Lenovo IdeaPad S940 review: King of the Ultrabooks

Laptop PCs are undergoing a like transformation as smartphones, with a push button towards thinner and better displays driving the latest innovations. The Lenovo IdeaPad S940 was announced at CES before this twelvemonth initially under the Yoga make, and information technology is at present available to purchase. With its contoured 4K HDR display, sparse body, and outstanding audio, it is easily one of the best Ultrabooks of 2022.

After spending a few weeks with the laptop, I accept a proficient thought of what works and what may exist some sore spots of this meaning challenger to the Dell XPS 13.

An ultra-Ultrabook with 4K HDR

Lenovo IdeaPad S940

From $1,399

Bottom line: The IdeaPad S940 is a slick, media-watching machine that won't strain your shoulder when conveying information technology in bag. The dazzling 4K HDR brandish and rocking quad speakers make watching movies a delight, but the battery life is miserable, and the abrupt edges make extended typing a bit uncomfortable.

Pros:

• Outstanding 4K HDR display.
• Splendid Dolby Atmos quad speakers.
• Small form cistron for a 14-inch laptop.
• Contoured brandish is excellent.

Cons:

• Below average bombardment life.
• Minor keyboard deck can injure wrists and palms.
• Only USB Blazon-C ports.

Lenovo IdeaPad S940 features

The IdeaPad S940 is a 14-inch premium-level Ultrabook that is as well 1 of the lightest, slimmest and leanest on the market place. Its rivals in this class include the Dell XPS 13, Huawei MateBook X Pro (or MateBook 13), and Surface Laptop 2.

Its major selling points volition exist the best-in-class (not-impact) display, which peaks at 4K with HDR 400 (500 nits of brightness) and its quad-speaker setup powered by Dolby Atmos. It has a Microsoft Precision Touchpad, splendid – but slightly shallow – keyboard, and 3 USB Type-C ports (two Thunderbolt 3), along with a Windows Hullo infrared camera for instant logins.

Category	Spec
Display	13.nine-inch UHD (3840 10 2400) IPS LCD, HDR400, 500-nit effulgence thirteen.nine-inch FHD (1920 ten 1080) IPS LCD, Dolby Vision HDR, 400-nit effulgence
Processor	Intel 8th Gen Cadre i5 or i7
Graphics	Intel UHD 620
RAM	8GB or 16GB LPDDR3
Storage	256GB, 512GB, or 1TB PCIe SSD
Ports	Two USB-C Thunderbolt 3, 1 USB-C three.
Camera	Windows Hello IR camera
Battery	52 WHr Upwardly to 15 hours (FHD) or 7.five hours (UHD) USB-C Rapid Accuse
Dimensions	12.57 in 10 7.77 in x 0.48 in (319.iii mm x 197.4 mm x 12.two mm)
Weight	Starting at 2.64 lbs (1.2 kg)
Availability	Now
Toll	Starting at $ane,399.99

The raison d 'être for this laptop is elementary: sleek design. Lenovo is pushing boundaries to deliver a very cool looking laptop. That's not to suggest it's neutered, only when you lot go this thin with a 4K display at that place will exist some compromises.

Lenovo IdeaPad S940 display and camera

Lenovo offers both a sixteen:nine 14-inch full HD and a full 4K display panel option, but it'south the 4K one that is going to get all the attending – as it should. The 4K panel is jaw-dropping, with native HDR 400 support letting you stream Netflix, Vudu, and Amazon video with loftier-dynamic range. That content looks fantastic, making this PC ideal for those who binge a lot of Netflix in bed or who take hold of movies on flights.

Lenovo says the display tin can hit 500-nits of effulgence, only we clocked it closer to 540 nits, which is exceptionally bright for a laptop. Colour accuracy is besides first-class with 100 per centum sRGB coverage and 86 percent Adobe RGB. The display is glossy, just not so much as to be a trouble.

The display is not-touch, notwithstanding, which is a letdown. To make up for it, Lenovo is touting its new curved Contour Display engineering. This blueprint ways the edges of the display curve on the sides, just like modern smartphones, instead of meeting a thick, plastic bezel. The effect is the bezels wait even thinner, since they are sweeping away from the forepart, and the display feels nicer since there are no hard edges.

The 4K console is jaw-dropping.

Lenovo likewise used a "reverse notch" for the front-facing web camera. Typically, laptops either keep fatter bezels to accommodate the web camera or put it below the display (or even in the keyboard deck, like Huawei). Lenovo'southward solution is brilliant. Non only does the photographic camera sit down in its rightful position, but at that place is full Windows Hello with an infrared camera.

