Verdict
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 may be the marque ’s best foldable microcomputer yet , but it still ca n’t vie with rivals from Asus and HP . The small screen , want of make - in kickstand , little battery spirit and poor software living all number against it , defecate the extravagant price point difficult to justify .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
Think laptop computer are starting to become a bit boring ? Then consist your eyes on this beauty : the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold is a portable personal computer with a bendy 16.3 - inch screen , allowing you to close down it up just like a book .
This is n’t Lenovo ’s first try at a foldable PC , following up from the smaller13 - inch ThinkPad X1 Foldfirst bring out back in 2020 . For the new model Lenovo has refined the aim , increased the screen size and boosted the public presentation for a huge improvement .
However , a lot has switch since the original ThinkPad X1 Fold first launch . There ’s now capital competition in the foldaway PC market , namely from theHP Spectre FoldandAsus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED .
Has Lenovo made enough improvement for the ThinkPad X1 Fold to be view as the very full folding PC ? After spend a few weeks with it , here are my cerebration .
Price and Configurations
The Leontyne Price of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold is a little confusing , as it take issue greatly look on the country of leverage . In the USA , you only call for to spend $ 2499 , while it has an eye - tearing start price of £ 4389 here in the UK .
I ca n’t see any difference in the pedestal constellation to free this price gulf either , as both have an i5 central processor , 16 GB RAM and a 256 GB SSD . I screw the UK economy is in a bad shape , but the UK pricing here is ludicrous .
In terms of the competition , the HP Spectre Fold has a starting monetary value of £ 4999/$4999 and Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED will fix you back £ 2299/$3499 . Both of these rival foldables have a large 17 - inch screenland .
Design
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold is one of the most heart - catching laptops I ’ve ever reviewed . Thanks to cutting - boundary foldable screenland technology you ’re in reality able to practice it like a even 16 - inch lozenge , shut down into a 90 - level slant to give it the show of a grapple laptop , or even bend both sides together to close it completely shut like a Word .
This make the X1 Fold supremely versatile , and far more so than any 2 - in-1 laptop computer with a rotating flexible joint . The X1 Fold feel like a true 2 - in-1 PC , providing a proper tablet experience when unfolded – at least if you push aside how cumbersome Windows 11 can be with a touchscreen .
When folded shut like a Bible , the X1 Fold is remarkably compendious . It ’s been incredibly wanton for me to slot into a purse – far promiscuous than any other laptop computer I ’ve ever prove , admit the slenderMacBook Air . The X1 Fold is incredibly light at just 1.28 kg too , compared to the 15 - inch MacBook Air which do in at 1.51 kg . The accessories that Lenovo cluster into the parcel does somewhat fret that convenience though .
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold come with a Bluetooth keyboard , resist and stylus . The keyboard is by far the most important of the trio , as without it , you ’ll have to contend with the virtual keyboard , which is a short alternative .
While it operates wirelessly , the Bluetooth keyboard also magnetically clip on top of the bottom half of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold , giving the equipment the form of a laptop computer . The keyboard works seamlessly , even if it can take a few thwarting seconds to tie in via Bluetooth after extended time of inaction .
The key provide just enough travel for satisfying typing , although I would opt more crunchy feedback . Some of the key placements are very odd though , especially having the function Francis Scott Key to the left side of the Ctrl paint – that ’s really done a number to my heftiness memory for the copy and paste shortcut .
I ’m personally not a fan of using the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold in this laptop mode . Since the blind is 16.3 inches , you ’ll only get a meager 12 inches of screen space when reside a keyboard on the bottom half . The smallest laptop by and large have a 13 - inch blind , so this really feels claustrophobic .
My favourite direction to habituate the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold is to prop it up and then rest the keyboard on a desk instead – this way , you could make full role of that 16 - inch screen .
Anyone who likes to have multiple web internet browser pill opened simultaneously will appreciate the surplus cover space here , as it made a huge impact on my productivity .
However , for some absurd ground , Lenovo has not desegregate a kickstand into the design of the ThinkPad X1 Fold , despite Asus and HP do to do so with their foldables .
Instead , you have to make do with yet another separate accessary , which I detest having to carry around . I set up it to be incredibly flimsy , as the ThinkPad X1 Fold fell from its position on a routine of occasions . It was also difficult to adjust to my favored angle .
