A pen (with magnetic attachment), a keyboard (finally full-size!), and a detachable keyboard stand are the included accessories. The ThinkPad keyboard features the famous TrackPoint to move the cursor and a ‘small’ haptic trackpad: some may prefer to bring a mouse for desk use. Additionally, the keyboard needs to be charged via USB-C, which seems a bit of a style fall in such a futuristic device. However, the typing experience is good, although attaching the device to the bottom of the screen is not exactly memorable: it wobbles a bit occasionally. Nevertheless, compared to the previous model, it is an incredible step forward. Writers, step right up.

In the first version of the Fold, the stand was integrated into the chassis. Separating it means opening up new possibilities (such as using the screen vertically, even semi-folded, which many will appreciate) but implies an extra item to carry around. Keyboard and stand, added to the device which is certainly not ultra-thin by itself, create quite a thickness to fit into a bag (the weight of the device alone is just under a kilogram and three hundred grams, plus accessories). One also wonders if it would not have been more elegant to have the keyboard and stand combined in a cover to attach to the body of the device, rather than a somewhat blandly magnetic solution like the current one. The impression is that Lenovo’s design team could have asked themselves a few more questions about how users will transport this device: the thought of it ending up in a bag is not so obvious. Often you carry it under your arm just like a notebook. But what about a shoulder strap, for example?

When opening the X1 Fold halfway as if it were a laptop but without using the keyboard, it might happen that the system requests the PIN for access. However, the box where to input it will be placed almost exactly where the screen folds, making it difficult to access. This is just an example of the greater difficulty in using this device: the operating system is not entirely ready, despite Lenovo’s attempts to patch it, for example with an intelligent system for arranging windows on the two halves of the screen. But it would not hurt to have, for example, the ability to darken portions of the screen, or a better and more responsive virtual keyboard. Here all the limitations of using Windows 11 as a fully touch system, without a physical keyboard, emerge. Obviously, the uniqueness of this foldable does not help.

Moving from the approximately 13 inches of the first generation (2021) to the 16" of this new version definitely means losing something in portability and partly also in functionality – if used as a tablet. On the other hand, the potential for use increases, and by increasing the available space for components, the technological equipment grows, which is no longer a compromise as in the first model. The keyboard becomes full-size, and there is also room for a second battery. The first foldable was created during the pandemic, without the possibility of meeting in person. This one, on the other hand, is the result of constant in-person interaction, as well as great multiculturalism: it was developed in Lenovo centers in the USA (North Carolina) and Asia (China and Japan).