Lenovo ThinkPad Helix Pro Reviews

As much as we might mock the Helix's "Rip n' Flip" design, though, this product actually still has several things going for it: a sturdy keyboard, reliable trackpad and a bright 1080p display with wide viewing angles. Also, it accepts pen input, which most of the other devices we've mentioned don't, save for the Surface Pro. As a standalone tablet, it weighs less than any regular touchscreen Ultrabook, and it even weighs a bit less than other Core i5 tablets, like the Surface. The battery life is impressive too, if only because Lenovo gives us two cells instead of one. So it's a good product in many ways, even if we only end up recommending it to a certain niche (read: business customers who sometimes need a true tablet with pen input -- not a laptop that can be used in a clumsy tablet mode). Even so -- and stop us if you've heard this before -- you'd be better off waiting a few months for a Haswell refresh. Battery life will be even better, and what's more, that lofty starting price will seem a little more justified.

With its versatile convertible design and vibrant HD touch screen the ThinkPad Helix has a lot to offer, particularly for business users who want both a tablet and an ultrabook. Battery life is excellent and the system feels solid. However, the price of the ThinkPad Helix is sure to deter many users. Lenovo is currently offering a promotion that brings the base model down to just over $1,500 but this is still a lofty price for such a system.

The Lenovo ThinkPad Helix is a good effort at a hybrid Windows tablet and laptop. However, it's extremely high price tag means that if wanted such a device we’d have to recommend the Surface Pro as a better value alternative – it's less than half the price.

"Convertible" Ultrabooks -- full-fledged laptops that can also function as touch-driven tablets -- have become something of a commodity these days, so my attention goes to the manufacturers who can do something flashy and new with the idea. Enter Lenovo's ThinkPad Helix, a highly usable tablet-laptop aimed at "businesses, vertical and educational markets, as well as the technology enthusiast." Whereas businesses will be keen on the Intel Core processor and TPM security chip under the hood, the enthusiasts will surely be interested in a feature of the Helix that Lenovo calls "Rip 'n Flip." The main unit can be docked with the keyboard, but with the screen facing either toward the user or away. Dock with the screen facing away, and you can use the machine in "stand" mode. Close the unit with the screen facing out, and you have a tablet with a tucked-away keyboard. It's a great idea, and in practice it's only slightly clumsier than having a system with a 180-degree hinge, but with the additional advantage that you can leave the dock behind when you want to.

A highly capable tablet that runs the full version of Windows 8, but it's far too expensive

Being a Core i7 machine it's definitely a fast mover but it does get quite warm even with modest demands. But then again, we've been having a bit of a heatwave here in Blighty so environmental conditions are not exactly the norm. As convertibles go though, there are quite a few if-onlys... the screen tilt being the one that grates the most, especially when knuckling down to some serious typing. Still, it seems like Lenovo has the right idea with this combo and a more laid-back revision with a Haswell processor would be hard to ignore. One thing that can't be overlooked, though, is the price. And with last year's chip in there, even though it is a Core i7, and a BTO Sony Vaio Duo 11 with identical spec for £500 less, the cost of the Helix seems like a big ask.

On one hand, there’s really nothing like the Helix. It works well as a tablet and a laptop, has solid battery life, and offers a mix of power and versatility I haven’t really seen from a device this size. It’s like the Surface Pro with a better, sturdier keyboard and better battery life — maybe that’s enough for some people. But it’s not for me. $1,679.99 can buy you a lot of laptop from almost any manufacturer, and it’s too high a price to pay for too little attention to detail here. I want a device that is sleek and beautiful, equally laptop and tablet, not a jumble of parts designed to awkwardly mash the two devices together. The worst part? Lenovo clearly knows how to make a nice laptop, and even a good laptop this versatile. If you want a tablet that is also a laptop, the IdeaPad Yoga 13 and 11 have great keyboards and trackpads, and they pair them with a design that doesn’t look hacked together in a garage. As a laptop, the ThinkPad Carbon X1 is thinner, lighter, and better in almost every respect. All the right parts are here. Lenovo just needs to spend a little more time putting them together next time.

