Lenovo ThinkPad X220 Tablet Review

Lenovo ThinkPad X220 Tablet

Review Summary:

The X220 Tablet is the best convertible we’ve tested to date, hands down. It blows away the competition in terms of performance and has the sturdiest build of any non-ruggedized tablet.

Pros

• Excellent build quailty
• Superb performance
• Great Lenovo keyboard

Cons

• Screen rotates only 180 degrees in one direction
• Gets a bit hot when stressed
• No USB 3.0

Lenovo ThinkPad X220 Tablet Full Review

 

The ThinkPad X220 Tablet is Lenovo’s latest and greatest convertible laptop. As part of Lenovo’s recent ThinkPad X series refresh that includes the excellent X220 notebook, this Windows 7 tablet features a 12.5-inch display, Wacom digitizer, and Intel’s new Sandy Bridge processor. It’s also a tough son of a gun, passing eight US military testing specifications for notebook-killers like humidity, shock, sand, and temperature extremes.

One look at the pedigree and specs, and you know the Lenovo ThinkPad X220 Tablet is good, but is it good enough to justify a starting price of $1,200 at launch? Read this Lenovo ThinkPad X220 Tablet Review to find out.

BUILD & DESIGN

The X220 Tablet’s design does not deviate from the last generation X200 Tablet or the rest of the ThinkPad lineup, stylish Edge series excluded. The X220 Tablet is dressed in all-business black, with a magnesium alloy and plastic build featuring slight texture. The base unit is boxy, but features a slight protrusion on top of the display that serves the X220 Tablet’s wireless antennas, and the six-cell battery that shipped with my review unit adds significant bulge to the back, which provides a nice gripping point when carrying the tablet from meeting to meeting while adding a bit of distinction to a very attractive and professional device.

It’s also a very tough device, and when held, feels like it was carved from a solid hunk of plastic. There is no noticeable flex or creek when held, and Lenovo claims the X220 Tablet passes many mil-spec tests for humidity, temperature, and other harmful elements. While it’s probably not as tough as some of the rugged convertibles we test at TabletPCReview, the X220 Tablet will handle everyday wear-and-tear with no problems.

The screen hinge is particularly tight and well constructed. Unfortunately, it only rotates 180 degrees in one direction, and I accidently attempted to rotate it in the wrong direction more than once. Thankfully, the X220 Tablet shrugged off the attempt and the hinge showed no sign of strain. The display also opens up a full 180 degrees.

Finally, IT departments and tinkerers will be happy to see Lenovo included easy access to the RAM slots and hard drive. The hard drive latch is only secured by one screw and the RAM slots are hidden directly under the main access panel. The review unit we received shipped with a 4GB chip in one slot while the other was vacant.

Screen and SpeakersThe X220 Tablet features a 12.5-inch IPS display (1366 x 768) and ships with optional Gorilla glass for increased ruggedness. The display does a good job of shrugging off glare, but it also isn’t exceptionally bright. Office workers will find it perfectly acceptable for indoor use, but its relative dimness make it suitable for only the occasional outdoor excursion.

As with most other touch-enabled screens, there is a very fine but noticeable grain overlaying the display. I’ve heard some users refer to it as a slight haze, which is an apt description. Otherwise, viewing angles are superb and the colors never invert, with about a 10-degree sweet spot in front of the X220 Tablet where brightness and contrast are best. Outside of that zone, the screen appears to dim and contrast lessens.

The display supports up two touch inputs, meaning fingerprints can accumulate quickly. The anti-glare screen does a great job of also shrugging off smudges, but they eventually will build up and have a noticeable and negative effect on the screen. A microfiber cloth is recommended, and thankfully, Lenovo included one with the review unit.

Perhaps I'm spoiled by my iPad 2, but like other convertibles on the market, the Lenovo X220 Tablet does not feature an orientation sensor, which I find disappointing. This means that the screen will not automtically orientate when placed in tablet mode. Users have to manually adjust to landscape or portrait mode via a button under the display that rotates the display 90 degrees when pressed.

(Update 5/13/11: Some very knowledgeable TabletPCReview forum members pointed out that the X220 Tablet does feature an active orientation mode, and the setting is available in the SimpeTap settings.)

