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00:00Hey, what's up, MKBHD here.
00:05Okay, so the whole folding screen thing is still pretty new.
00:10We're maybe two years into seeing real devices that are shipping with folding screens in
00:15them.
00:16But yet still, there's a lot of questions about, hey, are these really a future?
00:20Is this actually where we're going to go?
00:22And can this apply to more than just phones?
00:26So this is the world's first foldable OLED laptop, but also the world's first foldable
00:34OLED tablet in a lot of ways too, most of the time.
00:37But the whole point is this is pushing that technology basically to its size limits at
00:42this point.
00:43And so from it, we can learn a lot about where the tech is right now.
00:47So shout out to Lenovo for sponsoring this video, for this showcase, to have a first
00:50look at the ThinkPad X1 Fold.
00:53So I've already said this folding display tech is definitely in its infancy.
00:57So building an entire machine around it, no matter what size, is going to be extremely
01:01bleeding edge.
01:02And we see that in all the folding phones and the Razr from Motorola and the Galaxy
01:07Fold.
01:08The question is, is it worth exploring a bigger scale version of it?
01:13So this is what that looks like right now.
01:14So this is a 13.3 inch OLED display, about the size of a large tablet, but it folds right
01:22in half.
01:23So that becomes the size of like a small laptop.
01:25It turns it into two 9.6 inch screens when it's folded.
01:29So now just looking around this thing, it's quite the combination of premium materials
01:33and also bleeding edge workarounds, if you will.
01:36Like the whole thing is wrapped in leather.
01:39And if I'm being honest, it looks really nice when closed.
01:42The leather sleeve kind of slides into place around the hinge, slides out when it's open.
01:49That part is nice.
01:50And when it's fully open, you can pop out this kickstand on the back with this red felt
01:54material inside.
01:55I mean, they're really playing well to my red and black habit, but this part is very
01:59well considered.
02:01It looks great.
02:02The hard part though, is the actual folding screen part.
02:05So when you look inside, you see the bezels, the size of which really aren't a problem
02:08at all.
02:09But what's unique here is they're a rubberized material and they're sort of raised up.
02:14And that with an accordion mechanism in the middle hides the complexity of that hinge
02:19that's making it possible.
02:21But that right there is the hardest part.
02:24Like we already saw, it took Samsung two generations to get the hinge weight right on their tiny
02:28galaxy fold.
02:29So it takes a lot of engineering to get the hinge weight right in a bigger laptop version
02:35of it, which is arguably even more important.
02:38But after that, it does open and close.
02:40It opens a hundred percent flat and it closes to nearly gapless, but I'll get to why it's
02:46like this in a second.
02:48Some other fun pieces though, it has a power button and volume rockers over here on the
02:51side, and there's a light behind the power button.
02:54There's two USB-C ports, both of which are fully functional.
02:58So you can charge it through either one, depending on where you're sitting or how you're holding
03:01it.
03:02It has optional 5G built in and up to one terabyte NVMe SSD.
03:07And it actually has pen support.
03:08Most foldable displays so far have been explicitly very fragile and they don't have pen support.
03:14They're delicate and scratch easily, but this one is not one of those.
03:18So it has an optional digital pen that you can use to sign documents or draw things,
03:22or even just move around the UI, whatever you want, if you're into that.
03:25So why would you want this?
03:27Like laptops are fine, they're pretty good as they are, right?
03:30Why would you want a future version of this instead of that?
03:33Well, for Lenovo, it's all about the different postures that this can be in.
03:38So again, like the fold, I guess I'll kind of keep referring to the fold because it's
03:42the one we all know about.
03:43But that in its theoretical best case can be a phone and a tablet.
03:52And so again, because of the postures this can be in, this is theoretically in its best
03:56version, both a tablet and a laptop.
04:01So this guy here is running Windows 10, as you can tell.
04:04So all of the usage is on an OS that's already running pretty well with touch.
04:08But I'd also be interested in seeing how an Android version could possibly handle this
04:11form factor.
04:13But this is tablet mode.
04:14So big, tall display, 2048 by 1536 resolution.
04:19It's a bit thicker overall than a normal tablet, but it's also bigger overall than a normal
04:24tablet.
04:25It's this 13-inch OLED display.
04:26So that's your benefit for your video watching, your multitasking, your virtual keyboards
04:31typing, your browsing, everything here is all bigger.
04:34And of course, you can even go vertical with it.
04:36So maybe there's some tall documents, maybe there's some vertical videos you're trying
04:40to watch.
