Verdict
The Lenovo ThinkPad X13s is a whole productivity laptop direct at office worker or university students . It does not cocker itself in many luxury feature , despite the request price pit a sinewy MacBook or silky Zenbook .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
Anyone who ’s ever work at an office in the last 15 years will be very aware of the ThinkPad phratry . Familiarity is far from everything though and there ’s much more to deciding if the Snapgragon - powered ThinkPad X13s is worth investing in .
The ThinkPad X13s is amazingly expensive for what it is , with a snappy £ 1513/$1103 price shred . That sort of money can get you anApple MacBook Air M2 ( 2022)or anAsus Zenbook S 13 OLED , so what makes this ThinkPad machine stand out ? Well , it come with the far-famed ThinkPad keyboard , a bright screen for watching medium content and a lightweight intent .
But it also has some limit , with a middling refresh rate , a sparse port wine extract and no OLED update in sight . It also comes with a Snapdragon processor , which can be match with 5 G connectivity and decent battery life , but it has some limitation . Namely , it ’s a lot less powerful than the recentIntel Raptor LakeandApple Siliconprocessors and does not have livelihood for sure video content websites , likeNetflixorDisney .
There is n’t really a standout reason to invest in the ThinkPad X13s , once you look past the iconic branding , but I recall that it ’s still a authentic machine for role worker , provided you ’re unforced to pay Apple pricing .
Design and Keyboard
The ThinkPad X13s has an everyday design , nonesuch for workers who want to blend into the background . It rollick a black , lusterlessness design with familiar ThinkPad branding on the eyelid . I ’ve already spoken about mydisdain for objectively dull laptops , and I do n’t retrieve that the ThinkPad X13s is come through any points in this category with its exclusive Black colourway .
It is very lightweight , at just 1.06 kg , create it easy to utilise as a hybrid equipment . I barely feel it in my back pack , great for anyone who regularly trip . The weight did not make it feel any less sturdy , with no flex in the eyelid or the frame during typing .
The soma is 90 % recycled atomic number 12 , the stamp battery ingroup from 30 % post - consumer content plastic ( PCC ) and the speaker enclosure from 97 % PCC , making it an environmentally friendly pick .
The connectivity is a little sparse considering the actor - focused ThinkPad branding , with twoUSB - C3.2 ports , a SIM one-armed bandit and a 3.5 mm audio jack . The lack ofThunderbolt 4support andHDMIports intend that connecting to an external display will be less flowing , limiting its value as a productiveness gimmick . There ’s noEthernetport – arguably a ThinkPad staple fibre – mean that I had to bank on a wireless cyberspace connection . There is the option for 5 GiB , if you have a desirable SIM to whop inside this laptop computer , but that costs extra too .
The top bezel have a 5 - megapixel webcam with a built - in privacy e - shutter , which is always appreciated . The camera could be my favourite aspect of this laptop computer , allow for a very clear and crisp view with a flattering viewing angle nonesuch for work claim . But , it does also offer a zero - feeling login via Windows Hello , this feature never worked for me past the initial setup , which was dissatisfactory .
Unsurprisingly , given the ThinkPad ’s repute , the keyboard is one of the best lineament of this laptop computer . The travel and reactivity were faultless and climax in one of the best typing experience I ’ve had in a while . It ’s backlit with light-emitting diode lighting so I could still make for in low - light environs and features the iconic ThinkPad TrackPoint .
I ’m washed over by feelings of nostalgia using the TrackPoint , but I do n’t revel voyage with it . gratefully , it ’s humble so it ’s scarcely an worriment . The trackpad is made out of glass and feel suitably responsive but I found that my finger did n’t glide across the surface as well as I would have like . The metal trackpads on gadget like theAcer Swift EdgeandMateBook X Pro ( 2022)have this well beat .
There are also some extraneous controls above the touchpad , which stand in as mouse mastery . They ’re intended to be used alongside the TrackPoint and felt very responsive and clicky , even if I did n’t get the most utilisation out of them .
Display and Sound
The ThinkPad X13s opted for a dewy-eyed spec flat solid . The IPS display is 13.3 inches and packs a 1920×1200 resolution , putting it just above the requirements forFull HD(1920×1080 ) , and a 60Hzrefresh charge per unit . The latter means , when pilot through apps and scroll through software package , it ’s less smooth than the 120Hz refresh rate on the the like of aMacBook Pro ( 2023 ) .
Lenovo claims that this laptop can attain 300nits of luminance , which I put to the test . My results came out at 346 nits , putting it above the 300 - nit norm , with a black level of 0.23 nits and a demarcation ratio of 1510:1 . For a productivity gadget , this outcome is solid . As you may see from the picture below , the monochrome shot in Better Call Saul look strike , with a capital point of detail on Saul ’s face as well as the background .
The gloss expect pure and bright , candidly exceeding my prospect . I was overjoyed to finish oeuvre and derail straight into a TV show or movie , which can not be said about every productivity laptop on the mart .
