Lenovo L13 Yoga Review: A Dual-Camera Convertible Laptop

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Lenovo L13 Yoga: At First Glance

Like its older sibling – the L390 Yoga, the Lenovo L13 Yoga is designed as a convertible business laptop.

Although this laptop remains similar in most aspects to the L390 Yoga, Lenovo has tweaked its design and modernized it for 2021. The L13 Yoga now has thinner bezels than its older sibling and improved internal hardware.

Arguably, this convertible laptop is quite pricey. However, its price is justifiable by the exciting features it packs.

Speaking of its price, when this review was written in February 2022, this laptop started at $1,499.99. To discover if the Lenovo L13 Yoga is worth upgrading over its older sibling?

Please read on.

Lenovo L13 Yoga: Design, Dimension, and Weight

The L13 Yoga offers the regular ThinkPad soft-touch black finish. Unfortunately, this soft-touch surface is yet another fingerprint magnet like other ThinkPad models.

This means that you will have to constantly wipe the laptop’s surface to keep it clean. For build material, the laptop is made of a magnesium-aluminum chassis with MIL-STD 810G certification.

Just in case you are wondering, MIL-STD stands for Military Standard. It is a set of tests on a device to ensure it can withstand military-grade conditions.

Therefore, with the MIL-STD 810G certification, the Lenovo L13 Yoga should be reliable even under harsh conditions. Specifically, it should survive vibration, shock, high temperature, and dusty environments.

Hence, the chassis is sturdy, with only light flex under the keyboard. Also, the laptop has a reinforced plastic bottom with glass fiber.

The lid is also rigid, which is good since the display is designed to bend around 360 degrees. This implies that the L13 Yoga can be converted to stand, tent, or tablet modes.

Also, the hinges holding the lid are stiff enough, so it won’t flop around if you work in a moving vehicle.

Meanwhile, there is a “ThinkPad” logo on the right corner of the laptop’s lid. When you open the lid, you will find a 13.3-inch display surrounded by slim bezels.

The top bezel houses a 720p resolution HD webcam. Interestingly, this 720p resolution camera has a privacy shutter and an optional IR facial recognition sensor for secure login using Windows Hello.

You will also find a second camera at the laptop’s base, just above the keyboard. Lenovo has named the secondary camera the “Rear” sensor.

This is because it was designed to be used to convert the laptop to tablet or tent modes.

For the screen, it has a 13.3-inch IPS touch display. IPS (In-Plane-Switching) is a display panel that allows you to view the screen from different angles.

Although some persons might prefer a larger screen size for multitasking, I find the 13-inch display sufficient. In addition, the touch ability of the laptop’s display is impressively smart and responsive.

Interestingly, you will not have to worry about buying an active pen separately. This is because the L13 Yoga comes with the ThinkPad Pen Pro.

The ThinkPad Pen Pro is Lenovo’s stylus pen that usually comes with all compatible Thinkpad models.

The stylus pen has a dedicated silo for storage and charging at the right edge of the laptop. Thankfully, it has good inking capabilities and registers input smartly.

For display resolution, the Lenovo L13 Yoga has an FHD display as the only resolution option available. Hence, the image quality on this display is good, but not great.

The display brightness gets up to 336 nits, and its anti-reflection ability helps control screen reflection. However, there is still some noticeable reflection, especially when using the laptop in a bright place.

Proceeding to the keyboard, the Lenovo L13 Yoga has one of the best mobile keyboards you can find. The keyboard has a great layout, and the keys have a long key travel, clicky feedback, and a two-level backlight.

For those non-techy readers, the term “key travel” refers to the distance a keyboard’s key dips when pressed.

Also, there is a TrackPoint with dedicated buttons above the touchpad that will excite old-school people. Speaking of the touchpad, it comes in a relatively small size.

The touchpad’s surface has an imitation of glass, but it is not made of glass. Gliding on the touchpad is decent, and tracking with it is good.

Finally, there is a fingerprint reader next to the touchpad on the keyboard area. The fingerprint reader can be used to unlock the laptop via Windows Hello.

Proceeding to the audio, this laptop has two speakers on the bottom sufficient for speech reproduction. However, for music or movies, it is recommended to switch to alternatives.

Speaking of alternatives, you can plug in external headphones or speakers to the L13 Yoga using a 3.5 mm jack plug.

Moving on to the ports, the L13 Yoga has sufficient ports. Along the left side, you have a USB Type-C port, next to a Thunderbolt 4 port, paired with a docking slot.

