New Lenovo Yoga 730 convertibles are tamely competent

Lenovo'due south 700-series laptops have walked an interesting line for the by few years. They're notably more powerful than the entry-level 500-series convertible laptops, simply they aren't as premium as the flagship 900-series. Even further, the 13-inch and xv-inch variants of the 700 convertibles accept occupied separate slots in the line-up. At MWC 2022, Lenovo has update both to the Yoga 730, bringing internal updates with an exterior refinement.

Non much has inverse on the outside when you lay eyes on the Yoga 730 in its 13- or 15-inch varieties. They behave over a similar plain blueprint language as from the year-old 720, though with tightened corners that are nearly also sharp in the aluminum body. The screens are basically unchanged, measuring 13.three or 15 inches on the diagonal, with IPS panels sporting upward to a UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) resolution at a standard 16:9 aspect ratio. They're surrounded by relatively narrow bezels on the sides and top (with a properly placed webcam), with a taller bezel on the bottom to business firm the requisite electronics and provide someplace to grip when flipped over into tablet mode. Both also support Windows Ink with Lenovo's Active Pen 2 with its 4,096 levels of pressure level sensitivity.

Category	Lenovo Yoga 730 13-inch	Lenovo Yoga 730 15-inch
Display	thirteen.3-inch UHD IPS touchscreen	15.6-inch UHD IPS touchscreen
Processor	up to 8th Gen Intel Cadre i7	upward to 8th Gen Intel Core i7
Graphics	Intel HD 620 Graphics	up to NVIDIA GTX 1050
RAM	up to 16GB	upward to 16GB
Storage	up to 512GB PCIe SSD	upwardly to 1TB PCIe SSD
Ports	2x USB-C Thunderbolt, 1x USB three.0, audio jack	1x USB-C Thunderbolt, 2x USB 3.0, HDMI, sound jack
Bombardment	upwardly to 11-60 minutes battery life	upwards to xi-hour battery life
Dimensions	12.08 x 8.52 x 0.55 inches (207 10 216 x 14.1 mm)	14.17 x 9.8 x 0.67 inches (360 x 249 x 17.ii mm)
Weight	2.46 lbs (1.12 kg)	4.16 lbs (1.89 kg)
Price	starts at $879.99	starts at $899.99

Inside has seen pocket-sized and expected upgrades, with the processor coming in 8th Gen Intel Cadre chipsets in your pick of i5 or i7 variety, eight or 16GB of DDR4 RAM, and SSD storage that maxes out at 512GB on the 13-incher and 1TB on the 15-inch version. Both too sport a pair of USB-C Thunderbolt ports, a single rectangular USB iii.0 port, and a combo sound jack. The keyboards on each are the standard rounded-bottom Lenovo chiclet design, and the decently-sized trackpad below is a Microsoft Precision arrow.

The big difference, aside from the size, comes down to the GPU. The smaller Yoga 730 offers the modest Intel HD 620 Graphics, while those opting for 15 inches will take the choice of upward to an NVIDIA GTX 1050 graphics chip. Considering that the fifteen-inch Yoga 730 is slightly thicker and i.seven pounds (0.77 kg) heavier than the 13-inch, y'all should just pony up for the enhanced graphics power — the 15-inch display alone is nice, but not worth the weight. That is a change from the xv-inch 720, which was only available with the same GTX 1050 GPU and had a starting price $300 higher. Either way, they're both slimmer and lighter than their 720 predecessors.

Lenovo integrated a far-field microphone array into the 730, enabling across-the-room use of voice assistants — both Alexa and Cortana, and both capable of listening and responding, even when the laptop's asleep. And they'll speak back via JBL speakers powered by Dolby Atmos. On the right side, but south of the keyboard, you'll notice a Windows Hello compatible fingerprint scanner; no IR photographic camera hither, alas. All of this is slipped into an aluminum body in your selection of "atomic number 26 grey" (dark gray) or platinum silvery (low-cal gray).

Both versions of the Lenovo Yoga 730 are projected for April 2022 availability in copper, silver, and night gray varieties, with a starting cost of $879.99 for the thirteen-inch version, or $899.99 for the fifteen-inch convertible.

Lenovo Flex fourteen (Yoga 530)

Alongside the Yoga 730 laptops, Lenovo is also updating the Flex xiv (to be known globally as the Yoga 530). This entry-level convertible laptop ditches some of the niceties of the Yoga 730, but is still a reasonable update from the year-sometime version.

Category	Lenovo Flex fourteen
Display	14-inch FHD (1920 x 1080) touchscreen.
Processor	up to 8th Gen Intel Core i7
Graphics	upward to NVIDIA MX130
RAM	up to 16GB
Storage	upwardly to 512GB PCIe SSD
Ports	1x USB-C, 2x USB 3.0, HDMI, SD card slot
Bombardment	up to x-hour battery life
Dimensions	12.9 x 9.02 x 0.69 inches (328 x 229 x 17.vi mm)
Weight	three.25 lbs (1.6 kg)
Price	starts at $599.99

In keeping with its $600 cost tag, the Flex 14 tops out at a Full HD 1920 x 1080 brandish, can only be optioned up to the mid-level NVIDIA MX130 GPU, and has a casing primarily made from polycarbonate plastic with only the palm remainder and keyboard deck sporting a brushed aluminum finish.

This is likewise a thicker and heavier laptop than its college-end Yoga brethren — you get what you pay for. That'due south not to say that the Flex fourteen is a slouch — with upwardly to an eighth Gen Intel Core i7 CPU, an optional NVIDIA MX130 GPU, and up to 16GB of RAM, information technology tin nevertheless pack a moderate punch. Of course, those upgrades will cost you quite a bit over the base price, and then you might exist ameliorate off opting for a higher-stop laptop in the end.

If the Lenovo Flex fourteen / Yoga 530 strikes your fancy, it'll be available showtime in April 2022 with a starting price of $599.99.