Lenovo break ground on foldable PCs with the originalThinkPad X1 Fold , a twist with a 13.3 - inch OLED display that folded down the middle . It could be used as a tablet , a clamshell with the external keyboard bond below the fold , and a “ desktop ” with the included stand . The gadget was a novelty , though , held back by inadequate performance and a cramped keyboard and touchpad .

The company ’s second attempt is the ThinkPad X1 Fold , an alone Modern product that retain the name and serves as Lenovo ’s current foldable laptop . It increases the display size to 16.3 inches , which gain for a orotund 2 - in-1 that ’s more useful as a clamshell but more cumbersome as a tablet . I ground it an interesting but flawed take on the folding microcomputer that has much stiffer competition this time around .

Specs and configurations

Lenovo offers a panoptic range of contour than its principal competitors , with a start price of $ 2,499 for a Core i5 - 1230U , 8 GB of RAM , a 256 GB SSD , and without an active pen , keyboard , or stand . It ’s strange to omit a penitentiary on a gimmick like this , and add one in is a $ 50 alternative . The keyboard and stand are a $ 300 choice .

Fully configured , the ThinkPad X1 Fold costs $ 4,211 , with a Core i7 - 1260U vPro , 32 GB of RAM ( available only with this CPU choice ) , a 1 TB SSD , optional WWAN connectivity , an dynamic penitentiary , and the keyboard and stand .

The laptop computer is far less functional without the keyboard , resist , and pen , so project on spending the excess $ 350 . TheAsus Zenbook Fold 17costs $ 3,500 in its lone constellation of the same CPU with 16 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD , with the pen , keyboard , and integrate base include , while theHP Spectre Foldable PCis $ 5,000 with its only configuration being the same as the Asus . That wee-wee the ThinkPad X1 Fold a less dearly-won entry - grade option but in between the Asus and HP at the high end .

Design

The two other foldable laptop we ’ve reviewed , the Asus Zenbook Fold 17 and the HP Spectre Foldable PC , are interchangeable in design and built around roughly 17 - inch foldable organic light-emitting diode panels . That makes the ThinkPad X1 Fold with its 16.3 - inch display somewhat lowly , both when folded and blossom forth . I noticed the biggest difference when the ThinkPad X1 Fold was closed , make for a more compact folio - similar gadget to lug around .

The Lenovo is also heavier when the keyboard and stand are included , while the pad of paper is around the same weight . That gives it a denser feel .

One significant design deviation is that the ThinkPad X1 Fold has a more aggressive folded hinge design , with the folded half lying flat against each other rather than lark a col , as with the other machine . The result is that the Lenovo is thinner when pen up , at 0.69 inches versus the HP ’s 0.84 inch .

There ’s a arrest , though — unlike the HP ’s , the ThinkPad X1 Fold ’s keyboard ca n’t be stored inside . The ThinkPad ’s viewpoint is also a separate component , whereas the HP and Asus stands are built into the tab portion . The resultant is that with the ThinkPad X1 Fold , the keyboard and stand must be carry separately or attach magnetically to the bottom of the folded showing — a thicker and arguably less convenient package .

The ThinkPad X1 Fold is just 0.34 inches fragile as a tablet , which is thinner than the Asus Zenbook Fold 17 ’s 0.61 inches and around the same as the HP Spectre Foldable PC ’s 0.33 inches . The Lenovo is more comfortable as a pill , given its small-scale dimensions , but that ’s not articulate a spate . A 16.3 - inch pad is quite large to utilize in helping hand and is best when laid out on a surface .

That makes the active pen easy to apply for inking , and the ThinkPad X1 Fold is no more comfortable than the HP or Asus in lozenge style . Lenovo spotlight using the ThinkPad X1 Fold as a large reading equipment , with the display part folded , but I found that data format cumbrous . The ThinkPad ’s flexible joint required more military force to open up than I call back needing with the HP , and the HP feel more balanced on each side of the fold .

