Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Review

Lenovo ThinkPad X1

Review Summary:

A powerful notebook that combines the durability and features of a business-class Thinkpad with the style of a consumer laptop.

Pros

• Thin design with lots of ports
• Excellent performance
• Bright screen with Gorilla Glass

Cons

• Integrated battery
• Glossy screen
• Annoying touchpad issue

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Full Review

 

Although the ThinkPad line of notebooks from Lenovo is synonymous with business laptops, there hasn't been a 13-inch ThinkPad since the old X301. The all new ThinkPad X1 promises to deliver all the features and dependability you expect from a ThinkPad inside a thin and lightweight 13-inch laptop.

Our review unit of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 features the following specifications:

• Intel Core i5-2520M dual-core processor (2.5GHz, 3MB cache, 3.2GHz Turbo frequency)
• Windows 7 Professional (64-bit)
• 13.3-inch HD (1366 x 768) LED Backlit Display with Corning Gorilla Glass
• Intel Integrated HD 3000 Graphics
• 4GB DDR3 (1333MHz)
• 320GB Hitachi Travelstar hard drive (Z7K320)
• Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205 (Taylor Peak) 2x2 AGN wireless card
• Bluetooth
• 720p High Definition webcam
• Fingerprint reader
• Integrated 6-cell battery (38.92Wh) and optional slice battery (36Wh)
• Warranty: 3-year
• Dimensions: 13.26 (L) x 9.1 (W) x 0.65-0.84 (H) inches
• Weight: 3.75 lbs.
  
• Price as configured: $1,399.00 ($1,549.00 with external slice battery) 
  

Build and Design
Lenovo took a lot of time developing the X1 before bringing this notebook to market. As previously mentioned, the last 13-inch ThinkPad was the X301, and while that particular notebook wasn't wildly popular for Lenovo, business customers have been asking for a 13-inch business laptop with a thin and light design that still delivers serious performance and is loaded with more ports than a 13-inch MacBook Air.

Can the ThinkPad X1 be the spiritual successor of the X301 and offer the attractive consumer appeal of a MacBook? Let's take a closer look to find out.

In terms of build quality and durability, the new X1 offers many of the same hallmarks of previous generation ThinkPads. You get a well-made chassis with roll cage protection that passes 8 separate MIL spec tests (humidity, low temperature, high temperature, extreme temperatures, sand, altitude, vibration and mechanical shock). You also get a spill-resistant keyboard with drain holes and that traditional matte-black rubberized paint finish that resists scratches and fingerprint smudges.

One interesting quirk of the design of the X1 is that the hinge, although very durable, allows the screen to open until the notebook is perfectly flat. This wouldn't typically be worth mentioning, but since the X1 has a screen with Gorilla Glass the lid is heavier than usual. If you hold the palmrests of the X1 in your hands and shake the notebook the screen will swing completely open.

A quick look at the bottom of the ThinkPad X1 reveals little in the way of expansion possibilities. There is a hard drive access panel on the right side of the notebook which is held in place by a screw on the bottom of the X1. If you want to upgrade the RAM or swap out the wireless card you'll need to remove the keyboard and possibly part of the chassis depending on the type of work you're doing.

Ports and Features
The ThinkPad X1 features a unique port layout as a result of the thin side profile which is just 16.5mm. You'll see a headset jack and USB port on one side of the X1, a media card slot on the other, and the rear of the laptop is packed with more ports than you'll find on any other ultra-thin notebook. All the port descriptions below are listed from left to right.

Front: No ports

Rear: Ethernet, SIM card slot, USB 3.0 port, HDMI, mini DisplayPort, eSATA/USB 2.0 combo port, power jack and security lock slot

Left: Headset jack and USB 2.0 port (located behind the rubber door)

Right: Wireless on/off, SD/SDHC card slot, hard drive access panel

In case you didn't notice, the ports on the left side of the X1 are hidden behind a rubber door. Words simply can't express how much I dislike that particular design element. I know that Lenovo's engineers put the rubber door on the notebook to keep the edge of the notebook "clean" on that side, but there are other (better) ways to hide the ports on the edge of a notebook. The biggest problem that I have with the rubber cover is that it partially blocks the headset jack and also occasionally gets in the way of the USB port.


