Shortly after the Gen1 was announced, I got to spend some hands-on time with it, and although it was the first of a new era, it had too many issues for me to be a daily device. On paper, at least, the new Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 2nd Gen appears to have addressed many of my previous concerns.
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Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 2nd Gen
The 1st Gen was a first-to-market foldable laptop comprised solely of a display, and while it was exciting new technology, I felt it was not worthy of the ThinkPad name.
Lenovo has returned to the drawing board and, in the 2nd Gen, created a machine that could be a daily device for many travellers or even replace a tablet device for those of us who prefer the laptop/tablet travel combination in our backpacks.
To get the best from this new device, though, optional extras will be needed, and with a starting price of $2,499, some might want to wait until this new technology is more mainstream.
Features //ThinkPad X1 Fold 2nd Gen
Amazingly, Lenovo has not only increased the display size and reduced the thickness making the X1 Fold easier to use and more portable. The 16” foldable OLED display will now be easier to use when in portrait mode folded in half, whilst the chassis is 25% thinner than the 1st Gen model!
Both were prominent factors from the customer feedback Lenovo carried out from owners of the first iteration of its foldable ThinkPad.
Therefore, fully open, you can have a 16.3” screen in portrait or fold it in half for a more compact 12” display, the same size as most larger ‘Pro’ tablets.
The ThinkPad X1 Fold also contains the new Intel® Visual Sensing Controller, an AI-powered co-processor that improves responsiveness, security, and power efficiency to deliver a better user experience.
Lenovo
Like many other ThinkPads, the X1 fold is configurable to suit user needs and can go up to 12th Gen Intel Core™ i7 processor, up to 1TB of SSD storage and can be upgraded to 32GB LPDDR5 memory.
Depending on the configuration, the X1 Fold 2nd Gen will run either Windows 11 Home or Pro.
For me, the big news will be the optional keyboard. ThinkPad is renowned for market-leading keyboards, and the 1st Gen effort just wasn’t ‘ThinkPad’ enough for me.
With a bigger display comes the wider chassis, which lends more space for an improved keyboard and user experience. The optional keyboard has a TrackPoint and TrackPad along with a typing experience Lenovo and the ThinkPad name are renowned for.
Foldable Display
Lenovo announced the X1 Fold 2nd Gen during its Tech Life 22 event, coinciding with the start of IFA. Although Lenovo was not formally attending IFA (they often have one of the biggest and best tech booths at the event), they took a small desk at the pre-IFA gathering, called Showstoppers, to show the X1 Fold off.
The media attending were swarming around the X1 Fold, so my hands-on time was again limited. A significant difference for me was the folding action.
It feels more natural now. Previously on the Gen 1 model, the display would fold around the optional keyboard or leave a gap if the keypad wasn’t present.
Now the close is tight and reassuringly firm. One area of concern was the overly glossy display covering. The X1 was on display in a large glass dome building, with sunlight pouring in for every angel. If you see the image above, the reflection on the display was relatively bad!
But in the short time I had with the foldable, that was my only concern in a sea of positive changes.
Specifications //Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 2nd Gen
| Dimensions | 276 x 346 x 8.6 mm open 176 x 276 x 17.4 mm folded |
| Weight | 1.28kg X1 Fold 2nd Gen 1.90kg X1 with Stand/Keyboard |
| Colour Options | Performance Black |
| Operating System | Windows 11 Home Windows 11 Pro |
| Display | 16.3” OLED Anti-smudge 600nit HDR 2560×2024 On-cell Touch 400nit SDR / 600nit HDR DCI-P3 100% Dolby Vision |
| Memory | configurable up to 32GB |
| Storage | configurable up to 1TB |
| Battery | 48 Whr 65W Rapid Charge |
| Processor | configurable up to Intel 12th Gen U9 i5 and i7 vPro® |
| Camera | 5MP RGB + IR Intel® Visual Sense Controller optional |
| Speakers | 3 Dolby Atmos |
| Microphone | 4 Dolby Voice |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 6E Bluetooth 5.2 5G Sub 6 optional 2x Thunderbolt 4 1x USB-C Nano-Sim |
| In the Box | ThinkPad X1 Fold 2nd Gen 65W Charger TBC |
| Website | lenovo.com/x1fold once launched |
Pricing //Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 2nd Gen
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 2nd Gen will start from $2,499 and will go on sale during Q4 2022 in selected markets.
