Lenovo's lightweight ThinkPad X1 gets even slimmer
There's finally a color other than black too.
Lenovo is continuing its annual upgrade of its popular ThinkPad line of notebooks, and the higher-end X1 products within that series just got a small set of improvements. The most obvious of these is a new silver color option, which makes the previously matte black laptop appear far more modern than it used to (and less dated-looking too). The newly updated X1 Carbon, X1 Yoga and X1 Tablet also boast Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports and some more incremental tweaks.
For starters, the X1 Carbon (starting at $1,349) is now more compact than before, squeezing a 14-inch IPS display into a 13-inch frame. It's also 0.2 pounds lighter than its predecessor, and overall it looks sharper and cleaner. The Carbon also features a new infrared camera for facial recognition, allowing it to support Microsoft's Windows Hello biometric login system. As before too, the Carbon has a fingerprint reader for secure authorizations of online transactions.
In addition, Lenovo also bumped up the Carbon's battery capacity, promising up to 15 hours of runtime now. Most of all, I was impressed by the new laptop's lightweight, sturdy frame, although I wish its IPS display had a richer color gamut. You can get up to a WQDH (2,560 x 1,440) screen and a seventh-generation Intel Core i7 processor as well.
The X1 Yoga ($1,499) features a new version of the "rise and fall" keyboard that was on its predecessor. All of the old model's keys are stuck on a tray that sinks when the display is folded all the way backwards, so that you have a flat, even surface to rest on your table when you're using the convertible with its display propped up. The new Yoga does the same, except that individual keys sink in, as opposed to the entire keyboard tray. This is not only a more aesthetically pleasing setup than before, but it's also more durable, according to the company. I enjoyed watching the keys sink in when I flipped the screen all the way back, and was relieved to not have triggered button presses when I propped up the laptop with the keyboard facing down.
Lastly, in addition to those performance upgrades, like the option to get one of Intel's seventh-generation Intel Core processors, the new X1 Yoga also has a redesigned rechargeable stylus.
For now, then, the biggest improvements to the ThinkPad X1 line appear to be its new color option, smaller footprint and performance updates. Still, if the Carbon's new battery bump delivers, the new ThinkPad could be an even better notebook for business users than it already is.
Edgar Alvarez contributed to this report.
Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2017.
