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Early into testing Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 Gen 1, I briefly regretted buying its dual-display Yoga Book 9i. I purchased it months in the past, and it improved my day-to-day life in so many surprising methods, I advised 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 and tried to show me into that Distracted Boyfriend meme as I remodeled it from a 12-inch netbook to a 16-inch drawing pill whereas shouting to my accomplice from downstairs, “Come have 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 might see how easy the seam was. We shortly forgot that it folded in half as we performed video games and watched films with it unfolded. I in the end realized I had already purchased the proper laptop computer for me, however the ThinkPad X1 Fold is a folding laptop computer accomplished proper, so hell yeah, I wished it.
Lenovo released its first X1 Fold in 2020, nevertheless it was too forward of its time. Its well-built and delightful OLED show couldn’t make up for a bunch of points: brief 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 fastened virtually 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 pretty much 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 fantastic, nevertheless it’s not ideally suited 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 Ebook.
Positive, I might drop $20 on a pill stand large enough to accommodate the Fold’s 16-inch show, nevertheless it wouldn’t double as a keyboard cowl, and it most definitely 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 coated the Fold’s backside half, it in all probability wouldn’t inform the system to modify into laptop computer mode when hooked up. (I attempted this with the Yoga Ebook’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 “elective” keyboard and folio to get essentially the most out of this foldable laptop computer, but additionally the trackpad was irritating to make use of. I needed to clear my finger oils off the trackpad continuously or else it might miss too many swipes. That’s disappointing since typing on the keyboard is as good as you’d count on 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 Ebook 9i: linked to my monitor with a standalone keyboard and mouse. In that mode, the Fold labored higher than my Yoga Ebook in some methods. Not like the Yoga Ebook, which has two separate screens, the Fold’s hinge is behind its show and doesn’t create a niche in the course of a paragraph, and I can’t emphasize sufficient how good it was to not should cope with any type of display hole throughout my time with the Fold.
Nevertheless, my Yoga Ebook 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 want how I can modify the angle of the Ebook’s prime display to match my exterior monitor. As a result of the Ebook’s twin shows are linked with a visual middle hinge, it doesn’t warp what’s within the middle 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 Ebook’s backside show, which was kind of awkward, however I forgot about it after some time.
And that’s the place my points with the Fold finish. One in all 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 through a magnetic hinge, you merely open the ThinkPad Fold like a e-book till it’s completely flat, prop it up towards 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 surface surfaces of the laptop computer are adorned with finely woven strips of black recycled artificial fiber (PET), and the feel is pleasantly tactile. Working my fingertips over it felt like a fabric-woven tote bag however smoother. It’s a sublime floor that hides fingerprints in its tiny crevices, too. Neglect flat laptop computer lids, neglect enjoyable colours — I need extra enjoyable, elegant textures in black! (Sorry, Yoga Ebook!) 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 dimension of a child’s toothbrush, works to get them out if you need 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 in the marketplace — as gentle as a MacBook Air. I additionally favored 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 an identical 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 might create a detailed digital model of his colours.
I might generally really feel lengthy, slender bumps spanning the size of the centerfold, which isn’t unusual for folding shows. However as soon as all the system warmed up, it evened out, in order that didn’t have an effect on my skill to jot down and draw. The stylus itself was what gave me essentially the most hassle.
Properly, most styluses give me hassle (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 a watch as a result of it was troublesome to search out the proper angle to imitate portray with a two-inch brush. To be truthful to Lenovo, oil portray with any stylus feels completely totally different in comparison with the actual factor, for apparent causes, however as soon as I discovered the best way to tweak the Fresco settings to get as near Ross’ tried-and-true flat brushes as attainable, I felt principally good about my completely satisfied digital clouds.
Watching films 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) seemed higher on the Fold than my Gigabyte M28U gaming monitor, though I did should fiddle with the in-game decision settings so every little thing didn’t look so squished.
General, Lenovo did an exceptional job balancing the ThinkPad X1 Fold’s design with its {hardware} wants. I by no means had a difficulty with drawing purposes lagging or working 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 capable of 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 laptop 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 well 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, despite the fact that it’s designed to attract as much as 29W. The chassis by no means went above 31 levels Celsius, both, so I might comfortably go away 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 essential add-ons to an already not-cheap laptop computer. The one different folding display laptops that might 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 not examined the previous — to not point out that the Spectre Fold is twice the value 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 dimension as its Yoga Ebook and embrace a keyboard and folio sooner or later, even when the value had been nonetheless $2,500, I’d purchase it.
Images by Joanna Nelius / The Verge
