Lenovo Yoga C930 :: My favorite laptop
by Volker Weber
I have three machines I use almost every single day: a 2017 Surface Pro, a 2018 iPad Pro 12.9, and the Yoga C930. And that is the machine I start the day with. As much as I love the Surface Pro, it has been sidelined by the Yoga C930.
I was in love with the Yoga as soon as I got it out of the box. This slim all metal body just feels so premium. It has a very unique design, not to be confused with any other brand.
And a laptop it is. Although it can be folded backwards, I hardly ever do that. Occasionally I pull the included pen out of its silo and start marking up a screenshot. I have also taken notes in OneNote, but both the Surface Pro and the iPad Pro are better suited for this task.
I was a bit concerned about the Thunderbolt/USB-C ports at first. But this turned out to be one of my favorite features. I don't ever use the included 65 W power brick. Instead I always charge it with my 60 W tizi Tankstation. An iPad Pro charger isn't strong enough to even get the charging process started. 27 W is delivered by 3 A at 9 V, which isn't sufficient. The 60 W tizi delivers 3 A at 20 V, which charges the C930 in no time.
My Yoga has a beautiful 4K screen, but I would advise to go with the Full HD panel instead. It's just more practical in terms of battery performance. I am getting through most of the day, but only the HD screen provides for more than ten hours of battery life.
Although I have been using this laptop every single day, it does not have the smallest scratch. And I am not very good with hardware. It is thin and light, but not to the point where it becomes delicate. Although it is as thin as a modern MacBook Pro or MacBook Air, it does not suffer from similar keyboard issues. The trackpad works well, as most precision trackpad these days. I love the keyboard. It is not as hard as a 2018 MacBook Pro keyboard, and not as squishy as a 2015 MacBook Pro variant. It feels ... right.
The fingerprint reader is working well. I have registered six fingers, and it never fails to recognize any of them, no matter which way I am holding the machine. It is not as fiddly as a camera-based Windows Hello setup, and I never ever had to enter my passcode to unlock.
The keyboard layout is perfect, without any compromise. It can provide the wide return key for US keyboard layouts and the tall return key for the German one, without needing two different top cases.
The soundbar that is situated in the hinge provides the treble whereas the mids are coming from the bottom. There is no bass, and although it bears the Atmos branding, I don't experience an Atmos 3D sound. In any case it sounds way better than Surface Pro and is on par with the iPad Pro. I have been watching a lot of video content on this machine. And that is where that Yoga hinge comes into play, when I fold it backwards into tent mode.
Tl;dr: this is one great laptop that has it all. It's fast, it's quality design, it has touch and pen, with its own silo. Great keyboard, great sound, great battery life. My only niggle is the flashing power button. That signal is pretty useless. Give me green for almost full, red for almost empty, yellow for charging and white for on.
I dread the day I have to give this back. Holding on to it as long as I can.
Comments
Can I suggest this for slim-profile charging:
https://www.themu.co.uk/collections/muone
I have had one for a few months now and use it for travelling with my X1 Carbon ThinkPad and it works v well.
That is much better than a UK plug, for sure. But it's only 45 W.
