Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga Review: Cool to the Contact

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga review: Earlier canine, meet new trick

MSRP $1,685.00

“The ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga is the easiest convertible 2-in-1 spherical when you want to use it as a capsule.”

Execs

• Participating and revolutionary chassis
• Insanely skinny and light-weight
• Steady effectivity
• Great battery life
• Good present for productiveness clients

Cons

• Touchpad is just too small
• Pricey

Have in mind when Lenovo’s ThinkPad line was the earlier standby, a set of well-built and very purposeful nevertheless normally boring enterprise laptops? Properly, no additional.

That’s issue, because of what’s modified it is a way more dynamic lineup that in no way ceases to shock. The latest occasion is the ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga, an thrilling new entry inside the convertible 2-in-1 laptop class that — on paper at least — ensures to compete with a number of of the best laptops you can purchase.

I acquired a midrange mannequin of the laptop, with a Core i5-1130G7, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB PCIe solid-state drive (SSD), and a 13.5-inch present inside the productivity-friendly 3:2 aspect ratio and with a extreme QHD (2,256 x 1,504) determination. That’s the one present risk accessible, a potential weak level that we’ll deal with later. The worth for this configuration is $1,685 after e-coupon (the itemizing worth is an insane $3,369), making it a very premium 2-in-1 actually. Let’s uncover out if the ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga has what it takes to deal with the easiest?

Soar to: Design | Security | Effectivity | Present | Keyboard and Touchpad | Battery Life | Our Take

Design

Let’s start with this: Titanium is a extraordinarily cool metal utilized in airplanes, amongst totally different points. Using it in a laptop is even cooler, and so what if it’s solely used inside the ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga’s lid? It’s there, and although it affords the laptop a cumbersome determine, I want it. It has a pleasing texture that’s a play on the ThinkPad’s conventional soft-touch supplies. On the very least, I assume that’s the titanium I’m touching, given that the lid is product of every titanium and carbon fiber.

Mark Coppock/Digital Traits

Mark Coppock/Digital Traits

Mark Coppock/Digital Traits

Mark Coppock/Digital Traits

The rest of the chassis is a magnesium-aluminum alloy meant to make it every delicate and durable, and whereas it succeeds in being very delicate at merely 2.54 kilos, there’s a tiny little little bit of give inside the lid and keyboard deck when some stress is utilized.

The HP Spectre x360 14, primarily essentially the most direct competitor to the ThinkPad, weighs in at 2.95 kilos and feels additional sturdy — and every variations are noticeable. Moreover noticeable is the excellence in thickness, with the ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga at merely 0.45 inches thick as compared with the comparatively chunky Spectre’s 0.67 inches. The Spectre x360 14 is smaller than the ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga — notably, it’s not as deep whereas being just about exactly as in depth — due to smaller prime and bottom bezels. The Dell XPS 13, the easiest clamshell opponents, is offered in at 2.8 kilos and 0.58 inches thick. It moreover feels additional sturdy than the ThinkPad. 

The ThinkPad would have benefitted from smaller bezels all through, although the best bezel desires its further measurement for some additional components (particulars may very well be found inside the security half that follows). The XPS 13 is the smallest of the bunch, however it certainly doesn’t want to deal with a additional sophisticated 2-in-1 hinge. Speaking of the hinge, the ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga’s is a bit stiff, requiring two palms to open nevertheless sustaining the lid the place it belongs in clamshell, tent, media, and capsule modes. Bear in mind that capsule mode is additional cosy on the ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga than many alternative convertibles, due to its skinny chassis and three:2 aspect ratio that’s nearer to a little bit of paper in dimensions.

So, how does this skinny and light-weight laptop look? Properly, to begin with, it barely resembles its all-black ThinkPad siblings. It’s a pleasant silver-gray color that eschews all adornment in addition to the logos. Even these are utterly totally different than conventional, with the ThinkPad emblem on the lid being a silver embossed mannequin fairly than the norma; white, although the “i” dot stays a blinking LED that conveys particulars concerning the laptop’s standing. Instantly beneath that may very well be a additional pronounced X1 emblem that’s a mix of crimson and black, and it seems to be like sharp in the direction of the ThinkPad emblem. On the rear is an inset Lenovo emblem that’s barely seen.