Screen and Speakers
The 13.3-inch screen on the ThinkPad X1 is a HD (1366 x 768 resolution) screen with a "Super Bright" backlight rated at 350 nits. The panel is extremely glossy but that is in no small part due to the addition of Corning Gorilla Glass which protects the screen from scratches and damage that would break a typical notebook screen. The Gorilla Glass also gives the screen lid more rigidity than it would have otherwise. I am sad that the X1 doesn't have an IPS panel similar to the one available on the X220. IPS panels have better viewing angles and the screen on the X1, while bright, simply doesn't look as good unless you're looking at it from straight ahead.

Speaker quality is good for a thin business notebook and the maximum volume output is loud enough to fill a large meeting room with clear sound. The audio performance is more than good enough for a basic video conference or webcast and also works fine for watching a Netflix Watch Instantly movie. Lenovo teamed up with Dolby to include Dolby Home Theater v4 audio (tuned stereo speakers, headphone output and audio processing software) to deliver a better multimedia experience. For the most part, I'd say it works. The sound from the X1 is better than what I heard from the X220, but I suspect the X1 would sound even better with larger speakers that are pointed upward to direct sound toward the user.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The new LED-backlit keyboard on the ThinkPad X1 is likely to be an instant "love it" or "hate it" feature among ThinkPad owners. Fans of the traditional ThinkPad keyboard will probably cringe at the sight of a Chiclet-style keyboard, but I have to say that the engineers at Lenovo have likely created the best Chiclet keyboard I've ever used. I liked the keyboard on the X100e and X120e and these keys are a logical evolution of the Chiclet-style keyboard used on those ultraportable notebooks. The keyboard on the X1 largely delivers the firm typing surface, spill-proof design and perfect individual key throw we've come to expect on ThinkPad keyboards.

In short, this isn't your father's ThinkPad keyboard ... but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

I cannot, however, sing the same praises about the buttonless trackpad on the X1. Like the keyboard, I suspect many X1 owners will have a love/hate relationship with the classic red TrackPoint and buttonless touchpad: They will love the good old TrackPoint but hate the touchpad. I don't know if it was merely a driver issue with the Synaptics touchpad or a more complex hardware issue, but the right touchpad button often didn't respond correctly during our testing period.

On a happier note, the buttonless touchpad provides a larger surface area than a touchpad with separate buttons. This makes a big difference if you use touchpad gestures in Windows or while browsing the web since it means you can fit multiple fingers on the touchpad.

Performance and Benchmarks
I have to thank the team at Lenovo for providing a review unit of the ThinkPad X1 with essentially the same configuration as our review unit of the ThinkPad X220. The 12.5-inch ThinkPad X220 isn't much smaller than the new X1 and I suspect a few potential X1 buyers will also consider the purchase of the X220.

As with the X220, Part of the feature news in terms of specs is the use of the latest Intel "Sandy Bridge" processors. Our review unit came equipped with the Intel Core i5-2520M dual-core processor. This CPU has a standard clock speed of 2.5GHz and quickly steps up to a 3.2GHz turbo frequency whenever the notebook is performing a difficult task or running a complex application.

In fact, the only major differences between the hardware configuration of the X220 and the X1 are that the X1 didn't come with a fancy IPS display and the X1 uses an integrated battery with a lower watt-hour rating. The synthetic benchmarks for the X220 and the X1 show that these two notebooks offer virtually identical performance while the difference in scores is easily attributable to the margin of error for the benchmarks and the fact that the X1 uses a few newer Windows drivers.

