Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 assessment: setting the bar for foldables | Digital Noch

Early into testing Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 Gen 1, I briefly regretted buying its dual-display Yoga Guide 9i. I purchased it months in the past, and it improved my day-to-day life in so many sudden methods, I instructed myself I’d by no means purchase one other single-screen laptop computer. However then, the X1 Fold confirmed up with its folding OLED display screen and tried to show me into that Distracted Boyfriend meme as I reworked it from a 12-inch netbook to a 16-inch drawing pill whereas shouting to my companion from downstairs, “Come take a look at this laptop computer!”

We spent a while folding and unfolding the laptop computer, sticking the curved centerfold near our eyeballs so we may see how clean the seam was. We shortly forgot that it folded in half as we performed video games and watched motion pictures with it unfolded. I finally realized I had already purchased the suitable laptop computer for me, however the ThinkPad X1 Fold is a folding laptop computer carried out proper, so hell yeah, I needed it.

Lenovo launched its first X1 Fold in 2020, but it surely was too forward of its time. Its well-built and delightful OLED show couldn’t make up for a bunch of points: quick battery life; a small and dim show; an underpowered processor; a $2,500 beginning worth sans stylus or keyboard; and the truth that it didn’t at all times acknowledge whether or not it was getting used as a pill or as a laptop computer. Lenovo mounted nearly all of these points with its 2024 Fold. 

The show is way greater and far brighter. The battery life has doubled. The processing and built-in graphics efficiency have shot up like a puck hitting the bell atop a strongman carnival sport. The design is much more beautiful. Lenovo additionally threw in a stylus, and thank goodness it did as a result of this laptop computer is nearly as good a drawing pill as it’s a netbook. It’s a higher laptop computer in each means, besides in worth. 

Lenovo remains to be asking for $2,500, minimal, however the worth is extra justified this time round. The one caveat being it desires one other $300 for a Bluetooth keyboard and kickstand folio, that are each essential to the Fold expertise. Its digital keyboard works tremendous, but it surely’s not very best for typing something various search phrases into Google. Plus I wanted the folio to prop the ThinkPad Fold up subsequent to my 27-inch monitor, which is how I exploit my Yoga Guide.

Certain, I may drop $20 on a pill stand large enough to accommodate the Fold’s 16-inch show, but it surely wouldn’t double as a keyboard cowl, and it most actually wouldn’t be as transportable. I spent about an hour looking for a third-party magnetic keyboard however couldn’t discover one thing appropriate. Even when I did discover one (I’m satisfied they don’t exist) and it exactly lined the Fold’s backside half, it in all probability wouldn’t inform the system to modify into laptop computer mode when connected. (I attempted this with the Yoga Guide’s included keyboard — no cube, and it’s too massive for the Fold.)

So not solely is it annoying that I’d have to purchase Lenovo’s “non-compulsory” keyboard and folio to get probably the most out of this foldable laptop computer, but in addition the trackpad was irritating to make use of. I needed to clear my finger oils off the trackpad ceaselessly or else it might miss too many swipes. That’s disappointing since typing on the keyboard is as good as you’d anticipate from a ThinkPad or some other Lenovo laptop computer.

Fortunate for me that I most frequently used the ThinkPad X1 Fold the identical means I exploit my Yoga Guide 9i: related to my monitor with a standalone keyboard and mouse. In that mode, the Fold labored higher than my Yoga Guide in some methods. Not like the Yoga Guide, which has two separate screens, the Fold’s hinge is behind its show and doesn’t create a spot in the midst of a paragraph, and I can not emphasize sufficient how good it was to not need to cope with any form of display screen hole throughout my time with the Fold.

Nonetheless, my Yoga Guide 9i’s two 13.3-inch bodily shows do present a bigger workspace than the Fold, whether or not oriented horizontally or vertically. I additionally favor how I can alter the angle of the Guide’s high display screen to match my exterior monitor. As a result of the Guide’s twin shows are related with a visual heart hinge, it doesn’t warp what’s within the heart of the show just like the ThinkPad Fold when I’ve one or two home windows open. So I needed to maintain the Fold tilted at an identical angle to the Yoga Guide’s backside show, which was form of awkward, however I forgot about it after some time.

And that’s the place my points with the Fold finish. One among my favourite Fold options is the fluidity of opening the laptop computer into desktop mode. When the keyboard is wrapped contained in the folio cowl, which attaches to the keyboard by way of a magnetic hinge, you merely open the ThinkPad Fold like a guide till it’s completely flat, prop it up in opposition to the stand, and ta-da! All you want is a Starfleet uniform and a LCARS background, and also you’re able to go the place not many laptops have gone earlier than. (No? Simply me?)

