Lenovo's Yoga C940 Takes on the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 With 10nm Ice Lake

Lenovo is revamping its Yoga line with a 2-in-1 fit to rival the new Dell XPS 13 2-in-1. Older Dell XPS convertibles were lackluster due to slower Y-series CPUs. But now Lenovo, as well as Dell, are ushering out 2-in-1s under their flagship consumer laptop line, boasting Intel’s new 10nm Ice Lake CPUs that promise better battery life and performance. The Lenovo laptops will be available starting in October. 

The Lenovo Yoga C940 announced today comes with an option for Intel’s Ice Lake CPUs, which are made on the 10nm process and a more efficient microarchitecture, pointing to longer battery life. The CPUs also have dramatically boosted integrated graphics, the new Gen11. When we tested the Ice Lake CPUs, they seemed to have much better performance than integrated graphics on previous-generation chips, with potential for eSports and lower-resolution gaming.

In terms of battery life, with the Yoga C940 it’ll greatly depend on if you opt for the model with a 4K- or FHD-resolution screen. On the 4K model, Lenovo claims a battery life of 9.5 hours, but that, expectedly, jumps up to 17.5 hours if you go with the lower-resolution panel. Compared to the Yoga C940 version with 9th Generation Intel Core CPUs, you get 30 minutes or 5.5 hours longer rated battery life. Of course, we won’t know the laptops’ true battery life until we get the machines in our own labs for testing.

The Ice Lake-equipped Yoga C940 features a 14-inch display that’s DisplayHDR 400-certified, so it’s guaranteed to hit 400 nits brightness when running HDR content (and an impressive 500 max nits with regular SDR) and is supposed to cover 100% of the sRGB color gamut. Thin bezels (3.85mm  on the sides) help make 4K HDR look all the prettier.

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Also pretty, believe it or not, is the 2-in-1’s hinge. Lenovo first showed off the hinge with the Yoga C930 in January but is also incorporating it into the Yoga C940 because it’s just that impressive. The hinge (above, right) is all one unified piece instead of two, like with other Lenovo convertibles’ hinges (above, left). This points to better durability and easier bendability. Importantly, the hinge, or Rotating Sound Bar, as Lenovo has named it, felt very thick and study when I used it in person and was easy to fold backwards with one hand. A notch (also hosting the webcam) on the top bezel should also make the convertible easier to manage. 

The hinge also does double-duty as a sound bar with two Dolby Atmos speakers for audio that you can blast outward toward your face, as opposed to bottom-firing speakers. In addition, the 2-in-1 has two bass speakers underneath. And triple-duty for the hinge comes in the form of storing and charging the 2-in-1’s stylus.

The new Yoga C940 will also be available with a larger 15.6-inch screen with 9th Generation Intel Core CPUs and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card. While not a heavy-duty gaming laptop, we’ll be interested to see how it handles less-intensive games or games at lower settings. The convertible is similar to the Dell XPS 15, a clamshell with 9th Gen Core and a GTX 1650, plus the pricey addition of OLED (starting at $1,800).

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However, for the Yoga C940, opting for 15 inches means your all-metal CNC build is limited to one color choice: Iron Grey. Ice Lake shoppers also get the option of Mica. Decisions, decisions.

In addition to the Yoga C940, Lenovo also announced three other Yoga-series laptops with Ice Lake options today: the Yoga C640 2-in-1, Yoga C740 2-in-1 and Yoga S740 clamshell.

Lenovo Yoga C940 vs. Dell XPS Specs

Photo Credits: Tom's Hardware, Lenovo