Open the lid and in addition you’ll uncover a comparable emblem on the keyboard deck, the usual crimson TrackPoint nubbin, and the recognizable ThinkPad keyboard. The TrackPoint buttons above the touchpad skip the crimson accents, which I really feel works proper right here. Normal, it’s a very stylish however conservative design that I like a lot, just about as rather a lot as I similar to the Spectre x360 14’s gem-cut design and the XPS 13’s additional streamlined look.

Mark Coppock/Digital Traits

Mark Coppock/Digital Traits

Mark Coppock/Digital Traits

Unsurprisingly with such a thin machine, connectivity is at a minimal. You get two USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4 help, thought of considered one of which is used to vitality the ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga, a Kensington lock port, and a 3.5mm audio jack. That means you’ll need dongles for any legacy gadgets and a docking station whether it is advisable be a part of a few gadget at a time. Wi-fi connectivity is state-of-the-art, with Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1, and there’s an risk for 5G or 4G LTE WWAN.

Security

The ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga has the usual ThinkPad safety measures, such as a result of the ThinkShutter privateness swap for the webcam and the match-on-sensor fingerprint reader. However it moreover accommodates the human presence gadget (HPD) technology and software program program that I examined on the ThinkPad X1 Nano and situated to be fast and reliable.

Mark Coppock/Digital Traits

Principally, HPD, which is configured inside the “Intelligent Security” a part of Lenovo’s Enterprise Vantage utility, makes use of radar to acknowledge when an individual is in entrance of the laptop and when that particular person walks away. Throughout the latter case, the technology first dims the present after which lastly — how briskly is user-configurable — locations the laptop to sleep (notably, into Stylish Standby). As quickly because the particular person returns to inside a 60-degree arc from the doorway of the laptop, the machine wakes up and makes use of Dwelling home windows Hiya to log the particular person once more in. If the infrared camera and facial recognition are prepare, then the strategy is seamless. Stroll away, the laptop goes to sleep; return, and it scans your face and in addition you’re once more to work.

The attribute works correctly, and it’s good in addition to when you’re working a protracted course of that shouldn’t be interrupted. For example, I wanted to flip HPD off all through my longer benchmarks and battery exams besides I wanted to stay locked in entrance of the laptop. In some other case, my exams might be interrupted — take into consideration a protracted video-rendering session, and in addition you’ll get the thought. I examined the similar form of technology on Dell’s Latitude 7400 2-in-1, and I’ve found Lenovo’s decision to be additional reliable and seamless.

Effectivity

My review unit used the Core i5-1130G7, a mannequin of the Eleventh-gen Tiger Lake Core i5 with a lower thermal design vitality (TDP) of seven to fifteen watts fairly than the usual 12 to twenty-eight watts found inside the Core i5-1135G7, along with a max turbo frequency of 4.0GHz versus 4.2GHz. It accommodates Intel Iris Xe graphics with the entire 80 execution gadgets nevertheless at a slower clock tempo of 1.1 GHz versus 1.3 GHz. All that’s to degree out that Lenovo opted for a slower and cooler CPU for the Thinkpad X1 Titanium Yoga, which is sensible given the laptop’s skinny chassis. Bear in mind that this related CPU outfitted the ThinkPad X12 Detachable capsule that I reviewed, which, as you can see from the chart beneath, was barely slower than the ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga in most of our exams.

As it is also potential to see inside the chart, the ThinkPad retains up in Geekbench 5 nevertheless falls behind inside the totally different benchmarks. Notably, it outperformed the Lenovo Yoga 7i and its faster Core i5 inside the 3DMark Time Spy GPU examine, nevertheless that didn’t translate to real-life gaming. In some other case, the ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga carried out correct in line with what it’s possible you’ll anticipate given its CPU.

Bear in mind that the place a machine provided switchable effectivity modes, I recorded outcomes from the “common” setting. Most frequently — along with with the ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga — there’s solely a marginal distinction between “common” and “effectivity” modes. One outlier is the HP Spectre x360 14, which led the sphere in effectivity mode whereas its common mode is type of a bit slower.

The ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga’s PCMark 10 scores have been notably attention-grabbing. It was barely behind on the precept score as listed inside the chart, nevertheless additional importantly, it was notably sluggish inside the Content material materials Creation portion of the benchmark. This carried over to our Handbrake examine, which encodes a 420MB video as H.265, the place the ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga was even slower than the ThinkPad X12 Detachable by a great margin. Normal, this laptop performs correctly ample for typical productiveness apps, web trying, media consumption, and the like, nevertheless you acquired’t want to use it for enhancing video. I didn’t embrace Apple laptops with its fast M1 chip or any newest AMD Ryzen machines — these would have significantly outperformed the ThinkPad and really aren’t within the similar class of laptop on the subject of sheer effectivity.

