Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13MSRP$2,719.00 Score Details The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 just might be the best ThinkPad yet.ProsExcellent build qualityIconic ThinkPad aestheticGood enough productivity performanceGood battery lifeSpectacular OLED displayConsVery expensiveNo haptic touchpadBattery life not as good as competitorsTable of ContentsTable of ContentsSpecs and configurationDesignKeyboard and touchpadConnectivity and webcamPerformanceBattery lifeDisplay and audioIs the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 worth it?Lenovos ThinkPad lineup has undergone a transformation in the last several years, with the company introducing newer versions that dont conform to the old-school ThinkPad aesthetic and design. The ThinkPad Z13 is an example of a laptop that drops most of the older cues and takes on a more modern look.Recommended VideosBut that doesnt mean Lenovo has completely abandoned the old-school ThinkPad. Its still around, with the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 closely resembling laptops from a decade ago. Its a very nicely designed laptop built around Intel Lunar Lake, and has some improvements worth sticking around for. While it may no longer be one of the absolute best laptops, its still one of the best ThinkPads yet. Fans of the lineup should take a close look.RelatedLenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13Dimensions14.37 x 8.08 x 0.56 inchesWeight2.17 poundsDisplay14.0-inch 16:10 2.8K (2880 x 1600) OLED, 120HzCPUIntel Core Ultra 7 258VGPUIntel Arc 140VMemory32GBStorage1TB SSD2TB SSDPorts2 x USB-C with Thunderbolt 42 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 11 x HDMI 2.11 x 3.5mm headphone jack1 x Nano SIMCamera1080p with infrared camera for Windows 11 HelloWi-FiWi-Fi 7 and Bluetoth 5.4Battery57 watt-hourOperating systemWindows 11Price$2,519+There are only two configurations of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13, which is somewhat unusual for the lineup. More configurations might arrive at some point, but for now, the base model is $2,519 for an Intel Core Ultra 7 258V, 32GB of RAM, a 2TB SSD, and a 14.0-inch 2.8K OLED display. For $2,719, you get a 2TB SSD. Thats my review unit.Those are expensive prices. You can get several other similarly configured laptops for closer to $1,500, such as the HP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14 and the Acer Swift 14 AI. You really need to be a ThinkPad fan to spend $1,000 more.Mark Coppock / Digital TrendsThe ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 bears a remarkable resemblance to the first generation, while simultaneously looking like a laptop made at the tail end of 2024. Thats a remarkable achievement, and anyone whos been a ThinkPad fan for years will certainly appreciate it. Its the same black-on-black aesthetic, red LED i in the logo on the lid, and red TrackPoint nubbin in the middle of the keyboard. Its instantly recognizable. The ThinkPad Z13 might be more modern, and the MacBook Air 15 more elegant, but the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is a great-looking laptop in its own way.Its also solidly built from carbon fiber in the lid and magnesium in the chassis. The lid is a little flexible, something thats shared with some other well-built laptops like the MacBook Air 15, but the rest of the machine feels robust. Its built to meet MIL-STD 810H certification, as with many Lenovo laptops, and thats a testament to its durability and reliability.Its also remarkably light at just 2.17 pounds. Many of the best 14-inch laptops are well over 2.5 pounds, even including 13-inch laptops like the MacBook Air and the ThinkPad Z13. Youll immediately notice the difference when picking the ThinkPad X1 Carbon up off your desk. Its also easy to carry around, with thin bezels and an overall thinness that makes it a very portable 14-inch laptop. Theres just nothing to complain about with the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13s design, and a lot to like.Mark Coppock / Digital TrendsThe keyboard is the old-school ThinkPad standard, with large sculpted keycaps and a bunch of key spacing. The switches are deep, and Ive used versions that were a bit too stiff for my taste. Thats not the case here. Theres plenty of travel, and yet the switched remain light and snappy enough for long-term comfort. I found the keyboard incredibly comfortable while I was typing this review, and I would be fine with it over my usual favorite, the Apple Magic Keyboard. Most people will love this keyboard.The touchpad isnt quite as good. To begin with, while the TrackPoint nubbin in the middle of the keyboard is great for people who like using it, it requires a set of buttons that take space away from the touchpad. In addition, the touchpad is mechanical, and while it has quiet, confident button clicks, a haptic touchpad would be a lot better at these prices.Lenovo sometimes has a haptic option, but I dont see it in any of the materials. The MacBook Air 15 has a much larger and much better Force Touch haptic touchpad, and some other 14-inch machines do as well. HPs haptic touchpad on the OmniBook Ultra Flip 14 is one example.Connectivity is a good combination of legacy and modern ports. The only real complaint is that one of the Thunderbolt 4 ports is used for charging. Wireless connectivity is also good, with the latest standards. Theres an optional Nano SIM for cellular connectivity.The webcam is 1080p, which is the new standard. Some laptops have higher-res webcams, but this ones fine for most uses. The Intel Lunar Lake chipset has a fast neural processing unit (NPU) that runs at 45 tera operations per second (TOPS) and so exceeds Microsofts 40 TOPS requirement for its Copilot+ AI initiative.There arent a lot of AI features yet that can take advantage of the more efficient on-device NPU performance, but when they roll out, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 will be ready. