Not the smartest solution, but I can’t hate it – “Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold”

“We have tested the world’s first laptop with a foldable screen!,” we proclaimed in January 2021.

Introduction

Back then, it was the first generation we took a look at. Now, three years later, Lenovo is back with a completely new generation X1 Fold, at least in terms of screen and design.

For fun, let’s include the specs back then, first, and then look at the prices (from NOK 33,349 to NOK 39,469) and specs for today’s model:

• Intel Lakefield Core i5 with Intel UHD graphics
• 8GB LPDDR4X RAM
• 256 or 512 GB M.2 storage
• 5000mAh battery
• 65W fast charging
• 2 USB-C (1x Gen 1, 1x Gen 2)
• Wi-Fi 6, 5G, Bluetooth 5.1
• 999 g

Specifications (price: NOK 63,341)

• 16.3″ OLED – 2560 x 2024 – Anti-Smudge
• HDR 600 – 100 percent DCI-P3 – 600 nits – 60Hz
• 12th Gen Intel Core i7-1260U vPro – (E-core up to 3.50 GHz – P-cores up to 4.70 GHz)
• Intel Iris Xe Graphics
• 1TB NVMe
• Up to 64 Wh with 2 batteries – supports fast charging technology (30 minutes = 4 hours)
• Dolby Atmos
• Camera 5 MP RGB and infrared (IR)
• 3 x speakers (2 always on) – 4 x microphones – Dolby Voice
• 2 x USB-C Thunderbolt 4 (40 Gbps)
• USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps)
• Add-on: Nano-SIM slot
• Additional: WWAN* 5G sub6 (supports LTE)
• Wi-Fi 6E
• Bluetooth 5.1 (due to OS limitation)
• Folded: 17.4mm x 176.2mm x 276.2mm
• Unfolded: 8.6mm x 276.2mm x 345.7mm
• From 1.28 kg – with keyboard and stand: 1.94 kg
• Optional keyboard: ThinkPad Bluetooth TrackPoint keyboard and stand
• Integrated fingerprint reader
• Haptic touchpad
• TrackPoint
• Adjustable stand
• Facial recognition with Windows Hello and IR camera
• Fingerprint reader on optional keyboard
• Accessories: Intel Visual Sensing Controller with human presence detection
• 65 W USB-C power adapter

Design

This is a robust machine. It weighs enough to signal quality, but not too much. It feels good in the hand and that you got back what you paid for. Even if Lenovo holds on to the iconic ThinkPad design language, they have taken care to do something special with the X1 Fold, which is appropriate when the price is north of NOK 60,000. A fabric material invites touch, while the company and brand logos are made of rubber. Everything concludes for me that: “I would like to take this with me on a trip.”

It’s not a huge selection of ports, but at least there are 3 x USB C to be found, and Lenovo has been smart enough, in relation to where your charging cable is, to place the three on opposite sides.

Also, there were the accessories, which are included in the price I’ve listed above, which include a nice magnetic kickstand and another classic “IBM” keyboard with the famous “clown nose” some people are crazy enough to still be using in 2024 instead of the touch surface. There is not all the space in the world as the keyboard cannot be longer than the computer. The keyboard is therefore slightly smaller than what I find to be optimal (there were many wrong presses on the fn key), but it is perfectly fine in use thanks to the good pressure feeling that goes deep enough and that gives enough feedback.

Features and performance

We can start with the keyboard that connects via Bluetooth so that you can use it on top of the bottom part of the screen. Note that it can only be used on a certain part of the screen so that the X1 Fold logo on the outside can be seen. This makes sense the more I work on it, because the machine has Windows Hello face login!

I’ll start with the keyboard because it’s one of several things that works pretty well, but is a bit lacking. Several times I had to remove the Bluetooth connection to bring it back to life. This happened as recently as when I started writing the test: I closed the machine, but did not turn off the keyboard. When I was ready to use it again, the keyboard didn’t work. Again I had to go into the settings, remove it, and add it back. So then I have to go through the tedious process of erasing the device in Windows, holding down F8 which is the dedicated Bluetooth button, pressing the “Connect” window in Windows that pops up, and entering a numeric code on the invisible keyboard you type in and press enter. What an accident!

