Lenovo C930 Review: A 2-in-1 Laptop with Various Configurations

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Lenovo C930: At First Glance

Due to the increasing demand for 2-in-1 convertible laptops in the market, Lenovo released the C930 in 2018. The Lenovo C930 is a 13.9-inch convertible laptop and a revamped successor to the successful Lenovo C920.

Similar to its predecessor, the Lenovo C930 offers an amazing design and a long list of excellent specs. Some of these specs include a long-lasting battery, an SSD storage type, and a 4K resolution option.

Impressively, regardless of its excellent features and specs, this Lenovo laptop isn’t particularly expensive. Specifically, when this review article was published in April 2022, the Lenovo C930 had a starting price of $758.

However, with its predecessor featuring similar specs, does the Lenovo C930 offer better performance? To get an answer to that question, I urge you to continue reading.

Lenovo C930: Design, Dimension, and Weight

As stated earlier, the Lenovo C930 features an amazing design just like its predecessor. To start with, the laptop’s chassis is entirely crafted with polished aluminum material that gives off a luxurious look and feel.

Moreover, this laptop is available in either Mica color or Iron-grey color. Besides, due to its aluminum chassis, the laptop is very sturdy, with little to no flex or creaking sounds.

To add to the laptop’s stylish look, Lenovo inscribed a glossy “Yoga” logo on the top left corner of the lid. Speaking of which, the lid is firmly attached to the base of the laptop by an aluminum bar hinge with a matte finish.

This bar hinge is very sturdy and allows the laptop’s lid to rotate seamlessly. Speaking of rotating, as a convertible laptop, the hinge enables the lid to rotate a full 360 degrees.

As a result, you will be able to use the Lenovo C930 in different modes. These modes are stand mode, tablet mode, the typical laptop mode, and tent mode.

Uniquely, Lenovo smartly turned this laptop’s 360-degree bar hinge into a sound system. To be more precise, the bar hinge houses two sets of speakers that support Dolby Atmos.

These speakers are quite loud, produce adequate bass, and provide a decent sound quality for a premium audio experience. Moreover, with the help of Dolby Atmos (a revolutionary spatial audio technology), the speakers offer an immersive and theatre-like sound quality.

That said, the Lenovo C930 comes with a 13.9-inch touchscreen display. Impressively, this display is available with two resolution options which are FHD (1920 x 1080) and 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) resolution.

However, this review is based on the Lenovo C930 with a 13.9-inch touchscreen display and FHD resolution. Performance-wise, this FHD display offers colorful and decent picture quality for web browsing and video streaming.

Nevertheless, the laptop with the 4K UHD resolution display option should deliver better and sharper picture quality. This is because a 4K UHD resolution display has about 2x times the amount of pixels found on an FHD resolution display.

Hence, if you are a graphics designer, I recommend you purchase the Lenovo C930 with a 4K UHD resolution display. Besides, with either resolution option, this laptop’s display features a glossy surface.

Due to this glossy surface, the display offers exceptional color presentation and an awesome black level. However, the glossy surface causes reflections and distracting screen glare when you use the display in bright areas.

On a positive note, this laptop’s display offers an outstanding maximum brightness of 300 nits. Hence, using the Lenovo C930 in a sunny environment or outdoors should be less bothersome.

Aside from its outstanding maximum brightness, this display is also surrounded by slim bezels with a matte-black finish. Impressively, despite being so slim, Lenovo managed to add an HD webcam with a TrueBlock privacy shutter in the center of the upper bezel.

In terms of performance, this webcam is very good for video conferencing but isn’t ideal for taking selfies. This is due to the fact that it generates grainy and blurry images.

On the good side, the privacy shutter of the webcam prevents web spying.

Moving on to the deck region of the Lenovo C930, you will find a full-size chiclet keyboard. This keyboard has a two-stage white backlight that can be turned on or off using the F3 key.

Besides, the keyboard offers a good typing experience as its keys are well-spaced and responsive. However, this keyboard offers short key travel, resulting in poor accuracy when typing.

Just so you know, key travel is the distance between the resting point of a key to full depression. That aside, beneath the Lenovo C930’s keyboard is a spacious touchpad with two integrated click buttons.

This touchpad offers a smooth surface that is very sensitive with great precision and accuracy. Moreover, the touchpad supports multi-touch gestures like pinch-to-zoom.

Impressively, on the right side of this touchpad is a fingerprint sensor for biometric login via Windows Hello.

In terms of ports, the Lenovo C930 offers a limited number of ports due to its slim build and lightweight. To be more precise, the right side of this laptop houses just the power button.

Whereas the left side houses a USB 3.1 Type-A port, two USB 3.1 Type-C (supports Thunderbolt 3), and a combo audio jack. Meanwhile, the rear of the laptop features a pen slot.