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 is an Aura Edition laptop, meaning if offers a variety of Intel-exclusive features like Shield for greater security, Collaboration for enhanced videoconferencing, AI-assisted power configurations, and more.Mark Coppock / Digital TrendsThe ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 uses Intels Lunar Lake chipset, which is aimed at efficiency over sheer performance. Its a 17-watt lineup that replaces the previous-generation Meteor Lake 15-watt Core Ultra S-series. All Lunar Lake chipsets are 8-core/8-thread parts running at various clock speeds, and they all use the latest Intel Arc integrated graphics. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon uses the Core Ultra 7 258V with Intel Arc 140v integrated graphics that falls somewhere between the previous generation and entry-level discrete GPUs.In our benchmarks, the ThinkPad is fast enough for productivity users but relatively slow for its class. Qualcomms Snapdragon X chipsets are faster while also being designed for efficiency. Apples M3 chipset, soon to be replaced by the faster M4 in the MacBook Air in early 2025, comes in the middle. Of these chipsets, the M3s GPU cores are the fastest. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13s Intel Arc 140V performance is the worst.If youre a gamer or creator, youll want to look elsewhere. But productivity users will find the ThinkPad X1 Carbon to be fast enough.Cinebench R24(single/multi)Geekbench 6(single/multi)Handbrake(seconds)3DMarkWild Life ExtremeLenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13(Core Ultra 7 258V / Intel Arc 140V)121 / 4472752 / 110961174771Acer Swift 14 AI(Core Ultra 7 258V / Intel Arc 140V)121 / 5252755 / 11138925294HP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14(Core Ultra 7 258V / Intel Arc 140V)116 / 5982483 / 10725997573HP Spectre x360 14(Core Ultra 7 155H / Intel Arc)102 / 4852176 / 1198093N/ALenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition(Core Ultra 7 258V / Intel Arc 140V)109 / 6302485 / 10569885217Asus Zenbook S 14(Core Ultra 7 258V / Intel Arc 140V)112 / 4522738 / 107341137514HP OmniBook X(Snapdragon X Elite / Adreno)101 / 7492377 / 13490N/A6165MacBook Air(M3)141 / 6013102 / 120781098098Mark Coppock / Digital TrendsAs mentioned above, Intels Lunar Lake chipsets are aimed at efficiency over performance. While they perform well enough, theyre slower than both the Qualcomm and Apple chipsets theyre competing against. In most of our reviews so far, Lunar Lake laptops still havent been generally as efficient overall as Apples MacBook lineup, but theyre still much longer-lasting than previous generation Windows laptops.The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 has a 57 watt-hour battery, which is a little small for a 14-inch laptop, and it also has a hi-res OLED display running at 120Hz. Its not as strong a performer as some other Lunar Lake laptops with IPS displays or larger batteries. It falls well behind many of its competitors, including the strongest performer, the MacBook Air M3.Youll get most of a full days work on a charge. But there are other, longer-lasting laptops available.Web browsingVideoCinebench R24Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13(Core Ultra 7 258V / Intel Arc 140V)10 hours, 34 minutes15 hours, 58 minutes1 hour, 58 minutesAcer Swift 14 AI(Core Ultra 7 258V)17 hours, 22 minutes24 hours, 10 minutes2 hours, 7 minutesHP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14(Core Ultra 7 258V)11 hours, 5 minutes15 hours, 46 minutes2 hours, 14 minutesHP Spectre x360 14(Core Ultra 7 155H)7 hours, 9 minutes14 hours, 22 minutesN/ALenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition(Core Ultra 7 258V)14 hours, 16 minutes17 hours, 31 minutes2 hours, 15 minutesAsus Zenbook S 14(Core Ultra 7 258V)16 hours, 47 minutes18 hours, 35 minutes3 hours, 33 minutesMicrosoft Surface Laptop(Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80-100)14 hours, 21 minutes22 hours, 39 minutesN/AHP Omnibook X(Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100)13 hours, 37 minutes22 hours, 4 minutes1 hour, 52 minutesApple MacBook Air(Apple M3)19 hours, 38 minutes19 hours, 39 minutes3 hours, 27 minutesMark Coppock / Digital TrendsId reviewed several laptops with IPS displays before unboxing the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13, and I was immediately struck by the colors and inky blacks displayed by its 14-inch 2.8K (2880 x 1800) OLED display. Those IPS displays werent bad, but OLED really is excellent technology.My colorimeter agreed. The display was very bright at 421 nits, and blacks were near-perfect with an extremely high contrast ratio of 29,400:1. Colors were wide at 100% of sRGB, 98% of AdobeRGB, and 99% of DCI-P3, and they were incredibly accurate at a DeltaE of 0.73 (less than 1.0 is indistinguishable to the human eye).This laptops isnt fast enough for creative work, but its display is more than good enough. And it makes for a great streaming media platform, with great high dynamic range (HDR) video. Audio was just OK with speakers hidden beneath the keyboard. Volume was fine and mids and highs were clear, but bass was lacking.The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 is a very good laptop and will be for just about anyone. Its incredibly thin, light, and well-built. Meanwhile, its performance is more than fast enough for demanding productivity users, and while its battery life isnt the best by contemporary standards, its much longer than previous generations of Windows laptops.But its also very expensive. That includes a spectacular OLED display, but other, less expensive laptops offer the same. Ultimately, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 should be on anyones list, but the price will mean that ultimately its ThinkPad fans who will appreciate it the most.Editors Recommendations