Dynabook Portégé X30W-J
I’ve reviewed numerous Dynabook laptops over the past two years, but this is easily the best product that the company formerly known as Toshiba Laptops has produced. The X30W-J is a 2-in-1 that’s been thought through, from the springs in its keyboard to the touch of the pen against the screen. If you’ve never considered a convertible before, this Portégé might change your mind.
The key factor underpinning this convertible’s success is its weight. At 950g on our calibrated scales, it’s phenomenally light for a 13.3in laptop, never mind one that includes hinges that allow the lid to swing round 360˚.
This means that it’s actually usable as a tablet. All of our usual caveats about Windows 10 as a tablet OS still stand, but once you’ve switched to your app of choice the OS doesn’t matter. While it’s undeniable that a 16:9 aspect ratio is narrow next to the 4:3 of an iPad, the Portégé isn’t trying to be an iPad replacement. Instead, it’s there for you to write notes on, to annotate PDFs or simply to read through long documents.
To help you, Dynabook bundles an excellent active stylus with the Portégé, including a useful but aesthetically dubious adhesive holder. The feel of the nib against the matte screen is akin to a felt-tip pen on paper. It’s far more natural, and far softer, than most combinations of stylus against screen.
The only weirdness that you’ll need to get used to when holding the Portégé in tablet mode is that, rather than the smooth rear of a tablet, your fingers will rest against keys. Again, though, I would emphasise that this machine is going to be a laptop 90% of the time and a tablet the remaining 10%; it’s a compromise, but one you can live with.
Key advantage
Besides, once you start typing on the Portégé you’ll grow to love those keys. They have a firm feel and plenty of travel, while a quiet action means that you can tap away in a meeting without bothering your fellow attendees. The keyboard backlight is similarly subtle, with three brightness ratings to choose from. In fact, there’s nothing I can criticise about this keyboard. Perhaps Dynabook could have made it a fraction wider to fill the chassis, but all the buttons are big enough to hit easily.
One minor compromise is to the touchpad – note the lack of a trackpoint – which is smaller than ideal, but a smooth glass coating means it’s fine for everyday use. Besides, you can always prod at the screen.
Dynabook builds a fingerprint reader into the top-left of the touchpad, but you’re expected to sign in using the Windows Hello infrared webcam. Both work seamlessly, but the front
“It’s phenomenally light for a 13.3in laptop, never mind one that has the hinges you need to allow the lid to swing round 360˚”
facing webcam is only 720p and of standard quality; by which I mean disappointing compared to a proper webcam. It will do the job, but I’m counting down the days until high-quality webcams become the norm in laptops.
Curiously, Dynabook includes a second camera in the X30W. It sits above the keyboard, with the idea being that in tablet or tent mode you can use it to capture higher resolution photos and videos. Perhaps its most useful skill is that it will recognise the shape of documents and whiteboards, making those far easier to capture.
You can use the higher-resolution camera for calls, but there are two disadvantages. One is that you have to reach around the back to touch the keyboard, and the other is that the mics are positioned in such a way that your voice is quieter. Still, this just involves raising your voice a fraction during calls, and the dual noisecancelling mics do an excellent job of capturing your voice.
Screen skills
When it comes to watching films on the X30W, the Sharp IGZO screen is flexible enough to do this job well. It only covers 67% of the DCI-P3 gamut, so not all the colours envisaged by film directors can be displayed, but a high contrast ratio of almost 1,600:1 means you’ll hav e no trouble picking out details in dark scenes. A peak brightness of 427cd/m2 is excellent too.
This panel is tuned to the sRGB colour space (which is favoured by the internet as a whole) and you can be confident of the colours you see. It covers 95% of the sRGB gamut with a commendable average Delta E of 0.54, and even at its worst it’s below two.
All told, that’s a fine set of figures. Nor should you worry about irksome reflections, thanks to a matte finish that diffuses fluorescent lighting without any issues.
