When Lenovo introduced the original Yoga Book, it was, and remains, a uniquely innovative design that made possible having an ultra-thin form-factor for Android and Windows tablet. One of the first request people had was for a programmable virtual keyboard. Guess what, Lenovo delivered.
The high-end version of the 2018 Yoga Book is the Yoga Book C930 which was rumored back in June and confirmed shortly after that by Lenovo itself. On the outside, the Yoga Book C930 resembles the original one, with the same color and the same watch-bracelet hinge Lenovo came up with.
If you notice that it is larger, it’s because it is! Lenovo has gone from a 10.1” to a 10.8” display. One of the motivations for this change was so the keyboard could be a bit wider and more comfortable.
Interestingly, Lenovo made it so if you knock twice on the screen, The laptop will open slightly, so it’s easier to open with one hand. Otherwise, you would have to use both hands to open it… thoughtful. Once you turn it on, the e-ink keyboard appears in all its glory.
"ONCE YOU TURN IT ON, THE E-INK KEYBOARD APPEARS IN ALL ITS GLORY"The original Yoga Book had a static keyboard which was “printed” and could not be modified. The key-less keyboard is the primary reason why the computer was so thin, so it had to stay. Using E-ink has many advantages as it is a flat surface, and it can be completely programmable (any language), not only as a keyboard but also as a secondary screen for interfaces and… reading eBooks!
When you type, the keys can animate to confirm the input, and of course, you can open the Yoga Book in tablet mode when reading. The E-ink display is much more power-efficient than the LCD screen, and actually very agreeable to read text on. That has been proved in the past.
Finally, the note-taking is still there with the Yoga Book, except that Lenovo has now made it possible to take notes on the E-ink surface, or on the color display. This was a much-requested feature that has also come true. Notes can be saved as images, or copied as text, after being converted. By the way, the Wacom pen has 4096 pressure levels and is included.
We might wrap it up, but there’s one last improvement that is absolutely impactful: the CPU was upgraded from an Intel Atom X5 processor to a maximum of a Core i5-Y754 (4.5W TDP)! The differential in performance is nearly 3X in a test like Geekbench Single-Thread, so we can’t estimate the performance, but this is a significant update that is impressive for such a thin design.
To wrap it up, the Yoga Book C930 is a massive update upon last year’s first model. With key pieces of feedback having been integrated, it will be interesting to see how the public will receive it. Stay tuned for our review of this innovative product, and you can follow Ubergizmo on Google News if you don’t want to miss it.
Key Specifications
- Core™ i5-7Y54 or Core™ m3-7Y30 CPU, 4 GB LPDDR3
- Up to 256 GB PCIe SSD
- LCD: 10.8” QHD (2560×1600) LCD IPS touchscreen
- E Ink: 10.8” FHD (1920×1080) touchscreen
- Wacom Active Pen | 4096 pressure level | Bluetooth/ | Supports dual-display
- 2 speakers with Dolby ATMOS technology
- 4G LTE option
- 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, 2.4GHz&5GHz dual band
- 2x USB 3.1 (Gen1) Type C full function|Fingerprint login
- Windows 10
- 35.8Wh Up to 8.6 hours
- 260.4 x 179.44 x 9.9 mm, 775-799g (LTE is heavier)
Filed in . Read more about IFA, IFA 2018, Laptops and Lenovo.