Lenovo ThinkPad C13 Yoga Chromebook Review

We nonetheless see loads of Chromebooks aimed toward customers and school rooms, however refined fashions for enterprise are more and more well-liked. Lenovo’s ThinkPad C13 Yoga Chromebook (begins at $584; $859 as examined) might be the fanciest but. This 13.3-inch convertible lives as much as the ThinkPad identify with a TrackPoint pointing stick within the keyboard and MIL-STD 810G certification towards highway hazards like shock, vibration, and temperature and humidity extremes. It’s even accessible with a 4K OLED show. It is not low-cost, nevertheless it’s additionally not stricken by the deadly sticker shock that its rival the HP Elite c1030 Chromebook Enterprise is, and it is general spectacular sufficient to assert an Editors’ Alternative award for enterprise Chromebooks. Consider it as a premium workplace 2-in-1 that occurs to run Chrome OS as an alternative of Home windows.

Abyss Blue, Not Matte Black

The ThinkPad C13 Yoga Chromebook additionally occurs to have an AMD as an alternative of Intel CPU. (Final fall, AMD launched a collection of 5 Ryzen and Athlon “C-series” processors, specifically designed to be used in Chromebooks.) A $584 lowball system sports activities a dual-core Athlon Gold 3150C chip, a skimpy 4GB of RAM, and a worse (even double-size could be skimpy) 32GB of eMMC flash storage. Our $859 overview unit steps as much as a quad-core, 2.1GHz Ryzen 5 3500C processor with Radeon Vega built-in graphics, 8GB of reminiscence, and a beneficiant 256GB PCI Categorical-based solid-state drive. The 2 fashions share a full HD (1,920-by-1,080-pixel) IPS contact display screen with 300 nits of brightness.

Our check machine additionally has a fingerprint reader, a Common Stylus Initiative pen that stashes in a slot on the entrance edge, and two cameras. The primary cam is a webcam with a privateness shutter, centered above the show; the second is a 5-megapixel world-facing digital camera above the keyboard, appropriate for taking snapshots whereas holding the Yoga in pill mode. A step up from our check mannequin, the 4K OLED model is a greater worth at $968; it has not solely a extra sensible, higher-resolution display screen, but additionally a quicker (Ryzen 7 3700C) processor and 16GB of RAM. 

Completed in a very deep-navy metallic blue as an alternative of the standard ThinkPad black, the Lenovo’s aluminum chassis measures 0.61 by 12.1 by 8.4 inches and weighs 3.3 kilos, roughly matching its 13.3-inch convertible rival the Dell Latitude 5300 2-in-1 Chromebook Enterprise (0.76 by 12 by 8.2 inches, 3.2 kilos). The HP Elite c1030 has a 13.5-inch show with a squarer 3:2 quite than 16:9 side ratio; it’s kind of lighter at 2.9 kilos. The 14-inch Asus Chromebook Flip C436 is lighter but at 2.6 kilos.

The same old Chrome brand is joined by the acquainted diagonal ThinkPad insignia (with light-up dot over the i) on the lid. Medium-slim bezels encompass the 1080p show, which two hinges permit to flip and fold into the pill, easel, and tent modes acquainted from different Yogas and different distributors’ 2-in-1s. The display screen barely wobbles when tapped in laptop computer mode; there’s virtually no flex when you grasp its corners or press the keyboard deck. 

We give massive bonus factors to the few Chromebooks which have an HDMI video output as an alternative of constructing you fuss with a USB-C DisplayPort dongle to plug in an exterior monitor. The C13 has one on its proper facet, together with a USB 3.2 Sort-C port, a quantity rocker, the ability button, and a security-cable locking notch. The left edge holds one other USB-C port, two USB 3.2 Sort-A ports, and an audio jack and microSD card slot. Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth deal with wi-fi communications.

A Pleasure to Use 

Like different panels rated at 300 nits of brightness, the contact display screen is sufficiently sunny—I would not thoughts having the ability to flip it up only one extra notch or two, however white backgrounds are decently crisp as an alternative of dingy. Colours are wealthy and properly saturated if not precisely vivid; distinction is sweet and viewing angles are vast.