My testing showed surprisingly high colour truth , with the sRGB , Adobe RGB and DCI - P3 rafts coming out at 100 % , 78 % and 80 % , severally . This is not high enough to make the ThinkPad X13s suitable for creative professionals , but it ’s still nice to see .
Audio performance was solid , with the Dolby Audio speaker system providing clear and crisp sound . It was louder than I anticipated , take up my bedroom with rest . The audio never came out as ill-shapen or grainy , and I did n’t finger the motivation to use headphone or a headset to improve the quality .
Performance
My ThinkPad X13s came with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 chip , Adreno 690 GPU alongside 256 GB repositing and 16 GB RAM . The high-pitched amount of RAM signify that apps and large spreadsheets loaded up chop-chop and the 256 GB storage is more than enough for my productivity workload .
The main issue here is the Snapdragon central processing unit . Compared to the current13th - generation Intelprocessors , it plainly ca n’t hold up . Loading up Chrome tabs and open up raw software took longer than I would have like , with easy originative workload on apps like Canva being very clumsy . I found that the few tabs enter the better , which is a trivial discouraging for a productiveness twist .
As you’re able to see from the Geekbench 5 outcome below , the ThinkPad X13s falls well below other productivity devices like theDell XPS 15 ( 2022)andLenovo IdeaPad 5 Pro 16 ( 2022 ) . believe the gamey £ 1513/$1103 request price , I would implore consumers to consider another gimmick that runs on an Apple or Intel chipset , which will offer worlds more tycoon than Snapdragon presently can .
The compatibility issues of the Snapdragon chip were present during benchmarking , with diligence - received software like PCMark 10 and Cinebench not being bear out . These roadblocks are not preponderate by the benefits that Snapdragon brings , like the deficiency of fan noise and king efficiency .
Snapdragon comes with other limitation , namely that certain apps and web site are off - limits . For example , I need to download theNetflixapp to watch TV content , since the web browser app variation of the divine service is inaccessible . The same can be say forDisney+which made using the twist downright annoying , especially since video depicted object really looked more than decent once it was loaded up .
Chrome load up a lot slower than the Intel twist I ’ve tested and Clarence Shepard Day Jr. - to - sidereal day work generally feel a passel more unmanageable . It ’s not totally clean-cut if these issues are assign to fleck performance or compatibility issues , but it ’s good to say that Intel and Apple equipment put up a cleaner experience overall .
The read and publish slews came in at 3183.64MB / s and 1740.02MB / s , respectively . These scores are serviceable , but I would contend that they do not think over literal - cosmos use . Things did speed up after the gimmick had been on for around 30 minutes , but it paled in comparison to Intel - ravel devices like theMateBook X Pro ( 2022)andAsus Zenbook S 13 OLED .
Battery Life
I found that The ThinkPad X13s has dependable stamp battery lifetime . It comes with a 49.5Whr battery and managed to last 7 hour and 45 moment during my electric battery screen test . That ’s just about enough to get you through a day at work without a charger .
If you ’re looking for something with even more endurance , theHuawei MateBook 16andAcer Chromebook Spin 513both hunt down for 13 hour . But , unless you frequently forget your charger , the ThinkPad X13s comes with more than enough power for a productivity equipment .
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Should you buy it?
The ThinkPad line is well - loved by many business office workers and students . The ThinkPad X13s does make out with the iconic ThinkPad TrackPoint and a very reactive keyboard , making it very easy to typecast on .
The ThinkPad X13s is not a power juggernaut , with dumb lading - up time and limitations in terms of approachability . you may find devices from Apple and Intel for similar toll that come with a stack more ability .
Final Thoughts
The Lenovo ThinkPad X13s is a confuse machine , with some outstanding highs and very dissatisfactory lows . To get going , it comes with a fantastic webcam that seems perfect for anyone who regularly needs to hop on Zoom call . The keyboard is as high caliber as you would expect and the screen is brilliant and vibrant enough to enjoy your favourite telecasting show after work .
However , that does not quite make up for its downfalls . The circumscribed port wine survival does restrict it as a productiveness gadget . Including a Snapdragon chipset mean that democratic picture websites like Netflix are not approachable and overall , it render a pot less power than its Intel and Apple rivals . If this laptop computer be half the cost , I think it would be an prosperous testimonial for educatee and doer . But as it stand , you could do by yourself to anApple MacBookorHuawei MateBookfor the same toll or even less , which , in my opinion , is the main downfall of the ThinkPad X13s .
Trusted Score
How we test
Every laptop we go over live on through a serial of uniform cheque designed to estimate key things include build quality , functioning , screen lineament and battery liveliness .
These include formal semisynthetic benchmarks and scripted trial , plus a series of real human race checks , such as how well it runs pop apps .
FAQs
Yes , the Lenovo ThinkPad is one of the most well - known productivity laptop computer on the grocery store , ordinarily sporting a keen keyboard and antiphonal internals .
No , the ThinkPad X13s is a traditional grapple laptop .
Test Data
Full Specs
