested
by Brett Howse & Brandon Chester on September 29, 2016 11:30 AM ESTFinal Words
Wrapping up, there’s quite a bit to go over with the ThinkPad X1 Yoga. Lenovo has done a great job continuing to make the X1 series thinner and lighter, and while some may question where that ends, anyone who needs a very portable laptop will appreciate this. Speaking of portability, Lenovo is one of the few brands to offer LTE connectivity in their ThinkPad lineup, further increasing the mobility of this notebook.
The X1 Yoga does a great job branching out from the X1 Carbon, which is itself an Ultrabook with positive characteristics. But the Yoga further builds on the Carbon by morphing that basic design into a thin and light two-in-one notebook using the Yoga hinge. For those looking for a notebook first, with some extra capabilities of being a touch device or tablet, the Yoga style devices from our experience win hands down over detachable convertibles. Compared to detachables, the Yoga devices have a much better weight distribution when used as a laptop, and Lenovo has included the ability to lock the keyboard when rotated, making it much better to hold and use in any of the non-laptop modes.
For performance, the battery life is reasonable by 2016 standards. One might suggest that with a premium line, a jump in platform efficiency would be a good aspect for the brand to move it into the higher echelons. Lenovo have been middle of the road against the competition in overall efficiency for some time - for some of the notebooks with large batteries this isn’t an issue, but on a size constrained notebook like the X1 Yoga, the effects are felt more quickly. The 52 Wh battery is a decent size for this size of notebook, but it isn't best-in-class.
We were lucky enough to be sampled both the LCD and OLED models to test. Lenovo is one of the first out of the gate with an OLED notebook, with a number of OLED designs on the market focusing on tablets, smartphones and VR. OLED technology has advantages that can really bring a wow factor to this market. The amazing contrast ratios of OLED easily outclass any LCD. While the OLED was advertised as highly accurate with specific options available, and it was much better than the LCD model, it still was not as good as some of the better notebooks we've seen over the past year or suited for professional use without user calibration tools. The color management software is comprehensive, so with some calibration the OLED on a per-unit basis from the factory would likely put the product ahead of the field in color accuracy.
It's hard to argue with the ThinkPad look, since it is so well known and Thinkpad customers demand it. Branding is difficult, and although some may find the ThinkPad lineup to be a bit low key, the matte black finish and design makes the laptop recognizable as a ThinkPad. Being a ThinkPad, it should be more durable than consumer notebooks, with a magnesium alloy chassis and military spec testing done to ensure it operates where many other laptops may struggle. For instance, the X1 Yoga, despite being convertible and despite having a lift and lock keyboard, still offers the spill-resistant keyboard. The polycarbonate exterior is pretty strong, especially where it is reinforced with carbon fibre, and there is a lot of durability there.
While the X1 Yoga keyboard can’t match some of the other thicker and heavier models like the T460s in key travel, it still has a great feel. The trackpad works well, and features a glass surface so it’s nice and smooth, which Lenovo combines with TrackPoint for those that use it.
Overall, the X1 Yoga is a good convertible. Lenovo has managed to make it thinner and lighter than the original X1 Carbon, yet still offer the versatility of the Yoga hinge. It's a solid offering from Lenovo. If thin, light, convertible, and business-class are all things you need, the X1 Yoga should be considered.
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Ej24 - Thursday, September 29, 2016 - link
Nope. There are at least two or three 15w "U" processors with Iris 540 and one 28w U processor with iris 550. The 580 graphics are only reserved for HQ (35-45w) and S (65w) processors. I'd love just to have iris 540. The typical 520, 4400, or 4000 Intel graphics are hardly good enough for light gaming at 720 or heavier loads during hardware decode/encode or the 50/50 software hardware hybrid pipelines Intel has been using.Ro_Ja - Thursday, September 29, 2016 - link
All of the GeForce with *40 and below are just a waste of good money now since the Iris HD 580 can stack up against even a 940M. I can hardly find a laptop in our country without any horrible AMD EXO Pros and NVIDIA's crappy entry-level cards. I just want less heat on the laptop I want to use.spikebike - Friday, September 30, 2016 - link
I have a NUC with the Iris 540. It's pretty nice, handles the occasional light gaming, WebGL games, Minecraft, http://slither.io, and related much better than the non-iris graphics.forgot2yield28 - Friday, September 30, 2016 - link
CAD. Not a huge niche, but Iris will outperform standard intel integrated GPU. Sometimes architects/engineers want to get work done on the road. The small footprint and lightweight of an ultrabook still has appeal.Byte - Thursday, September 29, 2016 - link
Would love to get this, but all the Yogas i've had had tons of hardware bugs that were near impossible to fix. Just getting the touchpad right took a few days of fiddling. If only they can get things working.Samus - Thursday, September 29, 2016 - link
Working in IT, I can back you up on one thing for sure. These machines are hell to work on. I've had to replace two fans in Thinkpad Yoga 12.5's and they are, in traditional Lenovo fashion, not detachable from the heat pipe (which is why they failed in the first place...the bearing is in direct-contact with the source) so the whole assembly needs to be needlessly replaced, instead of just popping the cover off with a latch and unscrewing two screws like you do in just about any modern HP Elitebook.The real insult to the Thinkpad Yoga line is the dreaded history of the battery "non-recall" that caused the Yoga 14 machines to hard power off if bumped in the front right corner where the battery is connected. This connection is very sensitive and the only way we found to help prevent this anomaly was to insulate the battery connection internally on every model we came across.
Routine repair by Lenovo would result in a machine returned with the same exact problems. Dealing with Lenovo support is like dealing with a car dealership. They don't listen to your problem and the mechanic runs their standard tests, says its ok, and returns it to the customer. They don't seem to have a system in place to diagnose specific issues.
Brett Howse - Thursday, September 29, 2016 - link
It already throttles GT2. Going to GT3e would help because of eDRAM but likely throttle even more.ajp_anton - Friday, September 30, 2016 - link
Sure it throttles, nobody would expect an Iris 540 to go full speed at 15W. But with double the EUs and half the frequency, you get the same performance but at lower power (lower frequency allows for lower voltage). Wider GPUs generally have higher performance per watt because of this, at the expense of higher cost.Senti - Thursday, September 29, 2016 - link
I expect USB type-C in what you call "premium notebook" today. And better than Intel HD 520 graphics...It's sad to see that OLEDs are still "not quite ready". Battery life with web browsing was the last nail in the coffin.
BrokenCrayons - Thursday, September 29, 2016 - link
It's not bad hardware, but it does seem overpriced. Given the GPU choice, the panel resolution is too high for the graphics card to effectively drive it. 1080p is a stretch for the 520 doing anything intensive. Lenovo should offer a lower resolution & cheaper option. I can't see the usefulness of the hinge design either. Desktop operating systems work a lot better with access to a keyboard and mouse (or touchpad) so owners are probably paying for a novelty feature they'll rarely put to use.