Lenovo ThinkBook 14s Yoga review: Budget business style, with shortcomings - emersonscrims

The Lenovo ThinkBook 14s Yoga is a capable 2-in-1 convertible that could be a great fallback option if your budget handler rejects your request for a ThinkPad X1 Yoga operating theatre another premium 2-in-1 business convertible. It keeps the spirit of the product delineate with its sturdy chassis and comfortable keyboard. Productivity performance is strong.

The tradeoffs for the lower price are a mediocre display and battery sprightliness. As long as your occupation doesn't involve field wreak or long stretches off Alternating current, budget-conscious business users will still feel value here.

This brush up is part of our ongoing roundup of the Sunday-go-to-meeting laptops. Go there for data on competing products and how we tested them.

ThinkBook 14s Yoga specs and features

Based on its specifications, the Lenovo ThinkBook 14s Yoga model we reviewed (20WE001DUS) has a central-of-the-roadworthy configuration that doesn't skimp on important things like memory, storage, or connectivity. Here are the inside information:

• Mainframe: Quad-core group Intel Core i7-1165G7
• Memory: 16GB
• Storage: 512GB PCIe Solid State Drive off
• Display: 14-inch 1920×1080 IPS Touch screen Display
• Graphics: Intel Iris Xe Graphics
• Connectivity: Bolt of lightning 4, SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps Type-C, SuperSpeed USB 5Gbps Type-A, MicroSD card reviewer
• Webcam: 720p
• Networking: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.1
• Biometrics: Fingerprint reader
• Battery content: 60 Watt-hours
• Dimensions: 12.6 x 8.5 x 0.67 inches
• Measured weight: 3.3 pounds, add 0.7 pounds for the AC adapter

Unfortunately laptops are selling quickly these years, and the exact configuration we tested wasn't available past presstime. Our ware button will lead you to the configurations currently available, including an other than identical fashion mode with 8GB of Jampack instead of 16GB, for $993.85 after an always-shifting eCoupon. At the top end of the line is a model at $1,260.35 that expands the Chock up to 24GB and the homogenous-res publica storage to 1TB. All models characteristic the same rumbling HD 14-inch touchscreen show rated for 300 nits of brightness and include a write with a convenient garage inside the laptop computer chassis.

A vision in blue

Lenovo offers two color options—Mineral Grey or Abyss Blue—for the ThinkBook 14s Yoga; our tryout system features the last mentioned. The blue is a deep chromaticity and looks buttoned-up enough for corporate settings. In fact, under most lighting conditions, IT appears to be standard corporate black.

The ThinkBook 14s Yoga lacks the bling set up on the HP Spectre x360 14—CNC-machining, gem-cut edges, and gold, logo-stamped hinges—but the ThinkBook 14s Yoga delivers the winning combination of feeling both durable and light. Happening roughly budget models, an each-plastic enclosure might flex in your grip, or yield below your fingertips when typewriting. The totally-metal chassis on the ThinkBook 14s Yoga lends a relate of luxuriousness, atomic number 3 well atomic number 3 a rigid feel that should stand up to the demands and dings of business travel.

The ThinkBook 14s Yoga weighs 3.3 pounds, which is average for its 14-inch size of it assort. Part of the reason the ThinkBook 14s Yoga can't limbo under the 3-pound mark (like the H.P. Spectre x360 14 and Lenovo's own Yoga C940 14 do) is its touch screen, which e'er adds weight, specially when protected by Gorilla gorilla Glass over.

Nevertheless, the ThinkBook 14s Yoga quiet cuts a slender visibility. It's solely 0.67 inches thick, the same Eastern Samoa the upmarket HP Spectre x360 14 and confidential to the 0.62-inch Yoga C940 14. The Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 is the thinnest of the 2-in-1 bunch at only a uncomplete-inch thick.

Snug keyboard with ThinkPad roots

The ThinkBook 14s Yoga's gray keys would possible look better contrasting against the Asphaltic Asa Gray chassis than the Abyss Blue we had (a standard black keyboard would have been a better choice aesthetically). Color aside, the keys feel snappy and are soundless when pressed, even for a thunderous typist like this referee. They offer deeper travel than I expected for such a filiform laptop—a pleasant surprise—til now they are far from schmaltzy, oblation a similar feel to the superior keyboards typically found happening Lenovo's ThinkPads. The biggest divergence is the ThinkBook's keys are flat, instead of the slightly concave shape of a pricier ThinkPad's.

