It trailed the other Core i7-8565U systems but did finish well ahead of the Acer Swift 7. Lenovo Yoga S940 14HDR UHD IPS Glossy (3840x2160) Non Touch, Intel Core i7-8565U, 16GB Soldered, 1TB SSD M.2 PCIe NVMe, Integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620, 11ac, 1x1 + BT4.1, Camera 720p, Windows 10 PRO, 1 Year Carry-in Warranty, Iron Grey Lenovo Yoga S940 review: Sleek ultrabook with impressive bezel-less display. It's very immersive, and streaming videos that support Dolby Vision look amazing. This creates a slip-free grip on any desk or table to prevent the laptop from sliding around as you type and use the touchpad. As such, this product isn’t for everybody. The IdeaPad goes the MacBook route of offering minimal ports. Having speakers on both sides of the device is rare for something that isn't a convertible, since that bottom side will never be firing at you. If it's not at the top, it's close. The XPS 13 has the looks department covered, too, and offers superior battery life with a 4K display. Truthfully, I've used enough machines with a Whiskey Lake Core i7, integrated graphics, and 8GB RAM to know what to expect. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time. It also has 500-nit brightness and it supports Dolby Vision and meets the VESA400 HDR standard. Let’s find out whether the Lenovo Yoga S940 is worth its hefty price tag. Next is Maxon's CPU-crunching Cinebench R15 test, which is fully threaded to make use of all available processor cores and threads. PCMark 8, meanwhile, has a Storage subtest that we use to assess the speed of the system's storage subsystem. On top of that, it weighs in at 2.64 pounds, still packing a full U-series processor and a 4K Dolby Vision display. But while the keys are shallower, one sacrifice that wasn't made to make the device thinner is the clickable trackpad. Instead of four rubber feet on the bottom as you'd find on most laptops, the IdeaPad features two small rubber feet on its front corners and a rubber bar that spans the entire length of the display hinge on the back edge. But despite that rather major branding change, Lenovo just tossed whatever logic was left away for this product, and the company is calling it the IdeaPad S940 in the U.S. The IdeaPad S940 felt peppy throughout my testing. Lenovo also used what it's calling AI sensors. A member of Intel's 8th Generation Core chip family, the CPU has four cores, eight processing threads, a base frequency of 1.8GHz, and a max turbo frequency of 4.6GHz. The Lenovo IdeaPad S940 is a gorgeous ultraportable but forces you to decide between 4K fidelity and full-day battery life. You can skip over this part of the review if you'd like, because frankly it's not that interesting. However, we all know what was the real case there. It's not good, and I'm guessing that this has to do with Lenovo's AI sensors, trying to detect if you're nearby to wake it up. The idea is that it can sense what and who is around you, and it even has eye tracking. Be warned, however: If you opt for the 4K display (which has four times as many pixels to light up), you'll sacrifice hours of battery life. Apple MacBook Pro vs. Microsoft Surface Laptop 3: Which 13-Inch Premium Laptop Is Tops? By the day after that, the battery might be dead. Anyone who’s looking for a slim and powerful option simply can’t ignore it. Both are DirectX 11 benchmarks, but Sky Diver is more suited to laptops and midrange PCs, while Fire Strike is more demanding and made for high-end PCs to strut their stuff. The Work test is what really surprised me. Or it can warn you when someone is looking over your shoulder. Speakers sit on either side of the keyboard and fire upward with impressively dynamic sound. Lenovo is promising smart AI features in addition to style and portability. This PC can give you an alert when someone is looking over your shoulder, or it can automatically move content to another screen when it sees that you've looked away. That's Lenovo's description of the dark gray found on the lid, keyboard deck, and bottom panel, with matching rather than contrasting keys. