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When it comes to laptops, there’s a whole host of brands to choose from, including Dell, HP, Asus and Lenovo. If you want something that is both portable, with a premium design as well as something that can help you be more productive, look no further than Lenovo’s IdeaPad S940. While there are various configurations, the below table provides an overview of the specs I tested.
Table of Contents
Specs As Tested
| Lenovo Yoga S940 | |
| Processor | 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8565U Processor (1.80GHz, 8MB Cache) |
| Display | 14.0″ UHD (3840 x 2160), 500 nits, IPS, Contour Glass |
| Memory | 16GB LPDDR3 2400MHz |
| Storage | 512GB Solid State Drive, M.2 PCIe-NVMe |
| Graphics | Integrated Intel UHD 620 |
| Audio | Dolby Atmos Speaker System |
| Operating System | Windows 10 Pro 64 |
| Ports |
2 x USB-C Thunderbolt 1 x USB-C (DC-in + USB 3.1 Gen 1) Headphone / mic combo |
| In The Box |
IdeaPad S940 14″ 65 watt AC adapter 4 Cell Li_ion battery Quick start guide |
| Dimensions | 12.57” x 7.77” x .48” |
| Weight | 2.6 pounds |
| Price | $2,404.99 |
Design & Hardware
The IdeaPad S940 is one of the company’s lightest laptops, coming in at just 2.6 lbs. (1.2 kg) and quite thin at just over 12mm. The body features a premium all-metal design which looks and feels great however under intensive workloads, it did tend to get very warm on the bottom of the laptop.
The display is a 14-inch 4K UHD display with 500 nits of brightness, HDR VESA400 and Dolby Vision. Whichever angle you look at the screen from, it looks amazing thanks to the 4K resolution. Just like some flagship smartphones, the display on the IdeaPad S940 has curved edges and a 90% screen to body ratio, so there’s virtually no bezels. All in all, the display is quite crisp and the colours are vivid.
At the top of the IdeaPad S940’s display you’ll find what Lenovo calls a reversed notch, which houses the IR camera that can be used for Windows Hello login and also doubles as a way to easily open the laptop.
On either side of the keyboard are four Dolby Atmos speakers which are great for watching movies and listening to music. The speakers can get fairly loud – while testing, I usually had them at 50% volume which was sufficient enough for my activities even with the TV on and chatter in and around me.
The backlit keyboard on the IdeaPad S940 is definitely a great feature and the keyboard has a good amount of travel (amount keys can be pushed down). It does feel slightly like Apple’s current keyboard used in their MacBook and MacBook Pros and I personally prefer keyboards with a little more travel than the IdeaPad S940. Understandable though that the S940’s keyboard is built this way in an effort to keep it as slim as possible.
For ports, the left side has a USB 3.1 Gen 1 (USB-C) and headphone/mic combo jack. The right side of the laptop has two Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports. The benefit of Thunderbolt 3 is that it supports 4K display out, charging and data transfer.
In terms of specs, the IdeaPad S940 I tested had the 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8565 processor (clocked at 1.8GHz), an Intel UHD 620 GPU, 16GB of RAM and 512GB SSD. The 52 Wh battery in the IdeaPad S940 was able to last a full-day, however watching a ton of 4K videos on the laptop will significantly drain the battery. Lenovo states that if you’re using the 1080p display option, the IdeaPad S940 can last up to 15 hours.
The IdeaPad S940 is very similar to Dell’s latest XPS 13 (9380), as they both come equipped with great specs (up to an 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8565U processor), 4K Dolby Vision and three USB-C ports (of which two are Thunderbolt 3). While the IdeaPad S940 has an IR camera for Windows Hello, the XPS 13 has a built-in fingerprint reader in the power button.
The Lenovo IdeaPad S940 is available now from the company’s website starting at $1,819 CAD. However, if you want the specs listed above, that will set you back around $2,404.99 CAD.
Software
The IdeaPad S940 is running Windows 10 Pro and while each Windows laptop comes pre-installed with some Microsoft apps, the laptop also comes with a few Lenovo apps.
One of those is Lenovo Vantage which will show you recommended apps as well as help you install system updates, change hardware settings, check your warranty status, get support, and keep your device secure.
You also get access to apps such as Thunderbolt Control Center which lets you manage devices connected to your IdeaPad S940 via the Thunderbolt 3 ports.
The IdeaPad S940 comes equipped with dual-array microphones that can be used to talk to Cortana (via the “Hey, Cortana” voice command). Just like other voice assistants, Cortana can set reminders, make lists, answer questions and control your smart home.
I didn’t find myself using Cortana all that often but you do have the option to talk to Alexa instead. All you need to do is say “Talk to Alexa” or “Open Alexa” after which Alexa will respond and you can interact with her as you’re used to.
As mentioned earlier, the IdeaPad S940 comes with a built-in IR camera which can be used for Windows Hello login. The feature allows you to sign-in to your computer using biometric facial recognition. There were a few times when I opened the laptop and it would attempt to sign me in via Windows Hello but it would not recognize my face and prompt me to enter my password instead. I’m not fully sold on the facial recognition technology yet.
Final Thoughts
Overall, the Lenovo IdeaPad S940 is a great Windows laptop that has powerful specs and it’s super slim profile allows you to easily take it with you on the go.
