Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Carbon line has a decade-long custom of delivering industry-leading enterprise laptops that often sit among the many finest ultrabooks for productiveness. Beginning at $1,319 ($1,564 as configured), the ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 10) continues this legacy with a incredible keyboard, a shiny and colourful show and strong efficiency all wrapped up in a light-weight package deal with robust construct high quality. It even throws in a pointy, 1080p webcam for good measure.
Nonetheless, in trying to improve the ThinkPad X1 Carbon’s efficiency for Gen 10, Lenovo has considerably harmed its battery life. The corporate primarily sells the Carbon with Intel’s 28-watt P-series processors quite than the 15-watt U-series CPUs it utilized in prior gen merchandise. The result’s a laptop computer that lasted lower than 9 hours on our battery check, which is a number of hours lower than each rivals and final 12 months’s X1 Carbon. When you’re prepared to compromise on endurance, nonetheless, the X1 Carbon (Gen 10) is a robust selection that can make you extra productive.
Design of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 10)
The raven black, boxy, angular chassis of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon hasn’t modified in fairly some time so if you happen to’ve seen a previous mannequin, you might not discover any variations. However Lenovo’s ThinkPad aesthetic is just like the design of a Rolls Royce or a Jaguar — a basic look that doesn’t have to be reinvented with every product technology. As all the time, the black chassis has just some splashes of vibrant purple, within the type of the X1 Carbon brand, the illuminated purple “i” in ThinkPad which reveals the facility/sleep standing and the TrackPoint pointing stick which lives in the course of the keyboard. In order for you an additional dose of favor, you may go for a lid with a cross-hatch, carbon-fiber sample.
Picture 1 of 2
With a beginning weight of simply 2.48 kilos (1.12 kg) , the ThinkPad X1 Carbon stays one of many lightest 14-inch laptops in the marketplace and is even svelter than 13-inch rivals such because the MacBook Air (2.7 kilos), and Lenovo’s personal ThinkPad Z13 (2.78 kilos). Asus’s ZenBook S 13 is simply 0.05 kilos lighter, however HP’s Elite Dragonfly is a feathery 2.2 kilos.
Picture 1 of 2
The X1 Carbon is a mere 12.43 x 8.76 inches (width x ddpth) and simply 0.60 inches thick. Contemplating the thinness, Lenovo does a terrific job of becoming in all the most important ports you want, together with two USB Sort-A ports, a full-size HDMI connector and twin Thunderbolt 4 / USB-C connections. HP’s 0.64-inch thick Dragonfly packs in a single Sort-A port, solely because of a drop-jaw hinge and different rivals such because the 0.59-inch thick ZenBook, the 0.44-inch thick MacBook and the 0.55-inch thick ThinkPad Z13 don’t have any Sort-A ports in any respect.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 10) Specs
| CPU | Intel Core i7-1260P |
| Graphics | Intel UHD Graphics |
| Reminiscence | 16GB DDR5-5200 |
| Storage | 512GB PCIe SSD |
| Show | 14-inch, 1920 x 1200 contact display, 16:10 facet ratio |
| Networking | Intel AX211 W-iF- 6E, Bluetooth 5.2 |
| Ports | 2x Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C), 2x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, 3.5 mm headphone jack, HDMI 2.0b |
| Digital camera | 1080p with privateness shutter |
| Battery | 57 Whr |
| Energy Adapter | 65W (USB-C) |
| Working System | Home windows 11 Professional |
| Dimensions | 12.4 x 8.8 x 0.6 inches (315.6 x 222.5 x 15.4 mm) |
| Weight | 2.48 kilos (1.12 kg) |
| Value (as configured) | $1,564 |
Productiveness Efficiency on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 10)
Picture 1 of 4
Our assessment configuration of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon got here configured with an Intel Core i7-1260P CPU, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. With these sorts of specs, it nearly goes with out saying that on a regular basis duties resembling internet shopping, watching movies and enhancing paperwork are easy and seamless. With 16GB of RAM, you are able to do a whole lot of multitasking too.
Nonetheless, Lenovo made a polarizing selection with the processor. Whereas prior Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbons used 15-watt U-series CPUs to save lots of energy, this X1 Carbon comes with a 28-watt, P-series processor that has had its TDP configured down to twenty watts. The 12-core processor, which has 4 efficiency cores and eight effectivity cores, guarantees higher efficiency whereas utilizing just a bit extra energy, however, on our exams, the X1 Carbon didn’t all the time outpace rivals with 15-watt processors and its battery life (extra on that later) is way decrease.