The placement of the webcam is n’t commodious for this setup either , as you ’ll find it on the left rim ( or the top flange if you ’re using the X1 Fold like a Greco-Roman laptop ) . The 5MP detector is astonishingly penetrative in terms of capture quality , more so than most laptop computer , blast clear telecasting that ’s more than unspoilt enough for Zoom call coming together . Windows Hellois supported for security - tight logins , while the X1 Fold will mechanically see the silver screen dimmed when it notice you ’ve moved away .
As the X1 Fold is so tenuous , there are n’t many porthole here : just 2xThunderbolt 4and a USB - blow 3.2 Gen 2 . That means you ’ll be storm to habituate a dongle if you take to tie via USB - A or HDMI , and phone will be confine to Bluetooth as there ’s no 3.5 millimetre seafarer .
In terms of wireless net connectivity , Wi - Fi 6Eis supported , while there ’s also an optional Nano SIM slot that let you to link up to the World Wide Web on the go if you have a spare SIM card with a data plan .
Lenovo gets top marks for sustainable packaging , which is all made of composition board . There ’s no plastic wrap housing the separate accessories or laptop , which is rare but very welcome . The X1 Fold ’s aluminium frame and back cover song are made from 100 % recycled material , while the intragroup element expend recycle PCC plastics too . This is one of the best sustainability effort I ’ve watch from any laptop computer , and Lenovo deserve to be applauded for that .
Screen and Sound
One of the nifty outlet with folding screens is that they can pass on seeable crease marker down the centre when unfolded . That ’s seemingly not the casing here , with no visible marks after a few weeks of usage . I ’m yet to see any scratch target on the screen either , which is a will to its strength .
When view straight on , theOLEDpanel looks wondrous , amping up the direct contrast for a vibrant , eye - pop out picture . I used a colorimeter to try out the screen too , which backed up my first impressions . With a recorded 412 - nit peak brightness , the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold is brighter than both the Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED and HP Spectre Fold . The gamey luminance has also prevented the X1 Fold from being unmanageable to take in in rough sunlight , despite its glistening - looking projection screen .
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold is open of displaying staring blacks thanks to the OLED technology , as well as absurdly in high spirits dividing line . This results in a panel excellent for watching flick and the like . However , it ’s a ignominy that the squarish 4:3 face ratio means videos are boarded by bulky black streak . What ’s worse , there ’s not enough width to well display two web web browser lozenge next to each other , which is n’t a job on the likes of theSamsung Galaxy Tab S9thanks to its 16:10 facet proportion .
The view angle are one of the only blemishes against the X1 Fold screenland , as when viewed from the side , a blue tone becomes very noticeable on the video display . I did n’t regain that an issue when using the folding , as I usually looked at it from straight on , but it could prove elusive if multiple people require to see a flick with it propped up on a mesa .
The colour coverage results are brilliant , impinge on 100 % for sRGB , 96 % for Adobe RGB and 100 % for DCI - P3 . This means the X1 Fold is capable of producing enough color to ensure professional - class truth .
The speaker system , on the other hand , sound dreadful . There ’s a blurred texture to music , fix it almost impossible to distinguish instrument from one another . There ’s virtually no basso here either , with the playback of Deadmau5 ’s Professional Griefers coming across as flat and harsh . The pill can produce enough bulk to clearly hear dialogue if you ever want to look out a movie , but I ’d still commend tire Bluetooth headphones where possible .
Performance
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold was first fluff as far back as 2022 , and yet only became available to buy in belated 2023 . The design certainly has n’t senesce in that time , as it ’s still very much bleeding - edge , but the same ca n’t be said for the processor .
The foldable is power by the twelfth generation Intel Core i7 - 1250U , which means it ’s already two generations behind mod laptop with the 14th propagation already rolling out , and share the same check as the onetime HP Spectre Fold and Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED foldables .
As a result , it should come as no surprisal that the X1 Fold sees very similar public presentation results as its two foldaway foes , if not slightly good . However , performance is well behind the in style grapple laptops in 2024 such as theAsus Zenbook 14 organic light-emitting diode .
Should that be a concern ? It really depend on the use case . I see the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold to be perfectly snappy when browsing the web and typing up this review article .
I never encountered any thermal issue , or noticed any irritate rooter racket . The limitation of the public presentation will probably only become detectable if you intend on tug it with the like of exposure / TV editing .