This slot is a small in-built channel that holds the included stylus pen when not in use and also charges it. Speaking of the stylus pen, Lenovo says it delivers 4,096 points of pressure sensitivity in the tip.

This means that the pen would give you a pen-on-paper experience.

That said, in terms of wireless connectivity, the Lenovo C930 supports Bluetooth 4.1 and WIFI 802.11ac 2 x 2.

For dimension and weight, the Lenovo C930 measures 322 x 227 x 14.5 mm – 14.9 mm (W x D x H) and weighs 1380 g. In comparison with the ASUS ZenBook Flip 14, this Lenovo laptop is thinner and lighter.

Specifically, the ASUS ZenBook Flip 14 measures and weighs 320 x 206 x 17.9 mm (W x D x H) and 1400 g, respectively.

Putting everything into consideration, I will rate the Lenovo C930 an eight out of ten in this design review section.

Lenovo C930: Processor (CPU) Performance

The Lenovo C930 features an 8th-generation quad-core Intel Core i7-8550U processor with a cache memory of 8 MB. Furthermore, this processor runs at a base clock speed of 1.80 GHz and a maximum clock speed of 4.0 GHz.

Performance-wise, the Intel Core i7-8550U processor should effectively handle both basic and demanding computing tasks. As a matter of fact, with this CPU, the Lenovo C930 will be able to smoothly run intensive apps like Corel Draw and Adobe Photoshop.

That’s not all; the laptop should be able to multitask with ease. To further prove the laptop’s performance, I will now discuss its results on a Cinebench R15 test.

For clarity, the Cinebench R15 test is a benchmark test that evaluates a computer’s processing abilities by assessing its processor’s cores. Hence, this test involves two distinct tests which are the single-core test and the multi-core test.

In brief, the single-core test evaluates a computer’s performance when one of its processor’s cores is being used. On the other hand, the multi-core test evaluates the computer’s performance when all of its processor’s available cores are in use.

Moreover, the higher the scores on the Cinebench R15 tests, the better the processor performance of the computer. So, according to the test results, the Lenovo C930 scored 159 points on the single-core test.

Meanwhile, on the Cinebench R15 multi-core test, this laptop scored 580 points. When compared with the ASUS ZenBook Flip 14 UX461UA, which uses an Intel Core i5-8250U CPU, the Lenovo C930 performed way better.

Specifically, the ASUS ZenBook Flip 14 UX461UA scored 144 points and 558 points on the Cinebench R15 single-core and multi-core tests respectively.

As a result, the Lenovo C930 deserves a rating of nine out of ten in this processor performance review section.

Lenovo C930: Memory (RAM) Performance

The Lenovo C930 comes equipped with various configurations of memory that will meet most users’ needs. To be more specific, you can purchase this laptop with either 8 GB DDR4 RAM, 12 GB DDR4 RAM, or 16 GB DDR4 RAM.

However, these memories are onboard, meaning they are soldered to the laptop’s motherboard. Hence, replacing or upgrading the memory on a particular Lenovo C930 model to a higher memory is not possible.

For instance, if you purchase the Lenovo C930 with 8 GB RAM, you cannot upgrade it up to 12 GB RAM or 16 GB RAM. However, as hinted earlier, you can purchase another model of the laptop with 12 GB RAM or 16 GB RAM.

Having said that, this review is based on Lenovo C930, which comes with 8 GB DDR4 memory. With this amount of RAM, this laptop should be able to multitask effectively without any issues.

Specifically, the Lenovo C930 will deliver smooth performance while running 15 Chrome tabs and two YouTube videos simultaneously. As a matter of fact, switching between these Chrome tabs and YouTube videos should be very easy for the laptop.

To further verify this laptop’s performance with 8 GB RAM, I will be sharing its result on a PCMark 8 test. Briefly, a PCMark 8 test is a benchmark tool that evaluates a computer’s memory performance by simulating office-related computing operations.

Moreover, a high on this benchmark test means better memory performance. Hence, the Lenovo C930 delivered an impressive score of 3774 points on the PCMark 8 test.

Comparatively, this laptop performed better than the Dell Inspiron 15 i5559 4682slv Signature Edition, which scored 2663 points on the PCMark 8 test.

In conclusion, although not upgradeable, the Lenovo C930 offers sufficient memory options. Hence, I will rate the laptop a nine out of ten in this memory review section.

Lenovo C930: Storage Options and Performance

In terms of storage, the Lenovo C930 comes with a PCle NVMe SSD storage type. This storage drive supports a maximum storage capacity of 1 TB, which I believe should be sufficient for most users.