04:41Maybe you just like that vertical tablet life.
04:43But all that works fine.
04:44But again, the bonus of the kickstand here is if you're watching like a video on YouTube
04:48or a movie or something, is that you have a screen basically the size of a 13-inch laptop
04:54without nearly as much weight or mass as a typical 13-inch laptop.
04:58So that would be my number one use for this particular version.
05:01Imagine watching videos on a plain tray table at a comfortable distance without worrying
05:06about the keyboard.
05:07So that's tablet mode, which is sweet.
05:09But then you can also, of course, fold it in half.
05:13But there's actually a version where you stop folding halfway.
05:17And it's in this sort of, well, they call it book mode.
05:21You can see why, right?
05:22So at this point, you kind of start to mentally separate these as two separate screens at
05:27the same time as the software recognizes, all right, this is becoming two separate screens.
05:31So you can do reading on one side, taking notes on the other, or really just any multitasking
05:36side by side.
05:38You can have a Zoom call on one side and writing or whatever note-taking on the other.
05:42So for some remote podcast stuff, I've done Zoom on one side and then audio recording
05:46app and then notes on the other.
05:48It's a lot of side-by-side stuff.
05:50Plus, there's a bonus of some apps that when they work well, will let you just use the
05:53whole thing as an actual book, which is kind of sweet.
05:57But what you're really on your way towards here is the laptop modes.
06:00Now, like I mentioned at the beginning, Lenovo built an entire PC here.
06:05Like this is a Windows computer.
06:06There's a one terabyte SSD, an Intel CPU, eight gigs of RAM.
06:10There's fans.
06:11It's the whole thing.
06:12So you do have a full-fledged desktop experience on the sideways display, just all touchscreen.
06:18But the thing about laptops is once you get to this place, usually you want to do a lot
06:23of typing and yes, of course, sure, you can have a virtual keyboard and there's multi-touch
06:27and it's really responsive and maybe you even add haptics someday, but there's always just
06:32something better about having a real tactile keyboard.
06:37But it turns out Lenovo basically agrees with me on that because they did build one for
06:41the X1 Fold.
06:42And it's literally an ultra thin Bluetooth keyboard with magnets in it that snaps into
06:47place over half of the display.
06:50You turn it on, you connect it and boom, the UI snaps to the top half of the screen.
06:54And now really it's acting exactly like a normal laptop.
06:58Your word processing, writing emails, whatever it is you're into with that keyboard.
07:02It even has an actual trackpad.
07:04And as far as I can tell, there is almost zero latency, which is impressive over Bluetooth.
07:08So to the point where it's just as functional as a laptop, albeit slightly smaller, like
07:13a nine to 10 inch laptop.
07:15So the keyboard's a little more compact, the screen's a little smaller, but it's definitely
07:19still very usable and significantly better than digital typing would be.
07:23And this is actually one of those cases where the rubberized bezels helps because they keep
07:27the keyboard in place along with those magnets.
07:31And then yeah, best part is when you're done, if you just want to pack it up and store it,
07:34the keyboard can stay inside and the laptop closes perfectly gapless and flat.
07:40That is nice.
07:41So that's definitely a lot, but I'm fascinated by this thing.
07:45Now it is 3000 bucks, so it's definitely not for everyone.
07:50But the upside of having foldables like this existing and coming out is the more we have
07:57talented people working on making foldable stuff good, the better they actually get over
08:03time.
08:04And the more we're working towards that dream of having an actual two-in-one where it really
08:09can be both of those form factors well.
08:12And a big part of this is getting developers in on making quality apps that take advantage
08:17of the folding display thing, which is, I mean, it's still early stages for that.
08:22That's the whole point.
08:23And there's not a whole lot of great apps doing that yet in, I was going to say the
08:27Microsoft store, but really any store at this point.
08:30So the only way to change that is to start by making good foldable stuff and get that
08:35ball rolling.
08:36But then hopefully the cycle kind of feeds itself.
08:39The tech gets better, you know, the chips get better, the batteries get better.
08:43This whole profile gets slimmer and even more refined.
08:46Maybe you don't need the fan vents anymore.
08:47Would you be into that?
08:48Let me know in the comment section below.
08:51Would you rather have a laptop and a tablet and a phone or maybe convertible somewhere
08:55in between those?
08:56Either way, thanks for watching.
08:58Shout out to Lenovo again for sponsoring this video for the ThinkPad X1.
09:02And I'll leave all the links relevant below if you want to check it out.
09:04All right.
09:05Catch you guys in the next one.
09:07Peace.