Lenovo Yoga 920

Whenever there’s a processor refresh, most laptops go with an internal refresh and call it a day. The Lenovo Yoga 920, however, takes it a step further with a redesigned chassis that’s sleeker, while fixing all the problems we had with the previous redesign.

Starting at $1,329 or £1,499 (about AU$1,670), the Yoga 920 has seen a slight price bump from the Yoga 910 due to its new 8th generation quad-core Intel processor. This revision on the 13.9-inch convertible also packs in a few new smaller features and gets a new bronze color option.

Design

While we mostly liked the Lenovo Yoga 910 design, there were a few niggles that we couldn’t get over, namely the webcam positioned in the center of the bottom bezel. Thankfully, the webcam has returned to its rightful place above the display, and it hasn’t reintroduced much of a bezel either.

The laptop’s nearly-edgeless 13.9-inch screen keeps your focus on the lovely looking display, and the only irksome element is still that fat black bar at the bottom. The 3,860 x 2,160 touchscreen has also been updated with a new digitizer that can detect up to 4,096 levels of pressure – the same as the latest Surface Pro and Acer Switch 7 Black Edition.

The Lenovo Yoga 920 also features decidedly straight edges, whereas the Yoga 910’s sides would curve inwards. The V-shaped indent previously found at the hinge is also gone in favor of a form that closes a neatly uniform shape.

Overall, the Lenovo Yoga 920 is a much more straightforward design that doesn’t get lost in its own embellishments and should better fit into office environments. We also appreciate that Lenovo went with a softer type of aluminum this time around as the Yoga 910 would chafe against our hands whenever we carried it around.

Measuring in at 0.55-inches (1.4cm) thick, the Lenovo Yoga 920 is also a tiny bit thinner than its 0.56-inch (1.43cm) thick predecessor. Weight-wise, this has also managed to shave off 0.02 pounds (0.01), which is admirable but not really something you’re going to notice.

Lenovo’s latest Ultrabook gains a second Thunderbolt 3 port, allowing users to plug in the charger into either side of the laptop just like the MacBook Pro, while retaining a single legacy USB 3.0 port. To connect any other peripherals or to slot in an SD card, you’ll need to invest in a USB-C dock or adaptor

Features

The Lenovo Yoga 920 biggest upgrade is of course the inclusion of an 8th generation Intel Core processor. On paper it looks like the biggest year-over-year mobile processor update as the Core CPUs are doubling core counts. That in turn should mean better multi-tasking and intensive applications like Photoshop.

At the same time, the bump up to Intel UHD graphics should smooth out any issues with the Yoga 920’s 4K resolution display. Users will be able to further configure their machine with 8GB or 16GB of memory and an SSD with 256GB, 512GB or 1TB of storage capacity.

Core specs aside, the Lenovo Yoga 920’s other stand out feature is it now comes with Far Field microphones that allow you to call upon Cortana from even four meters (13 feet) away. The idea is you won’t have to hit a button or a taskbar icon to summon your smart assistant. It’ll even work when the laptop lid is closed, provided that it’s also connected to a power source.

From our hands on experience with the Lenovo Yoga 920, the JBL speakers sound as good as they used to. However, you’ll probably much rather want to plug in a pair of headphones into its Dolby Atmos-compatible audio jack.

One curious step back with the new hybrid is that it packs a 70Whr battery, whereas the Yoga 910 was outfitted with a 79Whr battery. Despite the drop in energy storing capacity, Lenovo still claims its newest model will eke out 11 hours of usage, an hour more than its predecessor. 

Maybe the Kaby Lake refresh is that much more efficient, but you can expect us to get to the bottom of these battery life claims in our full review.

Early verdict

Just from an ergonomic standpoint, the Lenovo Yoga 920 is an improvement and correction to its predecessor. With the added power of Intel 8th generation CPUs, Cortana Far Field microphones and the second Thunderbolt 3 port, this updated hybrid is everything the Lenovo Yoga 910 was and even more.

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