The Lenovo ThinkPad X13s is Lenovo’s first Snapdragon ThinkPad, in-built shut collaboration with Qualcomm. It is the very best Snapdragon 8Cx Gen 3 we’ve seen to this point, and its design revolves round just a few pillars: productiveness, connectivity, expertise, and safety.
It has good efficiency for an workplace productiveness laptop, and regardless that it will probably play some video games, that’s not what it was constructed for. For workplace work, it retains you productive with out worrying about battery life or WiFi availability, because of its built-in 5G.
Pay consideration in case your computing life revolves round internet apps or the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. This laptop computer may change your cell PC expertise eternally.
Configuration
All variations of the ThinkPad X13s include a 13.3” FHD show and a Snapdragon 8Cx Gen 3 computing platform. Our unit has the next configuration: 16GB, non-touch show, and 512GB of storage. That stated, there are numerous choices you may select from.
Three FHD show variants can be found; two are non-touch with 300 NITs or 400 NITs brightness. The 400 NITs model has higher general picture high quality in response to the specs. There’s one 300 NITs, touch-enabled variant, which we’d select for usability causes.
The RAM is soldered and comes with 8, 16, or 32GB of LPDDR4X at order time. 16GB ought to work for most individuals, but it surely’s superior to have the ability to push it to 32GB if why you want it. The storage choice contains at the very least 512GB and 1TB of NVMe SSD.
These are the numerous variations between fashions. Other ones would possibly embrace the supply of 5G mmWave (or not) or energy provide SKU (2x45W fashions and 4x65W fashions), for instance.
Pricing begins at $1300+ at Lenovo.com
Industrial Design
The Lenovo ThinkPad X13s design comes with the long-lasting ThinkPad black matte shade, and from a distance, it may cross for one thing in-between the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 and the ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen1.
At 13.4 mm (.53”) skinny weighing solely 2.35 lbs (1.06kg), it’s an ultralight, ultracompact laptop with the next dimensions: 298.7 x 206.4 x 13.4 mm (11.76 x 8.13 x 0.53 inches)
A more in-depth inspection exhibits a design language tweak with curved surfaces and rounded edges. The paint has a rubberized texture that makes it look like a “suede” floor, softer to the contact than the standard ThinkPad paint.
Under the paint, the chassis is constructed with 90% recycled magnesium alloy. Lenovo is upped its sustainability recreation, and there’s loads of recycled plastic too. There’s actually sufficient plastic round, however not sufficient firms keen to make this effort.
At the highest of the again show cowl, there’s a outstanding “camera bar,” which makes it attainable to accommodate a bigger, higher-quality digicam module. We’ll get again to {that a} bit later.
The backside cowl may be eliminated for servicing (IT loves this), and the SSD can theoretically be swapped. However, it’s situated beneath the cooling plates, maybe one step additional than the typical person would possibly need to take.
The Qualcomm X55 5G modem can also be accessible if it wants restore. It is situated the place the SIM slot is however helps eSim as effectively. For a pc, this modem (and the Qualcomm WIFI/BT {hardware}) represents a world-class connectivity choice that ought to work worldwide.
One can’t assist however discover there aren’t any cooling vents in any respect, and for a superb motive: this can be a passively cooled laptop that can by no means annoy you with fan noise. Yet, this can be very powerful and handed a bunch o fMIL-STD-810H (army transport certification) like different ThinkPads.
Keyboard & Trackpad
The ThinkPad X13s includes a full-size, spill-resistant keyboard that’s visually much like different ThinkPad computer systems. Because of its dimension, the journey key appears to be round 0.9-1mm. The keys aren’t clicky just like the ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 1. Instead, they’re very tender and very quiet.
The Mylar trackpad may be very easy and seems like glass. Its 56 x 115mm dimension makes it a giant contact floor, an incredible use of the out there house. It may have been bigger if it wasn’t for the 2 bodily Left/Middle/Right buttons, which we expect are way more exact than trackpad “taps.”
Of course, the legendary TrackPoint is current and works like every other ThinkPad. There are two backlight ranges in dim lighting circumstances to maintain the keyboard readable.
Ports
There are two USB-C 3.2 Gen2 10 Gbps ports to the chassis’ left. Both can be utilized to cost the laptop computer as effectively. There’s no Thunderbolt (TB) assist as a result of TB is an Intel know-how that reaches 40 Gbps of information switch.
That stated, USB-C 3.2 Gen2 is respectable and permits connecting two 4K shows to this tiny laptop computer. If utilizing a dock, it is best to be capable to have a one-cable setup to show the ThinkPad X13s right into a desktop laptop.
The basic 3.5mm audio and Kensington anti-theft connectors are on the suitable facet.
Sound Quality
This laptop computer has two 2W top-firing audio system, which is certainly the optimum placement. It’s at all times spectacular to see such compact computer systems having this function whereas bigger ones can’t fairly pull it off.
The audio high quality is nice for a pc this dimension, and voices are very clear whereas watching motion pictures. The bass may very well be improved, however given the inner quantity out there, we will’t fault Lenovo for not having a sub-woofer till another person does it.
The sound high quality would work very effectively for convention calls and watching motion pictures at your desk or lodge room. By the way in which, the small dimension makes this laptop excellent for airline tray tables.
