The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Review: OLED and LCD Tested
by Brett Howse & Brandon Chester on September 29, 2016 11:30 AM EST
Earlier this year at CES, Lenovo took the wraps off their latest lineup of premium business class notebooks, and they revamped the X1 lineup completely. Originally the X1 was just the X1 Carbon notebook, but Lenovo has decided to expand the X1 series to include the aforementioned X1 Carbon, along with the X1 Yoga and X1 Tablet. So the ThinkPad Yoga is now the ThinkPad X1 Yoga, and as such it keeps the same thin and light design of the X1 Carbon.
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Review
Thin and light is the key here, and the X1 Yoga doesn’t disappoint. The X1 Yoga is only 16.8 mm (0.66”) thick, and weighs 1270 grams (2.8 lbs). While not the thinnest and lightest notebook around, don’t forget that the X1 Yoga also features a 360° hinge, allowing it to be used exclusively with touch with several modes, including tablet, stand, and tent, just like the other Yoga devices they sell. Lenovo also pointed out that the X1 Yoga is thinner and lighter than the original X1 Carbon even, despite including touch and the convertible hinges.
Lenovo is offering plenty of choices here to outfit the X1 Yoga, with the baseline offering of an Intel Core i5-6200U and 8 GB of LPDDR3-1866. You can upgrade to the i5-6300U, i7-6500U, and i7-6600U, with RAM offerings up to 16 GB. On storage Lenovo has gone all NVMe, with choices from 128 GB to 512 GB. On the display side, the 14-inch panel can be either a 1920x1080 IPS, 2560x1440 IPS, or a 2560x1440 OLED model.
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga | |||||
| As Tested: Core i7-6500U, 8GB, 512GB, 2560x1440 LCD | |||||
| CPU | Intel Core i5-6200U Dual-Core with Hyperthreading 2.3-2.8 GHz, 3MB Cache, 15W TDP Intel Core i5-6300U Dual-Core with Hyperthreading 2.4-3.0 GHz, 3MB Cache, 15W TDP Intel Core i7-6500U Dual-Core with Hyperthreading 2.5-3.1 GHz, 4MB Cache, 15W TDP Intel Core i7-6600U Dual-Core with Hyperthreading 2.6-3.4 GHz, 4MB Cache, 15W TDP |
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| GPU | Intel HD 520 300-1050MHz, 24 EUs |
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| Memory | 8GB to 16GB LPDDR3-1866 Dual-channel | ||||
| Display | 14-inch 1920x1080 IPS Optional 2560x1440 IPS Optional 2560x1440 OLED |
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| Storage | 128GB to 1TB SSD, PCIe and SATA | ||||
| I/O | OneLink+ USB 3.0 Type-A x 3 Headset jack 720p Webcam Mini DisplayPort microSD |
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| Dimensions | 333 x 229 x 16.8 mm 13.11 x 9.01 x 0.66 inches |
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| Weight | 1.27 kg / 2.8 lbs | ||||
| Battery | 52 Wh, 65 W AC Adapter | ||||
| Keyboard | Spill-Resistant with TrackPoint | ||||
| Wireless | Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC8260 2x2:2 with Bluetooth 4.1 |
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| Price | Starting at $1400, as tested $1871.10 | ||||
Lenovo also offers plenty of connectivity on the X1 Yoga, including three USB 3.0 ports, HDMI, DisplayPort, and a OneLink connector for its docking stations. There are no USB Type-C ports, but the X1 Yoga does have MicroSD support for additional storage, and LTE-A as an option for those that want to be as untethered as possible. Wireless is supplied via the Intel 8260 wireless card, and as a business focused device it can be had with vPro as well.
They also include a stylus built into the laptop which will charge while docked. It’s not as big or as comfortable as the one included with something like the Surface Book, but the fact that it is docked will more than make up for that for a lot of people, because that means it’s always available, and less likely to get misplaced.
Lenovo has gone with a 52 Wh battery for this laptop, meaning it is over the 50 Wh baseline for Ultrabooks. That’s pretty good considering the inclusion of a stylus, and the thin nature of this device.
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overzealot - Wednesday, October 5, 2016 - link
Awesome, thanks Brett!ikjadoon - Friday, September 30, 2016 - link
I think there's a little error on battery capacity. IIRC, the OLED version actually uses a 56Wh battery, while the LCD uses 52Wh.http://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-ThinkPad-X1-Yo...
So, then, the battery life for the OLED is actually even worse. :(
Lolimaster - Friday, September 30, 2016 - link
Not even my 7 years old Cowon S9 pmp shows that type of ghosting on his amoled display (pretty much zero ghosting).FXi - Saturday, October 1, 2016 - link
Interesting cross product implications from this review. Btw a very detailed review which is needed in this new type of product, kudos for not just glossing through the details but taking it head on.I note that power draw (with light screens which we knew about but good to note) being so much higher may well be a challenge to Apple going OLED. That may well cause them to implement a dark interface.
