More than a year after Lenovo first teased the concept of a foldable PC, its ThinkPad X1 Fold is finally going on sale Tuesday starting at $2,499. But the work-from-home crowd may actually be more excited about another new laptop making its debut today: the tiny but powerful $1,399 ThinkPad X1 Nano.
Preorders for the X1 Fold, a 13.3-inch tablet with a foldable screen that bends in the middle, go live today. You’ll be able to order yours with optional accessories like 5G connectivity, a Mini Fold Keyboard, a digital pen, and an easel stand that can prop up the X1 Fold on a desk.
Lenovo has repeatedly touted the benefits the X1 Fold offers for corporate jet-setters; the company offered PCMag a detailed look at the innovative new portable PC at CES in January. But the device will launch with regular Windows 10, after Microsoft delayed the Windows 10X version intended for foldable PCs, and corporate jet-setters were grounded because of the coronavirus pandemic and now have less need for a go-anywhere foldable tablet.
So Lenovo is also unveiling a new ThinkPad in the traditional laptop form factor. Weighing less than 2.2 pounds, the ThinkPad X1 nano features a 13-inch 2K display and an 11th-generation Intel Core i7 processor. It’s designed to coexist with both the X1 Fold and the reigning ThinkPad flagship, the X1 Carbon.
Like the X1 Fold, the X1 Nano will also be available with 5G, while other connectivity options include Wi-Fi 6 and Thunderbolt 4. Lenovo notes that even though the X1 Nano’s screen is an inch smaller than the 14-inch display on the X1 Carbon, the former’s 16:10 aspect ratio means that it actually offers the same vertical space to display content as the X1 Carbon’s 16:9 screen offers.
The X1 Nano is equipped with the usual ThinkPad security features for corporate IT management, but it also includes a new proximity sensor that is unique among ThinkPad laptops. The sensor wakes up the PC from sleep as soon as it detects the user’s presence, and the Windows Hello face-recognition camera can automatically log the user into their account. The feature is also available on several competing Latitude laptops from Dell.
ThinkPad laptops are popular with Linux-based software developers, so Lenovo will offer an Ubuntu-powered version of the X1 Nano, in addition to the regular Windows 10 flavor. The X1 Nano will be available some time in the fourth quarter of the year with a starting price of $1,399, Lenovo says.
New ThinkBooks, BSOD Prevention
In addition to the new ThinkPad X1 models, Lenovo will also offer new additions and refreshed models in the ThinkBook lineup. Highlights include a ThinkBook 15 Gen 2, available with integrated wireless earbuds. The buds can be stored in a tray that pops out of the laptop’s right edge. They’re paired automatically, charge while they’re stored, and feature noise cancellation to help filter out background distractions during conference calls.
Lenovo is adding a 14-inch 2-in-1 convertible laptop to the ThinkBook lineup, as well. The new ThinkBook 14s Yoga has a built-in digital pen and is available with either gray or blue finishes. The entire ThinkBook lineup will now be powered by either 11th-generation Intel Core processors or 4th-generation AMD Ryzen processors.
The new models will become available over the next two months with starting prices ranging from $569 to $939.
To help IT departments better manage their fleets of PCs while employees are working from home, Lenovo is also announcing a new Device Intelligence service. It will let IT staffers monitor the health and performance of both Lenovo and third-party laptops remotely. Lenovo claims that the service is able to predict the most common failures that cause the dreaded Windows Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) with 85 percent accuracy.