Lenovo’s X1 Yoga for 2021 is now out – the 6th generation in the line of X1 Yogas, bringing in several changes to the line. We’ve come a long way from the first release too, but in essence it’s still an all-rounder laptop that can be flipped and rotated in all different ways, with a stylus and touch screen to provide an adaptable piece of hardware.
Specs
Tech Specs
Processor
Up to 11th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-1185G7 Processor with vPro™ (3.00 GHz, up to 4.80 GHz with Turbo Boost, 4 Cores, 8 Threads, 12 MB Cache)
Operating System
– Windows 10 Home – Windows 10 Pro – Linux Ubuntu
Display
– 14″ UHD+ 4K (3840 x 2400) IPS, anti-reflection, anti-smudge, touchscreen with Dolby Vision™, HDR, 500 nits, 90% DCI P3 Color Gamut, TÜV Rheinland-certified for reduced blue light emissions – 14″ FHD+ (1920 x 1200) IPS, anti-glare, touchscreen with Privacy Guard, 500 nits 14″ FHD+ (1920 x 1200) IPS, anti-glare, touchscreen, 400 nits, TÜV Rheinland-certified for reduced blue light emissions – 14″ FHD+ (1920 x 1200) IPS, anti-reflective, anti-smudge, touchscreen, low power, 400 nits Screen to body ratio = 83%; aspect ratio = 16:10
Memory
Up to 32 GB LPDDR4x 4266MHz
Battery
Up to 16.1 hours 57Whr (MM18) Rapid Charge (requires 65W PSU or higher)
Storage
Up to 1TB PCIe SSD
Graphics
Integrated Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics
Security
– Discrete Trusted Platform Module (dTPM) 2.0 – Optional: Human-presence detection sensor with IR camera – Smart Power On fingerprint reader integrated with power button (match-on-chip) – Webcam privacy shutter – Kensington lock slot
Audio
Dolby Atmos® Speaker System – 4 x 360-degree far-field mics – Dolby Voice® professional conferencing solution
Camera
720p HD with webcam privacy shutter Optional: Hybrid infrared (IR) / 720p HD with webcam privacy shutter
Dimensions (H x W x D)
14.9mm x 313mm x 223mm x / 0.59″ x 12.32″ x 8.77″
Weight
Starting at 3 lbs (1.35 kg)
Color
Storm Gray
Certifications
Energy Star® 8.0 EPEAT® Gold
Connectivity
– Optional: WWAN* Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 5G Modem-RF System – Optional: WWAN* Quectel EM120R-GL 4G LTE CAT12 – WLAN: Up to Intel® AX201 WiFi 6 802.11AX (2 x 2) with vPro™ – Bluetooth® 5.1 *
Ports / Slots
– 2 x USB 4 Type-C with Thunderbolt™ 4 (DisplayPort, Power Delivery and Data Transfer) – 2 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 (One always on) – Headphone / mic combo – HDMI 2.0 – Optional: Nano SIM slot
Keyboard
Spill-resistant Color-matched keyboard with wider 110mm / 4.33″ TrackPad Backlit with white LED lighting Call-control keys (F9-F11)
Supported Docking
USB-C Dock ThinkPad Thunderbolt™ 4
What’s in the box
– ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 6 – 65W AC Adapter (Supports Rapid Charge) – 57Whr Internal Battery – ThinkPad Pen Pro – Quick Start Guide
I’ll cover the components I think are worth discussing:
Processor
Intel’s 11th Gen CPU is inside the Yoga X1 Gen 6. Tom’s Hardware do a good comparison of the differences and benchmark comparisons between 10th and 11th gen mobile Intel CPUs, with some rather large graphics and gaming improvements due to the Iris Xe Graphics’ capabilities. As expected, the CPU is a bit faster overall :)
Display
Some big changes here. The first obvious difference is the resolution – 1920 x 1200 instead of the usual 1920 x 1080. This is due to the screen ratio change, 16:10 instead of the 16:9 it used to be. The result is a little bit more space top to bottom, which is actually handy to have. If you have corporate backgrounds deploying out a 1920 x 1080 picture, you might need to adjust it to look good on this screen too.