Flatness Elliott/IDG

The ThinkBook 14s Yoga's keys may lack the contours of pricier ThinkPad cousins, but it otherwise retains the spirit of ThinkPad custom with sturdy travel and smooth, quiet operation.

The trackpad is a bit on the young pull by today's standards, measuring 4.1 by 2.8 inches. Given the narrow wrist rest below the keyboard, Lenovo had scant room to work with. Its matt-up finish makes for smooth gliding, and it accurately recorded my taps, swipes, and gestures.

Dim showing, useful ports

The full HD speck display is protected by a level of Gorilla Methedrine and encircled connected all quaternion sides aside thin bezels. The slick magazine finish of the Gorilla Glass butt cause many distracting glare and reflections, which is exacerbated by the show's dimness. Rated for 300 nits of smartness, the ThinkBook 14s Yoga's showing can't match the peak brightness of the 400-nit reveal of Lenovo's Yoga C940 14 or the 500-nit display of the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1. It sufficed under artificial light, but I had the brightness level maxed out below all situations and scenarios. If your job regularly takes you in the field or you typically work in a covered workspace, then I would recommend spending a trifle more for a brighter display.

The touch panel felt accurate and responsive. I was immediately well-heeled writing and drawing on the reveal with the enclosed pen. With the display rotated into tablet musical mode, the keyboard felt friendly, which detracts from the ThinkBook 14's Yoga tablet functionality.

The system's compact chassis makes dissipating heat a challenge. The intrinsical fan is very quiet, so winnow noise isn't an issue, only perhaps it needs to spin at a greater rate to keep the system cooler.

Matt Elliott/IDG

The ThinkBook 14s Yoga's slim style is stored conveniently within the laptop's shape.

Uncomparable close nitpick on the display: The 16:9 prospect ratio feels a bit cramped. A squarer 16:10 or 3:2 aspect ratio feels much roomier and requires little scrolling through with your net web browser, Word docs, and Excel sheets.

The speakers fire from the front of each side march, which is preferred to speakers that flame downward from the bottom board. Even so, the gross sound is no better than that of your average laptop. The audio end product can reach A level to fill a bantam room but lacks anything resembling a bass response. The tinny uninjured means you'll reach for your headphones for euphony playback, but it's clear enough for Zoom calls.

A 720p webcam sits above the display and exhibited accurate colors, but the overall image was fairly noisy. A physical concealment cover gives you pacification of mind when you aren't using the camera, which is an appreciated boast for anyone and a requisite for business users.

Matted Elliott/IDG

The Lenovo ThinkBook 14s Yoga has both USB-A and USB-C ports and Thunderbolt 4 support.

The ThinkBook 14s Yoga's port selection comes with both types of USB ports and hold for Thunderbolt 4, the latest and fastest standard for connecting to external drives and displays. Most of the ports are located on the system's left edge, where you'll find two USB-C ports—one that features USB 3.2 connectivity and the other with Thunderbolt 4. (If you're confused nigh all the other kinds of USB's, this handy chart explains all the USB specs you bet they relate to Thunderbolt.) Also on the left butt on are a USB-A port, an HDMI 1.4 port, and a headphone jack.

Happening the right edge, you'll find a second USB-A left, a MicroSD card expansion slot, and the power button, which doubles as a fingerprint reader for easy and secure logins. The pen is as wel stowed on the right edge, next to the power button.

The biggest skip is an ethernet jack, which means you'll need to carry around a USB-C hub (operating room Thunderbolt dock) surgery use a docking post for a wired meshwork connection.

ThinkBook 14s Yoga performance

The ThinkBook 14s Yoga is a good actor bee with midrange or better performance, faltering only in battery aliveness.

We compared it against the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 and HP Spectre x360 14, all of which features the comparable Core i7 CPU. The Lenovo Yoga C940 features a 10th-gen Heart and soul i7 CPU. We also included a pair of traditional clamshell laptops with 11th-gen CPUs: The Genus Acer Swift 3X features the assonant Core i7-1165G7 as the ThinkBook 14s Yoga, and the ThinkPad E14 Gen 2 features an 11th-gen Nitty-gritty i5-113G7. Completely of the systems characteristic organic Intel Xe graphics and 16GB of memory except for the Yoga C940 14, which features Intel's previous-generation Iris Plus graphics and 12GB of RAM.

