Lenovo Launches ThinkPad X1 Yoga At CES With OLED Display
by Brett Howse on January 3, 2016 10:33 PM ESTThe ThinkPad Yoga has been around for some time, as a business focused version of the Yoga family, but Lenovo is launching the X1 Yoga today which takes the Yoga series to the next level. It is the first convertible device being launched with an OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) display. We’ve seen these displays predominately on smartphones, with the occasional tablet as well, but it’s now made its way to the laptop form factor.
Lenovo is using a Samsung OLED as the optional panel, and it’s a 14-inch 2560x1440 version. Samsung is the market leader in OLED technology, so it makes a lot of sense that they would turn to them for this display. The base device comes with a 1920x1080 IPS LCD, and there is also an optional 2560x1440 IPS LCD too, but the OLED should give a large gamut and of course the deep blacks that OLED is known for, along with infinite contrast. It is exciting to see that this technology is now making its way here.
The X1 Yoga also features an active stylus, which docks into the keyboard base. When docked, the pen charges, so keeping the stylus charged and available should be a breeze. Keeping with the tradition of the ThinkPad Yoga, the X1 Yoga’s spill-resistant keys and trackpoint retract into the base when the display is rotated around, to improve the ergonomics when used in tablet mode. Having the keys on the backside is generally one of the big drawbacks of these types of convertibles, but the ThinkPad line solves that little issue.
The laptop is powered by Skylake-U series processors, up to a Core i7 with vPro. You can get up to 16 GB of memory, and a 1 TB PCIe NVMe SSD as well. There are plenty of connections available, with three USB 3.0 ports and OneLine+ for Ethernet, along with mDP, HDMI, microSD, and optional 4G LTE, with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X7 LTE modem. It also features WiGig wireless docking, as well as a Windows Hello compatible touch fingerprint reader.
The convertible weighs in at 1.27 kg / 2.8 lbs and is 16.7 mm / 0.66-inches thick.
The new X1 Yoga will be available starting in January, with the OLED model shipping around April. Prices start at $1449.
Source: Lenovo
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Bateluer - Monday, January 4, 2016 - link
"Yep - just bought latest XPS 13. I can not phantom why manufacturers insist on putting huge bezels on laptops"Just bought a new Yoga 900 myself, and the tiny slim bezels on the XPS13s really made them a strong contender in my options. Bought the Yoga 900 because for same price as the XPS' i5 6200, 4GBs, and 128GB SSD, I got an i7 6500, 8GBs of RAM, and a 256GB SSD.
cptcolo - Monday, April 4, 2016 - link
I like the small bezels on the XPS 13 and XPS 15, but the keyboards are terrible and a total deal breaker.CaedenV - Monday, January 4, 2016 - link
... except that this isn't a laptop like the XPS13, it is a convertible tablet like the XPS12... except with a larger display, smaller bezels, and an attached keyboard like the older version of the XPS12. If you ask me, this is a winner!Also, while I agree with desktop productivity, on a portable device the form factor does not matter quite as much. I mean, I would love to see a 4:3 or 16:10 laptop as much as the next guy, but even I understand that they are few and far between. If you want to sell a product in bulk, then you need a mainstream display form factor to work with, and 16:9 is where it is at right now.
fokka - Monday, January 4, 2016 - link
agreed. even in the xps13 i would prefer a nice 16:10 display and here it's the same. it's a shame when even thinkpads, probably the most utilitarian notebooks ever, only come in 16:9 and you have to resort to a macbook of all things, if you want notebooks that use 16:10 quite consistently.Bateluer - Monday, January 4, 2016 - link
Ugh, please leave 4:3 in the graveyard. At this point, all the flesh has rotted off and the carrion feeders have sucked all the remaining marrow out.dopp - Monday, January 4, 2016 - link
I'd normally agree with you about having small bezels, but you need something that's not the screen to grip in tablet modeBigrio - Monday, January 4, 2016 - link
Not that it makes a huge difference, but its actually a 14in display, still weighing under 3lbs...greenarcher02 - Tuesday, January 5, 2016 - link
It CAN'T have the same thin bezels as the XPS13, as this is supposed to be used as a tablet. It's illogical for a tablet-like device to have that kind of bezel.Lolimaster - Thursday, January 7, 2016 - link
4:3 is 1.33X1 is 1.4142 (basically A4 paper).
greenarcher02 - Tuesday, January 5, 2016 - link
Although I kind of agree they should have made it 4:3.... I mean, the X1 tablet is already 4:3 they should have kept the X1 series uniform in that aspect, I guess?