Lenovo has been experimenting with e-ink screens on its laptops for years, but this is the first one that has really caught my eye. On its new ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 SPE, which was shown off at CES 2024, you have a full “E Ink Prism” screen covering the entirety of the laptop lid.
E-ink Prism isn’t your typical e-ink though. It can present eight colors and combine them in whatever patterns designers want, and is claimed to “bridge the gap between traditional static materials and digital technology.” And that’s exactly the purpose it seems to have here.
Lenovo says the concept supports up to 1,000 different images, allowing you to personalize your laptop cover however you please. The company has four designs to show off, with one of them being a clock and another a “multisystem interaction.” The clarity and sharpness of the e-ink screen looks fantastic — not at all like the quality you might associate with the technology.
What’s more, the technology is supposedly ultra-low power, with Lenovo claiming it won’t impact battery life, even if the laptop is powered off.
Last year, Lenovo had the ThinkBook Plus Gen 4, which also had a e-ink screen on the lid that could be flipped around to the front using the unique hinge.
The technology is still in the “proof of concept” phase, but in this example, is being integrated on the ThinkBook 13x Gen 4. This is a super-slim and light 13-inch laptop, weighing just 2.2 pounds and coming in at only 0.51 inches thick. It features Intel Core Ultra processors, of course, and a 13.5-inch 120Hz display with a 2.8K resolution.
Lenovo says the laptop, with its 74 watt-hour battery, will get up to 21 hours of video playback and 11.4 hours of web browsing.
The laptop also supports the company’s Magic Bay solution on the top bezel to improve the camera or speakers. There are some new Magic Bay options the company is playing around with too, such as an additional screen or a cute robot face that winks at you.
Lenovo is also calling this laptop its first carbon-neutral product for the small business market, as it’s been certified by the British Standards Institution. The Luna Grey model is made out of 50% recycled aluminum.
But the E-ink Prism cover is definitely the star of the show on the ThinkBook 13x Gen 4. Lenovo hasn’t announced if or when it will be released, but the ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 itself will be available starting in the first quarter of 2024 with a starting price of $1,399.
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