By When you push a button on the keyboard, the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable, a 14-inch laptop, unfolds into a large 16.7-inch display. Lenovo is pleased to announce that this is the world’s first rollable laptop. At the touch of a button, you can access the vast amount of additional screen space that is built into your laptop.
I’m amazed at how awesome this is: Lenovo has taken a device that would often be seen as a CES tech showcase and made it into a real, well-designed laptop that is affordable for everyone. Yes, it is pricey, but, amazingly, you can have this kind of unique experience for a few thousand dollars.
The dual-display Yoga Book 9i is just one of the many innovative laptop models that Lenovo has been producing. Most people shouldn’t use these computers due to their high cost. They are the only legitimate game in town, though, if you like the concept. Lenovo deserves praise for turning these ideas into tangible, marketable goods. These devices show why PCs are so amazing.
Specification
There is only one configuration of the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable. This laptop’s Intel Core Ultra 7 258V CPU, also known as a Lunar Lake CPU, boasts a strong NPU for Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC capabilities, as well as outstanding integrated graphics performance and outstanding battery life.
However, compared to other CPU architectures, CPU-heavy multithreaded operations will lag since Lunar Lake only has eight cores: four performance cores and four low-power efficiency cores. Lenovo also comes with 1TB of SSD storage and a substantial 32GB of RAM.
- Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 model number Rollable
- Graphics/GPU: Intel Arc 140V CPU: Intel Core Ultra 7 258V Memory: 32GB LPDDR5X
- Intel AI Boost (48 TOPS) as the NPU
- Display: 14-inch 2000×1600 OLED with a refresh rate of 120 Hz that unfolds into a 16.7-inch 2000×2350 display
- 1TB PCIe Gen4 SSD for storage
- Webcam: 1440p imaging device
- Connectivity: 1x combo audio jack, 2x Thunderbolt 4 (USB Type-C)
- Networking: Bluetooth 5.4, Wi-Fi 7.
- Biometrics: IR camera for facial recognition and fingerprint reader
- Battery dimensions: 11.95 x 9.08 x 0.75 inches; capacity: 66 Watt-hours
- 3.72 pounds in weight
- MSRP as tested: $3,299
Design and build quality
The Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable is well-built! This feels more like a refined second or third iteration of the idea than the first rollable laptop ever made. The Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 initially appears to be a silver Lenovo ThinkBook laptop that is a little larger than typical. It has an intimidating hinge that resembles the hinge found in a two-in-one machine.
This would pass for a typical Lenovo laptop, but for the slight extra bulk—it’s only slightly thicker than usual, and at 3.72 pounds, it’s not even that much heavier than a typical laptop—until you look at the screen. Instead of terminating at a bezel, the screen extends past a seam and beneath the keyboard into the laptop.
Simply make sure the laptop is at the proper angle (90 degrees or slightly farther back) and hit the key to the right of F12 to unroll it. When the rollable OLED display unrolls from beneath the keyboard, a motor starts up and raises the laptop’s height. You will need to press the key once more to roll it back up. (The key won’t work if your screen isn’t angled properly for rolling.)
The hinge and motor feel quite sturdy. The true test will come in time, but this seems reliable. Compared to my foldable Galaxy Phone, which I fold with my hands using different amounts of pressure, this machine feels more dependable because it has a motor that rolls and unrolls it smoothly.
Lenovo comes with a “ThinkBook Workspace” pane that sits at the bottom of the screen while it’s unrolled, as well as its software that manages resolution switching as the screen folds and unrolls. Although the workspace functions well, I would have preferred to continue using my standard Windows applications.
Display and speakers
The main feature of the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable is its display. This rollable OLED display has a refresh rate of 120 Hz and a brightness of up to 400 nits. It has a 14-inch display with a resolution of 2000 x 1600 pixels when rolled up. It has a tall 16.7-inch display with a resolution of 2000 x 2350 when it is unrolled.
You’ll recognize the “crease” where the display folds in the center if you’ve ever used a foldable phone. It has some crease-like visual artifacts where it folds, yet it doesn’t have any creases because it’s rollable. They are extremely well concealed; anything that appears out of the ordinary must be viewed under ideal lighting conditions and at the ideal angle.
