The annual IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin covers about 160,000 square meters and almost 2,000 exhibitors. Whether it was on the floor, at a press conference, at the media-only Showstoppers event, or in private meetings, we scoured IFA to find the latest and greatest to make up Gear Diary’s Best of IFA 2018 list.
Lenovo knows that deep down, we all want to be Jedis. Who doesn’t look good with a laser sword and a bathrobe? They’ve already tapped into that primal desire with their Star Wars Jedi Challenges Augmented Reality game, and now they’re adding more features, plus a chance to play as everyone’s favorite moody emo darkside guy, Kylo Ren.
If you’re in the market for a laptop this fall, you’ll want to pay close attention to what’s coming out of IFA, especially from Lenovo! They’ve got Yoga, Thinkpad, and Chromebook updates, meaning something is likely to fit your needs and your budget.
The death of the Android tablet has been greatly exaggerated. Or at least premature. Lenovo seems to think there’s some life in the tablet market still, and they’ve a slew of budget Android tablets to prove it.
With a price starting at $329.99 (currently $279.99), the Lenovo Flex 6 11” Convertible is an affordable way to get a laptop with Lenovo quality, a flexible design, a touchscreen, and features that will let you get work done on the go. The laptop isn’t perfect, but for under $280 it gives you a totally functional laptop packed with features.
Anyone who tells you there’s no innovation or growth in the PC market isn’t paying attention to gaming. Companies are finding new ways to cram power, heat management, and serious displays into smaller and sleeker cases. Lenovo is all-in with a whole slew of new Legion gaming PCs ranging from super-portable to super-powerful.
Describe your perfect laptop. What would you want? Light enough to carry every day? A brilliant and large display packed into a compact body? Powerful enough to run every program? Something with plenty of built-in ports? Long battery life? The ability to be used as a tablet? The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga (2018 20LD0015US) checks every box.
The rule of thumb with computers used to be that you had to spend the absolute top of your budget in order to get a decent PC. Technology moves swiftly, and even lower-end devices are extremely powerful. Lenovo has taken full advantage of this, with their latest line of IdeaPad notebooks that are perfect for college.
We can’t say that we didn’t see this coming, but just in time for May the Fourth, a multiplayer mode has finally arrived for the Star Wars: Jedi Challenges AR system. More specifically, the multiplayer mode is being called Lightsaber Versus Mode, and it will be available via a free app update on the App Store and Google Play.
We’re freshly back from Barcelona, where we’ve seen the latest tablets, laptops, phones, and wearables. Here are our top picks for the Best of Mobile World Congress 2018.
If you’ve ever looked at Lenovo’s Chromebooks and wished they weren’t only available for education, then you’ll be glad to know that the Lenovo 300e and 500e Chromebooks are now available for everyone to buy, and the 100e will be available in March.
If you’ve become disheartened by current laptop prices, you’ll be happy to know that there are some great options coming from Lenovo that are not only feature-rich, but they’re also reasonably priced. Case in point, the 13″ and 15″ Lenovo Yoga 730 and the 14″ Flex 14. Each will cost under $1000, but you’d never guess it from looking at them.
Buying a new laptop is stressful — especially when you want something that is light enough to carry every day, something you can use in every scenario you might find yourself in, and yet is powerful enough to work as your primary computer. For your consideration, I submit the Lenovo Yoga 920 2-in-1; it’s the best of all worlds.
With more than 4,000 companies exhibiting at CES, choosing the best of CES was a challenge. Even so, we want to recognize the products we saw that are truly innovative, take technology in new directions or, in one case, make something great accessible to every consumer.
Virtual reality is quickly gaining steam as a mature, mainstream technology. It’s gone from concept to a geeky project to something the everyday person can not only understand, but also utilize and enjoy. Lenovo wants to really bring that to the next level with their Mirage Solo and Mirage Camera, and by including Google Daydream and a whole lot more!
Whether you are on the go or on your couch, the Miix 630 delivers. The Miix is Lenovo’s first Always On, Always Connected PC and it’s also a 2-in-1, with a removable keyboard and pen support for writing on the screen directly. It also packs in 4G connectivity with a sim card slot, so you can work from anywhere there is cell signal and not rely on WiFi or carrier pigeon – or any other local network.
There are very few laptop brands that non-tech geeks recognize. They’re aware that Samsung, HP, and Dell make PCs, but the one laptop that evokes an “Oh yeah, those are supposed to be great, right?” is the ThinkPad.
Voice assistants on our phones, from Google to Alexa to Siri, have gone from novelties to key parts of our daily workflow. Up until now, with the exception of the Amazon Echo Show, they’ve been stuck solely on phones, tablets, and speakers. Lenovo is smashing everyone’s perception of a digital assistant with the Smart Display, which will quickly become the main hub of your home. The Smart display one-ups the Amazon Echo Show by offering larger screen options, and instead of Alexa, it’s focused on Google Assistant integration.
Lenovo makes what I sometimes joke are the Toyota of computer —they aren’t always flashy, but they are solid workhorses that can and will handle anything you toss their way. 2018 is bringing some new updates for the Lenovo ThinkPad lines, and whether you need a ThinkPad T, X, or L, they’ve got you covered with an impressively updated lineup!
When we reviewed Star Wars: Jedi Challenges last month, we expected that Lenovo and Disney would be pushing out new content for the system over time. They haven’t disappointed us, and have just announced that new content is coming that is inspired by Star Wars Episode 8 The Last Jedi.
Lenovo’s Star Wars: Jedi Challenges is arguably the most exciting use of augmented reality we’ve seen to date. To that effect, for anyone who has ever wanted to experience the feeling of what it’s like to wield a lightsaber (and that’s most of us) then this is the closest you’ll probably ever get to that experience. But sheesh – it turns out that wielding a lightsaber is a total workout! Who knew?