It’s small and it’s expensive … but is it any good?
It’s dinky. Even for a 10.8-inch machine, the Lenovo Yoga Book C930 is light and small in a way that defies explanation. Weighing in at just 775 grams, it’s easy to forget this machine is in your bag, forcing you to check it didn’t fall or even float away. Build quality is up to the usual Lenovo standards as well, making it perfect for corporate road warriors who are always on the go.
The C930 sails pretty close to the previous Yoga Book from 2016, which kickstarted the idea of a keyboard-free laptop. From a distance, you’ll struggle to tell the two apart, especially since both have Lenovo’s watch-band hinge. Back then, Lenovo swapped out the keys for a flat surface with the key shapes etched into the surface. The flat plane enabled users to slap on a sheet of paper and doodle, with their pen strokes collected by the built-in digitizer.
One big change from its predecessor is the port selection, which previously boasted HDMI, 3.5mm audio- and micro-USB. All three have been ditched in favor of a pair of USB-C 3.1 ports, one either side of the hinge, and a microSD card slot. The only other points of interest along the chassis are the power buttons and the volume rocker placed on the right side.
Rap your knuckle twice on the lid and it’ll magically pop open, revealing the C930’s two displays. The first, below a two-megapixel webcam, is a 10.8-inch 2,560 x 1,600 QHD IPS screen. Sadly, the smallness of the device does mean that, despite the prevailing trend for thin bezels, there’s a big, chunky frame on show here. It’s certainly a nice screen to look at; although the glossy coating means that it’ll struggle in broad daylight.
The lower half of the machine, what we would have called the keyboard portion until now, houses a 10.8-inch 1,920 x 1,080 e-ink display. This is the C930’s USP: a way to radically expand what can be done with a laptop, especially one this small. It runs three different modes: drawing, e-reader and a keyboard that comes with two settings and a software trackpad.
Pros
- Solid build quality
- Good battery life
- Keyboard is fine for short bursts of typing
- Flexibility for drawing and e-reading is good for trips
Cons
- Sluggish performance
- Bezel-heavy design showing its age in 2018
- Touchscreen keyboard isn’t great for hammering out long documents
Summary
The Yoga Book C930 is an engineering marvel, and swapping its keys for an e-ink display is groundbreaking. But the addition of a drawing pad and (limited) e-reader functionality don’t necessarily make up for a weaker typing experience. If you can touch type on a tablet already, then go for it, but everyone else should try before you buy. Stodgy performance and a high price might deter road warriors looking for a performance machine, too.
Source: Engadget