On Geekbench 5.4, an artificial benchmark that measures total processing prowess, the X1 Carbon returned a single-core rating of 1,644 and a multi-core mark of 8,159. That places it squarely in the course of the pack amongst its rivals. The MacBook Air and its M2 processor scored 1,932 and eight,919 whereas Lenovo’s ThinkPad Z13 and its AMD Ryzen 7 Professional 6850U processor, which has eight full-powered cores, delivered a better multi-core rating of 8,768 paired with a decrease single-core mark of 1,501. The ZenBook S 13 OLED, which has a Ryzen 7 6800U, scored 1,517 and seven,606 whereas the Core i7-1265U-powered HP Elite Dragonfly G3 successfully tied the ThinkPad X1 Carbon in single-core, hitting 1,647 whereas falling behind in multi-core with 6,501.
The 512GB PCIe SSD was fairly speedy, copying 25GB of information at a fee of 1,461.5 MBps. That’s forward of the MacBook Air (958.9 MBps), the ThinkPad Z13 (930.4 MBps) and the HP Elite Dragonfly (1,157.2 MBps). Solely the Asus ZenBook S 13 OLED (1,543.9 MBps) was barely forward.
The X1 Carbon (Gen 10) took 12 minutes and 33 seconds to transcode a 4K video into 1080p. That’s so much slower than any of its non-Intel-powered rivals because the ThinkPad Z13 (7:09), MacBook Air (7:52) and Zenbook S 13 OLED (8:15) have been a lot faster. Nonetheless, the Dragonfly (13:09) took a bit of longer to complete.
To see how nicely the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 10) performs over time, we launched Cinebench R23 for 20 consecutive runs. After beginning at a excessive rating of 8,078, the laptop computer settled into the 6,400 to six,800 vary with an total common of 6,633.
Through the check, the 1270P’s 4 efficiency cores averaged 2.08 GHz whereas the eight effectivity cores ran at 1.57 GHz. The CPU package deal temperature averaged 83.4 levels Celsius. The processor, with its 20-watt TDP, had a mean draw of 19.87 watts.
Show on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon
The ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 10) is on the market with quite a lot of 16:10 facet ratio panels, with resolutions starting from 1920 x 1200 as much as 3840 x 2400. Our assessment configuration sported a 1920 x 1200 contact display which supplied shiny, sharp photos with extensive viewing angles and strong colour replica.
The 16:10 facet ratio is nice for browsing the net or enhancing paperwork, as a result of it offers 11 p.c extra vertical display actual property than a typical, 16:9 show. That would imply an additional paragraph of textual content earlier than it is advisable to scroll. Nonetheless, there will probably be barely bigger black bars on the highest and backside once you watch motion pictures, all of which have a 16:9 facet ratio.
Once I watched a 1080p trailer for the Netflix present “Wednesday,” nice particulars like the primary character’s eye brows or the stripes on a woman’s college uniform have been sharp and detailed. Colours just like the purple of faculty lockers or the blue of pool water appeared notably vibrant. And pictures have been straightforward to see – with barely any washout – at a full 90 levels to the left or proper.
The ThinkPad X1 Carbon’s show registered a luminous 406 nits on our mild meter, which is brighter than the HP Elite Dragonfly G3 (370 nits) and the Asus ZenBook S 13 OLED (321 nits). The ThinkPad Z13 is a bit of brighter at 429 nits whereas the MacBook Air reaches all the best way to 489 nits.
In accordance with our colorimeter, the panel can reproduce a full 106 p.c of the sRGB colour gamut, however a modest 75.2 p.c of the broader, DCI-P3 gamut. These numbers are fairly good total and about on-par with the ThinkPad Z13 (107 / 75.8 p.c) and MacBook Air (107 / 75.9 p.c). The HP Elite Dragonfly (80.2 /113) was a tad higher, however the Asus ZenBook S 13 OLED (126 / 89. 3 p.c) blew the entire rivals away, because of its OLED panel.
Battery Life on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 10)
Doubtless due to its high-powered P-series Intel processor, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon tenth Gen has a lot worse battery life than its rivals and than the prior technology. On our battery check, which includes internet browsing and video streaming at 150 nits of brightness, Lenovo’s laptop computer lasted a mere 8 hours and 48 minutes. Which may not sound unhealthy when taken in isolation, however think about that the Gen X1 Carbon (Gen 9) we examined final 12 months — which had the identical 1920 x 1200 decision show however a 15-watt U collection processor — endured for 15 hours and 39 minutes. In case your each day use is extra intensive than our check (you run at full brightness for instance) you possibly can end up needing to plug in nicely earlier than the work day is finished.