The rollability is the screen’s primary feature, despite its attractive appearance. High-end OLED screens with more vibrant colors and brightness have been found in laptops. However, this is a remarkable performance for a rollable display with such an odd size and resolution. But this isn’t a touchscreen. This is not the system for you if you’re searching for a touch screen.
The Harman Kardon speakers on this system have an exceptionally high volume. I use Daft Punk’s Get Lucky and Steely Dan’s Aja to test each laptop I review. They were loud enough, and the sound quality in Aja was clear with good instrument separation. Even without a lot of bass, Get Lucky’s sound was well-balanced; there was just enough bass to be enjoyable without being overly tinny. Since these are laptop speakers, of course, we’re using a scale to assign grades, but these are exceptionally good.
Connectivity
There aren’t many ports on the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable. Two Thunderbolt 4 (USB Type-C) ports and a combo audio jack for headphones and a microphone are located on the left side. That’s all.
The power cable will use one of those ports on the left to charge this computer because it is USB-C compatible. More ports, or at least a Thunderbolt 4 port on each side, would be excellent overall. But since this device has a motor and a rollable screen and isn’t much thicker than a typical laptop, there wasn’t as much space for ports, which makes sense.
However, keep in mind that you could require a dongle or a dock. This device promises to eliminate the need for a portable monitor by providing convenient access to a larger screen area. However, it has fewer ports, so you might need to bring a dongle or dock instead, depending on how many peripherals you require. This device supports Bluetooth 5.4 and Wi-Fi 7 thanks to Lunar Lake. My wireless connectivity was flawless.
Performance
The Intel Lunar Lake CPU, namely the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V, is found in the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable. In desktop productivity applications, Lunar Lake has consistently produced fast performance, and this system is no exception. To get a sense of the overall performance of the system, Lenovo’s rollable laptop has a good Lunar Lake-powered performance score of 7,703.
Cinebench R20 is then used. This benchmark, which emphasizes total CPU performance, is substantially multithreaded. CPUs with more cores have a significant advantage because it is massively multithreaded. The Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Rollable performed similarly to comparable laptops using Lunar Lake processors, with an average Cinebench R20 multi-threaded score of 4,060. They just don’t have as many cores as other chips, such as AMD’s Ryzen AI 9 series and Intel’s Meteor Lake chips from the prior generation.
We also use Handbrake to run an encode. Although it runs for a long time, this benchmark is also significantly multithreaded. Under load, many laptops choke and slow down, requiring the cooling system to kick in.
The average time for the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable to finish the encoding process was 1,599 seconds, or more than 26 and a half minutes. It was somewhat slower than even other Lunar Lake-powered devices, which implies that the extra display and motor mechanism affect the machine’s thermal profile; in other words, it is unable to cool itself as well as some other Lunar Lake-powered devices and throttles more when under strain. It should come as no surprise.
Battery life
The Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable boasts a respectable, if not particularly huge, 66-watt-hour battery. Its battery life was not as long as that of other Lunar Lake devices. Given that displays frequently contribute significantly to power consumption, the large rollable OLED panel appears to be far more power-hungry than the typical laptop display.
The average lifespan of the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable was 761 minutes, or more than 12 and a half hours. Although that figure seems reasonable, it is hours less than that of other Lunar Lake-powered systems. (For instance, the Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro, which isn’t a rollable laptop, achieved almost 24 hours in our benchmark.) Compared to the typical Lunar Lake laptop, you will need to plug this one in a little more frequently. You’ll make it work, though, if you adore this laptop.
Conclusion
The ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 from Lenovo is amazing. I never had any concerns about the motor motion or the rollable display because they seem so sturdy. At the touch of a button, you may access a large amount of additional screen space, and when you want portability, it all folds up on the keyboard. Because these devices are available to those who desire them, that is why PCs are so fantastic.
This is a great laptop if you’re looking for one that can be rolled up. Does the typical laptop buyer need this machine? Of course not—the $3,300 price tag is both over the typical laptop buyer’s budget and astonishing for a cutting-edge, unique product. You’ll need to weigh the trade-offs, such as shorter battery life than other Lunar Lake systems, and determine what you value, even if you do want to spend this much.
However, it’s a fantastic machine that performs as well as I had imagined. If this is a little too rich for your blood, though, consider a portable monitor. Although you’ll need to carry two items, and it doesn’t feel as futuristic as a rollable laptop, it’s a far more affordable method to have more screen space while you’re on the road.