The X220 Tablet ships with a pressure-sensitive Wacom pen. Because it’s Wacom, the pen does not require a battery, and the pen features one button on the grip and a eraser nub at the end. It’s very light and just long enough to rest comfortably in my hand when inking.

The pen slots directly into the X220 Tablet when not in use and the display registers the pen curser when the pen floats upwards of three or four centimeters about it. I found the pen to be highly accurate with no lag following calibration. Excessively fast scribbling will throw it off a few millimeters, at which point a quick manual calibration is required to right the ship.

The pressure tip is not nearly as severe as the one found on the Fujitsu LifeBook T580’s N-trig pen. The X220 Tablet will register even the lightest strokes, and heavier strokes result in only a slightly thicker line. Of the two, the N-trig pen is definitely more suitable for artists and designers, and I’ll take this Wacom offering for my every day inking needs.

Touch sensitivity is also acceptable though does not match the fluid experience found on the iPad or rival Android tablets. The X220 Tablet supports up to two inputs, which works well for pinch-to-zoom and other gestures including a series of flick-based shortcuts. Lenovo also applied the SimpleTap OS skin that calls up a customizable set of shortcuts, each represented by a large, tap friendly icon. Users can change common settings and call up favorite programs through SimpleTap, or simply ignore it. I found it useful, but recommend sticking with the pen or touchpad for most X220 Tablet navigation given the precision required with Windows 7.

The speakers do a suitable job of spitting out sound, though didn’t wow with volume or fidelity. They are fine for personal use, be it a webcast or video call, but business users will have trouble filling up a larger conference with sound come meeting time. I do like their placement on the display as they direct sound at the user both in laptop and tablet mode, which is preferable to the X220 notebook’s speaker placement on the lower front edge.

Our review unit of the Lenovo ThinkPad X220 Tablet features the following specifications:

• Intel Core i5-2520M dual-core processor (2.5GHz, 3MB cache)
• Windows 7 Professional (64-bit)
• 12.5-inch HD (1366 x 768) Display (IPS), two-finger multitouch/5 finger gesture and active pen input
• Intel Integrated HD Graphics
• 4GB DDR3 (1333MHz)
• 320GB Seagate Momentus Thin hard drive, 5400rpm
• Intel Centrino Advanced-N + WiMAX 6250 (Kilmer Peak) 2x2 AGN wireless card
• 720p High Definition webcam
• Fingerprint reader
• Display Port, 3 USB 2.0 port (1 Always On port)
• 6-cell battery and optional slice battery
• Dimensions: 12 (L) x 9 (W) x 1.05 - 1.23 (H) inches
• Weight: 3.99 pounds with 6-cell battery
• Price as configured: $1,569.00 (starting at $1,199.00)

Keyboard and Touchpad
The ThinkPad line has a reputation for excellent keyboards, and the X220 Tablet is no exception. Lenovo packed in a full 89-key keyboard into the device, and included a few small design tweaks. Both the Escape and Delete button are larger than on those found on an average keyboard, making them easier to find and press, and the space between the keys is minimal to keep crumbs and dust out. Overall, the keys are large and snap down nicely when pressed.

The keyboard is solid, with only minimal bounce found on both the left and right edges. This is apparent when it is pressed firmly, and users probably won’t notice the give with day-to-day usage. Lenovo also included volume control buttons, mic mute button (for VoIP calls), ThinkVantage shortcut (calls up Lenovo’s utility suite), and power button.

Those not feeling the touch or pen navigation have other options in the form of the red TrackPoint familiar to previous ThinkPad owners and a textured touchpad. The TrackPoint works in conjunction with three buttons under the space bar, which mimic the mouse and open up the possibility for scrolling or zoom shortcuts. I don’t care much for TrackPoint as I find it too sensitive, but it has its fans who will be pleased by its inclusion. The Touchpad is buttonless and supports multitouch gestures like pinch to zoom. It interprets user input well enough so cursor jumps and errant zooms are not much of an issue. It’s also large enough that I didn’t find it too limiting or frustrating, though I’ll stick with the pen or a mouse, if possible.

