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Lenovo's new Chromebook is a hardy ThinkPad with flexible Yoga smarts
- Lenovo has announced a new Chromebook aimed at the enterprise market.
- It melds the convertible design of the Yoga line with the utilitarian build of the ThinkPad series.
- Dubbed the ThinkPad C13 Yoga, the machine starts at $579.
Lenovo has long envisioned Chromebooks as more than glorified web surfers, offering Chrome OS with its Yoga and ThinkPad lines in the past. Now, the company is bringing these three elements together with its latest device. Dubbed the ThinkPad C13 Yoga Chromebook, Lenovo’s new productivity tool mixes the utility of the ThinkPad line with the 4-in-1 design smarts of the Yoga series.
The Chromebook features chunky lines and looks stronger than its 1.5kg (3.3 pound) weight would suggest. A number of other ThinkPad touches are included too. The red TrackPoint made a welcome appearance along with a well-spaced keyboard. There’s no dedicated number pad on this Chromebook, but users do get large shift, control, and alt keys on the left side. Dedicated left, middle, and right-click buttons also feature above the large trackpad.
It’s not the thinnest Chromebook available, but 15.5mm should leave enough free space in travelers’ carry-on bags. Aiding its compact footprint is a 13.3-inch FHD IPS display. Users can also opt for a touch screen too with an optional pen, or a 4K option if extra pixels are required.
Internally, the ThinkPad C13 Yoga is powered by AMD’s Ryzen 7 chipsets, with the quad-core octa-thread 3700C the top option. A boost clock of 4.0GHz should be plenty for Chrome OS.
There are a plethora of port options, too. Four USB ports (two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, and two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A) are placed around the ThinkPad’s edges. There’s also a full-sized HDMI 2.0 port, which will allow users to output 4K at 60fps to an exterior display. The power button and a volume rocker also feature on the ThinkPad C13 Yoga’s right flank, with a Kensington lock slot tucked in the corner.
Other niceties include Wi-Fi 6, and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity, an optional “world-facing” camera above the keyboard, and a fingerprint scanner. An upgrade to Chrome Enterprise is also available for remote workers, which will allow cross-device cloud sync. With this, users can switch between their Android smartphone’s work profile and their Chromebook at will.
As for the price, the Lenovo ThinkPad C13 Yoga makes for an interesting Windows laptop alternative in the workplace. It starts at $579 and will be available “shortly”. A complete list of spec options still aren’t available, but at that base price, it could give some of 2020’s best Chromebooks a run for their money.
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