The first Yoga Book was littered with compromises: a dinky processor, the wrong ports, and even the wrong operating system. It also didn’t have a second screen, opting for a weird touch-sensitive panel that you had to slap a pad of paper on top of to record your notes.
Lenovo looked at all of the problems on the original Yoga Book and tried to address them with the Yoga Book C930. In some cases, it was successful: this machine is a much more focused, intentional device. It only runs Windows; it has a relatively modern, 7th Gen Y-Series Intel Core i5 processor; and, most importantly, it swaps out that weird touch panel for a proper E Ink display. That’s where you type, draw, and take notes using the included pen. There are now two USB-C ports for connectivity and charging (but no headphone jack, sadly). Lenovo also added a fingerprint sensor for logging in. It works, though, personally, I’d have preferred a facial recognition camera.
That second screen in particular is impressive, and does an impressive job at acting like a standard keyboard, while also allowing you to jot down notes and read ebooks. The E Ink display offers features and a level of versatility that the Yoga Book C930’s competitors simply don’t have.
However, its not a perfect device, and some of its shortcomings lead to genuine frustration. We’d have loved for Lenovo to pack more powerful components into the Yoga Book C930. For the price Lenovo is asking for the Yoga Book C930 in 2019, an almost 3-year-old, dual-core CPU and 4GB of RAM just isn’t going to cut it.
With those specs, you may find your expensive new Yoga Book C930 could start to feel pretty old in only a few years. When you’re spending this kind of money, you want to know your laptop will last you for a long while.
Meanwhile, fans of the original Yoga Book will probably like the sound of the upgrades – but be totally put off by the massive leap in price.
So, where does that leave the Yoga Book C930? Lenovo does so many things right here, but its underpowered components and high price mean we can’t heartily recommend it. It does at least give us hope for the next generation of Yoga Book – for Lenovo is so very close to acing this.
Good
Very thin and light
Gorgeous main display
E Ink screen works well
Bad
Very expensive
Low on RAM
Aging processor
Specs
Processor: Intel 7th Gen Core i5-7Y54
RAM: 4GB DDR3
Display: 10.8-inch QHD IPS LCD (2560 x 1600)
E Ink display: 10.8-inch FHD (1920 x 1080)
Storage: 128GB SSD with microSD expansion
Battery: 35.8Wh
Ports: 2 USB 3.1 Type-C
Dimensions: 7.1 x 10.25 x 0.39 inches
Weight: 1.71 pounds