Memory
The first X1 Yoga to have 32GB of RAM as an option! Nice if you’re planning on some grunt work, like running a few virtual machines.
Battery
The ~16 hours claimed battery life is quite high – so this should get you through a full working day without needing to plug in. Previous models were way over the 8 hour mark too, which to me would be the goal of battery life – last a working day so if you’re travelling, you’re not looking for a power point.
Graphics
Intel’s onboard graphics are still plenty good for general use, even light gaming. Note that Intel claim “Gamers can play fast and hard with new Intel® Iris® Xe graphics featuring up to 1080p 60FPS for more detailed, immersive gaming.”. I’m sure AAA gaming titles will need to be played on low/medium settings, but depending what you play and your expectations, this might be fine (low graphics quality games like Among Us are fine!).
Camera
We’re still at 720p for some reason – which is not isolated to Lenovo. I’m hoping next year we see 1080p as the standard resolution of inbuilt cameras, especially on premium laptops.
As usual, Lenovo progresses forward while keeping the fundamental reason Yogas exist – a flexible device that provides an all round experience. Going all the way back to the X1 Yoga Gen 1 I said the same thing. Now we have a few different laptop options in the ThinkPad series such as the X1 Nano and the X1 Fold (which I’d love to get my hands on), while the X1 Carbon is up to the 9th Generation – a very nice, thin laptop, but no touch screen.
Also worth noting is the touchpad is bigger on the X1 Yoga Gen 6, so this could be a deciding factor if comparing it to older models.
I’m sticking with the X1 Yoga still, but we’ll see what new devices Lenovo come out with, and if they’ll tempt me with something different and new!
For the first four generations of the X1 Yoga click here
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga is still my favourite all-rounder laptop. In 2021 we’re up to the 6th Generation of the X1 Yoga and I’d previously written up the first 4, so figured it was time to cover these two.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 YogaGen 5
Coming out in 2020, we saw the jump from the 8th Generation Intel CPU to the 10th Generation (we skipped 9th Gen Intel for some reason). It was also the first with WiFi 6 which is now seeing wide adoption across markets.
Beyond that, there was very little difference between the 4th and 5th generations of the X1 Yoga. All the ports are the same, the layout the same, and the keys the same beyond a few different special functions above some of the function keys. There is a privacy shutter over the webcam though, which is a handy addition.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 5
Beyond that, there was very little difference between the 4th and 5th generations of the X1 Yoga. All the ports are the same, the layout the same, and the keys the same beyond a few different special functions above some of the function keys. There is a privacy shutter over the webcam though, which is a handy addition.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 YogaGen 6
This one is a bigger jump again. The screen bezel is smaller, and at a 16:10 ratio rather than 16:9, the base resolution has changed from the very standard 1920 x 1080 and is now 1920 x 1200, providing a little more screen real estate without making the unit bigger – it’s actually slightly smaller as you’ll see below. Also coming with an 11th Gen Intel CPU, Lenovo changed the entire laptop from one shade of grey to another (OK, it’s officially changed from Iron Gray to Storm Gray which sounds like a superhero name).
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 6
The trackpad itself is a lot bigger, and the power button has moved to being above the keyboard, instead of on the side as per all previous generations. This button doubles as the fingerprint reader, no more dedicated fingerprint square to press. There’s also speaker grills on each side of the keyboard instead of above, and no dedicated special NIC dongle port.
Here’s some photos of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 6 on top of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 5:
Left side – X1 Yogas
Back – X1 Yogas
Right side – Left side – X1 Yogas
Front – Left side – X1 Yogas
X1 Yoga Gen 5 top
X1 Yoga Gen 6 top
From the above, there’s little differences to the ports beyond what I’ve already mentioned – the grill for expelling air went from the right on the 5th Gen, to the back on the 6th Gen (which is better to blow hot air away from you), and the audio jack is on opposite sides which shouldn’t bother anyone either way.
I don’t have any complaints around either model of laptop – there is something that feels more modern about the 6th Gen X1 Yoga in it’s colour and stylings, so the better CPU and screen differences are the biggest deciding factors. As always, I’m keen to see how the X1 Yoga line progresses, and this is a solid entry in the lineup.