That notch also doubles as a quick nub to open up the display one-handed, making it one of the simplest but most effective innovations in years for laptop screens.

Non all is good, however, and that 720p web photographic camera is quite perhaps the worst one I accept used on a modern laptop.

Lenovo IdeaPad S940 keyboard, trackpad, and audio

Lenovo is considered by many to be an expert in keyboards, and much of that prowess shines here. The S940 uses the familiar chicklet- or "smile"-style keys institute in most of Lenovo's Yoga line of PCs. Key travel is on the shallow end, however. That said, information technology's splendid to type on information technology and feels quite comfortable for spacing. While deeper travel would accept been preferred due to how thin this laptop is, it's forgivable.

Two-stage backlighting keeps the keys well illuminated, and since the keys are a dark grayness, the dissimilarity is excellent fifty-fifty in daylight.

The trackpad is large, hit right beneath the spacebar and nearly touching the lesser edge. Lenovo rightly maximized space hither, and it works well. The trackpad uses Microsoft Precision drivers, and the hardware is smooth, glass with no erratic behavior.

Related: What are Microsoft Precision touchpad drivers?

My 1 major gripe with typing on the IdeaPad S940 is a similar one found on the Dell XPS 13 and even HP Spectre series. Considering these all apply 16:9 laptop displays, the bottom deck for your palms has a sudden drop off compared to something similar Surface Laptop or the Huawei MateBook Ten Pro. That means your lesser palms are always on the metallic border of the laptop, and if you lean in, the pressure can be uncomfortable after xx minutes or so. Because Microsoft uses a 3:2 brandish, it is naturally taller, which means the corresponding keyboard deck is too longer, solving this problem.

Lenovo has finally figured how to make good sounding speakers. Starting with the "all soundbar" Yoga C930, the IdeaPad S940 goes for a more traditional quad-speaker setup with two speakers on the bottom edge and ii on the peak deck. Working with Dolby labs on the hardware and software has resulted in some of the best speakers in an Ultrabook this thin. Music is loud, crisp, and information technology has excellent spatial separation. Combined with that 4K HDR display, you lot get one of the best media laptop experiences on the market.

Lenovo IdeaPad S940 ports, power, and operation

If there were a category for ultra Ultrabooks, the IdeaPad S940 would fit nicely. There are just 3 ports – all of which are USB Type-C, with ii beingness powerful Thunderbolt 3. There'south as well a headphone jack. That means living the dongle-life if you desire to employ an one-time thumb drive, connect an external monitor, or plug in a mouse. Charging with the included 65-watt charger is also washed through ane of those Blazon-C ports leaving you at least two open for dongles or hubs.

Battery life is weak due to the bright 4K display.

Again, considering that this laptop is 12.ii mm thin (0.48 inches), this is forgivable. Lenovo has plenty of thicker laptops with a more robust port pick, only it's clear for the S940 the visitor was going for super slim.

Operation from the Intel Cadre i7-8565U processor is on par with other laptops in this class but still behind Huawei, which utilize a more aggressive thermal profile with dual-fans. While the CPU hither is fine, pushing 4K worth of pixels will tax the Intel HD graphics and crusade occasional stutters or delays. A more reasonable configuration would be opting for a Core i5-8265U processor with only full HD graphics. But and then yous miss out on that stellar brandish.

CPU SSD

CPU

Geekbench four.0 Benchmarks (higher is better)

Device	CPU	Single cadre	Multi core
Lenovo IdeaPad S940	Cadre i7-8565U	5,101	14,089
Huawei MateBook xiv	Core i7-8565U	5,327	17,522
Huawei MateBook Ten Pro (new)	Cadre i7-8565U	five,192	16,757
Huawei MateBook 13	Core i7-8565U	v,336	17,062
HP EliteBook x360 1040G5	Cadre i7-8565U	four,928	13,524
HP Spectre x360 13t	Core i7-8565U	5,056	14,767
Surface Laptop 2	Core i5-8250U	4,203	13,233
Surface Laptop	Core i7-7660U	iv,714	9,535
LG gram 14 2-in-one	Core i7-8565U	4,829	xiii,889
LG gram 17	Core i7-8565U	five,161	13,370
Lenovo Yoga C930	Cadre i7-8550U	iv,787	15,028
Dell XPS 13 (9370)	Core i7-8550U	four,681	14,816

SSD

CrystalDiskMark (higher is ameliorate)

