Lenovo YOGA C740 review: Sleek looking 2-in-1 laptops with decent performance

Lenovo is one company that has many, many options when it comes to laptops. If you can think of a style or use case scenario, Lenovo has a laptop for you whether it’s for business or personal use. Our Lenovo YOGA C740 review takes a look at the 14 and 15-inch versions of the company’s newest 2-in-1 laptops geared towards personal use. Read on to see what we thought of them!

Specifications

The Lenovo YOGA C740 laptops sent to us have the following features and specifications (configurable when ordering):

Model	14″: C740-14IML 15″: C740-15IML
Display	14″: 14″ FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS, touchscreen, anti-glare, 300nits with Dolby Vision 15″: 15.6″ FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS, touchscreen, glossy, 500 nits, HDR VESA400 (15.6″ FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS, touchscreen, anti-glare, 250 nits also available)
CPU	14″: Intel i5-10210U 1.6GHz 15″: Intel i7-10510U 1.8GHz (up to 10th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-10510U (1.80GHz, up to 4.90GHz Turbo Boost, 4 Cores, 8MB Cache) available)
RAM	14″: 8GB DDR4 2666MHz 15″: 12GB DDR4 2666MHz (up to 16GB DDR4 2666MHz available)
Storage	14″: 512GB SSD 15″: 512GB+32GB Optane SSD (up to 1TB SSD available)
Graphics	Integrated Intel® UHD Graphics
Camera	720p HD
Audio	User-facing Dolby Atmos™ speaker system Far-field microphones
Connectivity	Intel® 9560 802.11AC (2 x 2) & Bluetooth® 5.0
Ports	14″: 2x USB-C 3.1 Gen 1 (power delivery, DisplayPort), USB-A 3.1 Gen 1, Headphone/mic combo 15″: 2x USB-C 3.1 Gen 1 (power delivery, DisplayPort), 2x USB-A 3.1 Gen 1, Headphone/mic combo
Battery	14″: 4 Cell (up to 14 hours) 15″: 3 Cell (up to 11.5 hours with FHD HDR VESA400, 15 hours with FHD), Rapid Charge
Security	Match-On-Chip fingerprint reader TrueBlock Privacy Shutter
Operating System	Windows 10 Home (Windows 10 Pro available)
Colours	MICA (Iron Grey available)
Dimensions	14″: 321.8mm x 214.6mm x 14.9 – 16.9mm/12.67″ x 8.45″ x 0.59-0.67″ 15″: 357.8mm x 235.35mm x 16.02 – 18.25mm/14″ x 9.27″ x 0.63-0.72″
Weight	14″: Starting at 3.09 lbs (1.4 kg) 15″: Starting at 4.19 lbs (1.9 kg)

What’s in the box

• 14″ C740-14IML
  • Yoga C740 14″
  • 65W AC adapter
  • 4 Cell 51Wh internal battery
  • Quick start guide
• 15.6″ C740-15IML
  • Yoga C740 15”
  • 65W AC adapter
  • 3 Cell 60Wh internal battery
  • Quick start guide

Design

The Lenovo YOGA C740 2-in-1 laptops are pretty slick looking. Our review units came in the MICA greyish/silver colorway which looked quite nice. Both the 14- and 15-inch versions are pretty similar in design and build. The YOGA logo is stamped into the top left corner of the lid (when looking at the laptop closed). Near the back of the laptop are two hinges, one on each side about an inch in from the edge and about an inch and a half in length. These hinges allow the laptop to open in laptop, tent, stand, and tablet mode, allowing flexibility in how you use the system.

The left and right sides of both the 14″ and 15″ YOGA C740 laptops are pretty similar as well. The left side is where you’ll find the USB-C 3.1 Gen 1 (power delivery) port, USB-C 3.1 Gen 1 port, and the headphone/mic combo jack. On the right side is where the power button and USB-A ports are located — one on the 14″ model and two on the 15″ model.

Opening the laptop, you’ll find that the keyboard on the YOGA C740 laptops is the familiar chiclet-style. Typing is a bit soft on them — especially if you are used to using mechanical keyboards — but after a while, you do get used to it. The keyboard is your typical six-row keyboard, with a half-height FN/computer controls row across the top. The 14″ C740 does have slightly wider keys on the left as the 15″ C740 requires more space for the included number pad (which is not a feature on the 14″ model).

