Lenovo Yoga 6 13 Convertible Review: Laptops Have Clothes and Fabric Now

The 13.3-inch 2021 Lenovo Yoga 6 13 directly succeeds last year's Yoga 6 13 by replacing the older Ryzen 7 4700U CPU with the newer Ryzen 7 5500U. Though the Yoga series is supposed to be home to Lenovo's upper midrange to high-end consumer laptops, the Yoga 6 13 is fairly inexpensive at only around $800 USD as configured in our review.
The most striking feature of the Yoga 6 13 is its fabric-encased outer lid which sets the system apart from the sea of other convertible laptop options. Competitors in this space include other affordable models like the Acer Spin 3 SP313, Dell Inspiron 2-in-1, HP Envy x360 13, or Asus VivoBook Flip.
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Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Price |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
84.7 % v7 (old) | 07 / 2021 | Lenovo Yoga 6 13 82ND0009US R5 5500U, Vega 7 | 1.3 kg | 18.2 mm | 13.30" | 1920x1080 | |
86.3 % v7 (old) | 07 / 2021 | Asus ZenBook Flip 13 UX363EA-HP069T i7-1165G7, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 1.2 kg | 13 mm | 13.30" | 1920x1080 | |
85.4 % v7 (old) | 06 / 2021 | Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 360 13 i5-1135G7, Iris Xe G7 80EUs | 1.1 kg | 13 mm | 13.20" | 1920x1080 | |
87.8 % v7 (old) | 05 / 2021 | HP Spectre x360 13-aw2003dx i5-1135G7, Iris Xe G7 80EUs | 1.2 kg | 16.9 mm | 13.30" | 3840x2160 | |
86.9 % v7 (old) | 04 / 2021 | MSI Summit E13 Flip Evo A11MT i7-1185G7, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 1.4 kg | 14.9 mm | 13.40" | 1920x1200 | |
83.7 % v7 (old) | 05 / 2021 | Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 CB 13IML05 82B80010GE i5-10210U, UHD Graphics 620 | 1.4 kg | 17.95 mm | 13.30" | 1920x1080 |
Case — Abyss Blue Fabric For Style
We have to give Lenovo props for deviating from the typical plastic, metal, carbon fiber, and even leather surfaces that make up most other laptops in the market. The manufacturer has done an excellent job integrating and securing the fabric along the edges of the lid for a seamless transition between the fabric and glass screen. The plastic keyboard deck and base are not made of anything special as the fabric applies only on the outer lid.
Our main worry about the fabric-encased outer lid is that its surface is constantly exposed to the elements including fingers, dirt, dust, and potentially liquids that can be difficult to properly clean. We wouldn't be surprised to see its clean blue surface darken or brown over time for an unsightly appearance. The Alcantara material on Microsoft Surface tablets also suffers from similar issues.
At 18.2 mm, the system is slightly thicker than most convertible laptops including the IdeaPad Flex 5, Yoga C940, and HP Spectre x360 13. Length and width are comparable to the ZenBook Flip 13 UX363, but we believe it could have been smaller since the top and bottom bezels are somewhat thick on the Yoga 6 13.
Connectivity — Good Selection of Ports
Annoyingly, only the USB-C port along the left edge supports Power Delivery meaning you can only charge the laptop on this side. The USB-C port along the right edge does not support Power Delivery.
There is no integrated HDMI port unlike on the ZenBook Flip 13. Thunderbolt is not supported as well due to the AMD processor.
Communication
Webcam
The camera integrates a manual shutter like on most laptops these days. Camera quality, however, remains poor.

Maintenance
Accessories and Warranty
There are no extras in the box outside of the AC adapter and paperwork which is disappointing because the system has full support for active pens. The standard one-year limited warranty applies.
Input Devices —More IdeaPad Than ThinkPad
Keyboard
If you've typed on an IdeaPad or Yoga laptop in the past, then you'll have a good idea of how typing on the Yoga 6 13 will feel. Both key feedback and travel are on the lighter and shallower side, respectively, especially when compared to the firmer and deeper keys on ThinkPad models or the competing HP Envy x360 13. It's too bad that the keys here aren't closer to what Lenovo is offering on its superior ThinkPad series.
Key layout has changed slightly from other Yoga laptops. In particular, the top row of secondary functions are now different from the keys on the Yoga 9i 14 or Yoga Slim 7 due in part to the inclusion of a camera kill switch.
Touchpad
The clickpad is on the small side at 10 x 6.4 cm compared to 11.3 x 6.8 cm on the XPS 13 7390 2-in-1. Traction is completely smooth with only a bit of sticking when gliding at slower speeds for more accurate control. Unfortunately, clicking on the clickpad is unsatisfying due to its shallow travel and weak feedback. Users are going to want an external mouse for longer sessions.