The entire X1 Carbon’s present rivals lasted fairly a bit longer on our check. The Intel Core i7-1265U-powered HP Elite Dragonfly G3, AMD Ryzen 7 Professional 6850U-enabled ThinkPad Z13 and M2-sporting MacBook Air all endured for round 14 hours whereas the Ryzen 7 6800U-enabled ZenBook S 13 give up after 11 hours.
Although it was unavailable initially, Lenovo just lately added the choice to configure your ThinkPad X1 Carbon with a 15-watt, Intel U-series CPU. We haven’t examined a unit with this processor so we are able to’t vouch for its battery life, however we count on that it will final considerably longer on a cost.
Keyboard, TrackPoint and Touchpad on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 10)
The X1 Carbon (Gen 10) has the sort snappy, responsive keyboard that ThinkPads are well-known for, however with a slight twist. The keycaps nonetheless have the marginally concave floor that makes feeling one’s manner round really easy, however they’ve been squared a bit for what Lenovo says are “cleaner traces.” I preferred typing on the extra rounded keys of the last-gen mannequin a bit of higher, however these nonetheless have loads of journey and suggestions. The soft-touch materials on the palm relaxation stored my wrists feeling snug as I clacked my strategy to 97 words-per-minute and a 4 p.c error fee – a typical rating for me – on the 10fastfingers typing check.
Like just about each ThinkPad, the X1 Carbon (Gen 10) has two totally different pointing gadgets: a glass touchpad and a TrackPoint pointing stick. As all the time, the TrackPoint allowed me to navigate across the desktop with nice precision and with out ever having to carry my fingers off of the house row. If, like me, you recognize the time and pointless motion you save through the use of a pointing stick, you’ll actually recognize this laptop computer.
Nonetheless, if you happen to don’t just like the little purple nub, you may ignore it and use the 4.3 x 2.3-inch glass touchpad. In my exams, it additionally supplied very correct actions and responded flawlessly to all of the multitouch gestures I attempted, together with three-finger swipe and pinch-to-zoom. I actually appreciated the graceful floor, which gave me simply sufficient friction to maintain my finger from sliding round.
Audio on on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 10)
The four-speaker audio system is correct and loud, although not overly wealthy. Once I listened to AC/DC’s “Again in Black,” the guitars, vocals and drums have been all clear, with minimal distortion and only a slight trace of tinniness. Nonetheless, I didn’t detect a lot separation of sound as all of the devices appeared like they have been coming from one place.
At most quantity, the sound was loud sufficient to fill a medium-sized room. So, if you happen to’re planning to make use of the X1 Carbon (Gen 10) for a convention name or a demo with different folks sitting round you, they need to all have the ability to hear it.
Lenovo’s Business Vantage utility permits you to select amongst totally different audio profiles, together with Music, Voice and Film. I discovered that the music output was really clearest and most correct in Dynamic mode, which chooses one of the best profile for you. The Music mode appeared a bit of muffled.
Upgradeability of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 10)
You may improve the M.2 2080 SSD on the ThinkPad X1 (Gen 10) however not the RAM, which is soldered to the motherboard. To get to the SSD, I wanted to take away the underside cowl which has 5 captive, philips head screws. Sadly, after they have been loosened, it was actually tough to pry the duvet off, even with a spudger.
As soon as I obtained the again cowl off, I discovered the SSD beneath a copper heatsink, with one screw holding it in place. There’s additionally a WWAN slot for the optionally available 5G module, however there have been no antenna wires on our unit, suggesting that, even if you happen to purchased a card, you wouldn’t have the ability to use it. Placing the duvet again on was almost as tough as taking it off so I don’t advocate doing an improve until you actually need a higher-capacity SSD than the laptop computer got here with.
Warmth on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 10)
The ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 10) has air in-take holes beneath the keys to assist maintain the system’s thermals beneath management and, certainly, the pores and skin temperature stayed cool throughout our testing. When balancing the laptop computer on my lap and typing on it, the system by no means felt heat.
Picture 1 of 2
Whereas working our Cinebench stress check, the keyboard measured 92.5 levels Fahrenheit (33.2 levels Celsius) whereas the touchpad was chilly 80.4 F (26.9 C). The warmest space was the again backside close to the vents, which hit 108.1 F (42.3 C), however you doubtless wouldn’t be touching that space.
