Lenovo has announced a bunch of interesting gadgets at CES 2017, including the rebranded gaming laptops under the Legion series, new ThinkPad X1 devices and a Surface Pro 4 competitor in the form of the Miix 720.
CES 2017 announcements have started rolling in and Lenovo has shed some light on an array of interesting products the company will launch in 2017.
Kicking things off with the business user, Lenovo has announced their next generation Thinkpad X1 laptops. The new devices are upgrades to last years ThinkPad X1 Carbon, ThinkPad X1 Tablet and the ThinkPad X1 Yoga.
ThinkPad X1 Carbon
The 2017 X1 Carbon has a 14-inch display in a 13-inch laptop body. It will be available in two variants – full HD and WQHD resolutions. The laptop weighs 1.14 kg and is 16 mm thick. Lenovo claims that the laptop has a battery life of 15.5 hours. Coming to security, the X1 Carbon has a fingerprint reader and an infrared camera that works for facial recognition through Windows Hello. The laptop is also the the first business notebook to support FIDO-enabled biometric authentication for PayPal.
Coming to the connectivity options, the X1 Carbon has two Thunderbolt 3 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI output and Ethernet port.
Coming to the pricing, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon will be available starting February in the US for $1,350 (Rs. 92,000 approx. directly converted).
ThinkPad X1 Yoga
Next up we have the X1 Yoga. The convertible has the same OLED display as the 2016 variant. It has some improvements under the hood with the seventh-generation Intel processors. The device also boasts of an improved ThinkPad Pen Pro with new enhancements, such as a new soft elastomer tip for a more natural feel on glass. It also features an improved keyboard. The keyboard fully retracts into the body when the device is in tablet mode. This is a feature we have seen on other convertibles too. The X1 Yoga also gets an IR camera for logging in using Windows Hello facial recognition.
The X1 Yoga will start retailing at $1,500 (Rs. 1,02,000 approx. directly converted).
ThinkPad X1 Tablet
Moving to the X1 Tablet, it also has the updated Intel processors along with WiGig and LTE-A Wireless connectivity. The rest of the specifications are the same as the 2016 edition.
The ThinkPad X1 Tablet will start at $950 (Rs. 65,000 approx. directly converted). The X1 tablet will launch in march.
Lenovo Legion Y520
Moving on to Lenovo’s gaming laptops, the company has announced the Y720 and Y520. Lenovo is launching the laptops under their Legion brand. The Lenovo Legion Y520 is the more affordable of the two. It comes with Harman Kardon speakers for the immersive audio experience during gaming. The laptop comes with a backlit keyboard but it isn’t a mechanical keyboard. Coming to the specifications powering the Y520, the device has a 15.6-inch full-HD IPS display. Powering the device is Intel’s seventh generation Kaby Lake Core i5 or Core i7 processors coupled with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 graphics card. No other details of the laptop are available. The Legion Y520 start at $899 (Rs. 61,500 approx. directly converted) and will be available from February 2017 in the US.
Lenovo Legion Y720
Coming to the bigger brother, the Legion Y720 is aimed at not only hard-core gamers, but those delving into the world of VR too. The device packs some serious hardware when it comes to audio. It features Dolby Atmos sound although we are curious to see how the laptop replicates the “height” effect of Dolby Atmos. The laptop has a 3W subwoofer coupled with 2W JBL speakers. Lenovo says that the laptop is VR-ready and certified to work with Oculus.
One of the coolest features of the Legion Y720 is the ability to connect an Xbox One controller to it. Sure, if you have a new Xbox One Controller, you can connect it via Bluetooth. But the old controller needed a dedicated dongle to connect the controller. The Y720 comes built-in with this dongle. The laptop has support for up to four controllers, which is great for multiplayer gaming. The keyboard on the laptop comes with a full RGB colours range.
Moving to the specifications of the Legion Y720, the device has a 15.6-inch full HD IPS display, with the option to get a 4K IPS, anti-glare panel. Under the hood, the device is powered by Intel’s seventh gen Kaby lake Core i5-7300HQ processor (Intel Core i7-7700HQ option is also available) coupled with the Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 1060 graphics card. You can get up to 2TB SATA HDD or up to 512GB PCIe SSD. As far as connectivity options are concerned, the laptop comes with three USB 3.0 ports, a VGA port, an HDMI port, a DisplayPort and an audio jack. Lenovo has packed a 60Whr battery, which the company claims can last up to five hours on full charge.
The Lenovo Legion Y720 starts at $1,399 (approximately Rs 95,500) and will be available from April 2017 in the US.
Lenovo Miix 720
Moving to the 2-in-1, the Lenovo Miix 720. The device aims to take on the Microsoft Surface Pro 4. Coming to the specifications, the device can be configured up to a seventh-gen Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, 1TB PCIe SSD for storage and integrated Intel HD Graphics 620.
The Miix 720 supports Lenovo's new Active Pen 2. Lenovo claims that the device has 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity. To put things into perspective, the Surface Pro 4 has 1,024 pressure levels. The Miix is expected to launch in April 2017 starting at $999 (Rs. 68,000 approx. directly converted.) The Miix 720 has a 12-inch display with a 2880×1920-pixel resolution.
Lenovo 500 Multimedia controller
Moving away from laptops, Lenovo has announced the 500 multimedia controller. The device is aimed at those that have a PC, connected to their TV and are looking for the perfect replacement for a full sized wireless keyboard and trackpad. The keyboard is a mini keyboard with full QWERTY keys. It is small enough so that you can type with two thumbs while holding the keyboard. The device also doubles up as a trackpad. The entire surface of the keyboard doubles up as a touchpad. The range of the wireless keyboard is 20m.
The Lenovo 500 multimedia controller is priced at $54 (Rs. 3,600 approx. directly converted) and will be available in the US starting March 2017.
Lenovo Smart Assistant
Last but not least, we have the Lenovo Smart Assistant. The device aims to take on Amazon’s Echo and the Google Home. As far as looks are concerned the device is very reminiscent of the Amazon Echo. The top half houses the 360-degree microphone-speaker combo. The Lenovo Smart Assistant is powered by the Intel Celeron N3060 processor. It has one 5-watt tweeter and one 10-watt woofer for audio. The Smart Assistant uses Alexa, uses the official Alexa phone app, and works with the same third-party apps and devices as the Echo. Lenovo claims that the Smart Assistant excels in the one place the Amazon Echo lacks – sound. The Smart Assistant comes in two variants – a standard model Smart Assistant and for $50 extra, customers can get one with premium audio powered by Harman Kardon speakers.
You can catch all the latest action from CES 2017 here.
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Sameer Mitha
Sameer Mitha lives for gaming and technology is his muse. When he isn’t busy playing with gadgets or video games he delves into the world of fantasy novels. View Full Profile