This laptop shouldn’t be picked for its gaming prowess. I ran Fortnite at 1080p (in a window, as a result of the solely full-screen risk was the present’s full determination the place effectivity would have been horrible), and it managed 23 frames per second (fps) in extreme graphics and 17 fps in epic graphics. That’s about 10 fps slower than most totally different Tiger Lake laptops.

Present

Lenovo constructed the ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga spherical a 13.5-inch IPS present inside the productivity-friendly 3:2 aspect ratio and with a extreme determination of QHD (2,256 x 1,504). As talked about earlier, the three:2 aspect ratio makes this skinny and light-weight laptop a superior capsule as compared with most totally different convertible 2-in-1s — along with the HP Spectre x360 14, which enjoys the similar aspect ratio.

Mark Coppock/Digital Traits

Nevertheless a present moreover should look good, and that’s the place my colorimeter is offered in. Consistent with that gadget, the ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga’s present meets the modern premium widespread in some respects and exceeds it in others . For example, it’s pretty vibrant at 431 nits, correctly above our most popular 300-nit threshold and better than most. The Spectre x360 14’s OLED present “solely” acquired right here in at 374 nits, whereas the Dell XPS 13’s 4K present was shut at 420 nits. The ThinkPad present’s distinction merely exceeded the 1000:1 ratio we want to see, at 1,010:1, which is decrease than the XPS 13’s 1,360:1 and the HP’s unbelievable 374,200:1.

The ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga’s present was a lot much less spectacular inside the colors division. It managed 71% of AdobeRGB and 96% of sRGB, which is solely widespread for premium exhibits. The XPS 13 4K present hit 79% of AdobeRGB and 100% of sRGB, so barely larger, whereas the Spectre x360 14 was professional-grade at 96% of Adobe RGB and 100% of sRGB. The ThinkPad’s color accuracy was a DeltaE of 1.62 (decrease than 1.0 is excellent), as compared with the Dell at 1.21 and the HP at 0.69. Gamma was merely barely too vibrant at 2.1 (2.2 is good).

Mark Coppock/Digital Traits

In real-world use, I uncover out it to be a pleasant present to work on, due to the extreme distinction that produced darkish blacks on white backgrounds and a great deal of brightness. It’s not going to please inventive professionals who crave in depth and proper colors, nevertheless productiveness workers will adore it. The Dolby Imaginative and prescient help makes extreme dynamic fluctuate (HDR) content material materials pop, akin to that served up by Netflix, so it’s an unimaginable present for media consumption.

Audio prime quality was a mixed bag. Amount from the dual downward-firing audio system was merely loud ample and there was little distortion. Highs have been a bit blown out, though, leaving the midrange to wrestle for consideration. Bass, as conventional, was nonexistent. The sound prime quality is okay for the occasional YouTube video, nevertheless when you want to binge Netflix or take heed to music, then pair of headphones or Bluetooth audio system is advisable.

Keyboard and touchpad

The ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga has the similar major keyboard as the rest of the ThinkPad line, with an similar sculpted keycaps and wonderful spacing. It’s a bit shallower, though, with good journey nevertheless not pretty as deep as you’ll uncover on larger ThinkPads. That’s an enchancment: I uncover one other ThinkPad keyboards to require an extreme quantity of energy to register a click on on. Proper right here, the feel is delicate, crisp, and actually actual, with assured bottoming movement. It’d’t pretty keep as a lot as my favorites, HP’s Spectre keyboards and Apple’s latest Magic Keyboard, however it certainly’s shut.

Mark Coppock/Digital Traits

The on a regular basis ThinkPad TrackPoint sits in the midst of the keyboard and works along with conventional must you’re into that type of issue. Its biggest draw back is that it requires a set of buttons that takes home away from the touchpad. That’s a bummer, because of considered one of many advantages of a taller present is extra room on the keyboard deck for a much bigger touchpad. Lenovo didn’t take advantage of this home, leaving a touchpad that’s rather a lot smaller than it is likely to be. The Spectre x360 14’s touchpad is method bigger, for example. And this isn’t your conventional touchpad — it makes use of haptic ideas fairly than bodily keys to register clicks, and whereas it doesn’t work as naturally as Apple’s mannequin, it’s an trustworthy decision. There’s the usual Microsoft Precision touchpad help, and so Dwelling home windows 10 multitouch gestures are correctly supported. Normal, it’s a responsive touchpad — it’s just too small.

