Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 starts at $2,500, making it seem like a deal-breaker for the average IT decision maker. Reliability and affordability take priority over flash devices and even the quality of a display when it comes to business laptops. But of course, you can please, and maybe even retain, your talented remote workers with eye-catching gear.
ITPro It's now tested and reviewed several foldable screen PCs, and while we're still struggling with whether they're suitable machines for a business, they seem to be getting more and more attractive. Lenovo's ThinkPad Fortunately, these have been fixed with the impressive 2024 model.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 Review: Design
To say the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 is an impressive piece of kit is an understatement. It includes a 16.3-inch foldable screen, a magnetic keyboard with a detachable stand, and a stylus, which is unfortunately not included in the package. The display hinge is shiny and sturdy, allowing you to use the device in a variety of ways. However, it is also not so strong that it makes it difficult to move, offering a world of versatility.
When folded, the screen measures 8.6 x 276.2 x 345.7 mm, while unfolded it reaches 17.4 x 176.2 x 276.2 mm. At 1.28kg, the tablet part is not too heavy or too bulky with the keyboard weighing 1.94kg. There's no stand on the screen portion, so you'll need the one that comes with the keyboard if you use the screen at its full size. You can use it slightly folded, which helps it stand on its own, but that only makes the screen crease more prominent.
We started by using the fold as a 12-inch ultraportable, with the keyboard placed on the bottom half. This is arguably his silliest form; It's very thick and feels like a waste of its potential. Having it at full size, with the keyboard not attached, is the best use case. The screen is great and that extra size gives you options to have multiple windows and apps open. It does a lot of things, but it's annoying that it can't function as a standalone monitor, which is a shame because it would make an awesome additional display.
This year, it feels like a sturdy device, but you feel like if you owned it for too long you'd break it or lose the keyboard; It is a somewhat expensive device to put in the field. Something that will undoubtedly worry IT bosses. We would be worried about putting this in a suitcase or backpack.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 review: Display
You'll want to protect the 16.3-inch OLED touchscreen at all costs because it's simply stunning. It has an unusual resolution of 2560 x 2024, which is approximately 200 pixels per inch (PPI). You get an advantage with OLED displays as they bring out each color to the fullest and offer immersive visuals.
This is backed up by our calibrator test, where the X1 Fold 16 showed 96% sRGB color gamut coverage, 107% volume, and 70.1% Adobe RGB. This is a similar score to the Asus Zenbook Fold 17, and we wouldn't really expect anything less – these machines are all about the screen (hello, it folds) and the quality of the X1 Fold is high, with deep inky blacks and lucid colors. . It may not be enough for colorists or those who use Adobe a lot, but it's impressive nonetheless.
The problems we can't ignore start with the maximum brightness level. This looks good on paper (the 419 cd/m2 score compares well to other screens), but because of the glossy finish, you can see light reflected off surfaces no matter where you place the screen, which is very distracting. The crease is also too visible and even worsens in the light.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 review: Keyboard and trackpad
Connecting the keyboard to the monitor is more complicated than necessary; You need to open Bluetooth settings, go to add device and then press the F8 button (which is also the Bluetooth button) to connect the keyboard. From there, you must enter a pin on the keyboard to connect. While this is not an exhaustive list of steps, it is still too long; Ideally, you just want the dedicated keyboard already connected or just click and pair out of use.
Despite being a dockable keyboard, all of our favorite ThinkPad details are intact. Contoured keycaps, fingerprint recognition, the red trackpoint button all present, and a decent level of travel – the depth you'd expect in a good laptop keyboard.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 review: Specs and performance
You can have the Lenovo XI Fold with a 12th Gen Intel Core i5-1230U processor or an i7-1250U, which is the same as the Zenbook 17 Fold. The X1, however, pairs that chip with 16GB of RAM and a 256GB or 512GB SSD with M.2 2242 PCIe Gen4. Although they both have the same chip, the ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 seems to get more out of its i7 heart; In GeekBench 6 it scored a single-core score of 1870 and a multi-threaded result of 6635, both considerably higher than the Asus Zenbook 17 Fold.
There is a slight delay when turning on the device, sometimes the power button takes longer than we would like and it is not as agile as the Asus model. But once it's on the X1 Fold it's fast. That speed is also not reduced by multiple applications and windows.
Battery life is also pretty good; 8 hours and 22 minutes is a decent score, suggesting it can beat a traditional workday. We found that he still had some energy at the end of our shifts, no matter the workload we put on him.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 review: Features
If you get a stylus with your X1 Fold, you open up a world of illustrative possibilities. We had the tablet wide open and drew to our hearts' content, but we also held it in our hand like a book and did document notes, quick doodles, and even drag and drop changes into Sheets. The pen is super responsive and comfortable in your hand – comparable to the Apple Pencil and, in our opinion, a better experience than the Microsoft Surface Pencil.
Due to the size of the frame, there are no USB-A ports or an in-car reader; Neither is really essential anymore, but their absence will still bother some. Fortunately, the two USB-C ports are versatile; you get two Thunderbolt 4 ports and a third that supports 10 Gbits/sec transfers. And there's Wi-Fi 6E too, but again, some people will want to know why there's no Wi-Fi 7. The answer here is that the Fold was developed before it was available and you can't please everyone either.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 Review: Is it worth it?
As a foldable PC, regardless of our feelings towards its place in the business world, the ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 is an amazing device. It's agile, innovative, versatile and we love that sharp screen. If we were in business and had all the money in the world to play with, we might as well consider it.
Unfortunately, price is the clear sticking point with the Lenovo ThinkPad .
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 specifications
| CPU | 12th Gen Intel Core i5-1230U or i7-1250U processor |
| Show | 16.3-inch OLED touchscreen |
| Resolution | 2560×2024 |
| RAM | 16 GB LPDDR5-5200 MHz, soldered |
| Storage | 256GB M.2 2242 PCIe Gen4 or 512GB SSD |
| Ports | 2 x USB-C Thunderbolt 4, USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 and an optional Nano SIM slot |
| Webcam | 5MP RGB+IR camera |
| OS | Windows 11 Home 64 |
| Dimensions | Unfolded: 8.6 x 276.2 x 345.7 mm Folded: 17.4 x 176.2 x 276.2 mm |
| Weight | 1.28 kg (1.94 kg with keyboard and stand) |