On the 14″, the speaker grilles are on either side of the keyboard, while on the 15″ they are on the underside. Both laptops have a fingerprint scanner just under the far right of the keyboard. The fingerprint scanner is quick and responsive. The touchpad is centered under the spacebar but off-centered towards the left on both laptops. Given the included number pad on the 15″, the touchpad is offset much more. As far as touchpads go, the one on the YOGA C740 is pretty responsive and I had no issues with it. Finally, the Lenovo nameplate is on the lower right edge of both laptops.

The display itself has bezels around the sides with a slightly thicker one on the top, which houses the 720p HD camera, and an even slightly thicker one on the bottom. The camera has a very small slider above it which allows you to slide the privacy shade on or off the camera. When the privacy shade is on, a small orange dot appears in the middle of the camera.

The bottom of the YOGA C740 has two long strips, one near the front and the other near the back, to slightly raise and add grip when the laptop is used on a flat surface. Just in front of the back strip is a vent grille for airflow and heat dissipation. As mentioned above, the 15-inch version also has speakers located near the front of the bottom of the laptop, unlike the 14-inch version which are on either side of the keyboard.

Display

YOGA C740 14″

The Lenovo YOGA C740 14″ has a single display option: a 14″ FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS touchscreen, with anti-glare, 300nits brightness, and Dolby Vision. The screen was bright enough for most areas I used it in and the glare wasn’t overly noticeable when the brightness was properly adjusted. The colours on the display were nice and rich as well, and watching supported movies with Dolby Vision was a treat.

YOGA C740 15.6″

On the other hand, the Lenovo YOGA C740 15″ has two display options: the 15.6″ FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS touchscreen with 500 nits of brightness and HDR VESA400 certification that our review unit came with and a 15.6″ FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS touchscreen with an anti-glare finish and 250 nits of brightness. The 15.6-inch screen was easily usable in any lighting condition especially with the maximum 500 nits of brightness. Colours were decent and rich as well, and HDR for supported content is a treat. While HDR is hit and miss still with Windows 10 as a whole, checking out a few Netflix offerings in HDR offered up a nice viewing experience.

General display observations

In the case of both systems, the touchscreen was responsive and worked as expected. The operating system responded depending on the type of orientation (laptop, stand, tent, or tablet) mode used and I didn’t have any issues performing tasks with the touchscreen.

Software

As far as software is concerned, the Lenovo C740 YOGA is available with Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro. Windows 10 Home will work for most users while Pro adds a few more business-centric options.

There are a few extra applications that come pre-installed, but not many. Aside from Lenovo Vantage, LenovoUtility, and Lenovo Pen Settings, the C740 ships with a McAfee trial pre-installed as well. Lenovo Vantage allows users to easily update drivers, run diagnostics, request support, and even learn more about the features and functionality of the C740. LenovoUtility shows an onscreen icon whenever one of the Fn keys is pressed while Lenovo Pen Settings let you configure the Lenovo Pen for touchscreens if you have one. Finally, McAfee is one of two anti-virus programs that come pre-installed on most systems. Personally, I uninstall McAfee and just use the default Windows 10 security software.

Performance

Lenovo YOGA C740 14″

While you can get up to 10th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-10510U (1.80GHz, up to 4.90GHz Turbo Boost, 4 Cores, 8MB Cache) CPUs with the YOGA C740 series, our 14-inch review unit came with the Intel i5-10210U 1.6GHz processor.

For the most part, the system ran just fine with the i5, 8GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD drive. Depending on your workflow, this configuration should be fine for most people. It is able to easily handle a few open tabs, as well as Photoshop and Lightroom image editing. I personally noticed a bit of a slow down on occasion but I frequently run multiple (up to 20) open tabs, often at the same time I have another app like Word or Photoshop open. On that note, the slow down/stutter was pretty infrequent and the average user shouldn’t see it at all.

Lenovo YOGA C740 15″

Our Lenovo YOGA C740 15″ review unit, on the other hand, came with the faster i7-10510U processor. It also sports 12GB of RAM and a 512GB + 32GB Optane SSD drive. Compared to the i5-10210U in the 14-inch unit, I didn’t notice any stuttering or slowdown whatsoever, regardless of the number of tabs open or whether I was also running Photoshop, Lightroom, or other apps at the same time.

