Foldable devices, beyond smartphones: Meet the new ThinkPad X1 Fold (2022)

In late 2022, Lenovo released the first tablet/laptop hybrid with a foldable screen. Needless to say, given its status as a cutting-edge experimental device, the original ThinkPad X1 Fold was not perfect by any stretch of the imagination.

Now, almost 2 years later, the second generation of the ThinkPad X1 Fold aims to succeed where its predecessor failed. The successor has been officially announced by Lenovo, and the device will go on sale by November of this year.

So what has exactly changed? Well, nearly everything, actually. The new ThinkPad X1 Fold will introduce a substantial size increase, bumping the device to 16” when unfolded. You heard me right - a 16” foldable tablet.

This will make the foldable a much more viable laptop replacement, as well as give an unparalleled amount of screen real estate in tablet mode. Because it is, after all, a foldable, the X1 Fold will not have anywhere near the same footprint of a typical device with a 16” screen - in fact, it will be relatively portable when folded.

Admittedly, as most notebook-style foldables like Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4, the X1 Fold will be rather chunky when folded, but there has been some slimming down in comparison to the previous generation. Additionally, one of the biggest pet peeves with the original were its enormous bezels. Luckily, they have also been trimmed down and the second generation of the X1 Fold has a respectable screen-to-body ratio.

The ThinkPad X1 Fold will be rocking Windows, Intel’s 12th-Gen Core i5/i7 processors, up to 32GB of RAM and up to 1TB of SSD. The price of the base model will also be much lower than that of its predecessor - the device now starts at $2,499. This, however, does not include the keyboard and stylus, which are both necessary for making the most out of this foldable.

Is the ThinkPad X1 Fold for everyone? Absolutely not. However, given how much more refined the second generation is, this might just give us some hope about the future of foldables beyond smartphones. We are looking at you Samsung.