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Lenovo Yoga C930 Review: Sleekness personified

We’re big fans of Lenovo’s Yoga notebook lineup here in the office. In recent years the devices, some of which feature rotating screens for a few different usage options, have provided a nice mix of performance, styling and multiple functionality.

As such when the Yoga C930 arrived on our review desk, we were quite eager to see what Lenovo had cooked up for this latest offering.

This particular model is a rather sleek-looking device, and unlike some Yoga products does not go far a flashy design, instead opting for something a bit more sleek and sophisticated.

Sleekly understated

Yes it’s decked out in grey (our review model) which is the colour that most enterprise-focused notebooks come in, but the Yoga C930 looks as if it could be packing something interesting under the bonnet.

Luckily for us it does, sporting a beautifully crisp and vibrant 13.9″ display, a screen that can rotate 360 degrees, premium looking keyboard and trackpad, and an impressive array of internal components.

More about those other elements later, but let’s tackle the display first.

As mentioned earlier the one onboard is quite impressive. It also boasts a 3 820 X 2 160 resolution and multi-touch, with a stylus pen hidden away in the bottom portion of the notebook when some scribing is needed.

One of the other notable elements of the screen, apart from the detail it yields, is the brightness of the display, even at 50 percent. As such users won’t have to turn the settings on to full tilt in order to make the most of what the C930 offers.

Touching on the stylus pen once again, it’s been included as an option for users who want to do a bit of design work on the Yoga C930.

We’re not designers and cannot speak to the stylus’ suitability as a design tool, but it may not deliver the nuanced experience that some may be looking for. As such it may be better to use annotating a presentation or doing some simple illustrations for a slide show.

A few modes

The screen is able to rotate a full 360 degrees, users can orientate the C930 into a tent, display, flat or tablet mode, along with the standard notebook one too.

All of the modes work well enough and certainly have their purpose, but the tablet option didn’t come off as expected for us. More specifically the C930 didn’t feel particularly comfortable to use, and at times proved a tad unwieldy. Even the fact that it tips the scale at 1.38kg and is solidly constructed didn’t help in this regard.

It may have something to do with the keyboard and trackpad getting in the way of things while cradling the C930 in one hand. Either way it’s perhaps the one aspect of this notebook that did not impress us.

Now that we’re on the subject of the keyboard and trackpad, the ones that Lenovo has opted for on the C930 are solid indeed.

The chiclet style keys employed here could yield a more satisfying feedback while being pressed, but we’re assuming that Lenovo has tried to keep the noise they produce to a minimum. As such it comes down to a personal preference, and there’s something about the clicking and clacking of a keyboard we just need to hear while typing.

As for the trackpad it too proved more than adequate, with the necessary responsiveness and feedback when pressed. You can of course use softer gestures to select and drag, but again perhaps we’re a little more robust in this aspect than others.

Sharp performer

This specific model features an 8th Gen Intel Core i7 (8550U) chipset, which is pared with 16GB RAM and 1TB PCIe SSD for storage. There’s an Intel HD Graphics 620 GPU on offer, which means the C930 is ideally suited for some very light gaming if that’s what you’re after. Then again the casual notebook gamer isn’t the likely target demographic for this particular offering.

By modern notebook standards, however, it certainly isn’t lacking and performs accordingly. During our time with the C930, about three weeks, it has not served up any issues or sign of strain while doing some heavy multitasking.

This is mirrored by the benchmark test we put it through.

The test in question is UserBenchmark, with it receiving specific mention for the SSD score of 186 percent, which means it’s suitable for heavy workstation-esque tasks where fast boots are needed.

Final verdict

You cannot give a final verdict on the Lenovo Yoga C930 without mentioning its price tag. Locally this particular spec (top of the range) will cost a recommended R35 599 depending on the retailer you head to, and that’s MacBook money.

Normally it’s hard to justify such a price tag on any notebook, but the C930 is very well-appointed and does not lack in any specific area to say that it’s not a top performing device. Added to this is a great sleek design that we’re fans of and a premium construction that looks built to last.

Despite being expensive, the Yoga C930 is definitely one of the better multi-mode notebooks out there at the moment.

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