Lenovo’s trademark 360-degree 2-in-1 convertible form factor gives users three devices – laptop, tent and tablet – in one neat machine.
Allan D reviewed the latest offering in the range, the Lenovo Yoga C930
Price range
From about R32 000.00
Intended audience and use
The Lenovo Yoga C930 is a premium product, aimed at the top end of the market. It looks good while packing in great performance, a top display and a superior sound experience. So it should be able handle just about any commercial, consumer or even engineering tasks.
Quick product description
The top-of-the range Lenovo C930 is thin, light and powerful convertible machine, made of brushed aluminium that’s cool to the touch, with smooth corners.
Technical specifications
Processor: 8th Gen quad-core Intel Core i7-8550U, up to 4.0 GHz
Dimensions: 322mm x 227mm x 14,5mm (12,7 inches x 8,9 inches x 0,57 inches)
Weight: 1,36kg
Colour: Iron Grey (also available in Mica)
Operating system: Windows 10 Home
RAM: 16Gb DDR4-2400MHz
Storage: 1Tb M.2 PCIe SSD
Display: 13,9 inches, 1 920 x 1 080 4k UHD, featuring touch, IPS and Dolby Vision
Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 620
Ports: Two USB-C Thunderbolt 3; one USB-A 3.1; one 3,5 mm audio
Speakers: Single soundbar with Dolby Atmos
Wireless: Intel Wireless-AC 9260; 802.11ac (2 x2); Bluetooth 4.1
Camera: Front-facing 720p
Security: Fingerprint reader, webcam shutter
Pen: Lenovo Active Pen
Battery: Four-cell 60BWh
Unique features
The soundbar is built into the hinge, so the sound is always directed towards the user.
The thin bezel maximises the real estate on the 4k display.
The display is touch-enabled, but you can use the Lenovo Pen too – and you shouldn’t lose the pen because it has its own “garage” alongside the hinge where it is locked in and automatically recharged.
My impressions
I loved the size of the Lenovo Yoga C930, and was impressed that such a compact device packs so much power.
It’s also a seriously good-looking machine. It’s thin and light, with smooth edges and a luxurious brushed aluminium casing.
The directional keys on the keyboard felt just a little cramped, but this is a necessary trade-off for such a compact device.
The display is fast and bright – in fact, I changed the display from the standard to 75Hz to 60Hz to text and this was still top-quality.
The touch screen is sensitive and very accurate, which means you can use touch even for the most precise engineering or graphics applications.
For even more accuracy and a wider range of features, the Lenovo Pen is a great touch. The fact that you can’t lose it – it has its own “garage” at the back of the device where it recharges while not in use – means it’s always handy.
I loved the fact that the pen could convert my (not particularly neat) handwriting to text so easily. This made creating or editing documents, conducting searches and even drawing really easy to pick up and use.
Personally, the best feature of the Lenovo Yoga C930 was the multimedia. The 13,9-inch UHD display really makes video come alive, while the soundbar produced and incredible listening experience.
Because it’s a convertible, the Lenovo Yoga C930 offers this experience in laptop, tablet and tent mode, with the display automatically correcting for which orientation you’re using, and the soundbar built into the hinge ensuring that the sound is always facing the user.
The only potential negative of this device are the fact that the RAM cannot be upgraded – so just make sure you buy it with the correct configuration.
Start-up
The Lenovo Yoga C930 booted up in 14 seconds
Sound
The Lenovo Yoga C930 boasts clear and sharp sound. The Rotating Sound Bar with Dolby Atmos Speaker System includes two sets of speakers with down-firing woofers, custom tweeters and vibration buffers. This helps it to offer a three-dimensional, immersive experience in every mode, with depth and precision.
Noise
There was just the tiniest bit of sound on boot-up, but no perceptible noise while running the device.
Power/battery
The device ran for a full nine hours without the need for a charge – and it could have been as much as 14 hours with a lower-resolution display.
Temperature and performance
Performance is top of the range, with no perceptible lags on any operation it performed. In fact, sometimes I felt that I was almost too slow for the machine.
The aluminium casing kept the device cool to the touch during operation.
Quality of construction
The Lenovo Yoga C930 is a good-looking machine, boasting a solid and flexible construction. The casing is metal and needs to be fairly rugged, but it balances this beautifully with smooth edges and a luxurious look and feel.
Final thoughts
This is a very high-end machine that is great for multimedia applications. I loved the creative elements and would have no hesitation in recommending it for any users who require a thin, light, good-looking device that packs top-quality display and performance. The fact that it functions equally well as a laptop, tablet or in tent mode for presentations means this is the only device you need to carry around.