For years I’d been wanting to try an Ultrawide monitor. I had a 27″ 1440p Chinese import brand that did the job quite nicely at home, and two 24″ screens in the office but there’s something alluring about a single giant pane of ‘glass’.
I also had apprehensions which put me off buying one. Was one giant screen better than two for me? Everyone’s different, but I liked the idea of having a centre of the two screens you can look at for ergonomic reasons – not possible with two 24″ screens unless they’re stacked (which then presents other ergonomic problems of having to look up), or one in the centre and one off to the side. Alternatively, the single 27″ screen didn’t have this problem, but had less screen real estate; I couldn’t really run two windows side by side without it feeling awkward due to the resulting shape appearing squished.
I didn’t know if it would just be too weird having a stretched screen. Going from the old 4:3 ‘square’ screens to 16:9 wide screens seemed much more logical, but was this over the top?
Lenovo came to the party as part of their Lenovo Insiders program and gave me a ThinkVision P44W-10 to try. A 43.4″, 32:10 HDR, FreeSync monitor. Awesome! I really wanted to see if it was usable for work and home, and if I had to change my ways for the better or worse to accommodate the vast difference in screen.
If you want the pure specs, here they are from Lenovo:
Monitor Specifications
Dimensions
Height
269.8 mm (10.62 in.)
Depth
461.1 mm (18.15 in.)
Width
1058.3 mm (41.67 in.)
Panel
Size
43.4 in.
Backlight
LED
Aspect ratio
32:10
Stand
Tilt
Range: -5° ~ 22°
VESA mount
Supported
100 mm x 100 mm (3.94 in. x 3.94 in.)
Image
Viewable image size
1102.36 mm (43.4 in.)
Maximum height
351.43 mm (13.84 in.)
Maximum width
1052.66 mm (41.44 in.)
Pixel pitch
274.05 um (10.79 in.)
Power input
Supply voltage
100-240V AC
Max supply current
3A
Power consumption Note: Power consumption figures are for the monitor and the power supply combined.
Normal operation
<250 W (max)
<70 W (typical)
Standby/Suspend
<0.5 W
Off Note: without USB/webcam/external/spea ker
<0.5 W
Video input (DisplayPort)
Interface
DisplayPort
Input signal
VESA TMDS (Panel Link™)
Horizontal addressability
3840 pixels (max)
Vertical addressability
1200 lines (max)
Clock frequency
720 MHz
Video input (HDMI)
Interface
HDMI
Input signal
VESA TMDS (Panel Link™)
Horizontal addressability
3840 pixels (max)
Vertical addressability
1200 lines (max)
Clock frequency
600 MHz
Video input (Type-C)
Interface
Type-C
Input signal
VESA TMDS (Panel Link™)
Horizontal addressability
3840 pixels (max)
Vertical addressability
1200 lines (max)
Clock frequency
720 MHz 600 MHz
Communications
VESA DDC
CI
Supported Display Modes
Horizontal frequency
30 KHz – 178 KHz
Vertical frequency
48 Hz – 144 Hz
Native Resolution
3840 x 1200 at 60 Hz
Shipment Group
Monitor with stand and base
Power cable
USB 3.1 Type-C Gen2 cable
DisplayPort 1.4 Cable
HDMI2.0 cable
USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A to C cable
Harman Kardon™ certified speaker
Color Calibration Factory Report
Quick setup guide
Here’s also some great reviews: Storagereview, Anandtech and TheVerge. It’s worth noting that Lenovo also released a Legion Y44w Gaming Monitor with identical specs, but a different chassis around the monitor – so pick whichever you like the look of more, or can get cheaper.
A giant box turned up, bigger than I expected. The monitor itself measures 41.5″ wide (ignoring the curve) and it felt a bit comical taking it out of the box, like holding an oversized novelty item… but mixed with holding something that was purely impressive in it’s size.
I immediately set it up, which was just a matter of attaching the base to the monitor itself, plugging in power and a USB-C cable to a ThinkPad X1 Yoga. It worked, which was the first relief of opening up any new high end device. This photo gives some idea of the scale of this single screen, compared to a 14″ laptop.
It’s hard to not be dazzled by it, especially if you haven’t dealt with ultrawide screens before; as I heard comments of ‘that is impressive’ and just a plain ‘wow!’ setting it up.
