Lenovo’s rollable laptop computer is the good pc I’ve used all 12 months

A part of me nonetheless can’t consider it, however Lenovo did the factor: it took a bonkers concept for a laptop computer with a rollable display and built the tech into one thing you possibly can truly personal and use like a standard pc. Besides, as standard because the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 could be, it’s removed from a standard pc. It’s a $3,300 laptop computer with a display that expands from 14 inches to 16.7 inches on the push of a button.

Oh, and it’s truly good. Not simply good, however very good. I nonetheless can’t consider it.

The increasing display is genuinely helpful, and it makes the ThinkBook by far one of many coolest and most futuristic-looking laptops I’ve ever used. However, as with most new applied sciences, being on the bleeding edge is dear. And as you may count on for a laptop computer that bodily will get taller, there are some rising pains, too.

Once you first open the ThinkBook Plus, you’ll see a square-ish 14 inch OLED show with a 120Hz refresh fee and a 2000×1600 decision. However press a button, and the display unrolls to a taller 16.7-inches and 2000 x 2350 decision. (I affectionately name it “the tallboy.”) With the display prolonged, it’s like working with two stacked 12.4-inch 16:9 shows. It’s a few of the greatest single-monitor multitasking I’ve skilled. The additional vertical house is nice for going full-screen in a doc, code editor, or spreadsheet, or for split-screening apps with out reducing off the edges of the home windows. You may get the advantages of a vertical show anyplace, not simply in a multi-monitor desk setup. And the ThinkBook itself makes an ideal vertical sidecar to a giant monitor.

Tallboy mode even makes video calls extra nice, because it brings the webcam a lot nearer to eye stage. Having the highest of the display greater has additionally helped relieve a little bit of neck ache from staring down at laptops all day. I get improved ergonomics whether or not I’m working at my desk, a desk, or in goblin mode on my ground.

I’ve been utilizing the brand new ThinkBook Plus full-time for a few week, and I’ve saved it in 16.7-inch mode virtually the whole time, as a result of that’s the entire level of this factor. I by no means get sick of taking a look at this big OLED with its punchy colours and powerful distinction. It’s plastic as a substitute of glass for the sake of flexibility, and it lacks contact assist (although that additionally means much less probability of scratching its softer floor with a fingernail or unintentionally knocking it over with a faucet). However I don’t thoughts any of that, as a result of having a lot display actual property in a laptop computer this compact and moveable was unreal up till now.

As with a foldable telephone, you possibly can see some creases and ripples within the display’s decrease third — the half that rolls up — particularly at indirect angles. If I look carefully whereas engaged on a bright-white doc, I can generally make out a faint shadowy strip, however I not often see it, even when observing that spot. The motorized display takes about eight seconds to increase or retract, and it’s no louder than the followers on a median gaming laptop computer. Individuals proper close to you in a quiet house will hear it, however even ambient seems like a TV within the background simply masks the motor.

Lenovo needed to go to some lengths to accommodate this display whereas maintaining the ThinkBook feeling and looking like a normal-ish laptop computer. Its chassis is aluminum as a substitute of the carbon fiber, magnesium, and plastic discovered within the ThinkPad X1 Carbon — certainly one of Lenovo’s go-to fashions of productiveness / enterprise laptops. That makes the ThinkBook fairly heavy for its measurement: at 3.72 kilos, it’s an entire pound and a half heavier than the X1 Carbon and a pound heavier than a 13-inch MacBook Air. The additional weight is probably going essential to preserve the laptop computer from falling over backward when the display is prolonged. The hinge can also be very stiff. It takes two fingers to pry open the laptop computer from its closed place, and the hinge doesn’t tilt again almost so far as different laptops to forestall toppling. The restricted vary of movement is much less of a giant deal in tall mode, however extra noticeable in 14-inch mode. Nonetheless, I normally put it in 14-inch mode solely when it’s time to shut it up and transfer it round, so it hasn’t bothered me a lot but.

Regardless of the laptop computer’s normal sturdiness, the display itself could be a little wobbly, with audible creaks and slight knocking sounds while you’re adjusting it. The lid consists of an internal body and outer body; the outer body strikes alongside a monitor on the sides of the internal body to broaden the lid’s footprint and roll the display upward. The irksome sounds come from the place the 2 lid frames meet within the center.

As a result of a part of the display is garaged beneath the keyboard deck, there’s no house subsequent to the keyboard for the audio system, so as a substitute they’re on the entrance of the chassis, angled down. They’re mediocre for a $3,300 laptop computer, and the sound is commonly obscured by your wrists.

The opposite audible quirk is the ThinkBook’s “you’re doing it fallacious” alarm: When you begin closing the lid with the display prolonged, otherwise you transfer the display whereas it’s rolling, the laptop computer emits a high-pitched tone. It’s essentially the most 90s-motherboard-ass factor I’ve heard in a very long time, however I discover its needling sound oddly charming.