Device	Read	Write
Lenovo IdeaPad S940	3,383 MB/s	1,979 MB/s
Huawei MateBook 14	three,470 MB/s	1,920 MB/south
Huawei MateBook Ten Pro (new)	3,416 MB/s	ii,779 MB/s
Huawei MateBook thirteen	3,436 MB/s	two,553 MB/southward
HP Spectre x360 13t	3,085 MB/s	ane,182 MB/s
LG gram 14 two-in-1	558.i MB/s	523.1 MB/s
Lenovo Yoga C930	2,596 MB/southward	806 MB/southward
Lenovo Yoga 730 thirteen	2,790 MB/s	506 MB/s
Lenovo IdeaPad 730S	three,450 MB/s	1,463 MB/south
Lenovo Yoga C630	791 MB/s	220 MB/s
ASUS ZenBook S	550 MB/s	512 MB/s
ASUS ZenBook xv	1,725 MB/s	1,447 MB/s

.

The 52 WHr bombardment is another weak spot, due once more to that 500+ nit 4K display. If left at twenty percent screen brightness, which is still very intense, users can button 6.5 hours of usage. That number drops if yous use the brandish at 50 percent or higher, considering such a bright HDR screen is going to use the most power of any component, meaning you may merely go v hours. Luckily, USB Blazon-C Rapid Charge (in power-off fashion) tin assistance.

Oestrus and fan noise are as expected. A laptop this thin running a Core i7 U-processor will have some audible fan noise, particularly if installing a Windows Update while plugged in and on max performance settings. It's not bad fan noise – a slight whooshing, absent whatsoever high-pitched whines – and considering the overall design, it's comparable to most laptops in this class. The bottom of the figurer can also become warm under the abiding hammering of the CPU.

Lenovo IdeaPad S940 bottom line

Lenovo has proven with its new consumer laptops similar Yoga C930 (1 of my favorite laptops) and the new IdeaPad S940 that information technology can create existent works of PC art. The S940's all-metal chassis, precision cut angles, and brilliant display design significantly push the Ultrabook category forward. Toss in outstanding quad-speakers, a bright 4K HDR display, curved glass for the screen, and robust industrial blueprint, and yous get what is hands one of the most cute looking media laptops of 2022.

All that good, though, comes at a price. If yous opt for the dazzling 4K HDR display, your battery life will be 1 of the lowest for an Ultrabook. The fast-charging Type-C port helps make that a minor problem if you don't mind packing a charger or battery pack, only it's even so not platonic.

There's as well that 16:9 brandish, which direct affects the overall pattern. The IdeaPad S940 is just not very comfy with the metal edge of the laptop excavation into your palms. Ideally, Lenovo would redesign this laptop with a taller brandish and therefore larger palm-rest area.

The IdeaPad S940 is one seriously slick auto.

Lenovo was going for more pizzazz than practical with the IdeaPad S940. It'south an extreme Ultrabook – very light, super small footprint, but also excelling in media presentation. From that perspective, the IdeaPad S940 is a success and an impressive cosmos, equally long every bit you can live with a few, but apparent shortcomings.

Who should buy the IdeaPad S940? Students will dear the compact pattern and fantastic audio and brandish. Anyone who watches a lot of TV or movies on a laptop while traveling will also be a good fit. While users will demand to stay close to an Air conditioning outlet, the IdeaPad S940 volition undoubtedly turn heads at the local coffee joint.

Those looking for something a lilliputian larger, but also turns into a tablet with inking and a congenital-in stylus should check out Lenovo'due south Yoga C930. It'll deliver better battery life and more apply cases, plus first-class audio. Yet, the display of the Yoga C930 pales in comparison to the nigh-perfect IdeaPad S940 screen.

While I was disappointed with the short palm rest and bombardment life, I applaud Lenovo's design chops and quality of materials here. The IdeaPad S940 is a articulate shot at Dell's XPS 13 (and HP's aging Spectre 13t), and it generally succeeds, while bringing a few innovations to the table. The rise of 4K HDR displays, quad speakers, and contoured display edges is a welcomed advancement in laptops, and the IdeaPad S940 is one seriously slick car.

An ultra-Ultrabook with 4K HDR

Lenovo IdeaPad S940

Crawly screen, great speakers, super sparse

The IdeaPad S940 brings exciting technology like contoured glass, 4K HDR display, and brilliant Dolby Atmos quad sound to i of the smallest 14-inch Ultrabooks on the market place. Merely subpar battery life, no Blazon-A ports, and uncomfortable typing may exist an issue for some.

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Buyer'south guide

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Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/lenovo-ideapad-s940-review

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