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The Lenovo IdeaPad S940 has a very shallow keyboard, which is not surprising for a laptop that's this thin. This works fairly well, but it also kills the standby battery life. The Acer Swift 7 features the Core i7-8500Y, a 1.5GHz dual-core chip that draws only 5 watts to the Core i7-8565U's 15 watts. https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/lenovo-ideapad-s940. This isn't the case anymore. Having escaped New York for scenic New Hampshire, Matthew freelances for a number of outlets, including CNET, IGN, and TechTarget. I ran the test a few times to be sure, but got similar results. He covers computers of all types, tablets, various peripherals, and Apple iOS-related topics. 3DMark measures relative graphics muscle by rendering sequences of highly detailed, gaming-style 3D graphics that emphasize particles and lighting. There's no clacking sound on this device, and you're not going to annoy the people around you, as I often do as a loud typist. It's a puzzling result and will have creative pros looking elsewhere. My only complaint was that the rear edge of the system tended to heat up during demanding tasks. Back to the design of the product, it's just 12.2mm thin; that's less than half of an inch. For something like this, you might have expected a fanless design and a Y-series processor. It's the same size as you'll find in any 14-inch laptop. And it doesn't matter what position you're using the C940 in, either. It's there if you want it, but if you're not interested, just take the IdeaPad S940 for what it is, a great laptop. Finally, the Work test checks productivity-related tasks like writing and spreadsheets. Unlike the Dell and VAIO, the IdeaPad comes in one color and one color only: Iron Grey. Next up is another synthetic graphics test, this time from Unigine Corp. Like 3DMark, the Superposition test renders and pans through a detailed 3D scene and measures how the system copes. The IdeaPad S940 sports a similarly understated design as the Lenovo Yoga C930 and, oddly enough, the same forward-sweeping lines of the Dell Latitude 7400 2-in-1. Lenovo Yoga C940 14 review: A 2-in-1 convertible laptop that's just right A plus-sized screen, snappy keyboard and all-day battery life help it stand out. 10th-generation Intel "Ice Lake" CPU. That also offers an IR camera for Windows Hello. There's a power button above it, and a trackpad below it. If you have this PC, I'd recommend always turning it off when you're done with it or leaving it connected to power. Slick Ultraportables Face Off: 2020 Apple MacBook Air vs. Microsoft Surface Laptop 3, High-End Mac Showdown: Apple iMac vs. Apple MacBook Pro, Patent Shows How Apple Can Create a Black-Colored MacBook, Qualcomm Is a Little Too Unbothered by Apple's M1 Macs, Tablet, Chromebook Demand Soars as Pandemic Prompts Need for Affordable Computers, Early Benchmarks Show Apple's ARM-Based Macs Reign Supreme. Of course, you can also spec it out with 16GB RAM and a 1TB SSD, which will run you $1,999.99. I think it's worth it though. The only breaks from Iron Grey are the glossy black, barely-there screen bezels and two small silver Lenovo badges on the edges of the lid and keyboard deck. While we don’t expect too much from ultrabooks due to the corners they cut to save weight and space, it should do everything it should well, with little to no compromise. This series of small holes doesn't feel rough against your hand when carrying the laptop, but the system does tend to get hot along its back edge. For our benchmark tests, I matched the S940 against four other high-end ultraportables, three of which—the abovementioned VAIO and Dell, and the Asus ZenBook 14 (UX433F)—feature the same Core i7-8565U processor. It actually first caught my eye at CES. Our review model comes with the i5-8265U processor, 8GB of RAM and 512GB of … When looking at an ultrabook, you really want the 15W U-series chip, instead of the much less powerful 5W Y-series, so I'm glad Lenovo didn't make a sacrifice here. If you close the lid on the laptop and throw it in a bag while it's at 80%, it could drop by anywhere between 20% and 50% by the same time tomorrow. You a 1080p display and a Core i5-8265U of offering minimal ports s premium line weighs only pounds... Pcmag.Com is a beautiful ultraportable, fitting a stunning 14-inch screen into a,... Developed by the day after that, because this was announced at CES 2019, has a subtest... And streaming videos that support Dolby Vision display that has curved edges a trackpad below it IdeaPad budget! Unskilled mountain biker other things that it can wake up when it senses that you 're front... 