Lenovo has revealed its new devices ahead of MWC in Barcelona, along with some clever concept ideas that we’d love to see come to market. While its main business lies in the corporate user, its consumer Yoga book and Legion lines are pushing the limits of laptop design.
The most impressive model announced, though, is the Legion Go Fold concept. This 11.6-inch folding tablet comes with a keyboard and case for work. You can also attach the Legion gaming controller to the rails on the sides of the screen to use it either as a large 11.6-inch handheld.
The controllers can also be attached to the longer edge, allowing the display to be angled up and used as a split-screen display. Alternatively, you can fold it completely hiding half the screen underneath and just using as a smaller 7-inch display.
While just a proof of concept, as Lenovo calls it, this model feels like it could easily be made into a consumer product and is something that would likely attract a big audience. We’ve seen a growing interest in both the handheld gaming console market and the folding tablet market, so combining both of these things feels like a winner.
Working in 3D or with AI
Another interesting concept is the Yoga Book Pro 3D. This features two 16-inch 3.2k tandem OLED displays with the top screen allowing glasses-free 3D via directional backlighting and eye tracking. The device supports hand gestures to rotate objects and zoom, it also features magnetic pads that, when snapped on to the display, activate contextual buttons for things like colour, lighting and view adjustments.
On the slightly whackier side is Lenovo’s AI Workmate. This is a motorised AI assistant that looks like an Anglepoise lamp, accept with a digital display ‘face’ and a built in projector. The demo showed the AI assistant creating a slideshow presentation and then displaying it on the desk then repositioning to project it at the wall. With a built-in camera, it can also help with signing documents – projecting the image of the document on the desk, capturing your signature and then combining them, all in seconds.
The AI Workmate has been given a character, much like Lenovo’s Tico assistant, that attaches to the top of a ThinkBook using the MagicBay connection. It has two large cartoon eyes on the display and various animations like a hand to the ear as it listens or drinking coffee as it waits for you to give it more commands.
Other concepts included an AI Work Companion that is a dock with a screen and a modular ThinkBook with a second 14-inch screen in the lid that can be detached to operate as a portable second screen or swapped for the keyboard to form a dual-screen display. It also features swappable ports to allow you to move or replace the connections.
Plus, some models you can actually buy
There were real products too. A new Legion Tab Gen 5 is an 8.8-inch tablet with Snapdragon 8 Elite 5 and a much bigger battery capacity than before – now around 9000mAh rather than the 6000mAh on the previous generation. The Yoga Slim 7i 14 and Yoga 9i 2-in-1 have been refreshed with Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processors and the 9i has updated pen support for AES 3.0 and Yoga Pen 2.
There’s also a new IdeaPad Slim 5i Ultra clamshell laptop and an IdeaTab Pro Gen 2 in a funky ‘jelly mint’ colour. These are aimed at students or the budget-conscious.
