Get Your Hands on the New Lenovo Yoga 920, and You Get More Than Upgraded Hardware


We expect Microsoft’s virtual assistant, Cortana, to be the “Siri” of the Windows world. In so, she is just as helpful as her predecessor. If other systems don’t have a virtual assistant, shouldn’t they? Lenovo, known so well for its Yoga platform of flexible laptops, has the added perk of guaranteeing that on-the-go personality. It’s top-of-the-line Yoga laptop flagship, the 920, has been shown off at the IFA show in Berlin, and now around the world as not only getting a processor upgrade, but Cortana is now able to answer questions from up to 13 feet away, thanks to a new set of laptop speakers with a far-field microphone array.

With the new Yoga 920 from Lenovo packing in a 13-inch LCD screen display with up to 4K graphics, you might not even notice its new metal-bronze finish (a change from the silver and copper options). The body still fully metal, and the hinge still favors that 360-degrees of freedom. One thing that became a frustration before but has now been fixed, is the keyboard, with bigger shift keys, plus a Microsoft Precision trackpad (one of the many loved features known on the Dell XPS 15 9560).

There’s still a HD webcam at 720p, yet moved to a more proper position than before (now at the top where it belongs, rather than the awkward setting of putting a camera in range of your nostrils, as it was centered at the bottom bezel. Speaking of bezels, Lenovo is calling its flagship “nearly edgeless”, with just 0.19 inches of width on the sides.

Weighing just 3.02 pounds and measuring .55 inches, you wouldn’t even imagine fitting “bigger and better” hardware in this thing, but that’s just how small things are in 2017. Still loaded with Intel’s integrated graphics, the latest 8th generation quad core i7 CPU is in there, alongside 8GB to 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. Ports include an amazing 2 Thunderbolt 3s, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1, and a fingerprint reader for authentication.

Finally, let’s relive that notion of Cortana becoming a better helper than ever. This by far, gives the latest addition to the Yoga range of 2-in-1 convertibles that special perk, essentially adding in a personal assistant. Its responsive far-field microphone wakes Cortana up, even when the laptop is off, or from a distance up to 4 meters, or 13 feet away. So yes, even if the laptop is closed, users could talk to Cortana, from up that distance, and she will respond. Users could find this useful when wanting to quickly jot down a thought in notes, or mark an event on their calendar. Voice-control is strong with this one, and as the last bit of news, Lenovo also announced a smaller model, the Lenovo Yoga 720 laptop, a smaller model, but with the same Cortana capability.

Topics: Technology News Convergence & Convertible Hybrid PCs Laptop Trends Laptops & Ultrathin Ultrabooks Tech Reviews

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