The 320GB Hitachi Travelstar Z7K320 hard drive in our review sample is extremely speedy for a 7mm HDD and is quick enough for average tasks. Lenovo also offers a number of optional solid state drives (SSDs) ranging in capacities of 80GB to 160GB.

wPrime processor comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):

PCMark05 measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):

PCMark Vantage measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):

3DMark06 measures overall graphics performance for gaming (higher scores mean better performance):

3DMark Vantage measures overall graphics performance for gaming (higher scores mean better performance):

CrystalDiskMark storage drive performance test:

Heat and Noise
Noise levels were mostly a non-issue with the X1 as long as you weren't seriously stressing the system. During the 3DMark benchmark tests we noticed the system fan was loud enough to be mildly disruptive in a quiet office or classroom setting. The best way I can describe it is the fan sounds like someone is using a hairdryer somewhere on the second floor of a two-story house. You'll notice the fan noise when you're stressing the graphics but it isn't as loud as what we hear on gaming notebooks with discrete graphics cards. Just like its smaller X220 sibling, the X1 deliveres relatively low exterior temperatures considering the impressive level of performance in our test configuration. All temperatures shown below are listed in degrees Fahrenheit:

Battery Life
The ThinkPad X1 with Intel Core i5-2520M processor delivered 5 hours and 51 minutes of battery life with the built-in battery. Our standard battery life test sets the screen to 70% brightness, wireless active and continuously refreshing a website on a 60-second interval, and Windows 7 set to the "balanced" power profile. This is roughly the same battery life that we obtained from the Apple MacBook Air and several consumer 13-inch notebooks. Unfortunately, it's substantially less battery life than what the ThinkPad X220 delivers with its 6-cell battery which has a higher watt-hour rating. I also suspect that the 350-nit rated screen on the X1 drains the battery faster than the screen on the X220 which isn't as bright.

Battery life test results (higher scores mean better battery life):

Lenovo was also kind enough to send us a review sample of the optional slice battery. The slice battery costs an additional $179 and makes the notebook look and feel significantly thicker near the back edge of the notebook and raises the typing angle on the keyboard. The slice adds roughly 5 hours of battery life to the X1. During our standard battery drain test, the X1 with integrated battery and external slice kept running for 11 hours and 18 minutes. I have little doubt this could have been extended even longer if the Wi-Fi was off and the screen brightness was turned down.

Although I'm happy to see an extended-life slice battery I'm not particularly happy with the latching mechanism. The locking tabs just don't feel particularly durable and I feel paranoid about how I handle the X1 with the slice battery attached. I didn't experience any real-world problems with the locking mechanism ... it simply doesn't "feel" as durable as we've come to expect from ThinkPad notebooks and accessories.

Conclusion
At the end of the day, the team at Lenovo did a very good job developing a ThinkPad that offers the durability, performance and features that we've come to expect from a ThinkPad and combining them with the stylish design elements that appeal to many consumers and IT buyers. If that is your measure for success, then the ThinkPad X1 is indeed a winner.

However, the X1 is not exactly "perfect" either. The use of an arguably weak integrated battery, and a glitchy buttonless touchpad are things that will likely displease long-time ThinkPad loyalists. Although the bright 350-nit screen helps you see the screen outdoors and Gorilla Glass helps protect the screen from damage, I would have liked to see a matte screen option and an IPS panel for better viewing angles.

While we're on the topic of the Gorilla Glass, it certainly increases the weight of the notebook and makes this "thin and light" laptop more like a "thin and not-so light" notebook compared to a 13-inch MacBook Air which weighs roughly a full pound less than the X1.

I personally can't overlook the great build quality, excellent performance and numerous ports that Lenovo packed into the X1, but I'm worried these fantastic features might be overlooked by shoppers who are trying to decide between a thin and stylish laptop like a MacBook Air and a full-featured business ultraportable like the ThinkPad X220.

Pros:

• Thin design with lots of ports
• Excellent performance
• Bright screen with Gorilla Glass

Cons:

• Integrated battery
• Glossy screen
• Annoying touchpad issue

Individual Ratings: *
Software & Support 
Upgrade Capabilities 
Usability 
Design 
Performance 
Features 
Price/Value Rating 

* Ratings averaged to produce final score