The other thing that bothered me the first time was that I had no idea how to prop up the machine. Because Lenovo thinks along the lines of Asus with the “ZenBook Duo,” but where Asus has gone for two separate screens, Lenovo goes “all in” on a full 16.3″ screen. This increases the price considerably, but has the advantage that the machine also works well as a tablet. Another problem is that the machine cannot be folded together with the keyboard magnetically mounted on the screen. Lenovo has also not installed strong enough magnets so that the keyboard can be “clipped” to the outside without the keyboard falling off – there is a bit of magnet attachment, but not enough.

The biggest problem arises when the screen is to be propped up by the kickstand, which consists of a semi-moving part. At first, I had no idea how this was supposed to work, as I had challenges figuring out exactly where the magnet attachment is. TL;DR: the kickstand should have been integrated into the machine.

To back myself up in a way I didn’t think possible, it’s hard to believe this is running 12th gen Intel. Is it ok to charge that much when Intel launched the 14th generation last October? No, it’s not, but here’s the thing: it performs no worse than in “general use” (the Windows interface, browsing) than Samsung’s latest Book4 with Intel Core Ultra 9 CPU 185H and Intel Core Ultra 7 155H CPU. As I mentioned in the test of these (ed. note: the emphasis is ours:)

In any case, the conclusion is that neither Intel’s latest hybrid CPUs behave as expected in 2024, and I’m not even sure that other users of the same machines have the same experiences as me.

Trond Bie, editor and tester, ITavisen

There’s something terribly wrong here, of course: it seems Lenovo has talked to Microsoft and Intel, and made the necessary moves for a fast and smooth experience even with a two-generations-behind CPU. Again: I’m not defending the price of the machine and old CPUs, but can someone explain to me why it sometimes outperforms the latest Intel CPUs?!

In terms of raw performance, the machine naturally falls behind the latest, but note how similar the single-core scores in GeekBench are to the other machines:

PCMark 10:

GeekBench 6:

• Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold: 2240 – 7900
• Galaxy Book4 Pro: 2232 – 11,201
• Galaxy Book4 Ultra: 2,466 – 12,450
• Asus Zenbook Duo: 2331 – 11,059
• MacBook Air M3: 3194– 12,165

• MacBook Air M2 1TB: 2500 – 9600 – M2 10 cores GPU OpenCL: 27,593
• MacBook Air M1: 1705 – 7515
• Dell XPS 15″ 9510: 1658 – 8880 – GeForce RTX 3050 Ti 4GB GDDR6 OpenCL: 35,517
• MacBook Pro 14 (base model – 8 CPU cores 14 cores): 1750 – 9857
• Galaxy Book2 Pro 360: 1664 – 8449
• Surface Laptop Studio: 1563 – 5778
• Tab P12 Pro: 955 – 3089
• Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra: 1229 – 3380

CrystalDiskMark:

Conclusion

It’s not easy to make sense of it: it’s expensive with outdated CPUs, which strangely perform more than well enough in everyday Windows tasks. On the one hand, it is robust, but on the other hand, stacking it on its feet is a cumbersome experience that Lenovo has not thought through well enough. Integrate the kickstand! The price is due to the large OLED 16″ screen that can be folded without you seeing the fold, which makes it a capable browser if you can live with Windows that way.

But then there are problems with the keyboard having nowhere to go, ditto for the kickstand – in addition, the Bluetooth keyboard, which is just too small, is unable to maintain contact with the board after the machine wakes from sleep.

Even with all the issues I can’t help but dislike it like I should with such obvious issues, old CPU and a high price. There is probably something in the fact that I want such a future with Windows computers, that it is, after all, stable and that the screen is very impressive. The fact that Lenovo has managed to squeeze out such good performance from an older CPU is also a plus.

There will be missteps from more than Lenovo when they are the first to try to take advantage of the latest OLED technology with a two-generation old Intel CPU.

It’s tempting to be able to take such a compact machine with you, then transform it into a potentially good-on-the-go device that can also be used for creative tasks. The children will love the large drawing screen. If you go for such a machine, because you have a unique need for creative work on the move combined with office work, be sure to buy a larger wireless compact keyboard, because what Lenovo offers has no place to go anyway. For those who want a different world of multitasking, and at a much lower price and with less hassle, I strongly recommend the “Asus ZenBook Duo.”