Still, there is an audio jack and a USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) port on the left side. Similarly, on the right, there is an HDMI 2.0 connector, Kensington lock slot, and a USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) port.

Also, on the right side, you have the power button and a MicroSD card reader, and the stylus docking port.

By the way, you have a Smart Card slot on the front side of the laptop. Now let us consider the portability of the L13 Yoga by looking at its weight and dimension.

The ThinkPad L13 Yoga weighs about 1440 g. Also, its dimension is 311.5 x 219 x 17.6 mm (W x D x H).

For a 13-inch laptop, I expected a lighter weight from the L13 Yoga. However, it is still among the most lightweight productivity notebooks in the market.

Comparatively, it is heftier than the Acer R11, which weighs1250 g. The Acer R11 has a dimension of 294 x 204 x 19.20 mm (W x D x H).

In conclusion, after carefully considering the design of the Lenovo L13 Yoga, I rate it eight in this design section.

Lenovo L13 Yoga: Processor (CPU) Performance

The Lenovo L13 Yoga uses a quad-core Intel Core i7-1185G7 processor to perform its processing tasks. To be clear, a quad-core processor means a processor with four processor cores on its processor chip.

As a result, this processor will deliver more speedy performance than a single-core or dual-core processor. In addition to its four cores, this Core i7 processor has a cache memory of 12 MB.

Furthermore, this Core i7 processor has a base frequency of 3.0 GHz and a boost frequency of 4.80 GHz. Obviously, the processor’s 4.80 GHz high clock speed should easily handle both basic and complex tasks effectively.

However, to specify how well the processor can run tasks, I will share its Cinebench R20 benchmark result.

For clarity, the Cinebench R20 benchmark test is usually performed to measure the overall processing power of a computer. In addition, the Cinebench R20 benchmark tool assesses the laptop’s processor cores.

Hence, the Cinebench R20 test is in two parts – the single-core and the multi-core tests. Notably, the single-core test indicates the processing power of just one core.

On the other hand, the multi-core test evaluates the processing power of all four cores. Before I state the laptop’s test scores, please note that the higher the score, the better the processor’s performance.

Therefore, from the Cinebench R20 test results, the Lenovo L13 Yoga recorded 1450 points in the single-core test. On the other hand, it recorded 5350 points in the multi-core test.

In comparison, the Lenovo L13 Yoga offers better performance than some laptops in its category – one of which is the Acer Swift 5 (SF514-54T).

Precisely, the Acer Swift 5 (SF514-54T) recorded 1361 points in the single-core test. Meanwhile, in the multi-core test, it made 1400 points.

In conclusion, the Lenovo L13 Yoga processor proved to be more than capable of handling rigorous tasks effectively, Thus, I will rate it eight in this processor review section.

Lenovo L13 Yoga: Memory (RAM) Performance

For memory, the Lenovo L13 Yoga features a 4 GB DDR4-3200 MHz. There is only one RAM slot on this laptop and the RAM is soldered to the motherboard.

This means that the L13 Yoga’s memory is not user upgradable. For the memory capacity, this laptop comes with a standard 4 GB memory.

However, you can purchase this laptop with a RAM capacity larger than 4 GB, but a maximum of 16 GB.

Meanwhile, you should expect the 16 GB RAM model to be more expensive than the 4 GB RAM model. Also, the 16 GB memory model will perform more tasks and offer a faster speed than the 4 GB RAM model.

This review highlights the performance of the 16 GB model. Firstly, with this memory size, you can smoothly open up to 25 Chrome tabs and stream a video on YouTube.

Moreover, you can switch between these tabs conveniently and have a smooth workflow without any halt from the system. For more understanding of the memory performance, I will share its performance in a PCMark 10 benchmark test. 

A PCMark 10 is a benchmark used to measure the memory performance of a computer. It simulates daily productivity tasks such as video conferencing and web surfing to achieve this.

In the PCMark benchmark test, a better performance depends on how high the score is.

Therefore, based on the PCMark 10 test results, the Lenovo L13 Yoga had 4,899 points. Comparatively, in the same benchmark test, the Lenovo L13 Yoga came behind the Dell XPS 13, which had 6,912 points.

Nonetheless, the Lenovo L13 Yoga scores eight in this RAM review section for its multitasking ability.

Lenovo L13 Yoga: Storage Options and Performance

Lenovo ships this laptop with a 1 TB PCle SSD which is sufficient for storing a considerable amount of files. In addition to this laptop’s large storage space, Lenovo also provides a microSD card reader for storage expansion.

