Lenovo's Thinkpad X1 foldable laptop will get bent out of shape before Surface Neo

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The Lenovo Thinkpad X1 will hit store shelves in Q2 2020

Lenovo's Thinkpad X1
(Image credit: Future)

The Lenovo Thinkpad X1 is a foldable laptop/tablet hybrid, and the company has just revealed that it will be coming out in Q2 2020 – several months before Microsoft’s dual-screen foldable Surface Neo hits stores.

This could be a real advantage for Lenovo, by getting out its innovative laptop form factor before Microsoft has a chance to release its own.

The reveal comes at the Canalys Channels Forum in Barcelona, when Gianfrano Lanci, chief operating officer at Lenovo announced that “It will start shipping probably Q2 next year."

That’s still some time away, though crucially before the date of the Surface Neo launch, which Microsoft has pegged as “Holiday 2020” – which is Q3.

According to Lanci, the "hardware is ready but we need to still fix certain things from a software point of view and that doesn't depend 100 per cent on us."

This sounds remarkably similar to what Microsoft said about the Surface Neo, as the hardware is apparently pretty finalised, but software support – such as having Windows 10 application work over dual (or bendable) screens still needs to be worked on.

It seems reinventing the laptop isn’t that easy after all.

Foldable Thinkpad

The Thinkpad X1 will have a single OLED display with a 2K resolution – which can be folded in half. It will be powered by Intel hardware and will run Windows, possibly Windows 10X – a version of Windows 10 that is designed for dual screen devices. Microsoft’s Surface Neo will also run it.

However, unlike the Thinkpad X1, the Surface Neo will have two separate screens, with a hinge allowing it to be folded.

The two companies are obviously hoping that their innovative new devices will win over customers who are using more traditional laptops. If Lenovo can get the Thinkpad X1 out before the Surface Neo, that could make Microsoft’s job a lot harder.

Via The Register

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Matt Hanson
Matt Hanson
Managing Editor, Core Tech

Matt is TechRadar's Managing Editor for Core Tech, looking after computing and mobile technology. Having written for a number of publications such as PC Plus, PC Format, T3 and Linux Format, there's no aspect of technology that Matt isn't passionate about, especially computing and PC gaming. He’s personally reviewed and used most of the laptops in our best laptops guide - and since joining TechRadar in 2014, he's reviewed over 250 laptops and computing accessories personally.