Sadly, this Lenovo laptop does not offer an SD card reader for storage expansion. Nevertheless, with a maximum storage capacity of 1 TB SSD, you won’t be thinking much about storage expansion.

However, if you ever need extra storage space, you can simply purchase an external hard drive. Apparently, that comes at an extra cost.

Nonetheless, due to its SSD, the Lenovo C930 offers a rapid boot time and fast transfer speed. For instance, on a file transfer test, the laptop copied 4.97 GB of multimedia files at an outstanding transfer rate of 339.3 MB/s.

To further verify this laptop’s storage performance, I will be sharing its results on a CrystalDiskMark test. For clarity, a CrystalDiskMark test is a benchmark tool that evaluates a computer’s storage performance by measuring its read and write speed in “MBps”.

To be clear, the read speed is the time it takes a computer’s storage drive to open a file. Meanwhile, the write speed is the time it takes the storage drive to save a file.

Besides, a high “MBps” value on the CrystalDiskMark test means a fast read and write speed. Hence, from the test results, the Lenovo C930 delivered a sequential read and write speed of 1480 MBps and 452.8 MBps, respectively.

In comparison with the ASUS ZenBook Flip 14, the Lenovo C930 offers a faster read speed but slower write speed. To be more precise, the ASUS ZenBook Flip 14 recorded a sequential read speed of 905 MBps on the CrystalDiskMark test.

Also, the laptop recorded a sequential write speed of 532.9 MBps.

All in all, I will rate the Lenovo C930 an eight out of ten in this storage review section.

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Lenovo C930: Graphics Card Performance

When it comes to the GPU, the Lenovo C930 is equipped with an integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620 chip. This graphics chip runs on a base frequency of 300 GHz and a boost frequency of 1150 GHz.

However, as an integrated graphics chip, it is built into the CPU of the laptop and lacks a dedicated VRAM. Due to this, the GPU shares the system memory with the CPU to perform graphics-related operations.

As a result, the Lenovo C930 won’t be able to effectively carry out graphics-demanding tasks like video editing. Also, the laptop may not be able to play title AAA games like Red Dead Redemption.

Nevertheless, the Lenovo C930 can smoothly run most Windows games like Candy Crush.

Moving on, to further verify this laptop’s graphics performance, I will now be discussing its 3DMark test result. However, before I do so, let me briefly explain what this test is all about.

The 3DMark 11 test is an app-based cross-platform benchmark tool for measuring the 3D and 2D graphics rendering ability of a computer. Furthermore, a high score on this test implies good graphics rendering performance.

Hence, based on the test results, the Levono C930 scored 1910 points. Impressively, this laptop’s score surpasses the score gotten by the HP Pavilion 14-ce0068st with over 100 points.

To be more specific, the HP Pavilion 14-ce0068st, which uses an Intel UHD Graphics 620, scored 1742 points on the 3DMark 11 test.

Finally, I will rate the Lenovo C930 an eight out of ten in this review section. This rating is due to the fact that the laptop beats one of its closest competitors on a GPU benchmark test.

Lenovo C930: Battery life and Performance

The Lenovo C930 features a 60 WHr Li-Polymer battery. As stated earlier in the design section, you can get this laptop either with an FHD or 4K UHD resolution.

In that regard, Lenovo advertised that the 60 WHr Li-Polymer battery could last up to 12 hours with the Lenovo C930 FHD resolution model. Meanwhile, the 4K UHD resolution model can last up to 10 hours, as also advertised by Lenovo.

However, since this review is based on the Lenovo C930 FHD resolution model, I will be discussing its result on a battery rundown test. Just so you know, this battery rundown test is to verify Lenovo’s 12 hours battery life claim.

Also, the test involves continuous web browsing over a Wi-Fi connection while the laptop’s brightness is at 200 nits. Hence, at the end of the test, the Lenovo C930 delivered a battery life of 10 hours and 10 minutes.

Although not up to Lenovo’s claim, this laptop’s battery life is really impressive. In fact, the battery life surpasses the ones of its closest competitors.

For instance, the ASUS ZenBook Flip 14 lasted 9 hours and 27 minutes on the same battery rundown test.

Therefore, I will rate the Lenovo C930 a nine out of ten in this battery performance review section.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

The Lenovo C930 is a neat, slim, and sturdy convertible 2-in-1 laptop with lots of jaw-dropping specs. Specifically, this laptop features a beautiful design, a powerful Intel Core i7 CPU, and a super-fast SSD.

Moreover, as a convertible laptop, this laptop is very versatile and can be used in numerous modes, including tablet mode. However, due to its compact and slim build, the Lenovo C930 features a limited amount of ports.

Also, the laptop lacks an SD card reader for storage expansion. Regardless, with a little over $700, the Lenovo C930 is a steal and worth considering.

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