Editor's mention: The ThinkBook 14s Yoga is misnamed "ThinkPad 14s Yoga" in all the charts. PCWorld regrets the error.

Matt Elliott/IDG

Don River't trouble almost performance in general productivity applications: The ThinkBook 14s Yoga has it taken care of. (Note: ThinkBook 14s Yoga is mistakenly written as "ThinkPad 14s Yoga" in this chart.)

Our first benchmark is PCMark 10, which measures performance on everyday calculation work including office productivity tasks, web browsing, and video chats. The ThinkBook 14s Yoga led the pack and was the only system differently the Acer Swift 3X to surpass the 5,000 gull. We consider anything in the 4,000 range to be acceptable, while anything above 5,000 is exceptional.

Flatness Elliott/IDG

HandBrake hammers the Mainframe, reveaing issues with performance and also cooling. The ThinkBook 14s Yoga posts a ordinary score here. (Note: ThinkBook 14s Yoga is mistakenly written as "ThinkPad 14s Yoga" in this chart.)

The ThinkBook 14s Yoga complete in the midst of the throng on our HandBrake test, which involves encoding a big 30GB video file. This try puts laptops under sustained, heavy loads, pushing the CPU and engine cooling system to their limits. The ThinkBook 14s Yoga's thin chassis and restrained cooling probably held it book binding, as it likely had to throttle the CPU at points during the long encode to keep thermals in restraint.

Matt Elliott/IDG

The ThinkBook 14s Yoga posted a midrange Cinebench score, moderately disappinting given its strong PCMark account. (Line: ThinkBook 14s Yoga is mistakenly written as "ThinkPad 14s Yoga" in this graph.)

Where HandBrake is a marathon, Cinebench is a sprint. This benchmark renders a complex 2D tantrum over a short period of time. The ThinkBook 14s Yoga's dash speed was no faster Oregon slower than its marathon pace; it over again finished in the midst of the battalion. It led the way in ace-core performance, although the scores were very tightly clustered salvage the Yoga C940 14's.

Matt Elliott/IDG

The ThinkBook 14s Yoga posted typically modest scores in the graphics-focused 3DMark Sky Diver test. IT;s not a gaming machine by whatsoever stretch. (Note: ThinkBook 14s Yoga is erroneously written Eastern Samoa "ThinkPad 14s Yoga" in this chart.)

Intel's Iris Xenon integrated artwork is surprisingly good, as our tests have shown, only that doesn't mean the Iris Atomic number 54-equipped ThinkBook 14s Yoga is a gaming car. IT actually finished toward the dorsum of the Iris Atomic number 54 pack. Manage your expectations consequently. (Unfortunately we can't compare the ThinkBook 14s Yoga to the Yoga C940 14 with its previous-generation Iris Plus art, because we fresh switched to 3DMark's Fourth dimension Spy graphics benchmark from the older Sky Diver bench mark on which the Yoga C940 was tested.)

Disappointing battery life

Matt Elliott/IDG

Bombardment life was disappointing at just seven hours, when all early competitors achieved farthermost more. (Take down: ThinkBook 14s Yoga is mistakenly written as "ThinkPad 14s Yoga" in this chart.)

We test laptop battery life past looping a 4K television using the Malcolm stock Windows Movies & TV app, with concealment brightness set to astir 250 nits and the volume dialed to 50 percent, with headphones plugged in. The ThinkBook 14s Yoga ran out of juice well ahead competing systems, lasting just over cardinal hours along the test. You should see longer battery life under less demanding scenarios than continually acting a video, but its leave along our battery life examine is still disappointing.

Two big shortcomings

The Lenovo ThinkBook 14s Yoga is a versatile and stylish 2-in-1 that delivers construct quality and carrying into action on a par with pricier 2-in-1 convertibles. As with any budget operating room midrange machine, sacrifices were successful to hit a more approachable Leontyne Price. In the case of the ThinkBook 14s Yoga, you lose in two big areas: display and battery. We have no unusual complaints about its carrying into action, and we the like the look and palpate of its concentrated, every-gold figure. Given its shortcomings, however, we bum recommend the ThinkBook 14s Yoga single to workers on a tight budget who expend the legal age of the time inside, under artificial light, and near a power outlet.

Source: https://www.pcworld.com/article/394859/lenovo-thinkbook-14s-yoga-review-budget-business-style-with-shortcomings.html

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