Lenovo unveiled a slew of Yoga and ThinkPad laptops today at IFA 2018. The diverse lineup features a range of consumer products, from premium Windows 10 machines to budget Chromebooks with ARM-based CPUs.
The new ThinkPad X1 Extreme steals the show. The 15.6-inch machine, a direct competitor to the MacBook Pro, is loaded with features and promises all-day battery life. Other highlights include the Yoga C930, a sleek ultrabook with a sound bar hinge, and the Yoga Book C930, a unique 2-in-1 with a secondary 10.8-inch E Ink display. Chromebooks and Snapdragon-powered ultrabooks make up the low-end of Lenovo's new offerings.
Here are the best Lenovo laptops unveiled at IFA 2018.
With discrete Nvidia graphics and 8th Gen Intel H-series CPUs, the new 15-inch ThinkPad X1 Extreme is Lenovo's answer to the immensely popular Dell XPS 15 and Apple MacBook Pro. The premium laptop features a 4K HDR display, up to 64GB of RAM and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti GPU, making it an intriguing option for creators and gamers alike. Lenovo claims the X1 Extreme gets 13 hours of battery life; if that holds true, it would be one of the longest-lasting 15-inch laptops on the market.
The carbon fiber-clad X1 Extreme is remarkably lightweight for its size, weighing in at just 3.75 pounds. The laptop's bezel-less display minimizes its footprint down to 14.2 x 9.7 x 0.7 inches. Despite such a slim chassis, the X1 Extreme offers a solid selection of ports, including two USB 3.1 ports, two Thunderbolt 3 ports, an SD card slot and an HDMI.
The ThinkPad X1 Extreme starts at $1,899, and will be released in September.
The Lenovo Yoga C930 is meant for everyday consumer who wants a premium 2-in-1 that can handle a heavy workload. The laptop's standout feature is a new 360-degree hinge that doubles as a soundbar for providing clear audio in clamshell and tablet mode.
Starting at $1,399, the Yoga C930 isn't cheap, but it comes equipped with some powerful internals, including 8th Gen Intel Core i5 or i7 U-series CPUs, up to 16GB of RAM and up to 2TB of SSD storage. Unlike the X1 Extreme, the Yoga C930 has integrated Intel HD 620 GPU, so it's not as good for gaming.
Like the Yoga 920 before it, the C930 has a thin and lightweight design. The laptop also comes with a "garaged pen," so you can slip the stylus in a built-in slot when you're not using it.
The Lenovo Yoga C930 will be available in October.
Is the death of the physical keyboard imminent? If the Yoga Book C930 is a success, it very well could be. The new 10.8-inch dual-display laptop replaces a physical keyboard with an E Ink display that doubles as a notepad, digital keyboard or e-reader. Designed for artists and designers, the Yoga Book C930 ships with a Wacom Active Pen that connects via Bluetooth.
The secondary E Ink display comes at a price. For $999, the Yoga Book C930 is equipped with an aging 7th Gen Y-series processor, only 4GB of memory and up to 256GB of SSD storage. The main LCD touchscreen display has a resolution of 2560 x 1600, while the secondary E Ink panel is 1080p.
Don't let the name fool you — the Yoga S730 is a traditional clamshell laptop. It comes equipped with Intel Core i5 or i7 Whiskey Lake CPUs, up to 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of SSD storage.
The S730 is just 0.47 inches thin, making it slimmer than the 12-inch MacBook. And at 2.6 pounds, the S730 is as lightweight as the recently redesigned Dell XPS 13. Unfortunately, the only ports offered are two Thunderbolt 3, one USB 3.1 Type-C and a headphone jack.
The Yoga S730's 1080p display is bordered by narrow bezels, a design trend Lenovo has wholeheartedly embraced. Lenovo rates the Yoga S730's battery life at a respectable 10 hours.
The laptop starts at $999, and will be released in November.
The Lenovo Yoga C630 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 850 processor, the chip maker's first built-for-PC CPU. What does that mean? Well, you should expect all-day battery life (Lenovo claims over 25 hours!) and on-board LTE connectivity. However, if previous ARM-based laptops are any measure to go by, we don't expect stellar performance.
The Yoga C630 is a bendback 2-in-1 with a 13-inch, 1080p display, 4GB of RAM and a 256GB of flash memory. Designed for students, the Yoga C630 runs Windows 10S mode out of the box.
The Lenovo Yoga C630 will start at $849.99 when it launches in November.
The Yoga Chromebook C630 is Lenovo's first premium laptop running on Chrome OS. The 2-in-1 starts at $600, but that's without the optional 15.6-inch, 4K touchscreen display, a rarity for a Chromebook. The laptop comes with 8GB of RAM and up to 128GB of eMMC storage. At 4.2 pounds and 14.2 x 10 x 0.7 inches, this 2-in-1 is relatively light and compact.
Lenovo is releasing two more Chromebooks in October: The Ideapad C330 and the Ideapad S330. The 11.6-inch C330 is a 2-in-1 with an ARM-based MediaTek 8173 CPU, 4GB of RAM and a 64GB of flash storage, while the 14-inch Ideapad S330 is powered by the same CPU, but has a clamshell design and only 32GB of memory. The Ideapad C330 will start at $279.99 and the Ideapad S330 will cost $249.99.
