Lenovo Legion Y-Series Gaming Notebooks And ThinkPad X1 Series Amped-Up With Kaby Lake And Thunderbolt 3
Lenovo Legion is a new brand name for the company, and Lenovo says that it is tasked with “addressing our gaming community’s demand for a superior gaming experience with a premium, next-generation PC gaming products inspired by gamers’ needs.” The end results are the Lenovo Legion Y520 and Legion Y720 gaming notebooks.
Lenovo Legion Y520
The Y520 is the entry-level model, and is powered by Intel Core i7 processors. Up to 16GB of DDR4 memory is supported courtesy of two SODIMM slots, and customers can choose up to a 512GB PCIe SSD or up to a a 2TB SATA HDD. When it comes to graphics hardware, the Y520 doesn’t disappoint with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti GPU that powers a 15.6-inch 1080p display (16:9 with anti-glare coating).
Other features of the 5.3-pound gaming notebook include dual Harman-certified speakers with Dolby Audio Premium, a 45 WHr battery, and optional red backlighting for the keyboard.
Lenovo Legion Y720
The Legion Y720 also features a 15.6-inch display, but offers an optional 4K (3840x2160) upgrade. The Y720 has the same memory and storage options as the Y520, is available with both Core i5-7300HQ and Core i7-7700HQ processors, and swaps out the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti for a GeForce GTX 1060 (making it VR-ready). The Y720 will also be the world’s first Dolby Atmos Windows-based PC, is available with an optional RGB keyboard, and can be equipped with an optional Xbox One Wireless Receiver.
The Lenovo Legion Y520 and Y720 will be available starting from $899 (February) and $1,399 (April) respectively.
Lenovo’s popular ThinkPad X1 series has also been updated with Kaby Lake processors across the board. More specifically, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon’s runtime has been improved to 15.5 hours, and the Qualcomm Snapdragon X7 LTE-A and WiGig connectivity options can now coexist thanks to improvements to the antenna design on the notebook. Thunderbolt 3 support has been added along with Windows Hello integration courtesy of an IR camera.
ThinkPad X1 Carbon
The Match-on-Chip fingerprint sensor has also been enhanced, with Lenovo writing, “Enrolled data is processed in the sensor itself and all fingerprint images are handled inside the fingerprint processing unit preventing malicious logon access.”
The ThinkPad X1 Carbon is available in a new silver finish, which is a bit jarring to our eyes when placed besides the iconic black finish typically associated with ThinkPads.
Like the ThinkPad X1 Carbon, the ThinkPad X1 Yoga adds a silver finish option, Thunderbolt 3 and improved battery life (up to 15 hours). But it adds an optional 14-inch 4K OLED display with 100 percent Adobe RGB color space and Intel Iris Graphics.
ThinkPad X1 Yoga
The X1 Tablet rings in 2017 with modular port expansion and up to 5 hours of battery life. Lenovo also says that it has “simplified serviceability and a wide range of docking options make the X1 Tablet virtually unique in the detachable segment.”
The ThinkPad X1 Carbon, X1 Yoga and X1 Tablet are priced from $1,399 (February), $1,499 (February) and $949 (March) respectively.