In clamshell modality , with the keyboard lying on the bottom one-half of the fold , the ThinkPad X1 Fold was n’t as comfortable to use . The keyboard layout is more cramp , although the keycaps are large and feature the ThinkPad ’s iconic grave design with the common TrackPoint nubbin for those who wish to utilise it . However , using the ThinkPad X1 Fold as a clamshell without the strong-arm keyboard is made more hard by the lack of a software keyboard that covers the entire bottom surface as well as possess no software touchpad . The Spectre Foldable PC offers both .

The keyboard switches are light and crisp , which is great , but I favour typing on the HP Spectre Foldable PC ’s keyboard a lot more with its more wide layout . The Lenovo ’s grapple display is also smaller , around 12 column inch . Some screen is lose to the bend , which in grapple modality forms a curve between the top of the display and the keyboard .

At the same time , Lenovo built a tactile touchpad into the keyboard , and while it ’s humble , it do good from enable clicks over its entire glass surface . The haptic chemical mechanism is libertine and offer natural - feeling clicks , and I like it quite a bit better than HP ’s mechanically skillful touchpad . My only job was that the keyboard goes to sleep after a few minute and you have to contract a key to wake it up . I unremarkably tap a laptop ’s touchpad , and I had to break up some muscular tissue memory .

The final slice of the ergonomic puzzle is desktop mode , with the pad portion prop up up using the stand and the keyboard sitting in front . As mentioned above , the ThinkPad X1 Fold ’s stand is a separate component rather than being built in . It magnetically stick to one edge of the tablet in landscape and one edge in portrayal , and I detect it problematic . First , it ’s another objet d’art to carry around , and it adds bulk . Second , you have to opt your sharpness cautiously .

If you accidentally endeavor to prop the pill up along the wrong boundary , it wo n’t stick , and you ’ll screen your reflex response endeavor to catch it from fall . I did that a duo of times and quickly learned my lesson . Unfortunately , it does n’t work out that well even when you ’re attaching to the right sharpness . Fortunately , I was lucky , and it never slither off my background . The HP and Asus feature work up - in stands that forefend this menace .

Physically , then , I found the ThinkPad X1 Fold less comfortable to apply in two of its three modality , grapple and desktop , and no better in tablet mode . None of the foldable PCs I ’ve used were great to utilise as a grapple without the physical keyboard , given the unsuitability of a software keyboard for typing anything other than poor text .

The HP Spectre Foldable PC has a modality where the keyboard sit on the bottom two - thirds of the folded tablet and lend a second silver screen , and that ’s lack on the Lenovo .

Ports

Tablets are lean equipment and , as such , ca n’t fit in legacy ports like USB - A and HDMI . The ThinkPad X1 Fold is no unlike , and it bid just USB - one C ports with and without Thunderbolt 4 . Lenovo also skips a 3.5 mm audio old salt , which is always inauspicious , and there ’s also no Coyote State bill of fare lector . The Asus includes an audio labourer , and neither has an South Dakota card reader .

So , the Lenovo ’s a mixed design . The tablet charges via USB - C , as does the keyboard . The pen that was included in my revaluation contour use batteries . On the HP Spectre Foldable PC , the keyboard and penitentiary tutelage magnetically when attached to the pad .

The ThinkPad X1 Fold has Wi - Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.1 , which is typical , while it adds optional WWAN that the other two machine lack .

The ThinkPad X1 Fold ’s camera matches the HP ’s 5MP resolution , extend a quality image for videoconferencing . It ’s along a short border , though , making the angle unearthly in landscape modal value . It has a built - in infrared camera for Windows 11 Hello that works quickly and dependably . The webcam was good in clamshell way .

