Lenovo Yoga 730, Yoga 530 2-in-1 Laptops With Alexa Support Launched at MWC 2018

Lenovo has unveiled three new laptop models is its 2-in-1 Yoga series. It launched Yoga 730 laptop in 13-inch and 15-inch variants alongside an all-new 14-inch Yoga 530 laptop. The Lenovo Yoga 730 and Yoga 530, also called as Flex 14, have received minor changes including Intel 8th gen processors and one key improvement - inbuilt Alexa support.

The new Yoga 2-in-1 laptops feature the latest 8th-generation Intel Core i7 processors, optional Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 discrete graphics (on the 15-inch Yoga 730) and full-sized keyboards. The new Yoga laptops come with up to an ultra-HD IPS touchscreen display on the Yoga 730 and a full-HD IPS touchscreen display on the Yoga 530, with thin borders. They come with an optional Lenovo Active Pen 2 with 4,096 levels of sensitivity to write, draw, or annotate with Windows Ink.

For added layer of security, Lenovo has added an integrated fingerprint reader through Windows Hello in the Yoga laptops. However, the most interesting change is the built-in Alexa support which adds to Microsoft's Cortana built into the Yoga 730, making it two voice-enabled assistants on the laptops. The above addition has been possible due to the newly introduced far-field microphones.

In terms of weight, the 15-inch Yoga 730 is just 1.89 kg, 1.12 kg for the 13-inch model. Additionally, the 14-inch Yoga 530 weighs 1.6 kg. The new Yoga 730 is said to have a battery life of up to 11.5 hours on the 13-inch model and up to 11 hours on the 15-inch variant. Also, with Rapid Charge, Lenovo says that in just 15 minutes users will get up to 2 hours of usage of the Yoga 530 and 13-inch Yoga 730.

Lenovo Yoga 730

In terms of pricing and availability, the 13-inch Yoga 730 with Lenovo Active Pen 2 included will start at EUR 999 (roughly Rs. 80,000), will be available in April. The 15-inch model with Lenovo Active Pen 2 included will start at EUR 1,099 (roughly Rs. 87,900), will be available in April. The 14-inch Yoga 530 will start at EUR 549 (roughly Rs. 43,900), will be available in June. Notably, Yoga 530 is marketed as Flex 14 in the US.

In addition to the laptops, Lenovo also showcased a trio of education-first Chromebooks at MWC 2018 in Barcelona. The company had already launched the Lenovo 100e, 300e, and 500e at CES 2018, but now it has made them available for sale. It said that the key new features include a new design plus Touch and Pen features

We spoke about all the big launches of MWC 2018 on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.