The present is touch-enabled, the truth is, and it, too, is responsive. It helps Lenovo’s full of life pen, which is included inside the subject and helps 4,096 ranges of stress sensitivity and tilt help. The pen magnetically attaches to the becoming facet of the present. Whereas it’s not like one other Lenovo pens that slide proper right into a port for storage and charging, it’s a full-size pen and correctly positively definitely worth the tradeoff.

Dwelling home windows 10 Hiya is supported by every a fingerprint reader and facial recognition. Every have been fast and proper. As talked about sooner than, you’ll want to use facial recognition to get primarily essentially the most out of the human presence detection choices.

Battery life

There are solely 44.5 watt-hours of battery inside the ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga’s skinny physique, which isn’t a lot for a laptop with a high-resolution present of this measurement. Given the general ThinkPad tendency in the direction of shorter-than-average battery life, I wasn’t too assured in spectacular longevity.

As a result of it turned out, battery life wasn’t good, however it certainly was horrible, each. In our web-browsing examine, the ThinkPad managed 9.45 hours, a better-than-average exhibiting and beat out every the Spectre x360 14’s seven hours and the XPS 13 4K’s merely over six hours. In our video examine that loops by means of a Full HD movie trailer, the Thinkpad X1 Titanium Yoga managed a strong 15.75 hours, 5.5 hours longer than the HP and 5 hours longer than the Dell.

Mark Coppock/Digital Traits

I moreover ran the laptop by means of the PCMark 10 Gaming battery examine that pushes the CPU and GPU, and it lasted for 3 hours, close to the similar as a result of the Spectre x360 14 and about half an hour decrease than the XPS 13 4K. Throughout the PCMark 10 Features battery examine, which is the easiest indication of the laptop’s productiveness runtime, the ThinkPad was near the best of our database at just about 11 hours, about two hours longer than every the HP and the Dell.

The net outcome’s that you just simply’re extra prone to get a full day of battery life out of the ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga, after which some. That’s not too shabby for a machine with a high-resolution present and first fee productiveness effectivity.

Our take

The ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga is a superior convertible 2-in-1 that provides the easiest spherical, HP’s Spectre x360 14, a run for its money. It’s skinny and light-weight and so works correctly as a capsule, a rarity on this class of machines, and it enjoys an unimaginable keyboard and pen, sturdy security selections, and a chassis that feels very stylish and powerful.

You acquired’t love the effectivity must you’re doing larger than the usual productiveness duties, nevertheless must you’re not looking for to run demanding duties, then the ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga is for you. And it’s partially product of titanium, which, as soon as extra, is pretty cool.

Are there any alternate choices?

The HP Spectre x360 14 is actually essentially the most logical totally different, and it’s faster, along with barely smaller whereas being thicker and heavier, and it offers a superior OLED present. The HP might be close to the similar worth as a result of the ThinkPad, solely with a Core i7-1185G7 and the OLED present, making it a a lot better price.

In the event you want a detachable capsule in its place of a convertible 2-in-1, Lenovo’s private ThinkPad X12 Detachable is an efficient risk. You’ll get barely slower effectivity and fewer battery life, nevertheless the easiest detachable capsule accessible in the intervening time. It’s moreover a lot of hundred {{dollars}} cheaper.

Lastly, must you don’t need the flexibleness of a 2-in-1, then the great Dell XPS 13 is an effective choice as conventional. It stays the easiest laptop spherical complete and might current larger effectivity, a higher-resolution present risk inside the 16:10 aspect ratio, and a chassis that’s additional sturdy and pretty a bit smaller.

How prolonged will it last?

The ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga is powerful ample to last for a lot of years of laborious work, and it enjoys up-to-date components. It is best to get a great deal of productive work out of it. You’ll moreover endure the insufficient nevertheless industry-standard 1-year assure.

Do you need to buy it?

Certain. The ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga is the easiest convertible 2-in-1 that may be utilized as a capsule and affords sturdy battery life to go together with its engaging skinny and light-weight design.

Editors’ Solutions