Display — Full sRGB Coverage
The AU Optronics B133HAN05 panel series is common on many 13.3-inch laptops including on the Asus ZenBook 13 UX333. However, this is the first time we've seen a "B133HAN05.F" variant. Contrast is excellent at over 1000:1 and our independent brightness measurements are indeed very close to Lenovo's claim of 300 nits. Colors are also vivid and comparable to many costlier Ultrabooks with 1080p panels. On the other hand, response times are only average for noticeable ghosting especially if gaming.
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Brightness Distribution: 93 %
Center on Battery: 291.5 cd/m²
Contrast: 1534:1 (Black: 0.19 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 3.83 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.9, calibrated: 1.07
ΔE Greyscale 6.2 | 0.5-98 Ø5.2
71.4% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
99.2% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
69.7% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.2
Lenovo Yoga 6 13 82ND0009US AU Optronics B133HAN05.F, IPS, 13.3", 1920x1080 | Asus ZenBook Flip 13 UX363EA-HP069T Samsung, SDC414A, OLED, 13.3", 1920x1080 | Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 360 13 AMOLED, 13.2", 1920x1080 | HP Spectre x360 13-aw2003dx Samsung SDC4149, OLED, 13.3", 3840x2160 | MSI Summit E13 Flip Evo A11MT Sharp LQ134N1JW53, IPS, 13.4", 1920x1200 | Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 CB 13IML05 82B80010GE IPS, 13.3", 1920x1080 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Display | 26% | 1% | -0% | |||
Display P3 Coverage | 69.7 | 99.4 43% | 70 0% | 69.8 0% | ||
sRGB Coverage | 99.2 | 100 1% | 88.5 -11% | 98.8 0% | ||
AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 71.4 | 96 34% | 81.2 14% | 70.6 -1% | ||
Response Times | 95% | 95% | 92% | -45% | -2% | |
Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 46.8 ? | 2 ? 96% | 2 ? 96% | 2.8 ? 94% | 64 ? -37% | 47 ? -0% |
Response Time Black / White * | 28.8 ? | 2 ? 93% | 2 ? 93% | 2.8 ? 90% | 44 ? -53% | 30 ? -4% |
PWM Frequency | 60 | 60 ? | 242.7 ? | |||
Screen | -29% | 252% | -68% | 24% | 10% | |
Brightness middle | 291.5 | 353 21% | 287 -2% | 355 22% | 551.3 89% | 242 -17% |
Brightness | 294 | 359 22% | 289 -2% | 368 25% | 517 76% | 232 -21% |
Brightness Distribution | 93 | 95 2% | 96 3% | 93 0% | 91 -2% | 85 -9% |
Black Level * | 0.19 | 0.1 47% | 0.01 95% | 0.37 -95% | 0.235 -24% | |
Contrast | 1534 | 3530 130% | 28700 1771% | 1490 -3% | 1030 -33% | |
Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 3.83 | 3.98 -4% | 2.24 42% | 5.74 -50% | 1.45 62% | 1.99 48% |
Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 8.43 | 53.07 -530% | 3.69 56% | 9.52 -13% | 2.86 66% | 2.77 67% |
Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated * | 1.07 | 6.69 -525% | 1.7 -59% | |||
Greyscale dE 2000 * | 6.2 | 1.41 77% | 2.73 56% | 2.2 65% | 1.3 79% | 1.78 71% |
Gamma | 2.2 100% | 2.39 92% | 2.46 89% | 2.03 108% | 2.14 103% | 2.31 95% |
CCT | 6469 100% | 6346 102% | 6523 100% | 6505 100% | 6580 99% | 6567 99% |
Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998) | 73.6 | 65 | ||||
Color Space (Percent of sRGB) | 88.6 | 99 | ||||
Total Average (Program / Settings) | 33% /
-5% | 124% /
176% | 8% /
-24% | -7% /
9% | 4% /
8% |
* ... smaller is better
Color space covers over 99 percent of sRGB much like most mid-range to higher-end Ultrabooks. Certain AMOLED panels on other models like the Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 360 13 are able to offer wider ranges for deeper colors.
The display is poorly calibrated out of the box with relatively high grayscale and color deltaE values of 6.2 and 3.83, respectively. Calibrating the panel ourselves would improve both colors and grayscale substantially to deltaE values of well under 2 each.
Display Response Times
↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
---|---|---|
28.8 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 15.6 ms rise | |
↘ 13.2 ms fall | ||
The screen shows relatively slow response rates in our tests and may be too slow for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 74 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (20.9 ms). | ||
↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
46.8 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 20.8 ms rise | |
↘ 26 ms fall | ||
The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.165 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 79 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (32.7 ms). |
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
Screen flickering / PWM not detected | |||
In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 8627 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 343500) Hz was measured. |
Outdoor visibility is poor especially if sunny or during an otherwise bright overcast day. Shade definitely helps prevent colors from being washed out, but noticeable glare is ever present.