Webcam on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 10)
The ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 10) contains a 1080p webcam, a pleasant step up from the 720p cameras we noticed on prior-gen ThinkPads and nonetheless see on most laptops. Whereas it may not be fairly pretty much as good as one of the best webcams you may plug in, the X1 Carbon’s sensor is de facto good. Once I shot a selfie in indoor mild, colours just like the blue in my shirt and the turquoise in my glasses seemed fairly correct. The picture was sharp sufficient that the person hairs on my beard have been straightforward to make out. In low-light most particulars of my face have been clear and, in a pitch-black room, my options have been nonetheless seen. For when you do not need to be seen, Lenovo features a safety shutter to cowl the digital camera.
Picture 1 of 2
Lenovo affords the ThinkPad X1 Carbon with optionally available infrared digital camera for face recognition. The corporate additionally touts a computer-vision primarily based characteristic that may lock the pc once you transfer away from it and unlock it once you come again. Sadly, we have been unable to check the pc imaginative and prescient, as a result of our assessment unit didn’t have the IR cameras.
Software program and Guarantee on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 10)
Lenovo packs the ThinkPad X1 Carbon with only a few preloads. Lenovo Business Vantage, the primary utility, permits you to exert nice management over all the important thing facets of the system, together with the audio, the digital camera and the facility profile whereas additionally serving to you replace the drivers and watch the battery well being.
Lenovo Fast Clear disables the built-in keyboard for a configurable period of time (ex: 2 minutes, 5 minutes) so you may wipe it down.
Lenovo View affords video enhancements that promise to enhance the webcam output. Dolby Entry offers one other strategy to swap amongst sound profiles.
Home windows 11 comes with a small pile of crapware, together with Disney Plus Spotify. Clipchamp video editor, Adobe Categorical, TikTok and Amazon Prime Video all have icons within the begin menu, which trigger the applications to obtain and set up the primary time you click on them.
Lenovo backs the X1 Carbon with a normal one 12 months guarantee on elements and labor however affords the power to increase that time period as much as 5 years and add extras resembling on-site service and unintentional injury safety at a price.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 10) Configurations
Like different ThinkPads, the X1 Carbon (Gen 10) is on the market in all kinds of configurations and may even be configured-to-order if you buy it from Lenovo.com. Our $1,564 assessment configuration got here with an Intel Core i7-1260P CPU, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, a 512GB SSD and a 1920 x 1200 contact display. The $1,319 base mannequin has a Core i5-1240P CPU, 8GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD and a 1920 x 1200, non-touch show.
When you configure-to-order, you may select amongst screens starting from a 1920 x 1200 non-touch panel to a 2880 x 1800 OLED show to a 3840 x 2400 contact display that guarantees to cowl 100% of the DCI-P3 colour gamut.
There are a number of Core i5 and Core i7 P-series processors and there are additionally two configurations with a Core i5-1235U CPU. When you care about battery life, go for the U collection processor.
You may have 8, 16 or 32GB of DDR5 RAM, however if you need the 32GB capability, you’ll want to decide on one of many costlier Core i7 processors. You can too go for as much as a 2TB NVMe SSD.
In order for you an built-in 4G or 5G modem, you may spend $200 to $300 additional for that add-on. You even have a selection of an everyday webcam, one with IR face detection or one with pc imaginative and prescient capabilities which might be speculated to unlock the PC once you’re detected in entrance of it.
Backside Line
The ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 10) has nearly the entire goodies it is advisable to be productive whether or not you’re sitting on the sofa or in coach. It has an excellent show, a keyboard that makes typing a pleasure, a useful navigation combo, all of the ports you want and a very robust webcam. With its light-weight chassis and soft-touch surfaces, the X1 Carbon simply feels excellent on the lap.
However one thing is lacking. You don’t purchase a 2.5-pound laptop computer just like the ThinkPad X1 Carbon to maintain it plugged in more often than not and the 8 to 9 hours of battery life we obtained on our check may flip into 6 or 7 hours if you happen to pump the brightness up increased than we do. When rivals are lasting for 14 hours on the identical check, the Carbon’s brief endurance stands out in a nasty manner. The modest efficiency bump you get with the higher-wattage, P-series processor simply isn’t value it. Maybe, a configuration with a U-series CPU would convey the endurance nearer to the 15 hours final 12 months’s mannequin obtained, however we haven’t examined with that processor, which simply grew to become accessible.
When you’re on the lookout for a enterprise laptop computer that provides incredible battery life and an exquisite display in a fair lighter package deal, think about HP’s Elite Dragonfly G3. When you like Lenovo’s keyboards and aesthetics, the ThinkPad Z13 is a robust contender that lasts all-day on a cost. Nonetheless, if you need a terrific productiveness expertise and don’t have to be unplugged for an extended journey, the X1 Carbon is for you.