The ThinkPad Helix deserves kudos for its innovative design, and a business user in search of a laptop-tablet convertible with good performance might find the high price tag palatable. (And if money is no object, you can upgrade to a faster processor, add more solid-state storage capacity, and tack on on the aforementioned mobile-broadband feature.) If a high-performance tablet is all you need, note that Microsoft recently slashed the price of its 128GB Surface Pro to $899. But that tablet’s screen is an inch smaller, and you’ll need to add $130 to get the Type Cover keyboard (which, in addition to being inferior to the Helix’s, lacks a trackpad).

Lenovo asserts its mastery of the Windows 8 hybrid with the ThinkPad Helix, but it comes at a cost

The Lenovo ThinkPad Helix will not win you over on price. After all, you can get a larger device for less in the Asus Transformer Book—or, if your needs are modest, spend hundreds less for an Atom-based detachable like HP's Envy x2. Nor will it dazzle you with performance. (Microsoft's Surface Pro edged out the Helix in most of our benchmarks.) We're also a little dubious about the appeal of the Helix's "tablet-plus" mode—3.7 pounds is just too heavy to carry as a tablet. And if you're not in a hurry to buy a convertible, you should be able to find a "Haswell"-powered hybrid with even better battery life later this year.

One of the better detachable hybrid tablets on the market, the Lenovo ThinkPad Helix gives the corporate IT buyer a prime option for their highly mobile workforce. This could be the best choice if you need both laptop and tablet functionality.

If you’ve been eying something like the Surface Pro, the Helix is a much better choice. It delivers tons of options, better battery life, and a keyboard that is actually useful in a way that you’ll feel comfortable. The ThinkPad Helix really does a lot of things ok, but nothing extremely well. And that’s the sad truth. In a way the device is in a league of its own simply for the fact that it’s a laptop, tablet, extended tablet, and the keyboard delivers extra battery life. However, the extremely high price, already outdated processor, and simply poor and tossed together design makes it hard for us to recommend. For $1700 you could get some pretty impressive top-tier Haswell laptops at the moment. Not to mention a Macbook Air and a tablet, and still come out about even. Lenovo has an awesome idea and product here, it just needs some more time in the design department. We have a feeling business execs that need a one device for all scenarios could see the price as being worth it, but general consumers might not feel the same. We’d recommend trying it at a nearby store before taking the plunge.

There's a lot to like about the Lenovo ThinkPad Helix. The engineers at Lenovo have come up with the best detachable docking hybrid system I've seen (although there may be no solution to the fact that these docking hinges are just inherently clunky). It feels sturdier and more reliable than many other hybrids, and the double battery system offers flexibility for longer work days. That said, the laptop and tablet landscape has changed radically since we first saw this system previewed in January 2013. Six months later, 11-inch tablets and hybrids are everywhere, and at some very reasonable prices. With only the previous generation of Intel CPUs available for now, it's hard to justify spending between $1,600 and $2,000 unless you really need the IT-friendly security features Lenovo is known for.

With the Helix, Lenovo delivers perhaps the best-designed and versatile Windows 8 convertible we’ve seen yet. Thanks to an excellent keyboard and a well-executed touchpad, it works great as a laptop. It’s a bit hefty as a tablet, but the 1080p IPS screen looks good. With the included stylus, many people will appreciate pen input. And the Ultrabook-class components mean the system won’t balk when you throw demanding tasks at it the way current-generation Atom-based machines (like HP’s Envy x2) often do. If you don’t mind its 3.5-pound heft, and you’re looking for a versatile convertible that seems as ruggedly built as any other ThinkPad, the Helix should make an excellent companion in the office or on the road. But if you like the idea of a Helix that can last a day-and-a-half (or more) without needing a recharge, you may want to wait until Lenovo refreshes the device with Intel’s latest chips. The new CPUs won’t technically make the Helix any lighter, but they may let you leave the charger at home, even on an overnight business trip.

The ThinkPad Helix fits very well into Lenovo's existing product portfolio. However, it also raises the question "why so late"? The basic idea of a full-fledged x86 tablet (even when used without the keyboard dock) offers an invaluable advantage in terms of mobility: No conventional convertible can ever get so light and compact when necessary. Its technical components are almost exclusively well-chosen, too. Traditional ThinkPad strengths such as excellent build quality, great input devices and low noise emissions are still present. And we were quite impressed by the high-contrast, high-brightness Full HD multitouch display with great viewing angles which can be controlled with a digitizer pen as well.