I was thinking of setting it up on my desk at work, but instead decided to take it home.
I removed the 27″ and 24″ monitors I had in place, and replaced it with this screen. I was still wondering what I’d signed up for and if it was too big:
I should mention the connection options; we have two USBs, a USB-C 10G port, DisplayPort. another USB-C port but 5G, and two HDMI ports.
I started with the USB-C 10G port thinking that was the best choice, but after some reading up and research changed to the DisplayPort. I wanted to try AMD’s FreeSync technology (which when plugged into a supported graphics card, greatly reduces problems in gaming like screen ripping, lag and out of sync issues), and it supported the highest resolution over DisplayPort as per AMD’s page:
Also note that AMD recently changed the name from “AMD Radeon FreeSync 2 HDR” to “AMD FreeSync Premium Pro” but it’s the same thing.
While setting up I discovered a part of the monitor that pops down in the centre middle to provide a headset jack and two USB 3.1 ports. I then ran a USB-C cable from the computer to screen to connect these up as it’s quite handy to plug these in and access from the front for ad-hoc devices.
I also wanted to check the monitor was on the latest firmware before I played with it too much – and yes, the monitor has firmware you can upgrade. It wasn’t too hard to do following this official guide.
The stand it’s on is also height adjustable purely by pushing up or down on the monitor itself, and I haven’t had it slide down without me making it. The base is quite heavy and large, but flat so you don’t really lose desk space when things can be placed on it.
There was also a piece of software availalable (optional) that supported the Thinkstation P44-W called Lenovo ThinkColor. As per the download page, this software does the following things:
Display information and basic settings
Scenario modes selection, adjustment and customization
Color adjustment, including color gamut and color temperature with preview
Quick pivot to rotate display direction
Print assist to design in real size
AppThink to automatically apply different color settings on different applications
Desktop partition for easy and customizable multi-tasking
PBP and PIP management for supported models
Customizable hot key
Adjustment supports multiple displays
The most useful feature beyond general configuration options (like enabling/disabling HDR) is the Desktop partition function. You’re able to select how you’d like to divide up your screen from the 11 options available (or customize). When dragging a window, you can drag and drop onto a section of the screen that shows a copy of the desktop partition you chose below, and it’ll snap the window to that size. This means you can quickly and easily move windows around to your preferred layout, without trying to constantly size them. If you just want a left and right option right down the middle, Window 10’s native snap options work a treat, but for anything else this is ideal and just as easy.
Also yes, the montior supports HDR. HDR in Windows 10 is worth looking into to understand more: https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-play-games-watch-videos-in-hdr-on-windows-10. I mucked around with the option and tried to find some videos to show off HDR, but of course finding a video that extends the entire screen and with HDR isn’t an easy feat, so I made do with this:
HDR in Windows 10 isn’t the best experience – maybe it was something I was doing wrong, but I would only toggle it on for games or movies. General usage seems to be affected in some scenarios, a white background gets greyed out. That’s nothing to do with this monitor as I found a lot of info online about other people with the same problems – but, as I went to re-test it while writing this, and re-Googling the problem, it looks like it’s been fixed. Unsure if it was an AMD or Windows issue, but there’s a giant thread here about it along with plenty of others; so now, I’ll leave HDR on.
Here’s what the problem looked like when I was first testing:
Now, it’s not an issue. If you do enable HDR in Windows 10, make sure you adjust the slider for SDR content to your liking (I changed it from the default 50 up to 60):
There’s also another option where you can plug two devices into the monitor at the same time, and split half of the monitor off to different ports – so one PC might be on HDMI1, and the other DisplayPort, and the single screen acts like two separate screens. I thought that was a handy feature if you need to work on different physical devices, as you can flick back and forth between split and single. That’s called PBP – Picture by picture, and there’s also PIP – Picture in Picture which works in a similar way, but overlays one over the other.
Work wise, I RDP a lot. I was a bit concerned how that would work on this monitor, but I usually end up having a single RDP window in the middle of my screen running at 1920 x 1080 resolution. and have something like Twitter via Tweetdeck on the browser behind it full screen – so the first few and last few columns are always visible. I’ve also not run out of screen when using Micrsoft Azure, well known for using a lot of wide screen real estate.