Be sure to disable AMD Vari-Bright via the Radeon software or else maximum brightness will automatically drop when running on battery power.
Performance — Hexa-Core 7 nm AMD is Fast
Lenovo is only offering the Ryzen 7 5500U CPU with integrated Radeon RX Vega 7 graphics as of this writing with no other options. This particular hexa-core processor is a Zen 2 CPU despite the 5xxxU naming convention, but raw performance levels should still be comparable to most Core i7 U-series CPUs from Intel.
Our unit was set to Extreme Performance mode via Lenovo Vantage prior to running nay performance benchmarks below for the highest possible scores. We recommend users become familiar with both Vantage and Radeon software as most Lenovo-specific features and updates are toggled here.
Notably, the internal display supports AMD FreeSync to eliminate tearing when gaming which is not common on other convertibles.
Processor
Raw multi-thread performance is about 10 percent faster than a competing laptop with the Core i7-1165G7 which is Intel's top-of-the-line Tiger Lake-U CPU at the moment. Single-thread performance, however, is about 20 percent slower. If you value multi-thread performance over single-thread, then an AMD Ryzen system may be the better investment over Intel and vice versa.
Performance sustainability is good save for an unusual short-lived dip in clock rates near the beginning of our CineBench R15 xT loop test as shown by our results below.
Cinebench R15 Multi Loop
Cinebench R23: Multi Core | Single Core
Cinebench R15: CPU Multi 64Bit | CPU Single 64Bit
Blender: v2.79 BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 -mmt1 | 7z b 4
Geekbench 5.5: Single-Core | Multi-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
Cinebench R23 / Multi Core | |
Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 14ARE05 82A20008GE | |
Asus ZenBook 13 OLED UM325UA | |
Average AMD Ryzen 5 5500U (6030 - 8565, n=19) | |
Lenovo Yoga 6 13 82ND0009US | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G2 20WK0024GE | |
Lenovo ThinkBook 14 G2 ITL 20VD008WGE | |
Asus VivoBook S13 S333JA-DS51 |
Cinebench R23 / Single Core | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G2 20WK0024GE | |
Lenovo ThinkBook 14 G2 ITL 20VD008WGE | |
Asus ZenBook 13 OLED UM325UA | |
Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 14ARE05 82A20008GE | |
Average AMD Ryzen 5 5500U (1149 - 1183, n=18) | |
Lenovo Yoga 6 13 82ND0009US | |
Asus VivoBook S13 S333JA-DS51 |
* ... smaller is better
System Performance
PCMark results are slightly higher than most competing Intel 11th gen Tiger Lake-U Ultrabooks likely due in part to the higher multi-thread performance of the AMD CPU. Keep in mind that real-world graphics performance is still slower than the Iris Xe series despite what the PCMark scores may suggest.
PCMark 10 / Score | |
Lenovo Yoga 6 13 82ND0009US | |
Average AMD Ryzen 5 5500U, AMD Radeon RX Vega 7 (4626 - 5301, n=13) | |
Asus ZenBook Flip 13 UX363EA-HP069T | |
MSI Summit E13 Flip Evo A11MT | |
HP Spectre x360 13-aw2003dx | |
Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 360 13 |
PCMark 10 / Essentials | |
Asus ZenBook Flip 13 UX363EA-HP069T | |
Lenovo Yoga 6 13 82ND0009US | |
HP Spectre x360 13-aw2003dx | |
Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 360 13 | |
Average AMD Ryzen 5 5500U, AMD Radeon RX Vega 7 (8390 - 9789, n=13) | |
MSI Summit E13 Flip Evo A11MT |
PCMark 10 / Productivity | |
Lenovo Yoga 6 13 82ND0009US | |
Average AMD Ryzen 5 5500U, AMD Radeon RX Vega 7 (6262 - 7958, n=13) | |
Asus ZenBook Flip 13 UX363EA-HP069T | |
MSI Summit E13 Flip Evo A11MT | |
Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 360 13 | |
HP Spectre x360 13-aw2003dx |
PCMark 10 / Digital Content Creation | |
Lenovo Yoga 6 13 82ND0009US | |
Average AMD Ryzen 5 5500U, AMD Radeon RX Vega 7 (4513 - 5540, n=13) | |
MSI Summit E13 Flip Evo A11MT | |
HP Spectre x360 13-aw2003dx | |
Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 360 13 | |
Asus ZenBook Flip 13 UX363EA-HP069T |
PCMark 10 Score | 5209 points | |
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DPC Latency
DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 360 13 | |
Asus ZenBook Flip 13 UX363EA-HP069T | |
MSI Summit E13 Flip Evo A11MT | |
HP Spectre x360 13-aw2003dx | |
Lenovo Yoga 6 13 82ND0009US |
* ... smaller is better
Storage Devices
Our test unit comes with a midrange Western Digital SN530 M.2 2242 NVMe SSD. Sequential write rates are decent at up to 2400 MB/s, but theoretical write rates are relatively slow at up to 950 MB/s. In fact, we're only able to reach up to 650 MB/s in benchmarks to suggest that the theoretical write rate may be unattainable in most circumstances.