The remainder of the laptop computer is strong, as you’d hope for a $3,300 machine. It has a haptic trackpad (hallelujah). Regardless of being barely small, it beats the heck out of all of the Lenovo mechanical trackpads I’ve tried, rivaling Apple’s in precision and really feel. It’s an ideal counterpart to the keyboard, which is superb as normal for Lenovo, with an ideal tactile really feel and good key journey. The built-in mic sounds good, and that high-climbing webcam renders a reasonably sharp picture. It handles blended or troublesome lighting properly, whereas capturing you at a extra pleasing angle. (Look, it’s okay to not need your webcam to intensify double chins or give individuals a view up your nostrils.) It’s a disgrace it solely has two Thunderbolt 4 ports, however greater port crimes have been committed elsewhere, and no less than there’s a headphone jack.

Lenovo ships the ThinkBook Plus with its personal Workspace app to assist with multitasking on the oddly proportioned show. It presents fast entry to pinnable widgets, apps, and even enabling a digital show for a picture-in-picture expertise — for those who’re so inclined . You’ll be able to select to have Workspace auto-launch while you broaden the display, and there’s even a devoted key for it. However I discovered it extra troublesome than useful, and I encountered bugs when utilizing Workspace with a number of digital desktops, starting from glitching my wallpaper to stopping me from four-finger swiping between desktops. As an alternative, I’ve simply been utilizing Home windows 11’s native window administration, and I’ve been pleasantly shocked by how properly it really works on this shapeshifting display. I encountered a one-off bug the place the taskbar randomly disappeared, nevertheless it was solved by a full restart.

Efficiency-wise, the Intel Core Extremely 7 258V within the ThinkBook traces up with other laptops we’ve tested with the identical chip. It’s quick for on a regular basis duties and productiveness apps, and it’s about as energy environment friendly as different fashions with a lot smaller, non-OLED screens. I may simply final 9 hours or longer on a cost with the default sleep / energy settings, getting me by way of a full day of labor in blended utilization (Google Docs, Slack, Sign chat, a lot of Chrome tabs, and even a 30-minute video name and equally lengthy audio name). And that entire time I not often heard its fan spin up or felt it warmth up. On one other day, I stretched it to almost eight full hours with the display saved on almost the entire time in tall mode.

Enjoyable reality: draining the battery to under 5 % prompts a countdown timer for the display to mechanically roll down and keep down till it turns off otherwise you plug in. So that you shouldn’t get caught with the display prolonged and no solution to pack it up. Not dangerous, Lenovo. Not dangerous.

$3,300 can get you a whole lot of different glorious laptops (three nice $1,000 laptops, even), however none of them have this extending show. It’s certainly one of only some methods to get extra display in a conventionally sized laptop computer. You may get a dual-screen laptop computer just like the Yoga Book 9i or Asus Zenbook Duo, or a folding-screen laptop computer just like the ThinkPad X1 Fold , or go for some form of moveable monitor. However as a lot as I dig these, a dual-screen or folding-screen setup is so cumbersome by comparability. You’re not simply strolling right into a espresso store and hitting a button to get extra display, you’re organising camp together with your Franken-multi-monitor-laptop and its peripherals.

The ThinkBook Plus has appeared fairly sturdy in my time with it. I even had it rattling round in a backpack on a 500-mile street journey, and it was effective. Lenovo claims the display is rated for 30,000 hinge openings / closings and 20,000 rolls up and down, however you simply don’t have these issues with common laptops. As a lot as I like utilizing this rollable laptop computer, I’ll at all times be a bit cautious about longevity and what a display restore could price if the worst ever occurs (Lenovo didn’t reply my questions on restore prices by the point of publication).

The ThinkBook Plus rollable is a genuinely cool thought, and an ideal laptop computer. I hope the show tech continues to evolve and we see extra wild concepts like this change into a actuality. Or, if Lenovo delivers on its different current idea laptop computer thought, the ThinkBook Flip, possibly we are able to get the same tall-monitor expertise with out the added heft and price of motors.

This might be the beginning of a rolling-screen revolution. Or it may simply be a distinct segment product for deep-pocketed people who need to really feel like they’re dwelling sooner or later. Sadly, certainly one of these realities is more likely for now, till the tech will get low cost sufficient to trickle right down to mainstream laptops. However rattling am I glad this factor is out in the actual world, even when recognizing one at a random cafe will really feel like a unicorn sighting. Lenovo is likely one of the solely laptop computer producers that turns its bizarre ideas into precise merchandise, and I hope it retains pushing — getting cheaper, quirkier, or ideally each.