Samsung may have won the race to the first foldable smartphone with its Galaxy Fold. However, its reveal did make us wonder who’d be the first to do a foldable laptop. The answer to that is, none other than, Lenovo. Just last month, Lenovo revealed the newest addition to its ThinkPad X1 series; a foldable laptop-tablet hybrid that opened the doors to endless possibilities.
As of now, we don’t know the full price and specifications of this new device but we can certainly make some speculations regarding those based on what type of device it is and what market segment it is aimed at. With that out of the way, onto the known specs and features.
The design of the new ThinkPad is creative, to say the least. When it’s all folded up, it resembles a small diary that you can carry with a single hand, which gives it a 10/10 for portability. The outer side has been layered with leather which, again, helps in giving it the whole diary look. On the “front” of the diary, you get the signature diagonal ThinkPad X1 logo, which is a good example of attention to detail. Where the leather ends, you have a plastic area where you can keep a stylus (as this has a touchscreen).
Open it up, and the ThinkPad is transformed from an ordinary looking diary to a tablet. Up front, you get a 13.3″ OLED touch display with a resolution of 1440p. The display is sourced from LG and, yes, it folds from the middle. Being an OLED panel, you do get vibrant colors with deep blacks and you also get the added benefit of low power consumption.
Now, you may recall that I called this a “laptop-tablet hybrid”, however, all you’ve seen is just a tablet. Well, this ThinkPad does have the ability to attach and support a physical modular keyboard. But hold on a minute. Doesn’t that take away the whole portability aspect that I praised so much earlier?
This is where the best party trick of this machine comes into play. Apart from just “opening and closing” the ThinkPad, you can have it open halfway, just like you do with a laptop, and use the on-screen keyboard on the bottom half of the display. This is truly a revolutionary piece of design that only Lenovo has been able to pull off.
With the ThinkPad in its “laptop” position, you still get a 9.6″ od display on the top half, which may not be much, but is definitely usable when on the go.
From a durability standpoint, the ThinkPad does seem to have an edge over the Samsung Galaxy Fold. Unlike the latter, the Lenovo actually uses traditionalTorque Hinges that are tried and tested to last long. The display on the Lenovo is also different from the Galaxy Fold in the sense that there is no crease in the middle when folded flat.
As far as the battery life is concerned, we are not yet aware of what this will pack, though Lenovo does claim that it will last “all day”. Same goes for the processor and the price. It is expected to have an Intel processor, probably a 9th Gen variant. Prices are expected to be well over $1500, which might actually make it cheaper than the Galaxy Fold.
That’s all that we know about the new foldable ThinkPad X1. With time, additional details will come regarding this futuristic piece of tech. Stay tuned for more.