If I need a dual screen setup, snapping one window to the left and the other to the right results in two 1920 x 1200 screen – which is plenty and replaces the function of having two screens quite well.
After checking all that out. it was time to try out some games. First up I picked Rocket League just to check out the field of view, and wow can you see a lot:
Of course about two minutes into this, my eldest son wanted to have a turn, and insisted in playing his favorite game at the time, Goat Simulator:
As part of writing this post, I *had* to play a few rounds of Call of Duty Modern Warfare to continue to show off that field of view. I streamed one round to Facebook Live and got 4th, not bad without a warmup:
Here’s a few screenshots in game at the full 3840 x 1200 resolution (10mb photos full size):
It quite honestly makes a huge difference. Instead of focusing on the entire screen at once, it’s impossible at this size, so you start using your peripheral vision more and glance around rather than purely moving your view with the mouse.
So, as I write this review with WordPress in full screen and huge amounts of white space I find that I like it. I use this when I want to focus and not be distracted, because if it was any smaller then I’d see what was behind it – other open windows, or a desktop with colourful icons. I also usually have a bunch of tabs open like we all do these days, and can actually see what they all are when it’s full screen :)
It took me maybe a week or two, but it has easily become the new norm. Slightly jarring at the start, but I can strongly recommend going ultrawide. 34″ was the original size I was looking at, but now I feel that would be a bit small. Probably the same way we all now have 55″+ TVs and can’t imagine watching TV on a smaller screen than that, which again shows how quick we adapt to bigger screens.
I haven’t got any other ultrawide monitor to compare the Lenovo P44W-10 but I’ve had no issues with this one. As you’d expect, a monitor should just work – and it does. Ultrawide seems to have reasonable gaming support too these days, so it wouldn’t surprise me if this becomes the new norm, replacing the current norm of dual screens.
Lenovo’s Thinkbook brand is aimed at the SMB market – it’s as close to being a ThinkPad without being an actual ThinkPad, and the price reflects it.
The Thinkbook 14 follows up from the Thinkbook 14s (compare on Lenovo’s site here) which I saw while I was at Lenovo Tech World and was the first time I’d even heard of the Thinkbook brand. A few months later, I managed to get my hands on one as a trial unit from Lenovo to have a play with the hardware, as it was at a price point that I was looking at, and above the minimum specifications I needed.
Let’s start with the hardware, and then I’ll dive into what I liked/disliked about the laptop:
Processor
Up to 10th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-1065G7 Processor (1.30GHz, up to 3.90GHz with Turbo Boost, 4 Cores, 8MB Cache)
Operating system
Windows 10 Pro
Display
14″ FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS, anti-glare, 250 nits
Graphics
Integrated Intel® UHD GraphicsIntegrated Intel® Iris Plus Graphics
Memory
Up to 16GB DDR4 2666MHz
Storage
Up to 512GB SSD PCIe-NVMe M.2
Battery
Up to 9 hours* with 45Wh battery* Based on testing with MobileMark 2014. Battery life varies significantly with settings, usage, and other factors.
Audio
Stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio™Dual-array mic, Skype for Business certified
Ports
USB 3.1 (Gen 2, USB-C + DisplayPort + Power Delivery)USB 3.1 (Gen 1, USB-C)USB 3.1** (Gen 1, Type-A, always-on)USB 3.1** (Gen 1, Type-A)Hidden USB 2.0 (Type-A)HDMI4-in-1 card reader (SD, SDHC, SDXC, MMC)Headphone / mic comboRJ45Power DC
Connectivity
802.11AC (2 x 2)Bluetooth® 5.0
Camera
720p HD
Dimensions
326mm x 230mm x 17.9mm / 12.83″ x 9.06″ x 0.7″
Weight
Starting at 3.3 lbs (1.5 kg)
Keyboard
Full-sized keyboard with backlightOne-piece touchpadHot Keys for Skype for Business****Requires Skype for Business account, not pre-installed by Lenovo
Security
ThinkShutter Camera CoverSmart Power Button with Fingerprint ReaderActive Protection System (APS)Trusted Platform Module 2.0 (firmware)
As you can see from above, this isn’t a low end laptop. Processor wise, I only need an i5 CPU rather than an i7 which is fine for my requirements (I went with the i5-10210U), and it’s running the latest 10th GEN Intel CPU.