Another interesting thing about the Lenovo L13 Yoga storage is that it offers good speed.

Hence, the Lenovo L13 Yoga performed well in a file transfer test, but it didn’t score up to the average point. From the test, it copied a 4.97 GB mixed media file in 16 seconds at a rate of 501.2 MBps.

As earlier stated, Lenovo L13 Yoga came short of the 622 MBps average copy speed for laptops in its category. Also, it performed lower than the Surface Laptop 3’s 541 MBps copy speed.

In addition to the file transfer test, let’s also see how this laptop’s storage fared in a CrystalDiskMark benchmark test. A CrystalDiskMark benchmark test evaluates the write and reads speeds of a computer’s storage drive.

For clarity, read speed refers to the speed it takes a storage drive to open files. Meanwhile, write speed refers to the speed it takes a storage drive to save files.

As you might expect, a higher read and write speed is better on this benchmark test.

In the CrystalDiskMark test, the L13 Yoga recorded a sequential read speed of 2719 MBps. It also had a sequential write speed of 2441.

Comparatively, the Lenovo L13 Yoga outdid the HP Envy x13, which had a read speed of 1412.01 MBps. HP Envy x13 also had a write speed of 540.38 MBps.

Nonetheless, I will rate the Lenovo L13 Yoga eight in this review because of its relatively fast storage speed.

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Lenovo L13 Yoga: Graphics Card Performance

The graphics cards responsible for graphics-based tasks in the Lenovo L13 Yoga are Intel UHD Graphics or Intel Iris Xe Graphics. This means that Lenovo offers two configurations for this laptop’s graphics.

Hence, you can either purchase the laptop with an integrated Iris Xe graphics or an integrated Intel UHD Graphics card.

The Intel UHD graphics card has a 400 MHz base frequency and a boost frequency of 400 MHz. Meanwhile, the Intel Iris Xe graphics card has a base frequency of 400 MHz and a boost frequency of 1350 MHz.

Unfortunately, none of these graphics cards comes with a dedicated VRAM. However, both graphics cards offer good graphics performance.

Meanwhile, this review focuses on a model of this laptop with an Intel Iris Xe GPU. With this GPU, the Lenovo L13 Yoga can play Dota 2 Reborn at 48 FPS.

It is also capable of playing Dirt 3 at 60 FPS and X Plane 11.11 at 27 FPS.

Additionally, let us consider the laptop’s GPU performance in a 3DMark benchmark test. 3DMark is a benchmark test that evaluates the 2D and 3D graphics rendering powers of a computer.

Moreover, a higher score on this graphics benchmark test depicts a better graphics performance. Thus, from the 3DMark test, the Lenovo L13 Yoga scored 1849 points.

It surpassed the 1742 category average and the 1744 points delivered by the HP Envy x13. Overall, the Lenovo L13 Yoga provides a manageable gaming experience considering it is not a gaming laptop.

Therefore, based on its above-average gaming performance, it deserves a seven in this section.

Lenovo L13 Yoga: Battery Life and Performance

The Lenovo L13 Yoga is equipped with a 4 Cell 46 Wh Li-Polymer battery. Lenovo boasts a battery life of up to 10 hours 36 minutes for this battery.

However, a battery rundown test performed by notebookcheck.com proved otherwise. From the web-surfing battery test, the battery lasted for 7 hours 5 minutes.

This is less than Lenovo’s 10 hours 36 minutes battery life claim. It is also a few minutes short of the 8 hours category average.

However, this battery life should take you through an entire day of work – as long as you don’t run lots of intensive computing operations. In comparison, the Dell XPS 13 9300 lasted 9 hours in the same test, completely surpassing the Lenovo L13 Yoga.

Thankfully, the charging time of the Lenovo L13 Yoga is pleasantly short. For only 50 minutes, the battery was already at 85%.

Putting these together, the Lenovo L13 Yoga scores an eight in this review.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Delivering the performance of an ultrabook in a robust  2-in-1 form factor, the Lenovo L13 Yoga is an efficient productivity laptop. In addition, the Lenovo L13 packs some exciting features such as its simple but attractive design.

It also features an 11th generation Intel CPU and a speedy storage option with sufficient storage capacity. Most impressively, the L13 Yoga goes for a competitive price that is justified by the features it packs.

However, I expected more from the battery life. Nevertheless, if you are not about intensive computing tasks, then the battery can take you all through a day’s work.

In conclusion, the Lenovo L13 Yoga is an option you should consider if you are in search of a convertible laptop with decent performance.

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