Lenovo is trimming the fat off of its L series, offering more screen size thanks to thinner bezels and beefing up on processing power.
Set to launch in October 2019, the new L13 series notebooks will start at $749 for a clamshell design and $849 for the 2-in-1 Yoga model with touchscreen. Both systems will also feature Intel’s new 10th Gen Ice Lake processors. And with storage options up to a 1TB PCIe SSD, the L13 is capable of handling productivity tasks from pre to post production without a stutter.
Design
In a sleek, sexy silver-and-black colorway, the L series is aiming straight for the heads of competing enterprise-grade laptops. At 12.3 x 8.6 x 0.7 inches and 3.1 pounds for the clamshell (3.2 for the Yoga), the L13 is one of the lightest productivity notebooks to hit the market. Despite being slightly heavier, grabbing the L13 Yoga from the display table required minimal effort. For reference, my personal 2-in-1 is the 3.5-pound Acer R11, which requires a bit more strength to lift. And thanks to its 360-degree hinges, the Yoga easily folded each way I maneuvered the lid.
The lighter L13 clamshell sat flat in my hand and was surprisingly easy to navigate with the TrackPoint input nub. Keyboard inputs had decent travel and feedback to not bottom out during long typing sessions. I appreciated the decent amount of space between keys, especially for my larger fingers.
Display
The 13.3-inch Full HD display is a perfectly capable screen with plenty of real estate. The left and right bezels measure a mere 0.3 x 0.6 x 1.4 inch on both models. The Yoga’s IPS touchscreen appeared to offer superior brightness, however you can order the clamshell L13 with the same touch screen.
Specs
Both L13 models come in configurations of 10th Gen Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 CPUs paired with Intel HD Graphics. Utilizing the same DDR4 2666 Mhz standard, you can get up to 16GB in the L13’s thin frame. The line offers USB 3.1 (2), Type-C (2), Audio jack, microSD Card, Kensington Lock, HDMI, and side dock connections. The Yoga offers an additional slot that both recharges and stores the device’s touch screen pen.
Special Features
Yoga exclusive features include a World Facing Camera built into the lower chassis and the aforementioned integrated rechargeable pen. Lenovo’s World Facing Camera technology allows the Yoga to take pictures of objects in front of it using a camera that activates once fully converted into tablet mode. I snapped pictures of the press display and our camera set up easily and found the experience similar to using any large tablet or iPad. I drew a few drawings using the integrated pen with ease. Tracking was 1:1 and never broke at any point of my lines.
Lenovo offers plenty of security options for the laptops, from Windows Hello facial recognition IR Cameras to the biometric fingerprint reader. Privacy features include an intuitive camera kill switch built-in to the body. Admittedly, I found myself side tracked sliding the switch back and forth to see the camera than the red cover. The system was much more viable than my own method of throwing a sticky note over my camera.
Battery Life
The L13 clamshell is slated to last 14 hours on a charge as opposed to 12 hours offered by the Yoga. Buying the L13 Yoga over the L13 clamshell will offer more versatility options, but at the cost of 2 hours of battery life. Lenovo’s Rapid Charge utility lets both models use a 65 W charger to raise the battery level 80% in just one hour.
Bottom Line
Offering the strength of an ultrabook in a powerful 2-in-1 form factor, the new L13 is a powerful productivity machine. Available in the hybrid form factor and your typical clamshell design, the L13 packs some serious punch, especially when paired with the side docking connector.
Lenovo’s new L13 series is shaping up to be seriously impressive with the strength of the latest 10th generation Intel Core CPUs, attractive design and affordable price point. We’re excited to see how the L13 performs under pressure in our testing, so keep an eye out for our full review and benchmarks.
