An opening look at Lenovo’s ultra-affordable 2-in-1, the Yoga 530

The Yoga 530 is one of the more affordable options in Lenovo’s latest wave of foldable convertibles. It sits below the slightly more premium Yoga 730, offering fantastic specifications considering the base model’s modest $549 (roughly £393) starting price.

Related: Best laptops

Lenovo 530 design and specs

The Lenovo 530 doesn’t have the swish design of a top-end ultrabook, but for a sub-£500 convertible it’s pretty impressive. The device has a similar clamshell to the older 520, but like its more like that of the premium sibling, the Yoga 720.

The top is made of a textured, but robust-feeling plastic. Lift the lid and you’ll see the keyboard is housed in a rigid, more premium brushed aluminium.

The chiclet, backlit keyboard feel noticeably more comfortable to type on than many of the competing laptops I’ve tested at this price point – these generally sport an entirely plastic chassis that flexes with heavy typing.

The flexible hinge mechanism, which lets you turn the device into a tablet by folding the screen round onto the back of the keyboard, also appears to be suitably sturdy.

The sizeable Microsoft Precision touchpad performed well during my demo, never once struggling to read and enact my multi-touch commands.

Despite being firmly at the affordable end of the market, the 530 is available with some pretty decent specifications. Buyers can have their pick of Intel’s latest 8th-gen laptop CPUs, which should offer a minor, but noticeable performance boost on older Kaby Lake devices.

Casual gamers and videographers will also be pleased to hear that Lenovo is offering the convertible with an Nvidia GeForce MX130 GPU option – although this will drastically ramp up the cost.

I only had the opportunity to check out the FHD version of the 530, but was reasonably impressed. To the naked eye, the IPS touchscreen looked reasonably well calibrated and had high enough max brightness levels to remain readable, even in a brightly lit demo room. I doubt the panel will cover any more than 60-70% of the Adobe RGB spectrum favoured by creatives, but at this price point that’s hardly a surprise.

The addition of Pen 2 active stylus support could prove a boon for students who want a flexible laptop that can be used as a means to scribble notes. Sadly, Lenovo didn’t have a pen to hand for me to test with the 530, but considering how well it’s worked on other convertibles, I have high hopes that it will work well enough for basic notation at the very least.

Connectivity is solid, with the 530 loaded with all the ports most users will need. It features USB C, 3.0 A inputs plus a full-sized HDMI. My only minor disappointment is that it doesn’t have any Thunderbolt ports – although again, considering the price, this is an expected omission.

The only major downside that separates the 530 from the more premium 730 is the lack of built-in Amazon Alexa support and a 15-inch option. But considering its price, this is more than forgivable.

You can see the full specs sheet below.

Display	14-inch up to FHD IPS
CPU	Up to 8th Gen Intel Core i7
Graphics	Integrated or Nvidia GeForce MX130, 4GB DDR5
Memory	Up to 16GB DDR4
Storage	Up to 512GB DDR4
Battery	Up to 10 hours
Connectivity	1 x USB 3.1 type C, 2 x USB 3.0 type A, HDMI, 4-in-1 card reader, 3.5mm
Weight	1.6kg

Lenovo 530 price

Lenovo has only confirmed pricing for the most basic version of the 530, which will retail in the US for $549 (roughly £393).

Related: Best laptops for students

Lenovo 530 release date

The device is set to launch in the US in April. Lenovo hasn’t confirmed its UK release date.

First impressions

At first glance, the Lenovo 530 looks like a solid, affordable convertible that could be ideal for students and buyers on a budget. However, until we get a chance to more thoroughly test the device and receive firm pricing on all the different configurations, it’s hard to accurately gauge its overall value.

Check back later this year for our full review of the Lenovo Yoga 530.