Lenovo offers the first computer with built-in 5G mobile broadband

Articles

Lenovo Yoga 5G convertible notebook press image courtesy of Lenovo

Lenovo Flex 5G / Yoga 5G convertible notebook -the first laptop computer to have 5G mobile broadband on board

‘World’s first 5G PC,’ the Lenovo Flex 5G, now available on Verizon for $1,400 with a Snapdragon 8cx | Windows Central

Lenovo Flex 5G Laptop Landing Worldwide This Week | Ubergizmo

From the horse’s mouth

Lenovo

Lenovo™ Delivers on 5G Computing with Leading Global Network Operators (Press Release)

Verizon

Product site and purchasing links (US only)

My Comments

The 5G mobile broadband specification is surfacing this week in an “Always Connected PC” form factor with integrated mobile broadband thanks to Lenovo.

The computer will be the Lenovo Flex 5G also known as the Yoga 5G in some markets and is a 14” 2-in-1 convertible laptop. This uses ARM RISC silicon in the form of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx CPU and Qualcomm Adreno 680 graphics infrastructure. It will be delivered with the ARM-compiled build of Windows 10 Pro. Its display is a 14” Full HD LED LCD and will come with 8Gb RAM and 256Gb SSD storage.

Lenovo Yoga 5G convertible notebook press image courtesy of LenovoThe use of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx as the Lenovo Flex 5G’s CPU is primarily about implementing CPU technology that has higher performance compared to what is offered in a smartphone or mobile-platform tablet. This is due to the computer being in a larger chassis and not having the thermal constraints associated with the kind of housing a smartphone would have.

For connectivity, the 5G mobile broadband modem supports mmWave and sub 6GHz bands, similar to what is expected in the latest high-end smartphones. As well, it can connect to Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) networks and Bluetooth peripherals up to the Bluetooth 5.0 specification. Lenovo expects the Flex 5G to run on its own battery for 24 hours before needing to be charged.

Of course, due to the use of ARM RISC silicon, the Windows ARM build will be running Windows software that isn’t compiled for ARM RISC microarchitecture in an emulation form. This may be seen to yield compatibility issues for some software like games or device drivers.

Initially it will be offered in the USA through Verizon for USD$1400 or USD$58.33 per month as part of a contract. But Lenovo is forging partnerships with other telcos in other markets like EE (UK), Sunrise (Switzerland) or CMCC (China) as well as offering it direct through its Website later this year.

What I see of this is that Lenovo being the first to offer 5G mobile-broadband integration in a regular computer. There will be issues with having to support certain markets’ and telcos’ mobile-broadband needs such as Telstra’s wish to support proper performance in regional, rural and remote areas of Australia when they sell any mobile-broadband device. This will mean having to vary the device to suit these requirements.

At the moment, I see this class of computer appealing towards mobile professionals and nomadic users who prefer to use mobile broadband as the preferred Internet connection away from the office.

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