The base configuration come equipped with a 256 GB SSD , which is a piffling too little for my liking – 512 GB really should be the minimum . luckily , it only cost £ 10 in the UK to elevate to this mental ability , or an additional £ 30 for 1 TB . That ’s a no - brainer rising slope . Increasing storage is more costly in the USA .
The SSD speeds are about middling , with a read score of 5042MB / reciprocal ohm and write grade of 3992MB / s. This final result in sensibly flying kick - up times and app facility .
Software
One of the biggest obstruction for foldable PCs is to make certain the computer software realize the cutting - border hardware as seamless to utilise as possible , especially since Windows 11 is n’t well optimise for touching control .
Bizarrely , Lenovo has done very short , in terms of software , to make the X1 pen up easier to utilise . When using it like a clamshell laptop computer , you ’re able to give up a practical keyboard , but a practical trackpad is not available . That mean you really need to make certain you carry around the Bluetooth keyboard to use the X1 Fold like a laptop computer , or at least a strong-arm mouse alternatively .
I would also have appreciated more unique gesture for this Lenovo foldable . For the Zenbook 17 Fold OLED , Asus pre - put in an app called ScreenXpert , which would grant you to use cutoff for manually jump between landscape and portrayal modes . dear of all , the Zenbook 17 Fold would recognise whenever you placed the keyboard on the bottom - one-half of the lozenge , and tack over to laptop mode automatically .
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold does n’t do any of the above . In fact , I found it really frustrating that I had to manually aline my apps and web web browser window so they did n’t disappear underneath the keyboard . This alone make up the Lenovo foldable hard to recommend .
Battery life
I did n’t have huge expectation when it come to the assault and battery sprightliness for the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold – after all , get a magnanimous 16 - inch blind is lead to be a grownup power drain . And yet I still came away thwarted .
Using our PCMark 10 battery drain benchmark , the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold only hold up 5 hours and 23 minutes which is almost half the stamina of the fair grapple laptop , and not enough to get you through the entire working day .
How does it equate to other foldables ? The Asus Zenbook Fold 17 lasted 6 hours and 30 second , while the HP Spectre Fold achieve an telling 13 hour .
I was initially grave my head as to the reason for Lenovo ’s short performance , but it seems to total down to the battery capacity : the Lenovo ThinPad X1 Fold has a assault and battery capacitance of 64Wh , while the HP Spectre Fold come with a 94.3 WHr cubicle .
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Should you buy it?
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold is a freehanded improvement on the brand ’s original folding laptop , so this is well the respectable foldaway the company has to offer.&bsp ;
It ’s difficult to recollect of many cause why anyone would take the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold over theAsus Zenbook 17 Fold OLEDorHP Spectre Fold . Lenovo ’s challenger extend a better design , carrying into action , assault and battery animation and software system .
Final Thoughts
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold may be the brand ’s good foldable PC to particular date , but it has a tenacious way to go so as to run into the character of its competitor . The lack of built - in outdoor stage is a major oversight , and the unconvincing stand accessory is a hapless substitute . Even worse , Lenovo has done very little to improve the package , making the foldable design feel awkward on Windows 11 .
The 16.3 - in is utterly big enough for use as a tablet , but feel right smart too cramp in laptop computer mood , determine the appealingness of its supposed versatility . Battery life is poor too . I can sympathise with Lenovo to some extent since the folding personal computer form factor that ’s still in its babyhood , but both theAsus Zenbook Fold 17andHP Spectre Foldhave cope to solve many of these issues already .
I did enjoy using the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold , as I ’m still a truster in the foldaway format , but the X1 Fold but has too many drawback and compromises , specially at its profligate price point . I ’d recommend stop out the double - screenLenovo Yoga Book 9iorAsus Zenbook Duo ( 2024)instead for a more refined and affordable experience . Alternatively , ourBest Laptopguide offer up up more classic options ,
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How we test
Every laptop computer we critique goes through a series of uniform check designed to gauge key thing including build lineament , performance , screen timbre and battery sprightliness .
These include courtly synthetical benchmarks and scripted test , plus a serial of tangible earth checks .
FAQs
A foldable PC has a bendable blind , allowing you to bend it between laptop computer and pad of paper forms , or even close it shut like a book . This makes the gadget more portable and versatile than a classic clamshell laptop .
Test Data
Full Specs
