Lenovo’s 14-inch ThinkPad X1 line is tailor-made for efficiency and portability, and out of the lineup, the X1 Carbon Gen 7 and X1 Yoga Gen 4 stand out. The previous is its premier clamshell laptop computer whereas the latter is its premier 2-in-1 — and each acquired some important updates for his or her respective generations.
Whereas the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is a refined model of the normal ThinkPad construct and aesthetic, the ThinkPad X1 Yoga represents a big departure with a metallic chassis and standout look. Which is the higher instance of a contemporary ThinkPad? Let’s discover out.
Design
The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 7 acquired a critical slimming down this time round, with smaller bezels leading to an total smaller chassis and a couple of millimeter shaved off its thickness. It retains that iconic ThinkPad aesthetic. It’s all-black apart from some crimson accents within the ThinkPad and X1 logos and the crimson TrackPoint nubbin in the midst of the keyboard.
Solely the 4K model of the X1 Carbon has any splash, including a woven carbon fiber sample that provides some magnificence.
The ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 4 underwent an much more important design overhaul, eschewing the magnesium enable and carbon fiber making up the X1 Carbon and shifting as an alternative to an aluminum chassis. It, too, is slimmer and smaller than the earlier model, and the gunmetal grey aesthetic can be damaged solely by the same old ThinkPad crimson accents.
You’ll have a more durable time recognizing the X1 Yoga as a ThinkPad, at the very least from a distance, however we do just like the conservative look. The X1 Yoga feels extra sturdy because of its chilly, onerous metallic. Each are strong gadgets, although.
As a result of they’ve each been slimmed down, their keyboards are identically much less deep than earlier generations — particularly, with 15mm of journey in comparison with the 18mm of journey with older fashions. ThinkPad aficionados will discover the distinction, however any contact typist will be capable to get comfy with these keyboards because of their snappy and exact mechanisms.
The TrackPoint and touchpad efficiency on each are equal and glorious, with the touchpads each supporting Microsoft Precision drivers and Home windows 10 multitouch gestures. The X1 Yoga wins out in providing a contact show with energetic pen (included) help, which the X1 Carbon doesn’t.
One other space of similarity is of their show choices — each provide Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) or 4K (3,840 x 2,160) panels that provides a wider coloration gamut, extra accuracy, increased brightness, and better distinction. The latter show affords Dolby Imaginative and prescient excessive dynamic vary (HDR) help. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon and Yoga are the primary of Lenovo’s 14-inch ThinkPads to supply a 4K choice, and each make for excellent Netflix binging because of glorious HDR streaming help.
Along with Full HD and 4K, Lenovo affords a 1440p (2,560 x 1,440) model of the X1 Carbon Gen 7, nevertheless it’s barely darker than the Full HD model, clocking in with a peak brightness of 300 nits in comparison with 400 nits on the Full HD show.
Unsurprisingly, each laptops take pleasure in the identical connectivity, with two USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 3 help, an Ethernet/docking station connector (requiring an non-obligatory adapter, alas), two USB-A Gen 1 ports, and a full-size HDMI port.
Efficiency
In what’s changing into a theme for this comparability, each the X1 Carbon and the X1 Yoga provide the identical Eighth-gen Intel Core processor choices (quickly to be up to date to Intel’s Tenth-gen elements). In our testing, the laptops carried out inside a number of share factors of one another. One is perhaps tempted to suspect that these are the identical machines inside, with the X1 Yoga merely providing a 360-degree hinge and a few further elements for contact and pen enter help.
The underside line is that each laptops are loads speedy for productiveness work, and you will get a lift of energy past the admittedly common pace by choosing “Efficiency” mode on the Home windows 10 energy slider.
That offers you a really actual alternative between quiet and funky operation and better efficiency — and we do like that Lenovo constructed that into the Home windows utility quite than requiring a separate utility as do distributors like HP and Dell.
Portability
The X1 Carbon and X1 Yoga are additionally equally sized in width and depth with small aspect bezels however quite bezels alongside the highest and backside, they usually’re each 0.59 inches thick. The X1 Carbon is lighter than the X1 Yoga, at 2.4 kilos versus 2.99 kilos, because of the latter’s heavier metallic chassis. However, neither will weigh you down.
And, you’ll be shocked to listen to that in our testing, the 4K fashions additionally confirmed roughly equal battery life with equal 51 watt-hour batteries in each. That’s, neither is more likely to get you thru a full working day away from a cost. We examined the X1 Yoga with a Core i5 and a low-power Full HD show, and it roughly doubled the battery life, and the X1 Carbon with the identical show will be anticipated to carry out equally effectively.
The X1 Yoga stands out
Each of those laptops are midrange laptops. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 7 begins at $1,109 ($800 on sale) for a Core i5-8265U CPU, 8GB of RAM, a 256GB PCIe SSD, and a non-touch Full HD show. You possibly can spend as a lot as $3,469 ($1,200 on sale) for a Core i7-8665U CPU, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB PCIe SSD, and a non-touch 4K show.
The ThinkPad X1 Yoga is a bit more costly, however most of the configurations provide Tenth-gen Intel processors. The bottom mannequin begins at $1,749 ($950 on sale) for a Core i5-10210U, 8GB of RAM, a 256GB PCIe SSD, and a Full HD, touchscreen show. Configurations prime out round $3,400 ($1,903 on sale) for a Core i7-10510U, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB PCIe SSD, and a 4K, touchscreen show. It’s vital to notice that Lenovo is presently angling this mannequin towards Tenth-gen Intel processors, however there are nonetheless loads of Eighth-gen fashions out there.
Each laptops carry out effectively and have nice construct qualities and show choices. However the ThinkPad X1 Yoga is a extra trendy design that feels higher in hand, and it affords further 2-in-1 performance.
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