26 JANUARY2020|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE383
ANOTHERRRYEAR,ANOTHERThinkPad X1
Yoga. Lenooovo’s rotating 2-in-1 is nowin
its fourthgggeneration, and outside of
the expecttted internalupgrades,
is aremarkkkably similarlaptop
to last yearrr’s model
(Shopper 3777 2).
That incccludesthe
design. There’s no denying
that the ThiiinkPadX1Yoga looks
classy,justaaasitdid last year,and theyear
before that. The sturdy grey chassis is lovely if
atad dull,annnditwould be nice to see some
more interesssting colours on offer.Comprising
aluminium annndmagnesium alloy, the case is
lightbut strooong, and the laptop’s overall weight
has been cut from1.4kg to 1.34kgsincelast
year.It’s smallllertoo,measuring 218x323x15mmmm
to the 2018 veeerrrsssiiiooonnn’’’sss 222222999 x 333 33x17mm.
The model reviewed hereisthe top-spec
model, with an IPS touchdisplay. Powering the
show is an Intel Corei7-8565Uprocessor plus
16GB of RAM, and forstorage,ituses anippy
512GB PCI-E NVMe SSD.For added device
protection, theThinkPadX1Yogaisequipped
with aTPM 2.0security chip thatprovides
Core Isolation andMemory Integrity support.
If you’ve boughtaThinkPad in thepast,you’ll
know that thisconfiguration won’t come
cheap, andeventhe most basicCore i5-8265U
modelcosts£1,305.
TWISTAND SHOUT
As with anyLenovo convertible,the 360°
hin eissuperbly smooth, and the whole
thingispleasantly easytocarry about.
Thechassis is well balanced, and there’s
hardlyany wobblewhenflexingthe
scr en or pushingdown intothe base.
There’sanother improvement in the
addition of an IR camera next to the720p
we cam.Thisenables facialrecognition
unlocking as an alternative to the
fingerprint sensor,afeature that was
missing on the previous model.
In terms of connectivity,the ThinkPad X1
Yogaisasversatileasany ultraportable on the
market.Onthe leftedge are two Thunderbolt
3-equippedUSB Type-C ports, one of which
doubles as thechargingport, alongsidea
full-size USB3.1port, an HDMI output and a
3.5 maudio jack.The right edge is
similarly busy,with
theself-charging
ThinkPadPen Pro
LENOVO ThinkPad
X1Yoga(2019)
★★★★★
£2,022•From http://www.ebuyer.com
WINDOWS 10 CONVERTIBLE
stylus,the
power button,
another USB3.1port and a
Kensington mini lock slot.
Finally–andthis oneiseasyyyto missssss–
ttthhheeerrreee’sssaaammmiiicroSSSDDD///SIM trayonthe rear edge.
Popadata SIM intothisand you can make
use of theX1Yoga’s4GLTE connectivity.
MAKE SOMENOISE
Of all the new featuresonthe fourth-gen
Yoga X1, we were most excited to test the new
DolbyAtmos speakers. Twoofthese are
locatedabove the keyboard, while the two
woofers are on the underside of the base.
Excitementsoon turnedtodisappointment,
however,because the volume and clarityofthe
quad-speaker setup arepretty underwhelming.
It’s astepupfromthe tinny stereo unitsof
previousgenerations,butnomatchforthe
rotating DolbyAtmos‘soundbar’ hingeonthe
Lenovo Yoga C930
(Shopper377). Classical
musicsounds grainy whereit
oughttobesmooth, while strings
screech ratherthan singgg.Thaaatttsssaaaiiiddd,ttthhheeerrreee’sss
jjjuuussstttenoughhhbassfrom thedown-firing
woofers to makepoppier tracks listenable.
ThinkPads alwayshaveexcellent
keyboards, and this one is as dependable as
anyother.The chiclet-style layouthasn’t
changed from theprevious model, whilethe
keys areweighty,and elicit asatisfying thunk
with every stroke.They’realsosubtly curved
foraddedcomfort. There are twolevels of
backlighting to choose fromand, of course,
there’sthat iconicTrackPoint joystick
between the G, Hand Bkeys.
We have no complaints aboutthe
touchpad,either.It’s spacious, smooth and
responsive,and we didn’tneed to fiddle with
anyofthesensitivitysettings to makepalm
rejectionworkeffectivvvely. In accordance with
the traditional ThinkPaaaddesign,the physical
clickers sit abovethetttouchpad,althoughif
you’re not aseasoneeedenterprise laptop
user and findthessseout of place,you
can left- andrighhht-click with the
diving-board tooouchpadaswell.
As this isaaaYoga model, the
conventional inputsare joined by the
touchscreennnandthe PenPro stylus.
The latterisssmade of thesame
cheap-feeeeling plastic as always
andit’snnnot very grippy, but it’s
precise enough fortaking
notesaaand scrawling doodles,
andittt’s toughtogrumble
whennnit’s absolutely free.
GLEAMEFFORT
FFFromcertain angles, the
14in, 3,840x2,160
tooouchscreenonthe X1
Yogggaisstunning to behold;
VERDICT
Afew smmmall steps forward aren’t enough to make
the ThinkkkPadX1Yoga an essential convertible