General performance observations

In both cases, I was impressed with how fast it turns on when you open the lid and use the fingerprint scanner when it’s in sleep mode. While the i5-10210U is more than adequate for most users, if you are in the habit of having multiple tabs open or do a lot of graphic work, you may want to spend the extra on the i7-10510U processor, as well as extra RAM.

Sound Quality

Lenovo YOGA C740 14″

With it’s dual upfiring Dolby Atmos speakers, the 14-inch YOGA C740 has pretty nice sound with pretty decent positional audio. However, as is the case with many laptops, you’re not getting much bass here unfortunately. Still, I wouldn’t be adverse to watching an entire movie on the system with the onboard speakers.

Lenovo YOGA C740 15″

With the 15-inch YOGA C740, the bottom-firing speakers — while just as loud — aren’t quite as clear as the speakers on the 14-inch version. They are still adequate, and unless compared side by side like I could, you likely wouldn’t notice the difference. Again, there is a lack of bass here but they do just fine in a pinch.

General sound quality observations

While the sound on the Lenovo YOGA C740 is fairly decent overall, being a 2-in-1, your sound quality will vary based on the mode you are using. The 14-inch will sound better with laptop and tablet mode while the 15-inch will sound better in stand and tent mode based on the speaker placement.

Camera

While 720p HD cameras are fine for most cases, it’d be nice to see companies start to offer up 1080p FHD cameras. Given the recent increase in video conferencing for both business and personal use, higher quality would definitely be welcome by a lot of users. The inclusion of a built-in camera privacy shutter is a welcome feature.

That being said, the camera on the YOGA C740 2-in-1 laptops is more than adequate for what it’s likely to be used for.

Battery Life

I have to admit, I’m notoriously hard on laptops when it comes to battery life. I personally refuse to use the best battery setting which is where most companies get there long battery life claims from. I much personally prefer the better performance setting and will begrudingly use the better battery for testing.

On that note, on the better performance setting with the display set to 70% brightness, backlit keyboard on, and a USB mouse attached to the laptop, I did manage to get just under six hours of battery life on the 14″ YOGA C740 and four-and-a-half hours on the 15″ YOGA C740. When set to better battery, I was able to get nearly eight hours and six hours respectively. Given Lenovo claims up to 14 hours of battery life on the 14″ and up to 11.5 hours on the 15″ with HDR (as tested) or 15 hours on the non-HDR version, I didn’t really come close. Of course, turning your brightness down and disabling the backlit keyboard will also increase battery life. During testing on battery I was strictly web browsing, document editing, and watching the odd short video clip here and there.

The 15″ YOGA C740 also features Rapid Charge which allows you to charge for one hour in standby mode or while powered off and get up to 80% battery life based on test results using the MobileMark2014 ver. 1.5 battery life benchmark test.

Price/Value

The Lenovo YOGA C740 14″ starts at US$869.99. Our review unit, as tested, comes in at that $869.99 regular price. Given the specifications, build quality, and performance, this is a pretty reasonable price. As usual, Lenovo usually has sales going on and you can pick up a C740 14″ from as low as $819.99 as of the time of this review.

Surprisingly, the Lenovo YOGA C740 15″ starts at US$859.99, slightly cheaper than its smaller counterpart. Again, decent specifications, build quality, and performance are offered up and, in fact, the 15-inch is a better value than the 14-inch at current pricing. As tested, our review unit will set you back $1,199.99. Again, there is a sale going on at Lenovo and you can get the C740 for as low as $779.99 right now.

Wrap-up

The Lenovo YOGA C740 2-in-1 laptops are a great option to consider for both basic business and general personal use. Relatively affordable, there are many configurations available to allow you to get a system that will serve you best.

In some of our articles and especially in our reviews, you will find Amazon or other affiliate links. As Amazon Associates, we earn from qualifying purchases. Any other purchases you make through these links often result in a small amount being earned for the site and/or our writers. Techaeris often covers brand press releases. Doing this does not constitute an endorsement of any product or service by Techaeris. We provide the press release information for our audience to be informed and make their own decision on a purchase or not. Only our reviews are an endorsement or lack thereof. For more information, you can read our full disclaimer.

 

Last Updated on February 3, 2021.