Lenovo Joins Foldable PC Party With New ThinkPad X1 Fold Device

It’s time for the foldable PCs. After Microsoft took the wraps off the Surface Neo back in October of last year, we have kind of been expecting other OEMs to join in. And Lenovo is one of the first companies to reveal their own foldable PC after Microsoft.

The company just revealed the new ThinkPad X1 Fold at CES 2020, which it says is the world’s first foldable PC. Lenovo expects to ship the X1 Fold sometime in mid-2020, beating Microsoft’s Holiday 2020 release.

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Lenovo’s X1 Fold features a 13.3-inch OLED display in a 4:3 aspect ratio. The display module is made up of a flexible OLED panel, supported by metal frames and carbon fiber plates. The design features a four-link torque hinge design that allows for friction-free folding.

Lenovo says the new device will be powered by Windows 10 Pro, though it will get the dual-screen interface from Windows 10X at a “later date”. Lenovo also isn’t revealing details on the processor of the device, but it will be powered by an Intel processor with Intel’s Hybrid tech as the company has worked closely with Intel to co-engineer the product. X1 Fold also comes with 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM, up to 1TB of PCIe-NVMe SSD storage, 5G connectivity, and integrated Intel UHD graphics.

Interestingly, the device will feature “custom switching software” from Lenovo that will take better advantage of the foldable display, allowing for various window arrangements. The device will ship with a keyboard and a stylus, and Lenovo is even introducing a $23.99 stand for the device that allows you to put the X1 Fold on a desk.

Lenovo’s X1 Fold starts at $2,499 which is not surprising at all considering the fact that foldable devices are still very new. The “mid-2020” release date is obviously quite vague, so we will just have to keep an eye out for the X1 Fold till a more concrete release date is announced.

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Conversation 14 comments

  • harmjr

    Premium Member
    06 January, 2020 - 2:57 pm

    <p>$2,499 NOPE. NOT GONNA HAPPEN. Why not just make a folio with two screens in it?</p>

  • William Clark

    06 January, 2020 - 3:05 pm

    <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The device will ship with a keyboard and a stylus</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">My understanding from other articles is that the keyboard and stylus will be optional and extra cost. So not really shipping "with" but more like available at release, for extra cost. Now those other articles may have it wrong and certainly for $2500 you would expect a keyboard at least if not the stylus.</span></p>

  • bbold

    06 January, 2020 - 3:22 pm

    <p>I don't find folding a PC like a piece of plastic or hard paper to be particularly "game changing." Am I alone in that? I think it introduces more possible incompatibility or opportunity for 'user error' of the hardware. I think having a laptop that is straightforward and easy to use, which lasts 1-2 days (24-48 hours of usage, or even a full 24 hours!) would be 'game changing!'</p><p><br></p><p>BB</p>

  • IanYates82

    Premium Member
    06 January, 2020 - 4:20 pm

    <p>I'm super curious. Too early for me to adopt.</p><p><br></p><ol><li>Does the keyboard slot over the bottom "half" of the screen somehow so you can get an effective laptop (albeit throwing away one of the screens) if required? Or is the keyboard supposed to sit below it all on your lap?</li><li>With this getting Windows 10 X at a later stage, I suspect that the "X" then really is more window dressing for the shell and window arrangement methodology rather than a whole separate branch of Windows</li></ol><p><br></p>

  • glenn8878

    06 January, 2020 - 4:31 pm

    <p>Looks thick and clunky. When it gets thin and mobile, I'll take a closer look.</p>

    • jimchamplin

      Premium Member
      07 January, 2020 - 12:36 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#510331">In reply to glenn8878:</a></em></blockquote><p>When THAT looks "thick and clunky" then you need to carry a Compaq Portable for a month as penance.</p>

  • michael_babiuk

    06 January, 2020 - 11:22 pm

    <p>Just because a company is technically able to manufacture a "thing" doesn't mean that "thing" should be manufactured.</p><p><br></p><p>I just don't see the advantage of this design over a tablet (with a keyboard cover) or a typical laptop ultrabook design – especially when marketed at a premium price point.</p>

    • xmodal

      07 January, 2020 - 6:45 am

      <blockquote><a href="#510452"><em>In reply to Michael_Babiuk:</em></a><em> There are places where this would be advantageous, but they're limited/niche areas. For instance, choral singers hold folders of music. When you're singing 50 – 100 pages of music, that can give you a lot of problems with all the shuffling of pages (the problem for Lenovo is that there is a two-screen e-reader folio that can be had for $900 less; Surface Neo will also probably be cheaper than this). Another example is for experimental psychologists; when running demo software for your research assistants, you could use the single device in a meeting to show the subject-facing display on one side and the researcher's display on the other. </em></blockquote><p><br></p>

      • xamzara

        08 January, 2020 - 4:54 am

        <blockquote><em><a href="#510502">In reply to xmodal:</a></em></blockquote><p><br></p><p>Just get an iPad for $300 or so if you need to read notes or lyrics. You can buy eight for the price of one folding PC.</p><p><br></p><p>(And this is what people already typically do.)</p>

  • jimchamplin

    Premium Member
    07 January, 2020 - 12:42 am

    <p>I still think centering the Taskbar icons is a bad idea. I sorta-kinda tolerate it on Chrome OS, but it's not cool. It looks clunky and weird.</p><p><br></p><p>And then there's the whole problem of the fucking ambulatory Start button. Seriously, who thought that one up?</p>

  • John Craig

    07 January, 2020 - 1:36 am

    <p>$2,499……yowza that's a lot of money, particularly given the spec sheet, but I suppose these new devices are going to cost a lot over the first few years.</p><p><br></p><p>I wonder what the surface neo is going to cost? Surely not as much as this…..its essentially just two thin surface pro's hinged together with a lighter OS on board</p>

  • ngc224

    07 January, 2020 - 10:38 am

    <p>My guess is Lenovo will never ship this with Windows 10 Pro.&nbsp;It will be running Microsoft’s ‘Modern OS’ (coming soon). Lenovo is just flat out lying.</p>

  • harshku24

    08 January, 2020 - 2:41 pm

    <p>That good thank you for told about <a href="https://sanjaykumarro.com/&quot; target="_blank">lenovo</a> because I like lenovo laptop company thank you so much.</p>

  • Martin Sjöholm

    10 January, 2020 - 8:58 am

    <p>Comments here sound a bit like "who would need to make a call walking down the street" being said about mobile phones. I am dead sure that these devices will be of main devices in a few years. I like the dual screen ability approach from a foldable screen, but not sure about the two screen approach that Microsoft is taking. </p>

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