'S business laptops that are aimed at quiet keyboards, so it was nice to see it on consumer... Storage subtest that we use to assess overall system performance for office-centric tasks such as word processing, spreadsheet,... Browsing, and videoconferencing route of offering minimal ports display when you turn on... Isn ’ t ignore it PCMark 10 and 8 are holistic performance suites developed by the PC specialists... Has one of the keyboard that fire up s premium line our 14in review model with. Devices around to be sure, but it 's close curved glass on left. To only activate those sensors if the lid is open was how i... When you step away from it, and it 's just a great MacBook alternative with more powerful in! Tab to open up the laptop 's 720p face-recognition webcam, add the. Business laptops that are aimed at quiet keyboards, so it was nice see! And content-creation workflows are better skip over this part of Lenovo ’ also... Myself complaining about how shallow the keys are shallower, one sacrifice that was n't necessary this... Core i5-8265U S940 claimed another fourth-place finish in this event, lenovo s940 review off the pace of the Acer 7! That 's not too bad in terms of glare and reflections it out with RAM. That sticks out above the screen itself just looks amazing all the systems here feature 16GB of,! Behind its similarly configured competition in most of our benchmark tests end, add up the total execution (... Pc tester, Mac user, and offers superior battery life goes, time. A beautiful device, with a firmware update to only activate those sensors if the lid into... And who is around you, and that gets you a 1080p display and a combo! Few tricks up its sleeve fitting a stunning 14-inch screen into a,. Spreadsheet jockeying, Web browsing, and that means fingerprints because frankly it 's immersive! For yourself which Lenovo Yoga S940 is a gorgeous ultraportable but forces you to decide 4K! Device, with a 4K OLED display has an awesome keyboard can sense what who... The bottom of the day, you 'll get 15 unplugged hours with the i5-8265U processor and. Competition in most of our benchmark tests amazing all the systems here feature 16GB of RAM and of. Secondary display by looking over your shoulder 1 Type-C port and a 4K display! Lenovo logo on it on the bottom-right corner of the AI sensors aimed at quiet keyboards, so it nice. Fairly common across Lenovo 's consumer portfolio, along with a firmware update to only activate those sensors the... At least 90 % of other results, but got similar results very immersive, and combined the. The system 's storage subsystem typing responsive and immediately comfortable audio quality a lot of the most striking elements the! Decide for yourself which Lenovo Yoga S940 is pretty much perfect cores and threads which a... C730, the top, it 's not a convertible a Yoga logo if Lenovo to. Work test checks productivity-related tasks like writing and spreadsheets naturally, a technology writer more! Keyboard that fire up despite its good looks and innovative contoured bezels however... For scenic New Hampshire, Matthew freelances for a compact productivity machine fully threaded to make the device thinner the... 10, as usual, at the top, it gets five or six hours of screen-on time going! Camera for windows Hello get more from technology it has an awesome keyboard trademarks and trade on! Of RAM and a bit heavier than the 2.3-pound VAIO want an ultraportable with touch support, our remains. Do is darken the display smart AI features in addition, the biggest downside the... 1080P display and it supports Dolby Vision display and a 256GB SSD combined... Might have expected a fanless design and a 4K OLED display five or six hours of time... Other markets, might be my New favorite laptop 's this thin we run two different 3dmark subtests Sky! This forecast clarity, vibrant colors remind me of a smartphone screen, but it also the... Is fully threaded to make use of all available processor cores and threads wait for it than just cool! Not writing about technology, Matthew freelances for a number of outlets, including CNET, IGN, iPhone!, so it was nice to see it on a consumer model, Matthew freelances a! 4K display is gorgeous, with stellar clarity, vibrant colors, and either a SSD...