Display

The ThinkPad X1 Fold uses a 16.3 - inch OLED panel with an almost square 4:3 expression ratio and a 2560 x 2024 resolution . That ’s shrill than both the Asus and HP folding PCs and just sharp enough to avoid obvious pixels in text . The aspect proportion makes for a more comfortable tablet while making the grapple display quite modest .

fit in to my tintometer , the display was brighter than most OLED screen at 438 nits , and it had the engineering ’s usual perfect Shirley Temple Black and inky-black direct contrast . Its colors were n’t as wide-eyed as most , at just 93 % of AdobeRGB , where most OLED displays are closer to 100 % , and its color accuracy was just okay at a DeltaE of 1.52 ( most are under 1.0 ) .

Overall , the ThinkPad X1 Fold was an excellent visual experience for productivity and media consumption . The video display supports Dolby Vision high active range ( HDR ) video recording , but I was unusually unimpressed when run for Netflix HDR content . Dark view were n’t as elaborate as is typical with the data formatting , which was an unpleasant surprise .

Audio is provided by two speakers on the edges of the pill . In clamshell mode , they manoeuvre to the sides , while in landscape desktop musical mode , one speaker is fire up , and the other is firing down and muffled by the sales booth . Overall legal calibre was honest but not peachy , with clear mids and highs but zero bass part .

Performance and battery life

The ThinkPad X1 Fold uses Intel 12th - gen low - power CPUs , with options for vPro engineering science that can plugged into enterprise security and direction systems . I test with the Core i7 - 1250U , the same 10 - core ( two Performance and eight Efficient ) , 12 - thread mainframe used in the HP Spectre foldaway PC and the Asus Zenbook Fold 17 . These are 9 - watt micro chip that meet the efficiency requirements and are n’t presently available in Intel ’s 13th- and 14th - gen chips .

Even so , the ThinkPad provide faster operation than the other two machines . Whether this is the result of Lenovo ’s intimately cooling ( each foldaway machine is fanless ) or more aggressive tuning , I do n’t recognise . Not that while the Lenovo is faster , that does n’t make it a firm machine . It ’s competitive with other similarly configure laptops , and it does overreach the high-pitched - power Core i7 - 1355U in theLenovo Yoga Book 9iin some of our benchmarks in balanced mode while falling behind in performance mode .

The ThinkPad X1 Fold is truehearted enough for world-wide productivity use and media consumption . These are the best exercise for the machine , so the functioning is sufficient — but just hardly . And do n’t even cogitate about stake on this laptop .

Two battery capacities are available for the ThinkPad X1 Fold : a individual 48 - watt - 60 minutes battery and 64 full James Watt - hours with an additional 16 - watt - hour bombardment . My limited review unit was configure with the full content , and with a 16.3 - inch OLED display , I was n’t expect miracles .

As it deform out , battery life-time was distinctly mixed . In clamshell mode with the keyboard attached and , presumptively , one - half of the OLED show turned off , I visit just four time of day in our WWW browsing test and 11.5 minute in our video recording looping trial . With the display unfolded and in desktop mode , I see seven hours of entanglement browse and 10.25 hours of video looping . The HP Spectre Foldable PC demonstrated some of the same battery operation , with a longer battery biography with the full display . It lasted greater than 8.5 hours of web browse , though , so its battery liveliness was importantly better .

I ca n’t account for the discrepancy between grapple and desktop modes . But I can say that you ’re improbable to get to a full day of work without plugging in .

A disappointing option

As I used the ThinkPad X1 Fold , I was constantly disappointed in one face or another . The sales booth was n’t true , which is a very defective matter when it ’s meant to prop up a tablet that begin at $ 2,499 . Lenovo ’s Yoga Book 9i has a much more complicated origami stand that hold that dual - exhibit 3 - in-1 steadfastly in place . So , Lenovo knows how to get it right and just did n’t . I also found the clamshell musical mode too small and , without its keyboard , too hard to use .

Performance was better than the other two foldable personal computer we ’ve used , but battery life was bad . The Asus Zenbook Fold 17 is less expensive with a fairish configuration . The ThinkPad X1 Foldable is n’t the skilful pick among today ’s leading foldaway PCs .