I’m heading to New York today for meetings, and I’ll be bringing along a new rendition of a perennial favorite, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga.

Yes, I’m behind on hardware reviews right now, and in particular on Lenovo PC reviews: My Flex 6 (14″) and ThinkPad L480 reviews are still on the way. But when the new ThinkPad X1 Yoga became available for review, I couldn’t say no. This PC has placed at or near the top of my personal list of PC favorites since its inception.

It began in 2016, with the first ThinkPad X1 Yoga, a PC that combined the premium quality of the X1 Carbon with the versatility of Lenovo’s Yoga PCs. In early 2017, Lenovo released the second-generation ThinkPad X1 Yoga, further raising the bar. And then the firm shipped a version with a killer eyeball-popping OLED display that needs to be seen to be believed.

For 2018, Lenovo is only subtly refining the design of this gorgeous convertible PC. It features roughly the same basic port layout as before. The same 360-degree hinges with receding keyboard. The same versatile pointing options, and fingerprint reader. The same smartpen, with its integrated holder. It comes in the same premium (for Lenovo) packaging.

Same (bah) 16:9 display too. And the review unit is 1080p, and not the high-end OLED unit.

But there are subtle differences, some of which we saw first on the 2018 ThinkPad X1 Carbon.

For example, the hinges now match the device’s body color. So on the black review unit, those hinges are black. It’s a small change, I guess, but I really prefer the new look.

The webcam features the same ThinkShutter mechanical shutter for privacy, a nice touch.

There are fewer expansion ports, from what I can tell so far. On last year’s model, there were two full-sized USB 3.0 ports on the left, but I see only one this time.

Somewhat related, the X1 Yoga doesn’t feature Lenovo’s unique docking port, which consists of two USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports, one of which is height adjustable. Instead, the Yoga retains the old design, which two standard and separate USB-C/Thunderbolt ports as before.

I’ve only just configured the PC and am set for a few days of travel, so I’ll report back when I learn more. But in my early testing over the weekend, I was immediately flooded with an appreciation for this PC and how good it’s been over the past few years. I have a good feeling about this one, for sure.

More soon.

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