Just like the newest X1 Carbon, the X1 Yoga is constructed from a mix of materials: carbon fiber for the top cover and a magnesium alloy for the palm rest and bottom cover. The updated material, which Lenovo calls "Super Mag", promises a thinner and yet lighter system without the need to sacrifice durability. According to Lenovo, the convertible has passed various MIL-STD-810G durability tests which include vibration, drop tests, and LCD stress tests, among others.

While not everybody might call the matte black, wedge-shaped design beautiful, it's nonetheless attractive in its own right. The surface areas are smooth to the touch and resist fingerprints quite well, the keyboard is designed to handle liquid spills and the chassis certainly seems robust enough to survive the rougher use a corporate road warrior might subject it to. While the rigidity has improved compared to the earlier generation, we still noticed a bit of flex - in particular when pressing down on the left and right palm rest. We can only assume that the differences in the design - particularly the lift-and-lock feature of the keyboard (more on that later) - contributes to the added flexibility. Exerting slightly higher pressure was also accompanied by audible clicks and creaks. Both the base unit and the display are torsionally not quite as rigid as some competitors, namely those with a unibody / metal chassis - but of course the X1 Yoga is also lighter.

Speaking of weight: the convertible tipped our scale at just 1.36 kg - a bit heavier than Lenovo's claim of 1.27 kg / 2.8 lbs. In addition to the fact that the Apple Macbook Air 13 with its 13-inch display has almost the same footprint as the Yoga - see our size comparison below - it weighs the same as well. The 13-inch HP Spectre x360 weighs about 0.2 lbs more; Microsoft's Surface Book is downright heavy by comparison at 1.51 kg / 3.33 pounds. The 2015-edition of the X1 was already quite slim by most standards, but the new Yoga is slimmer still at just under 17 mm. Lenovo's own Yoga 900 has the X1 beat by a couple mm; the Microsoft Surface Book measures 22 mm because of its unusual hinge design.

The hinges look similar to the regular X1 hinges, but of course they allow the display to be rotated 360 degrees. Like all Yogas, the X1 supports four different modes: Laptop, Stand, Tent, and Tablet. Past 180 degrees, a pop-up asks the user if tablet mode should be enabled, which in turn means that touchpad and keyboard input are disabled.