Display again I only need a 1080p screen, this isn’t a laptop designed for 4K video editing (although possible with a 4K screen attached) and for business requirements, most people want a 1920 x 1080 screen.
The older Thinkbook 14s only supported up to 8GB of RAM, but this supports 16GB which is what I promote as the standard you should aim for these days, which Chrome/New Edge using a lot of the RAM in our web driven world.
Storage, battery, webcam etc are all standard good specs and nothing notable there.
The keyboard is backlit which I always like. The inclusion of Skype for Business keys is a little strange with Skype for Business Online ending in July 2021, leaving only on-premises users; and if you’re running Skype for Business yourself as a phone system you’re probably a medium sized company or bigger, and this is a SMB laptop. Regardless, I personally am a fan and still use Skype for Business so it’s great for my use case, and I expect future models will instead have Microsoft Teams buttons. Maybe these buttons work with Teams anyway – I haven’t tested that yet. The buttons are secondary functions on the ‘print screen’ and ‘insert’ buttons, so worst case you can easily ignore them as they aren’t intrusive in any way, and there’s no dedicated buttons to Skype for Business.
Here’s some side shots of the Lenovo Thinkbook 14:
Front: Looks nice, not much else to see here!
Lenovo Thinkbook 14 Front
Back: No ports here either!
Lenovo Thinkbook 14 Back
Left Side: From left to right we have an RJ45 ethernet port which opens up when needed – seemed solid enough that it wouldn’t snap off easily, full sized HDMI, USB 3.1 with always on, USB-C, USB-C + DisplayPort + Power in, audio jack.
The one complaint I have is that the power in USB-C is the more front of the two ports, where every other Lenovo laptop I’ve had it’s been the one closer to the back. I initially plugged in the wrong one for power and wondered why it wasn’t charging! A minor issue though.
Lenovo Thinkbook 14 Left Side
Right Side: USB 2.0, card reader, USB 3.1, Power.
Yes, behind that little panel is a hidden USB 2.0 port, more on that below. You can also use the older rectangle shaped charger on this laptop, and it’s in it’s rightful place at the back.
Lenovo Thinkbook 14 Right Side
Base: nice long rubber stoppers to stop the laptop sliding around on a desk.
Lenovo Thinkbook 14 Base
Hidden USB 2.0 Port:
This seems like such a simple idea, yet I’ve never seen it before: a port that’s great for your wireless keyboard/mouse dongle, which is recessed into the laptop and has a cover. You’ll no longer have that awkward dongle sticking out of the laptop, asking to be knocked and bent out of shape. All laptops should have this!
Other notable features are the camera shutter so you can avoid feeling like someone’s watching you, and the ‘Smart Power Button’ which has a fingerprint reader, but also briefly ‘saves’ your fingerprint when turning the laptop on, to use when logging in. This means you can turn on and login to the laptop at the same time, getting to your desktop quicker. Another feature that seems simple and hopefully we see more of in other models.
There’s also two Dolby Audio speakers and dual array microphones, as one of the use cases for this is to be a reliable audio/video calling device without needing a headset.
The laptop feels solid and sturdy enough, but not as nice as a high end ThinkPad. You can feel the join where the top and bottom halves of the laptop were joined together, as one layer is on top of the other – but how often are you gently caressing the case of your laptop? Only every few days if you’re me.
Overall I’m very impressed with the ThinkBook 14 for the price point I can see at the time of writing with promotions applied. You won’t get military-spec testing, but you’ll still get a decent laptop fit for SMB.
Lenovo claim that “ThinkBook undergoes stringent tests to withstand spills, bumps, drops, dust, and extreme temperatures.” but I have yet to test the hardyness myself – maybe I will inadvertently.
Although Lenovo provided a demo unit, this was a trial only and the unit returned.
Day 4 arrived rather quickly – it was the second day of Lenovo Tech World and a day that focused on the consumer side of things, rather than business. All the gadgets!
