Review: Lenovo ThinkPad C13 Yoga Chromebook

Lenovo's new ThinkPad C13 Yoga Chromebook has everything ThinkPad fans love—there's a great keyboard, a sturdy, no-nonsense design, and yes, the little red TrackPoint in the middle—but instead of Windows or Linux, it runs Google's Chrome OS.

It's not the cheapest nor the prettiest Chromebook around, but this is the nicest I've used. The 2-in-1 design comes with a built-in stylus, the trackpad has buttons at the top, and there are plenty of ports. If you love ThinkPads and are considering dipping your toes into Chrome OS land, this laptop is for you.

The C13 Yoga is Lenovo's first ThinkPad Chromebook in some time, so it's interesting to see what Lenovo sees as the defining characteristics of a ThinkPad. 

Everything I love about my favorite ThinkPad, the X270, is here in the C13 Yoga—the keyboard is nearly identical to every other ThinkPad of recent memory (the layout follows the Chromebook style), the TrackPoint is present, and the trackpad buttons are at the top. You'll also find a fingerprint reader and a slew of ports, including two USB-C, two USB-A, a MicroSD card reader, and an HDMI. Curiously, it has a phone-style volume rocker too.

What makes it more interesting is it's one of the first Chromebooks using AMD's latest 3000C-series processors. There are a few configurations, starting with the entry-level model that uses the Athlon Gold chip with 4 gigabytes of RAM. Then there's the Ryzen 3 model, also with 4 gigabytes of RAM, followed by the model I tested, which has a Ryzen 5 chip and 8 gigabytes of RAM (a higher-tier Ryzen 7 is also available). Hard drive options range from a paltry 32 gigabytes to 256 gigs on the model I tested. All the SSDs use PCIe NVMe connections.

The Ryzen 5 chip in my test unit is plenty fast. Chrome OS doesn't ask too much of a processor, so that's not surprising. But even editing photos in an Android app, opening dozens of tabs in Chrome, and typing this is in Vim using Linux features didn't slow it down at all. It's every bit as fast as premium Chromebooks like Samsung's Galaxy Chromebook or the Pixelbook Go.

The 1080p screen is bright and sharp, a nice change from less expensive Lenovo Chromebooks that tend to have washed-out, muddy screens. There's also an option to get a 4K OLED screen with the C13 Yoga, but given the battery life, I would hesitate to add a power-hungry screen (more on that later).

As with most ThinkPads, Lenovo calls this an enterprise notebook. In this case, that means some extra security features, including Google's H1 security chip and the fingerprint reader. It also features a physical webcam cover to block the camera.

The weakest link is the battery. I managed nine hours and five minutes in our standard battery drain test (looping a local 1080p video). That's good enough but not great compared to some similar Chromebooks in this price range. The Pixelbook Go managed nearly two hours more. That said, I never had the C13 Yoga run out of power in the course of a day's work.

It's a bit unwieldy too. Using the C13 Yoga in tablet mode is fine on a table or in your lap, but trying to hold it while standing up is difficult. At 3.3 pounds, it's not what I'd call lightweight. 

Including the Lenovo USI Pen (Universal Stylus Initiative) in the higher-priced models is a nice touch. Pop the pen out of the little garage housing on the front and the C13 will automatically open the Google Keep app so you can start taking notes. The stylus has decent pressure sensitivity, and I had no problem using it with other Android apps like Adobe Illustrator.

As a 2-in-1, it functions quite well, and recent updates to Chrome OS have made it even more useful as a tablet. I still use it much more in "tent" mode watching YouTube or Netflix. The screen does pick up some glare if you're watching a video in a brightly lit room, but otherwise it looks good, with deep blacks and solid detail in shadowy scenes.

Overall, this is my favorite Chromebook I've tested this year. The AMD chips are really impressive. All the lag and slowdowns you think of when opening dozens of tabs on Chromebooks are gone with these processors. Nothing I've tried has strained it much. The catch is, of course, you're paying more—it starts at $649.

I also like to point out that while Chrome OS is quite capable, the best experience comes from really investing in Google's ecosystem of services and apps, which is not for everyone. But if you're OK with the premium price, and you want a Chromebook that'll last with great performance now, this is my pick.

Updated on April 12: We corrected this review to note that there was a Lenovo Chromebook in 2012. Thank you to readers for pointing that out.