Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Overview
Taking a first look at the ThinkPad X1 Yoga, Lenovo is not changing much in terms of looks. ThinkPad owners love the matte black and very plain design of ThinkPad’s and Levovo knows this so the ThinkPad X1 Yoga has a very simplistic design. The laptop features a carbon fiber top cover that has a ThinkPad logo on the top corner and small Levovo logo on the bottom corner. The dot on the “i” in ThinkPad will light up red when you have the system on. Being a ThinkPad the X1 Yoga is designed to take a beating and passes the MIL-STD-810G military certification’s eight “MilSpecs” that incorporate 15 unique tests for durability conditions. These are external certifications that demonstrate the durability of the system, and meet requirements for government and military customers.
The X1 Yoga is the first laptop from Lenovo to make use of their new dual-hinge mechanism. This new hinge is designed to be thinner and lighter but as strong as its clamshell counterparts. Talking about thin and light the X1 Yoga weighs in at only 2.6 lbs. and is only 0.66-inches thick. With these specs Lenovo says it is the “world’s thinnest and lightest 14-inch 2-in-1 laptop”. Helping keep the X1 Yoga so light is the Magnesium Alloy composite, which makes up the rest of the design.
Still on the rear of the laptop you will find a compartment that houses a MicroSD card slot and SIM card slot. On the opposite side you will find some ventilation.
As far as connections and ports go on the left side you have your power connection, OneLink+ (docking) connection, Mini-DisplayPort, and a single USB 3.0 (always on) port. On the opposite side you have the Kesington lock port, HDMI out, two more USB 3.0 ports, headphone / microphone combo port, volume rocker, power button, and you will find the included pen.
The Pen that comes with the X1 Yoga is conveniently housed in a compartment that also charges it. Lenovo tells us that only 15 seconds of charging will provide up to 100 minutes of continuous use, and only 5 minutes will fully charge it!
Opening the X1 Yoga up we can take a look at the keyboard. One thing that is very important for ThinkPad users is the keyboard, and we see the same type of rounded keys we’ve seen on Lenovo laptops in the past. The only real difference you will notice with this keyboard is the function key is on the far left where your left control normally is on most laptops. This keyboard is spill-resistant and is backlit (white), with two different brightness levels. Another ThinkPad loyalist feature we have is the TrackPoint, positioned in between the second and third row of keys in the center.
The glass trackpad is actually quite large and sits almost directly at the center of the laptop. The X1 Yoga also features a new fingerprint reader and works with Windows Hello. For those security nuts out there your fingerprint is stored in flash, not at an OS level.
the X1 Yoga features a 14-inch FHD (1920 x 1080), anti-glare, LED backlit display with 270 nits of brightness. The panel itself is a capacitive-touch panel so you can use your finger or the included Pen with it. Lenovo does have X1 Yoga models with a WHQD (2560 x 1440) screen and even an OLED screen model. At the top center above the screen you have a 720p webcam for Skype and other video calls.
The ThinkPad X1 Yoga is of course injected with the “Yoga” DNA so you can completely rotate the screen. This allows you to easily present, watch media without taking up much space, and turn the X1 Yoga into a tablet. On really cool thing about the X1 Yoga is that the keys actually retract when you have it in stand, tent, or tablet modes. This creates a flat surface for a more natural feel, especially in tablet mode.
