Hands-On Review: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold

The foldable future of mobile computing


FIRST CONCLUSION

The Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Fold is finally confirmed as a real product and will be launched in 2020. However, Windows 10X is still far away, so the Lenovo X1 Fold still has a lot to prove whether it will actually be the first foldable notebook on the market.

BENEFITS

• Impressive folding display
• OLED at 2K resolution
• Solid stylus support
• Versatile use cases

DISADVANTAGE

• Wide frame
• Expensive

At CES 2020, the future of computers became a little more visible, and it looks like folding displays are taking over. We've seen the Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Fold in May 2019, but a lot has changed since then.

We've seen foldable laptops from Microsoft, Dell, and even Intel since then, so Lenovo's bet on the future seems to be paying off. In addition, as it looks at the moment, the Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Fold could be the first of its kind to actually hit the market.

It's too early in the product lifecycle to judge if the device will deliver on that promise, but you see us excited about what Lenovo has achieved so far.

Price and availability

After years of development and a first foretaste last year, we finally know how much we will reciprocate for the Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Fold. And, well, it's not cheap. Allow $ 2,499 to be there. Although this is an expensive laptop - but as always with such new devices - you pay an "early adopter" tax. If you want to own one of the first foldable laptops, you will have to dig deep into your pockets.

We do not yet know the time of the market launch. Lenovo tells us "later in 2020", but we don't have a specific date. We are sure Lenovo will bring us up to date ...

Design

In this case, the folding laptop naturally uses an innie "folding display design, i.e. the display collapses because an outie" design would not make sense for use as a laptop.

In any case, the LG-made display is not coated with glass, but with plastic, since glass has not yet been developed for bending. We talked a lot to Lenovo when we tried the device at CES 2020, and we both fantasized a little about what the future of the foldable devices will look like.

The rather wide bezels are connected by a unique torsion hinge that protrudes a little from both sides of the middle part of the device, using some kind of rubberized fabric as a link for the bend. Lenovo's notebook contains a pen, and instead of a magnetic attachment, as we saw when the X1 Fold was still in the prototype phase, there is a small loop into which the pen can be inserted.

This brings us to the leather cover that spans the back of the laptop. When the Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Fold is closed, a wonderful leather cover appears that feels like a book or a pouch. And when you open the laptop for use, this bag moves to make it easier to use. This is not absolutely necessary for the design of the device, but it looks very chic. And when you choose such an expensive device, aesthetics are very important.

Of course, the display will support stylus input, but it will also support multi-touch ... but the stylus Lenovo had at CES 2020 was not functional, just a dummy to give us an idea of ​​what it would look like and so on . Lenovo says this is because the pen design isn't finished yet, which is ok, we just wished we could play around with it a bit.

The latter also works well enough, with a new touch-tip interface that is being worked on in collaboration with Microsoft, as this will be a Windows device. However, there will be no haptic feedback for the touch tips in this product, which we will surely miss.

To counteract this, Lenovo will provide a keyboard, which has not yet been tested.

Since it is a plastic panel, the reflection is a problem. We tested this device in a room without a ton of extraneous light (luckily it wasn't at the CES 2020 fair), but it could be difficult if you try to work in the park.

Ultimately, we are very impressed with the device and what it could mean for computers in the future. With support for a Bluetooth keyboard, this could really be a portable PC with a pseudo-dual screen environment that is just a twist away.

Reading e-books on this device was a particularly pleasant experience, as was watching videos on the go (i.e. on a plane). However, the screen shows the content in a 4: 3 aspect ratio, which can be unusual for all possible applications - but it didn't bother us.

Performance

Lenovo positions the Thinkpad X1 Fold as a device for professionals and executives who travel a lot, and as such, it must be able to work with the best of them. But the catch is that we don't know what is behind this laptop.

At CES, however, Lenovo told us that it is an "unannounced Intel processor", which leads us to speculate about what it could be. There are two main options here: Intel Tiger Lake and Lakefield. We rely on the latter.

The Intel Lakefield processors were introduced at CES 2019 and are the perfect candidate for a foldable laptop like this. The idea, as with telephones, is to house the entire system on a single chip. So it is very possible that the Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Fold will be the first Lakefield-equipped product on the market, but only time will tell if our speculation is correct.

Lenovo is very cautious about the specs behind this foldable device. We expect it to have strong 16GB of RAM and a fast SSD, but beyond that we don't really know what it will do. Either way, we look forward to putting it to the test.

First Conclusion

Back when it was still a prototype, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold gave us an insight into what foldables would look like. And now that we know it's a real product and we've seen similar concepts and announcements from other major computer companies, we know it's a really futuristic product.

The price level is likely to keep a lot of people from jumping into this technology very early, with only managers and tech enthusiasts with deep pockets going to hit here. Lenovo knows this is the case, and is definitely targeting that audience.

So if you want to take an early look at the possible future of the computer industry, you should keep an eye on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold when it launches later in 2020. We know we will do that.

WHAT IS A HANDS ON REVIEW?

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