Lenovo doesn’t want to call the Lavie Pro Mobile the world’s lightest 13-inch laptop — probably for legal reasons. But it’s the lightest 13-inch laptop I’ve ever seen at 1.85 pounds.
More important is how light this thing feels in your hands. I wondered whether I was holding a dummy unit when I picked up the Lavie Pro Mobile at CES 2020.
At $1,599, this collaboration between Lenovo and NEC is pricey, but for traveling execs this could be the best laptop for the bragging rights alone.
Lavie Pro Mobile price and availability
The Lavie Pro Mobile will be available in March for $1,599. That makes this ultraportable among the most expensive options around, though the HP Elite Dragonfly starts at an even higher $1,629.
Lavie Mobile Pro design
You're probably wondering why the Lavie Mobile Pro is so light. It's all about the materials. The bottom case is made of a magnesium lithium array that was initially used the aerospace industry. Meanwhile, the top cover of this laptop is made of durable "racing car grade" carbon. Last but not least is the magnesium array keyboard case that was designed by top Japanese craftsmen.
The whole package weighs just 1.85 pounds and measures 12.1 x 8.5 x 0.62 inches, making the Dell XPS 13 (2.7 pounds, 11.9 x 7.8 x 0.5 inches) and HP Elite Dragonfly (2.5 pounds, 11.9 x 7.8 x 0.6 inches) look heavy by comparison. Lenovo even brought along a scale just to prove how light this laptop is.
Lavie Mobile Pro specs and display
The Lavie Pro Mobile is powered by an older 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8565U processor and it's paired with 8GB of RAM and a 512GB M.2 PCIe SSD. So you're getting a good amount of storage for the money. The Intel UHD 620 GPU provides the graphics punch.
The Lavie Pro Mobile sports a 13.3-inch, 1920 x 1080 display, which Lenovo claims averages 300 nits. That's not bad, but the best ultraportables approach 500 nits.
Lavie Mobile Pro keyboard
Here's where things get a little funky. Likely owing to its Japanese design, the keyboard layout on the Lavie Mobile Pro has a few quirks. First, the space bar is smaller than we'd like and left of center of the touchpad. Second, the right Shift key is small. Strangely, the Enter key is oversized.
One plus: there's a fingerprint scanner embedded in the power button.
Lavie Mobile Pro ports
The Lavie Mobile Pro has a decent array of ports given its size. It features a USB 3.1 Type-C Gen. 2 port, a USB 3.1 Type-C Gen. 1 port, a USB 3.1 Type-A Gen. 2 port, an HDMI 1.4 and a microSD slot.
Lavie Mobile Pro battery life
The Lavie Mobile Pro houses a 49 watt-hour battery. Lenovo and NEC say that this laptop can last up to 15 hours on a charge, but that's likely using the not-very-demanding MobileMark test. We look forward to running our web surfing test to see how long this system endures.
Outlook
The Lavie Mobile Pro is an exotic laptop that will make you stand out in the crowd, and it's so light you will not feel it in your bag. Despite being so portable, the design feels pretty solid, and you get a solid array of ports. However, the $1,599 price is quite high for a laptop with an older 8th gen CPU, and the keyboard layout is a bit awkward.
Overall, though, it's hard not to be impressed with this ultraportable. Stay tuned for our full rated review the Lavie Mobile Pro when it arrives in March.
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