Again we boarded the bus early, and sat for our 90 minute drive to the convention center.
Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing (aka YY) again introduced the day, tieing in what was presented yesterday in the world of business and SiOT, and how it came back to the devices Lenovo currently had, and were planning. It also tied into the technologies we’d seen at the Lenovo Future Center two days before, which helped explain their vision in a bit more detail.
The ‘deeep’ acronym was used a lot to explain this vision, which was:
smart device Cross-device engine Home Edge server App/Service ecosystem People-oriented smart experience
Lenovo recognised that people now want smart, stylish and personalised devices. They’re applying this to their Core Smart Devices, and extending out to Other Smart Devices
Then, with a slight hint of smugness, YY announced the was ‘One More Thing’… which ended up being two things; the world’s first foldable PC (The X1 ThinkPad Foldable) and the Motorola Razr. For the two days we’d been expecting this, as we’d spied a little Motorola circle hiding right up above the stage. We were right, it slowly descended for YY to take out the new device, and show off it’s folding ability as he proceeded to pop it into his top pocket.
Next up were more devices, and a demonstration of the Lenovo One software. This software allowed an Android phone’s screen to be duplicated and controlled on a laptop screen which was cool in itself, but also extend the Android’s screen to result in a second screen, running separately to the first. The Lenovo One solution also had file sharing capabilities, and tied back into the Home Edge Server aspect.
Home Edge Server was another interesting angle Lenovo was approaching things on – the idea of a home server isn’t something new, but it was tying all the devices and technologies for ease of use, to have the smarts and storage of a device in your home rather than in the cloud. They didn’t touch too much on the ‘why’ of this that I picked up, but I think it’s a bit more about giving the control and trust of this back to people, rather than relying on a central resource to do it. It seems Lenovo is playing it both ways (which is good to give people options) – bringing centralised cloud based smart systems to businesses, and bringing centralised home based smart systems to consumers.
Moving onto more devices and continuing the theme of ‘having it both ways’, Lenovo delved into two product lines; ThinkPad and ThinkBook. The former being the more conservative style, and the much newer brand ThinkBook being a more modern feel with customisations.
Some of the cool things coming to these devices:
ThinkPad was coming with ‘E-privacy guard’ where it would automatically detect someone looking over your shoulder, and blur out the screen.
ThinkVision M14 was brought up again as a useful standalone monitor, able to be plugged into a mobile or laptop ( I still really like this one!)
The ThinkPlus brand was brought up again, this time as a Smart Conference Solution. It was the reasonably standard video conferencing solution, but again trying to encompass the entire solution rather than bits and pieces – video camers, screens, devices, and real-time translation from one language to another. This seemed to resonate with several people I talked to later, around providing a much more inclusive solution when dealing with people in different languages – everyone could talk in their native language and be more confident.
The show wrapped up with the announcement Lenovo would be sponsoring the Chinese Women’s National Volleyball team, and had a chat to the captain – which was a nice moment to end on.
With the show over, we were rushed away to have a quick opportunity to get a hands-on with the Motorola Razr that everyone wanted to check out.
I was really interested to see how the screen folded for starters – and although this was a prototype and not the end product, it seemed quite robust. The screen actually moved up or down when opening/closing the device to prevent stress on the end-point, which makes sense when you’re told it, but it’s a strange thing to see the entire screen move a little!
The Razr was also thinner than I expected. I liked the take on making a phone smaller to carry around and use (and that front display screen is also touch, and able to do basic phone functions + photos without actually opening the phone), rather than trying to make the device size we’re used to have a bigger display again.
We then wandered around the convention centre a bit more, where I bought my thinkplus USB-C 13000mAh, 48W laptop battery pack that I later lost at the airport. I still have the empty box that haunts me, reminding me of my ignorance in battery-in-checked-luggage rules.
It was time to be a tourist again, so we hopped on the bus and headed to the Temple of Heaven. I learnt a little about all the sacrificial customs they obeyed at the time, and yet again was amazed at the effort, detail and age of all the constructions and artifacts on display.
Following that was another impressive dinner served on a lazy-susan and a good night’s sleep.
Again I tweeted as much as I could on the day, so have a read through my Twitter thread for a few more bits of information and photos I took along the way:
