Display, Ultrabook Keyboard Dock

There are two keyboard docks for the Lenovo ThinkPad Helix: the Ultrabook Keyboard, which is included with the device by default, and the Ultrabook Pro keyboard. The latter of the 2 keyboards comes with an integrated battery that delivers four hours of extra life, a movable hinge, and a HDMI out port for easy external display connectivity.

The standard Ultrabook Keyboard, which was included with the model I received to review, has none of these features. And that'southward why information technology's a disappointing inclusion.

The main outcome I have with the Ultrabook Keyboard is its swivel blueprint, or lack of one. The dock has just one position that the tablet sits in, which completely removes the ability to tilt or angle the display where necessary. This makes the dock less of a laptop-like extension, and more than of a fixed stand for typing upwards documents and watching videos. The stock-still bending used isn't great either, falling in between an ideal bending for lap use and an platonic angle for desk use.

Equally annoying is the lack of a solid latching mechanism to go along the tablet attached to the keyboard base of operations. In that location are a few magnets included to keep the contacts aligned and to get it sitting in the right position, simply there's nothing actually keeping it there. This leads to ii things: information technology'south very easy to push on the tablet and have it fall out of the dock, or pick information technology up and have the dock autumn off; and it'southward also tricky to know if the tablet has been docked properly, as in that location's no clicking sound or other cue to indicate a expert connection.

The kickoff indicate is fifty-fifty more of a concern when you realize the top portion of the docked Helix – the tablet section with all the internal hardware and battery – is much heavier than the keyboard itself, causing information technology to be summit heavy. This ways it can exist piece of cake to tip the Helix over, causing the tablet to disconnect from the dock due to its weak docking mechanism, potentially leading to damage.

There'south a second docking position for the ThinkPad Helix that can exist used for transportation. This 'closed' position comes with actual latches that keeps the tablet firmly attached, with the brandish facing downwardly and parallel to the keyboard to prevent scratches. While the Helix is properly latched in place in this position, information technology'due south still easily removable by lifting upwards.

The keyboard itself is a chiclet-way standard condom dome keyboard with a defended row of F-keys (which double as office keys). The travel of each primal is good, improve than what you lot unremarkably go from a similar keyboard on a laptop itself, but the size of each key left me feeling like the layout was a footling cramped. This is not a massive surprise considering the keyboard base is fastened to only an eleven.6-inch device, with comfortable keyboards typically starting on 13+ inch laptops.

Ane thing I did like about the keyboard was adequately sized buttons such as the spacebar, shift central and enter key, making it easy to hit these keys during regular usage. There's also a defended print screen key and a range of functions available through Fn-shortcuts, such as brightness adjustment, quick settings and more.

The trackpad is good only non bang-up. Over again, similar the keyboard, it's a little pocket-size for my liking, though that is due to size constraints with the keyboard base. I found information technology relatively easy to track and click on this trackpad, whether that'southward tap-to-click or using the concrete click buttons, simply gestures were another story. Pinch-to-zoom doesn't seem to work at all, and two finger scrolling was somewhat twitchy. A good Windows PC trackpad tin be very difficult to find, and the 1 included with the Helix is far from platonic.

Ii other items are included with the keyboard, one is a very exciting USB ii.0 port. The other, though, is a stylus that slots into a handy pigsty on the right side. Said stylus is very responsive and shows the position of the tip even when information technology'south non in direct contact with the display. In that location'southward also a button along the shaft that acts as right-click when pressed, and some other button on the top terminate that appears non to do anything.

The display included with the Lenovo ThinkPad Helix 2022 is the aforementioned every bit the original model, at least on specifications. It'south an eleven.6-inch IPS TFT LCD panel with a resolution of 1920 x 1080, equating to 190 pixels per inch. This sort of resolution is what I wait from a tablet of this size in all except the upkeep categories, so I'm glad to see Lenovo resiting a downgrade to a cheaper option. While non the highest resolution display going around, it provides enough crispness and clarity for reading text without meaning jaggies and viewing images with a good level of particular.

The colour quality from the IPS brandish is quite good, though not as expert as I've seen from the best professional IPS displays going around. Viewing angles are excellent, every bit you would wait from an IPS LCD, and the rated 400 nits of brightness allows the display to get very bright. If you're using this tablet outside, for example, you should have no trouble viewing the panel in a sunny environment.