Positive particulars are sharp, however utilizing the native 1080p decision makes display screen parts seem small. So, as with most Chromebooks, you possibly can select from a wide range of “appears like” decision settings to fit your style. (The default is 1,536 by 864.)

Lenovo says the provided pen will get enough cost in its slot in 15 seconds to work for 100 minutes and offers 2,048 ranges of strain sensitivity. It tracked precisely and confirmed good palm rejection once I tried sketching in Chrome Canvas, nevertheless it wasn’t quick sufficient to maintain up with speedy scribbles with out skipping.

The backlit keyboard has a quick typing really feel and the standard Chromebook format, with a search/menu key instead of Caps Lock and browser and system management keys alongside the highest row. The TrackPoint cursor controller has three buttons south of the house bar, giving customers who do not take care of the standard two-finger faucet in Chrome OS an actual right-click button to play with. Each the TrackPoint and touchpad work easily and responsively.

The 720p webcam and a pair of,592-by-1,944-pixel keyboard cam seize pretty sharp, colourful, and well-lit photographs, although it is awkward holding up the system in pill mode to snap an image. Aspect-mounted audio system produce tinny, muffled sound; bass is weak and overlapping tracks are flattened. Lenovo backs the ThinkPad C13 Yoga Chromebook with a one-year guarantee.

Efficiency Testing: Chrome OS Convertibles In contrast 

For our benchmark charts, I pitted the C13 towards 4 mid- to high-priced 2-in-1s with a wide range of Intel processors. The Asus Chromebook Flip C436 has a Core i3. The Dell Latitude 5300 2-in-1 Chromebook Enterprise has a Core i5. So does the Editors’ Alternative award-winning Acer Chromebook Spin 713, which, just like the Core i7-powered HP Elite c1030 Chromebook Enterprise, has a 13.5-inch display screen with a 3:2 side ratio. (See extra about how we test laptops.)

The primary goal benchmarks we use are Principled Technologies‘ venerable CrXPRT (a collection of simulated Chrome OS productiveness apps) and more moderen WebXPRT 3 (a browser-based check of HTML and JavaScript throughput).

It trailed the Core i7 Elite, however the ThinkPad’s Ryzen 5 CPU just about stored tempo with its Core i5 rivals. Opening a dozen browser tabs or streaming 1080p movies is not any problem. 

JetStream 2 is one other efficiency check that mixes 64 JavaScript and WebAssembly benchmarks to measure a browser’s (on this case, the default Chrome’s) suitability for superior internet purposes. 

The HP and Dell pulled into the lead, however the Yoga delivered stable middle-of-the-pack efficiency. These are all comparatively quick, ritzy Chromebooks, a minimize above most client fashions. 

We have added UL’s PCMark for Android Work 2.0 check to our Chromebook routine. This check suite runs in a small smartphone-style window and mimics productiveness operations starting from textual content and picture modifying to information charting and video playback. 

Not a lot separated the 5 contenders on this benchmark. The Lenovo practically caught the Core i7 HP, displaying excessive aptitude for Android apps and video games. 

Lastly, to check a laptop computer’s battery life, we loop a 720p video file with display screen brightness set at 50%, audio quantity at 100%, and Wi-Fi and the keyboard backlight disabled till the system quits. Typically we’ve to play the video from an exterior SSD plugged right into a USB-C port, however the rising variety of Chromebooks with solid-state as an alternative of eMMC flash drives have room to retailer it domestically. 

Lasting rather less than 9 hours, the C13 confirmed unexceptional stamina by right this moment’s ultraportable requirements, nevertheless it shouldn’t have any hassle getting by means of a full day of labor.

A Worthy Addition to the ThinkPad Line 

At $859 as examined, the ThinkPad C13 Yoga Chromebook is a bit dear in comparison with, say, the $629 Acer Spin 713, although it is a cut price subsequent to the $1,529 HP Elite c1030. Nonetheless, we might see customers and entrepreneurs looking for a first-class Chrome OS convertible being very proud of it, and firms adopting Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) will discover it an ideal match. It is a deserving Editors’ Alternative winner for companies keen to assume exterior the Home windows field.

Lenovo ThinkPad C13 Yoga Chromebook Specs