There’s even potential for ga ming on this laptop thanks to Intel’s Iris Xe graphics. You can see exactly how this stacks up against alternatives such as AMD’s Radeon Vega and the GeForce MX450 in our group test on p72, but the summary is easy: less demanding games such as Fortnite and Minecraft will play fluently on this laptop. It scored a highly respectable 1,724 in the 3DMark Time Spy test, while Metro: Last Light averaged 51fps at the screen’s native resolution.
Power time
That graphics firepower is built into a 28W version of Intel’s Core i7-1165G7 processor, and Dynabook gives it the best possible support. Not only through the 16GB of RAM and speedy 512GB NVMe SSD but thanks to active fan cooling when it’s neede needed. This helped the chip keep roaring along at a high frequency even under heavy load, and that in turn meant it scored 127 in the PC Pro benchmarks.
That’s an excellent result for a four-core processor, but AMD’s Ryzen 4000 and 5000 Series have a clear advantage in tasks that use more cores. Our overall benchmark scores scor always reflect this, and it’s something to bear in mind if you intend to use us a laptop in software that will take tak advantage, but in general use you’ll find the Portégé X30W to be a stu stunningly quick machine.
If you want to save m money, note that Dynabook also sells a Core i5 version (the Portégé X30W-J-109) for £1,235 inc VAT from Laptops Direct, but it isn’t the drop in processing power or 8GB of RAM that most people will notice . Instead it’s the 256GB SSD, and that alone is a reason for choosing the 512GB X30W. Note that both models include the bundled stylus.
Your portable friend
The final piece in this convertible’s jigsaw is battery life. In our videorundown test, which is roughly equivalent to using the X30W-J in tasks such as web browsing and tapping away in Word, it lasted for 10hrs 3mins. That will easily translate into a full working day.
Dynabook includes a fast charger in the box, backed with the promise of a 40% charge in 30
minutes. Those are strong figures, but although the charger is compact you’ll need to find room for the cumbersome British plug and trailing cable; I far prefer the phone-style charger provided by Asus and Huawei with their latest laptops.
You charge the X30W through one of its two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports that sit on the left-hand side, along with an HDMI connector, 3.5mm jack and Kensington lock slot. A solitary USB-A port sits on the right together with a microSD slot and the power b button. Naturally, Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5 are both p present.
Considering d this laptop’s slender l dimensions – it’s 17.9mm thick with the lid closed – that’s a respectable haul, and nor does Dynabook sacrifice build quality. The X30W-J h has passed numerous MIL-STD tests, but I would still be tempted to extend the one-year collect-and-return warranty to at least three years. If you buy through Laptops Direct, that will add
£148 inc VAT to the bill.
Time to buy
“The X30W-J adds up to not only the best Dynabook laptop I’ve ever reviewed but the best convertible, full stop”
One reason that extra fee doesn’t hurt is this convertible’s surprisingly low price. The closest configuration of the Microsoft Surface Book 3 (with its detachable screen) costs £1,510 if you want Windows 10 Pro, and that only includes 8GB of RAM and a
256GB SSD. Or consider the newly announced Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga, which starts at
£1,770 for a Core i5 model with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. (All prices include VAT.)
Overall, the Portégé X30W-J adds up to not only the best Dynabook laptop I’ve ever reviewed
but the best convertible, full stop. Mix in its business-friendly features, portability and power, and this might even turn out to be the best laptop we review this year.
Four-core 2.8GHz (4.7GHz burst) Intel
Core i7-1165G7 processor Intel Iris Xe graphics 16GB LPDD4RX RAM (4,266MHz) 13.3in touchscreen IPS display, 1,920 x 1,080 resolution 512GB M.2 PCIe SSD 2x2
Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5 2 x Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) USB-A 3.1 HDMI microSD slot 6MP front camera 720p IR webcam
53Wh battery AES Stylus Pen Windows 10 Pro 304 x 197 x 17.9mm (WDH) 950g
1yr C&R warranty