Ports and FeaturesThe ThinkPad X220 has the same ports and inputs as its notebook counterpart, the X220. NotebookReview declared it the “most robust port layout we’ve seen on any current-generation 12-inch notebook,” and the same applies for any 12.5-inch convertible. The only difference between the two is that the X220 notebook features the option of a USB 3.0 or always-on USB 2.0, while the X220 Tablet only offers the always-on option. I think it’s time USB 3.0 became standard considering it’s been available on laptops since early 2010,  so color me a minor shade of disappointed the X220 Tablet only offers 2.0.
Other ports and inputs include an SD card reader (SDHC), Gigabit Ethernet jack, 3.5mm headset jack, pen holder, 54mm ExpressCard slot, VGA, and Display Port.

Left: USB, VGA, ExpressCard, Display Port, USB

Right: SD/SDHC, Always-on USB, Ethernet, 3.5mm, pen holder, security lock
Front: Wireless antenna
Rear: Battery bulge, power jack

Lenovo also included a very accurate fingerprint scanner on the bottom-left corner of the display that is easily accessible in both tablet and notebook mode (software included) opposite sleep/wake, ctrl+alt+del, and screen orientation switch buttons on the bottom right, all of which are applicable to tablet mode.

PERFORMANCE

The X220 Tablet is outfitted with second-generation Intel Core processors, which are also known as Intel’s new Sandy Bridge chips. Our review unit had a Core i5-2520M (2.5 GHz, 3MB cache), but the X220 Tablet is also available with Core i7 or Core i3 processors. All units sport Intel integrated HD graphics.

According to our benchmark numbers, the X220 Tablet blows away the other tablet convertibles we’ve recently reviewed and compares favorably against some popular and powerful laptops. The X220 Tablet will be able to handle just about anything the business user throws at it, including intensive video and image editing, HD video – really, just about anything business related.

Gaming is a different story despite the X220 Tablet’s 3DMark06 score. Although Intel’s integrated graphics solution supports many popular games, including World of Warcraft and Left 4 Dead 2, it’s still not a viable alternative for demanding gamers.

The X220 Tablet did not match the battery performance NBR found on the X220 notebook, lasting 5 hours and 10 minutes on the included six-cell battery. The X220 notebook went for 8 hours and 47 minutes running the same tests, with Windows 7 set to “balanced,” Wi-Fi on, and the same webpage loaded every 60 seconds.

The discrepancy is most likely due to the Tablet’s touchscreen, as past reviews have discovered touchscreen devices typically consume more power than their notebook counterparts.

Lenovo also included an optional six-cell battery slice with our review unit that adds an additional 1.8 pounds and extends the X220 Tablet’s battery life to 11 hours and 13 minutes.

3DMark06 measures gaming performance (higher scores mean better performance): 
wPrime processor comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):
PCMark05 measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):
CrystalDiskMark storage drive performance test:

Heat and NoiseThe Lenovo X220 Tablet remained cool and quiet during everyday use, including moderate web surfing and Office tasks. However, things heated up relatively quickly under strain, especially when running benchmarks. The heat remained concentrated on the left and middle, peaking at 105 degrees Fahrenheit while stressed. Things stayed cool during average use, and unless you are editing HD videos while wearing shorts and resting the X220 on your lap, heat should not be an issue. The fan noise suggests the X220 Tablet works hard to dispense the heat, and while never what I’d call loud, it is audible. Some heat and noise is expected, given the X200’s stellar performance.

 CONCLUSION

The X220 Tablet is the best convertible we’ve tested to date, hands down. It blows away the competition in terms of performance and has the sturdiest build of any tablet outside of the ruggedized units we kick around the office from time to time. It also looks great, has the superb ThinkPad keyboard, and fine inking capabilities.

In fact, we can only really knock it for having only respectable battery life, one-way screen hinge rotation, average speakers, and no USB 3.0 port – which are hardly deal breakers.

There’s no question that the Lenovo X220 Tablet is an excellent device, and it will probably serve as the point of comparison for all future convertibles we test at TabletPCReview. Toshiba, Dell, HP, Fujitsu and other convertible makers, are you paying attention?