Lenovo ThinkCentre Yoga A940

The ThinkCentre Yoga A940 (starts at $2,299.99, in the model tested) is Lenovo’s take on Microsoft’s Surface Studio concept: that is, a convertible all-in-one desktop. Like the Studio’s, the A940’s touch screen reclines for use as a digital drafting board, making it possible to sketch, model, and do general tasks all on one PC. Two useful accessories, a stylus and the Surface Dial-like Precision Dial, come bundled, and the A940 packs a bit more speed than the Studio 2 at a lower price. By and large, the A940 hits its target, but it underwhelms in places, notably in the quality of its build and screen. The Surface Studio 2 remains our top pick in this admittedly niche category of PCs, but if you’re on a tighter budget and the concept syncs with your workflow, the Yoga 940 is a unique, functional alternative.

Living Up to the Yoga Name: A Convertible All-in-One Desktop

On its own merits, the ThinkCentre Yoga A940 is a uniquely handy desktop. The concept behind all-in-one (AIO) PCs like this and the Surface Studio is that they simultaneously serve as professional PCs for work and as sketch panels for digital creation.

To this end, Lenovo’s desktop works. The display measures 27 inches diagonally, with a two-pronged rear hinge that lets you stand it upright like a normal desktop monitor, or lean it back at a steep slant for easier drawing and other creative endeavors, stopping at any degree of incline in its range. The maximum recline angle is 25 degrees—it doesn’t go completely flat, nor could it with the base in the way. The hinge takes a tad more force to move than you may expect, but it won’t slip out of position too easily when in use.

One design decision I had to get used to (a seemingly intentional one) is that, when you’re reclining the screen, the bottom of the panel will hit the desk about midway through the tilt range. A pad on its bottom edge cushions the impact, stopping your free motion briefly, which can be jarring. This initial spot of resistance is a good angle at which to use the A940 screen while standing, so it braces itself against the desk somewhat. If you keep pushing on, it slides (not overly smoothly) along your desk surface until it hits the lowest incline point, should you prefer a lesser angle. Overall, though, the recline function is intuitive and works.

While it’s not the only other reclining all-in-one we’ve tested, the Surface Studio 2 is the obvious comparison here. And to put it simply, the Yoga A940’s build isn’t as high-quality as the Studio 2’s construction. I’ll cover each of these in more detail, but it’s thicker, it’s less sleek, it uses lower-quality materials, and the screen isn’t nearly as sharp. But those quality differences are reflected in the price, as even the lowest-end configuration of Microsoft’s device is $3,499—a significant $1,200 gap. It’s clear, by comparing components, that much of that dollar difference goes toward the Studio 2’s build quality. The Yoga A940 isn’t cheap, by any stretch, but even so, those are two very different price tiers. If you’re at or near the top of your budget in looking at the Yoga A940, a Surface Studio 2 is likely out of reach.

At 0.7 inch thick, the display panel is only “thick” compared to the Studio’s super-slim panel, not that it really matters for anything other than aesthetics. The base, however, will eat up more of your desk. It is twice the height of and much wider than the Studio 2’s small square, stretching the full width of the display itself. To be precise, it measures 25 inches horizontally and is 1.7 inches tall. A speaker is also built into the front, offering solid, if not booming and impactful, sound.

Part of this extra width is taken up by a Qi-compatible wireless charging mat on the…