Lenovo Yoga 6 13 82ND0009US WDC PC SN530 SDBPMPZ-265G | Asus ZenBook Flip 13 UX363EA-HP069T WDC PC SN730 SDBPNTY-1T00 | Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 360 13 Samsung PM991 MZVLQ256HAJD | HP Spectre x360 13-aw2003dx Intel Optane Memory H10 with Solid State Storage 32GB + 512GB HBRPEKNX0202A(L/H) | MSI Summit E13 Flip Evo A11MT Phison 1TB SM2801T24GKBB4S-E162 | Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 CB 13IML05 82B80010GE Samsung PM991 MZALQ128HBHQ-000L2 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AS SSD | 204% | 88% | 93% | 261% | ||
Seq Read | 1860 | 2767 49% | 1771 -5% | 1337 -28% | 3789 104% | |
Seq Write | 500 | 1368 174% | 894 79% | 652 30% | 2257 351% | |
4K Read | 36.26 | 46.86 29% | 53.5 48% | 61.8 70% | 54.2 49% | |
4K Write | 118.6 | 140.1 18% | 157.8 33% | 106.7 -10% | 78.7 -34% | |
4K-64 Read | 419 | 954 128% | 478.1 14% | 565 35% | 1330 217% | |
4K-64 Write | 219 | 1361 521% | 741 238% | 757 246% | 2038 831% | |
Access Time Read * | 0.102 | 0.051 50% | 0.156 -53% | 0.079 23% | 0.042 59% | |
Access Time Write * | 0.17 | 0.022 87% | 0.023 86% | 0.046 73% | 0.04 76% | |
Score Read | 641 | 1277 99% | 709 11% | 761 19% | 1763 175% | |
Score Write | 388 | 1638 322% | 988 155% | 929 139% | 2343 504% | |
Score Total | 1300 | 3507 170% | 2034 56% | 2067 59% | 4938 280% | |
Copy ISO MB/s | 880 | 2767 214% | 960 9% | 912 4% | 2270 158% | |
Copy Program MB/s | 185.3 | 1072 479% | 648 250% | 696 276% | 670 262% | |
Copy Game MB/s | 212.7 | 1319 520% | 882 315% | 994 367% | 1525 617% | |
CrystalDiskMark 5.2 / 6 | 65% | 12% | 31% | 130% | ||
Write 4K | 89.2 | 143 60% | 170.6 91% | 64.8 -27% | 311.1 249% | |
Read 4K | 33.09 | 50.2 52% | 44.51 35% | 98 196% | 56.6 71% | |
Write Seq | 988 | 1963 99% | 872 -12% | 994 1% | 2397 143% | |
Read Seq | 1322 | 1990 51% | 1188 -10% | 1440 9% | 2277 72% | |
Write 4K Q32T1 | 332.6 | 375 13% | 483.1 45% | 444.5 34% | 803 141% | |
Read 4K Q32T1 | 389.3 | 363.7 -7% | 284.3 -27% | 397.1 2% | 849 118% | |
Write Seq Q32T1 | 984 | 3086 214% | 950 -3% | 1265 29% | 2410 145% | |
Read Seq Q32T1 | 2461 | 3382 37% | 1872 -24% | 2501 2% | 4954 101% | |
Write 4K Q8T8 | 405.6 | |||||
Read 4K Q8T8 | 930 | |||||
Total Average (Program / Settings) | 135% /
154% | 50% /
61% | 62% /
70% | 196% /
213% |
* ... smaller is better
Disk Throttling: DiskSpd Read Loop, Queue Depth 8
GPU Performance — Mixed Bag Due to only 8 GB of RAM
3DMark results are roughly 30 percent and 40 percent slower than the competing Intel Iris Xe 80 EUs and 96 EUs, respectively. Fortunately for AMD, the performance delta during real-world games is typically narrower. We suspect that the limited 8 GB of system RAM is also bottlenecking overall frame rates on our machine.
3DMark 11 Performance | 5361 points | |
3DMark Cloud Gate Standard Score | 19193 points | |
3DMark Fire Strike Score | 2880 points | |
3DMark Time Spy Score | 1107 points | |
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