I bet Windows 10 with it's continuous approach to a dark interface may be ready for the move to OLED in more device types - though even using it you still had a severe drop in battery life.
If the gamut (which is going to be a big deal moving forward a couple years as 4k content all goes to wide gamut) had been wide on the LCD too, it would have been a fairer contrast. Wide gamut backlights on LCD's draw more power so then the comparison would have been more like to like in capability.
Often overlooked is that Nvidia (and possibly others but NV is the ones who discussed it) has for years made 10 bit wide gamut color accessible through DirectX which has supported wide gamut where the receiver (panel) could understand it. Now that would then need another culling of any actual games that have a wide gamut setting (even if invisible to the user) that activates on a wide gamut monitor, but be aware that taking advantage of wide gamut may not be restricted to just Adobe type programs. In fact the Nvidia driver has a checkbox for outputting 10 bit by force. This isn't color managed, but it begins to bridge the gap in the triple match you need of software/interface/hardware that would need to be aligned for high gamut impact.
If you'd tried a 4k HDR stream play on these devices I suspect you'd be pretty impressed at the differences.
Awesome job detecting the blur. That relates the the draw and hold driving of current panels that creates blur from the driving circuit in spite of OLED pixel draws. Yes it needs both hardware and driver level software to fix. Black frame insertion is the way to trick the brain and represents one first approach to curing this artifact. But it will come as no shock to you that the driver circuits in small devices are weak vs desktop or TV, but also that any special way of doing things now new to OLED and different from LCD is the weakest area of all. Very few houses make these kinds of chips needed for TV, fewer that can then be integrated for desktop and for mobile of laptop size, almost none. So it's going to take time and expansion of the entire market to drive new solutions as available.
Well done :)
cditty - Tuesday, October 4, 2016 - link
Easier for Apple to do OLED on the smaller screen. I'm really glad I read this article. The ghosting would have driven me crazy. I've used the FHD version of this laptop and liked it a lot (fingerprint login in particular). Makes sense to me why Apple is supposedly only using OLED on the Macbook Pro for a smaller touchpad. They won't trade off battery life. With processor and SSD technology constant now, it seems like the display (on a laptop) is the next battle point. I'm still relatively happy on a 5.5 inch phone with a 1080 screen. It's worth the extra battery life to me. A killer, accurate 1080 screen is better (to me) than a Q or UHD screen that kills the battery.I apologize for my 'all over the place' intermingling of phone and laptop discussion.
Erin Adreno - Sunday, October 2, 2016 - link
The nvme ssd speed doesn't seem right. That speed should come from a 950 pro instead of pm951.cptcolo - Saturday, November 12, 2016 - link
I am pretty sure it is a PM961 not a PM951cptcolo - Saturday, November 12, 2016 - link
I took apart mine, it indeed has a Samsung PM961 1TB SSD. I ordered mine back in June 2016.Ro_Ja - Monday, October 3, 2016 - link
It's also a good thing this laptop has the RAM in dual-channel mode. It greatly affects performance for onboard GPUs.amosbatto - Wednesday, October 5, 2016 - link
Let's talk about the longevity of this device. How hard is it to open the case and replace the parts? You didn't even bother to mention in the review that the battery is sealed in the case, which is very important when it dies after 2 years of use. Is it soldered or glued inside, or is it designed to be replaced? Is the keyboard a user replaceable part? Is the RAM soldered on the motherboard? Does the SSD use a standard connector? This is the essential information that determines whether a laptop lasts 5 years or 2 years and it is never included in any review.I just bought a Thinkpad T450s and I replaced the screen and added more RAM. The lid of the T450s is too thin to protect the screen in a fall in my opinion. The case is extremely hard to open without a plastic spudger and I marred the plastic because I only had a flat-head screw driver. Reviews used to open up laptops, but now we seem to live in a world where every device is designed for planned obsolescence.
These are important questions because the fabrication of a new laptop emits between 200 and 400 kg of CO2-equivalent. Between 60%-80% of the total energy of a laptop lies in its initial fabrication and the majority of its greenhouse gas emissions and other types of pollution are also caused by the fabrication. The best way to reduce the environmental impact is to use a device as long as possible and avoid new fabrication. I would appreciate reviews which at least give me some idea of the longevity of a device.
Another think that I would appreciate is some mention of the environmental hazards of its contents. Does it use PVC plastic and phthalates? Does it contain brominated flame retardants in the casing and motherboard? Does the screen contain arsenic? Does the manufacturer have a take-back policy, so the device can be easily recycled? For me, these are far more important questions when I buy a laptop than whether this device scores 5% better on some CPU test. I will never notice the incremental difference in the speed of the CPU, but I care whether I am being exposed to chemicals that may effect my hormones and could give my child a birth defect. Why do review sites like Anandtech never talk about whether the power cord on a laptop contains phthalates or not?