Lenovo Thinkpad Helix Review: Convertible with Slightly Late Specs

It is predicted that convertible notebook products such as the Lenovo Thinkpad Helix, which is currently being reviewed by PemmzChannel, will be hits next year. Especially with full support from Intel stating that, they will maximize the Bay Trail family to support products that require this high level of power efficiency.

DESIGN

From the front, at first glance does not look different from a netbook in general. However, when the viewing position is shifted slightly sideways, it will immediately be seen that the Lenovo Thinkpad Helix is a convertible product.

Workstation dock

Shifting to the workstation area, we can also immediately see if this section is nothing more than a keyboard housing with several additional ports positioned on the back. Thinkpad characteristics can still be found here, such as a red joyscroll in the middle of the keyboard and an LED indicator at the point above the letter “i”.

To change to tablet mode on this Lenovo Thinkpad Helix, users simply press the docking release switch at the bottom left of the screen, then lift the LCD up. Lenovo Thinkpad Helix is ready for you to carry as a tablet.

PORTS & CONNECTIVITY

Port n connectors — Ports & Connectivity

As a tablet, the Lenovo Thinkpad Helix is very complete in terms of connectivity thanks to its design that prioritizes tablet mode. Even without keyboard docking, you can pipe images on the LCD to a larger panel via mini DisplayPort.

It’s also good, the modem part is in the tablet section. This makes for better signal absorption due to direct placement of the antenna cables in the best areas. There is also no need to attach the panel to the dock which is often experienced by other types of convertible products.

SPECIFICATION

Processor: Intel Core i5-3337U Processor (3M Cache, up to 2.70 GHz)
Operating System: Windows 8 Pro 64
Display: 11.6″ 400nit Full HD (1920 x 1080), Digitizer and Pen, Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205S (2×2 AGN), 2MP 1080p front camera, 5MP 1080prear camera
System Unit: 2 x 2 WiFi, No Mobile Broadband, NFC Device Pairing, 3 cell battery
Memory: 4GB PC3-10600 DDR3L SDRAM 1333MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM)
Micro hard drive (mSATA): 128GB Micro Solid State Drive, Serial ATA3
Wireless: Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205S (2×2 AGN)
Bluetooth: Bluetooth 4.0 with Antenna
Warranty: 1 Year Depot/Express Warranty
Battery: 3-cell Li-Polymer Battery, 42Wh

Unfortunately, for the specifications that the Lenovo Thinkpad Helix carries, this is not the latest component, especially on the CPU side. As you can see, this product still uses the third generation Intel ULV CPU that has been used by similar products such as the MSI Slider S20 and the Gigabyte Padbook S1185 which the pemmzchannel review team reviewed more than a year ago. Another thing that is less than the maximum is the use of the type of RAM with a frequency of 1333MHz. Whereas for this CPU, it supports a speed of 1600MHz.

The difference may be in terms of features, some of which are already using the latest features, especially on the connection side such as NFC and displayPort.

PERFORMANCE

The Pemmzchannel team compared the Lenovo Thinkpad Helix especially with the MSI Slider S20 and the Gigabyte Padbook S1185 which are similar in specifications. Here’s a comparison table.

Table versus

The performance of the Lenovo Thinkpad Helix is on average superior to the two products that we used as a comparison, although the difference is slight, especially with the MSI Slider S20, which both use Core i5.

Battery

Table versus batt

In terms of battery performance, the two products that we used as a comparison showed better results than the Lenovo Thinkpad Helix, especially the MSI Slider S20. For information, all three are equipped with a 3 cell battery capacity only.

CONCLUSION

In this case, the Lenovo Thinkpad Helix is the most superior in terms of performance and design, of course. With a pose that can be rotated, Lenovo Thinkpad Helix gives users the flexibility to determine the mode of use. In built quality, maybe Gigabyte is slightly superior. For the screen side, everything is already using full HD IPS technology. Unfortunately, the Lenovo Thinkpad Helix is the worst in terms of presenting visual quality.

So, are you ready to choose a convertible pemmzholics notebook?

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