Lenovo's new Yoga 730, Flex 14 laptops should please content creators for less

During the MWC 2018 festivities, Lenovo took the opportunity to unveil three new 2-in-1 laptops set to launch later this year: the Lenovo Yoga 730 in 13.3- and- 15.6-inch varieties and a fresh Flex 14 (known as Yoga 530 outside the US). 

All three laptops are relatively budget-priced and are squarely aimed at users looking to either create with their PC, play casual, touch-based games or somewhere in between.

Starting with the new Yoga 730 line, these laptops come housing your choice of 1080p (1,920 x 1,080) or 4K UHD (3,840 x 2,160) touch displays with 360-degree hinges, starting at $879 (about £629, AU$1,129) and $899 (about £649, AU$1,149) for the 13-inch and 15-inch models, respectively. Both models come with an 8th-generation Intel Core i7 processor inside and up to 16GB of memory, and will be available this April.

Storage and graphics options are where the laptops begin to differ, with the 13-inch Yoga 730 supporting up to 512GB of solid-state drive (SSD) storage and the 15-inch as much as 1TB of SSD space. As for graphics, whereas the 13-inch model offers just integrated Intel graphics, the 15-inch variety offers up to an Nvidia GTX 1050 GPU.

Both versions of the Yoga 730 come housed in either an ‘Iron Grey’ or ‘Platinum’ anodized aluminum frame, replete with a fingerprint sensor for Windows Hello login. Also, each laptop offers both Amazon’s Alexa and Microsoft’s Cortana virtual assistants via far-field microphones and JBL speakers tuned with Dolby Atmos. 

As for connectivity, the 13-inch Yoga 730 packs two Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports, one USB 3.0 port and an audio jack; meanwhile the 15-inch model forgoes Thunderbolt 3 in lieu of two USB 3.0 ports, one USB-C 3.1 port, HDMI and an audio jack.

Finally, the laptops around 11 hours on a single charge behind a 1080p display and around 9 hours behind a 4K screen – and the 13-inch model offers fast charging (2 hours in just 15 minutes) through a Thunderbolt 3 port. 

Clearly, both of these laptops are aimed toward folks who seek the ultra-premium Yoga experience for a little less scratch and without too much compromise. You won’t find the luxe, trademark watchband hinge here, but you’ll get just about everything else.

Lenovo’s flexible, fun and frugal laptop

As for the Flex 14, Lenovo has kept to the laptop’s budget-oriented origins, with a 14-inch touch display that can be configured up to 1080p for just $599 (about £429, AU$769) to start this April. That starting price also gets you, surprisingly, an 8th-generation Intel Core i7 processor paired with up to 16GB of memory, as much as 512GB of SSD space and an optional Nvidia GeForce MX130 graphics chip with 4GB of DDR5 memory.

With a 270-degree hinge, the laptop comes in an Onyx Black lid and base with a gray keyboard deck beset with Harman Kardon speakers. The laptop is said to last up to 10 hours on a single charge, and supports the same fast-charging feature as the 13-inch Yoga 730.

On the hardwired connectivity front, the Flex 14 comes with one USB-C 3.1 port, two USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI port, a 4-in-1 card reader and an audio jack.

The Flex 14 also comes with both Alexa and Cortana baked in, brought to bear through those far-field microphones.

At last, all three of these laptops support Lenovo’s latest Active Pen 2 stylus, which comes included in the Flex 14’s starting and is sold separately for the Yoga 730 models. If you’re looking to design, edit or otherwise create media on the go and don’t want to spend a fortune, Lenovo is looking squarely at you with these three laptops, set to land this April.

MWC (Mobile World Congress) is the world’s largest exhibition for the mobile industry, stuffed full of the newest phones, tablets, wearables and more. TechRadar is reporting live from Barcelona all week to bring you the very latest from the show floor. Head to our dedicated MWC 2018 hub to see all the new releases, along with TechRadar’s world-class analysis and buying advice about your next phone.