Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold Gen 2 Brings Bigger Foldable Screen and More Power

by sunny yang on Sep 08, 2022 0 comments

During a conference at IFA 2022, Lenovo revealed this Thursday (1) the ThinkPad X1 Fold Gen 2, the second generation of the company's foldable notebook . The novelty debuts bringing numerous improvements over its predecessor, including more powerful processing, larger screen, renewed design with stronger construction and magnetic keyboard and base designed to expand the possibilities of use.

The new X1 Fold debuts equipped with 12th generation Intel Alder Lake-U9 processors , in models with Core i5 and Core i7 — one of the biggest evolutions compared to the first generation, which only had a Core i5 L16G7 , 5 cores (1 P -High performance Core + 4 high-efficiency E-Cores) and consumption established at 7 W. The old processor was one of the points criticized in the company's first foldable, for its lower-than-expected performance.

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold Gen 2 features a completely revamped look with a recycled plastic fabric and metal finish, a reworked hinge, and military-grade certification.

The Alder Lake-U9 chips promise to correct this by delivering 10 cores (2 P-Cores + 8 E-Cores), operating with a higher consumption of 9 W. Accompanying the CPUs are up to 32 GB of LPDDR5 RAM and up to 1 TB of SSD storage. PCIe 4.0 — it is unclear whether the device uses the M.2 format, allowing for expansion. The main differential of the device, the screen grew from 13.3 inches to 16.3 inches, with a resolution of 2560 × 2024 pixels in a 4:3 aspect ratio and a rate of 60 Hz.

The squarer aspect ratio is used to ensure a good experience even semi-folded, in a traditional notebook format, when the display is 12 inches and 3:2 aspect ratio. The panel has a peak brightness of 600 nits and supports HDR with Dolby Vision, in addition to being touch and stylus compatible. Complementing the experience is a three-speaker sound system with Dolby Atmos, two of which are always active to ensure stereo sound.

Lenovo's foldable notebook also features a new larger keyboard with trackpoint and haptic trackpad, support for stylus pens and a base that allows for horizontal and even vertical use (Image: Lenovo)

Considerable changes were implemented in the construction of the ThinkPad X1 Fold, which abandons the leather finish in favor of fabric composed of recyclable plastic, metal frame and exposed hinge, very similar to Samsung's Galaxy Z line phones . However, there is an advantage here: Lenovo has managed to eliminate the space generated by the bent panel almost entirely.

The keyboard accessory has also been reworked, being bigger, bringing back the traditional red trackpoint of the ThinkPad line and adopting a haptic trackpad, without physical click. The giant also prepared a second accessory — a base that not only makes it possible to position the X1 Fold Gen 2 horizontally, but also vertically, giving the user more freedom. Combined, the folding laptop and the add-ons weigh in at 1.9kg.

Another curious feature is the battery: by default, the device has 48 Wh of capacity, but the consumer can choose to expand it by adding another 16 Wh in one of the unoccupied halves. For recharging, the system uses a 65 W source, with fast charging support.

In addition, the launch ships MIL-STD-810H resistance military certification, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 connection, 5 MP infrared webcam for 3D facial recognition and Intel Visual Sensing Controller (VSC), which guarantees orientation-independent unlocking, fingerprint scanner on the keyboard, nano SIM slot with optional support for 5G, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2 and Windows 11 Home or Pro.