Display
The 1080p/FHD decision is a effective and applicable selection, and we marvel what a 3:2 ratio would appear like (see X1 Titanium Yoga), particularly for an workplace productiveness laptop computer. As we talked about, there are just a few choices, with contact or not.
They all have wonderful shade replica with round 100% of the sRGB shade gamut and between 300-400 NITs of brightness which is typical for laptops at this value degree. The show high quality is satisfactory for gentle Creative work (internet dev, photoshop, artwork evaluation…).
The prime digicam module is without doubt one of the important enhancements within the ThinkPad lineup, and to date, this 5MP digicam (f/2.0 aperture) is the very best webcam we’ve seen on any laptop computer.
Lenovo goes in the suitable path, and we don’t thoughts the digicam bump if the standard matches the additional dimension. There’s no motive laptops can’t meet up with telephones’ cameras, and dealing with Qualcomm is the quick monitor to get there.
There’s no bodily shutter however an digital ON/OFF operate (alt+F9) that works simply as effectively. The solely draw back is there’s no bodily blocker you may visually verify. Perhaps a “red LED” (or one thing) may very well be a substitute sooner or later.
Our digicam was appropriate with Windows Hello, and that’s our main solution to log in securely. If you like the fingerprint reader, it’s situated within the Power button.
Performance
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8Cx Gen3 is a wonderful ARM-based computing platform that’s extremely power-efficient. The ThinkPad X13s can beat just about any Intel-equivalent laptop computer relating to battery life.
From a pure computing energy perspective via the lens of benchmarks, it’s roughly equal to an AMD Ryzen 5 4500U or an eleventh Gen Intel Core i5. If you want additional pace and are keen to sacrifice battery life in the identical type issue, I’d advocate trying on the ThinkPad X1 Nano with the Intel i7-1160G7.
With Windows 11, the Snapdragon 8Cx platform is extra related than ever as a result of it will probably execute X86 32 and 64-bit purposes. The apps’ compatibility is best than ever, and now we have not ran into any points with our typical apps. They all ran, together with Photoshop.
“Some” apps would possibly nonetheless fail. For instance, 3dMark Night Raid is the one one within the franchise that can work. DaVinci Resolve will not be going to discover a appropriate GPU. There is likely to be extra like this, so we’d advocate doing a little homework on these high-performance apps.
It would assist if Microsoft had a compatibility database we may search. We’ll say it once more: that is an workplace productiveness laptop computer.
On the opposite hand, video games just like the latest GTA will run, though at a comparatively sluggish 20 FPs. Your greatest wager for gaming is to make use of one of many game-streaming providers, resembling GeForce Now (and others), as any X86 emulation can have little influence on the streaming shopper’s efficiency.
Finally, any high-powered app will ultimately stumble upon thermal throttling because the passive cooling does a superb job for internet looking and workplace work however can’t transfer the warmth quick sufficient for intense gaming. The system will ultimately sluggish itself all the way down to match the warmth dissipation capabilities.
The ThinkPad X13s gives good efficiency for workplace work (set to “Balanced” efficiency) and may be set to excessive battery efficiency whereas watching motion pictures or studying paperwork. Unlike earlier ARM-based PCs, this one seems like a “normal” Core i5 laptop computer.Battery Life
The ThinkPad X13s gives distinctive battery life, and we’ve examined it throughout latest journey that included engaged on the go, utilizing 5G for always-on connectivity, and so forth. At no time have been we harassed with the battery degree; likelihood is you’ll be exhausted earlier than your battery is.
Its 49.5Wh battery capability is sufficient to maintain the pc for what we estimate to be 14-16 hours of workplace work. If you’re employed “only” 8hrs a day, it matches the “multi-day” battery life that each Qualcomm and Lenovo point out. When closed, the pc retains its cost higher than standard laptops.
According to Lenovo, the laptop computer can play native motion pictures (an MP4 in your disk) for 22-28 hours at 150 Nits brightness, relying in your energy settings (greatest efficiency, greatest battery life) if nothing else is working within the background, with out energetic WIFI/5G that sounds plausible.
It takes 1h20mn to achieve 100% if you might want to cost it. It can be implausible if Lenovo may make this even quicker sooner or later. We’ve not too long ago examined telephones that may be absolutely charged in 20mn, just like the OnePlus 10T, and it’s very addictive.
Conclusion
The Lenovo ThinkPad X13s is the very best Snapdragon-based laptop computer we’ve seen so far that hits the place it issues today: ultra-long battery life, excessive connectivity, and superior webcam high quality, which might make a large distinction for highway warriors or work-from-home customers.
It’s the primary ARM-based PC we’ve examined that seems like an Intel Core i5 equal in the true world, and it looks like an inflection level for Qualcomm’s fray into the laptop computer PC market. Qualcomm has some ways to rapidly ramp up the computing energy as soon as this phase goes vertical. Apple has demonstrated it.
For IT organizations, this laptop computer additionally comes with Lenovo’s Premier Support, ThinkShield, and safe manageability, making it simpler to handle, thus really saving money and time. It’s one thing you won’t think about as a shopper, however I’ve seen many firms that will solely supply ThinkPads to their staff for that reason. SMBs won’t have an IT division, so this assist degree would possibly show useful.
Finally, it’s a sturdy laptop computer that may survive shocks and spills higher than most. There’s nothing worse than having a lifeless laptop computer in the midst of a enterprise journey.
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