Lenovo Yoga C740 (15-inch) review: A better everyday 2-in-1 for the work-from-home crowd

Sometimes it's just nice to have a bigger screen on your laptop, especially if you're getting one for work and entertainment. The Yoga C740 is available in 14- and 15.6-inch sizes and the two versions are otherwise essentially the same. Like the 14-inch version, the 15.6-inch C740 I tested is an excellent pick for everyday home office or schoolwork. If you don't have plans to travel or commute with it much, the extra screen space is better for things like watching videos and having more room for work. And despite the larger size, it still only weighs about 4 pounds (1.9 kg) and gets more than 11 hours of battery life. 

8.0

Lenovo Yoga C740 (15-inch)

Like

• 15.6-inch pen-enabled display excellent for work and entertainment
• Reliable performance for everyday tasks
• 11-plus hours of battery life

Don't like

• You'll want to pay extra for the brighter 500-nit display option
• Memory is soldered on and can't be upgraded

Pricing for the 15-inch Yoga C740 currently starts at less than $700 (£800, AU$1,470), though Lenovo's sales come and go frequently. The $1,000 model I tested, however, is worth saving up for if you can. Not only do you get a better display, but twice the storage, more memory (which is soldered on and can't be upgraded later) and a faster processor. 

Premium at a lower price

The C740 is the midrange model of Lenovo's Yoga two-in-one laptop line, slotted between the higher-end Yoga C940 (also available in 14- and 15-inch sizes) and the ultraportable13-inch C640. There's a big bump in features between the 15-inch C740 and 15-inch C940 -- the most important likely being the availability of discrete Nvidia graphics in the C940, which gives you better performance for things like photo and video editing and gaming. It also includes an active pen for writing on the screen, while the C740's pen will run you an additional $70. 

Still, if you don't immediately need a pen and aren't looking to do graphics-intensive work or anything more than casual gaming, the C740 is the smarter choice, offering the look and build quality of a premium model for less. You do get some extras: The 720p webcam above the screen has one of Lenovo's little sliding shutters that physically blocks the camera, for example. And if you like using digital assistants, the C740 has far-field mics and Amazon Alexa support. You can access it even when you're not actively using the laptop.   

The display has good color and brightness -- though I still had to see past reflections outside or under bright office lighting, even with my laptop's 500-nit brightness. Lenovo offers the C740 with a dimmer 250-nit display: While I haven't seen it in person, I can't imagine the price difference is worth the trade-off. Regardless, I like the size since it pairs well with an external monitor and, when you put this two-in-one in tent or stand mode, you can extend your screen without having a keyboard in the way.

The C740 has a comfortable keyboard with two levels of backlighting and a smooth and responsive precision touchpad. It's a keyboard you won't mind typing on all day, plus The wider keyboard deck gave Lenovo room to put in a number pad. Just below it is a fingerprint reader so you can sign in quickly. 

Lenovo offers a few configurations of the C740 that include a choice of 10th-gen Core i5 or i7 processors (Comet Lake, not Ice Lake architecture), up to 16GB of memory, integrated UHD 630 graphics and up to 1TB SSD PCIe storage. If you're configuring one through Lenovo's site, you might want to get 16GB of memory to help with multitasking, though. The memory is soldered on, which means you can't add more post-purchase. You can easily increase storage, on the other hand, by removing the bottom cover. My configuration was suitable for typical work and entertainment use, and battery life was impressive at more than 11 hours on CNET's streaming video test. 

Lenovo's 15-inch Yoga C740 is all slim bezels and sandblasted aluminum

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The 15.6-inch Lenovo Yoga C740 gives you the look and build quality of a premium laptop for under $1,000. You're also getting a few higher-end features, including a privacy shutter for the webcam, far-field microphones, Alexa support and active pen support. The bigger screen is nice to have if you don't need something that's ultraportable, although it's reasonably light and compact for travel and has long battery life.