The skin surfaces of the laptop computer are adorned with finely woven strips of black recycled artificial fiber (PET), and the feel is pleasantly tactile. Operating my fingertips over it felt like a fabric-woven tote bag however smoother. It’s a chic floor that hides fingerprints in its tiny crevices, too. Neglect flat laptop computer lids, overlook enjoyable colours — I would like extra enjoyable, stylish textures in black! (Sorry, Yoga Guide!) These crevices do catch crumbs, so consuming across the Fold is a no-go. The smaller the crumbs, the tougher they’re to pick along with your fingernail, however a small brush, concerning the measurement of a child’s toothbrush, works to get them out if it’s important to get your snack on.

The Fold’s dimensions are well-balanced, which makes it really feel lighter than it’s whereas carrying with one hand or tucked into the criminal of your arm. It’s solely 0.68 inches thick and weighs 2.82 kilos (with out the folio keyboard), which makes it one of many lightest laptops available on the market — as mild as a MacBook Air. I additionally preferred how the magnetic stylus conveniently attaches to the bottom-right facet in laptop computer mode.

I’m glad Lenovo ships a stylus with this laptop computer as a result of, as a drawing pill, this system is marvelously huge. Unfolded, it’s over 16 inches of OLED canvas that didn’t make my desk really feel cluttered. 

I’m not an artist, however I gave drawing and portray a go along with the Fold and didn’t discover a lot to complain about. The expertise felt practically equivalent to Lenovo 2-in-1s and convertible laptops from different manufacturers I’ve examined over time, and the 2560 x 2024 show covers 96 p.c of the DCI-P3 coloration gamut, so no matter paints Bob Ross determined to combine within the video, I may create an in depth digital model of his colours.

I may typically really feel lengthy, slender bumps spanning the size of the centerfold, which isn’t unusual for folding shows. However as soon as the whole system warmed up, it evened out, in order that didn’t have an effect on my means to put in writing and draw. The stylus itself was what gave me probably the most bother.

Properly, most styluses give me bother (thanks, dysgraphia), however the extra-pointy tip made it much less enjoyable to grease paint with Bob Ross in Adobe Fresco than it was to sketch an eye fixed as a result of it was troublesome to search out the suitable angle to imitate portray with a two-inch brush. To be honest to Lenovo, oil portray with any stylus feels completely totally different in comparison with the true factor, for apparent causes, however as soon as I found out methods to tweak the Fresco settings to get as near Ross’ tried-and-true flat brushes as doable, I felt largely good about my completely satisfied digital clouds.

Watching motion pictures and cloud gaming with ray tracing on was *chef’s kiss* due to the show’s coloration gamut, too, regardless of the 4:3 side ratio. Cyberpunk 2077 (I’m lastly getting round to enjoying Phantom Liberty) appeared higher on the Fold than my Gigabyte M28U gaming monitor, though I did need to fiddle with the in-game decision settings so every part didn’t look so squished.

General, Lenovo did an outstanding job balancing the ThinkPad X1 Fold’s design with its {hardware} wants. I by no means had a problem with drawing functions lagging or operating too many browser tabs (inside purpose). Its twelfth Gen Intel U-series processor is miles forward of the unique’s Intel Core i5-L16G7, which was a sluggish five-core, five-thread processor designed to deal with about 7W of energy. (That’s proper, no Hyper-Threading.)

In distinction, the Intel Core i5-1230U’s two efficiency cores are hyperthreaded (10-core, 12-thread), and its eight effectivity cores immensely helped with doubling the brand new Fold’s battery life; I used to be in a position to play Cyberpunk 2077 on GeForce Now with the show brightness maxed out (446 nits, as examined) for a median of 5 hours however averaged about 9 to 10 hours at about 50 to 60 p.c brightness if I used to be solely utilizing my pc for work-related duties.

Even with the stylus protecting one of many three vents in laptop computer mode (there’s just one spot the place it may possibly magnetically connect, and that’s it), the Fold by no means received hotter than a lukewarm tub. The CPU’s energy draw is capped at 26W, although it’s designed to attract as much as 29W. The chassis by no means went above 31 levels Celsius, both, so I may comfortably depart it flat on my lap for an hour whereas Bob Ross helped me brush up on my digital portray expertise.

Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 Gen 1 has set the bar as the foldable laptop computer to beat, even when the keyboard and folio are crucial add-ons to an already not-cheap laptop computer. The one different folding display screen laptops that would present a comparable expertise are the HP Spectre Fold and LG Gram Fold, however the latter is just obtainable in South Korea, and we’ve got not examined the previous — to not point out that the Spectre Fold is twice the worth of the ThinkPad Fold. 

Nonetheless, if this Lenovo foldable is an indication of the place extra laptop computer designs are headed, I’m all in. If the corporate could make a folding laptop computer the identical measurement as its Yoga Guide and embrace a keyboard and folio sooner or later, even when the worth had been nonetheless $2,500, I’d purchase it.

Images by Joanna Nelius / The Verge