Hands-on: Lenovo's new ThinkPad X1 Carbon is a drool-worthy workhorse

Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Carbon has proven its worth over the years, time and time again. Now in its 13th generation, Lenovo might just have made it into the most opulent AI-powered laptop money can buy. 

After some hands-on time with the new Aura Edition of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon at IFA 2024 in Berlin, all I can think is ‘I want one’.

Everything looks great spec-wise. It’s powered by Intel’s brand-new Core Ultra processor (Series 2) with Intel Arc Xe2 graphics and integrated NPU offering up to 48 TOPS, 3x the AI performance of the previous generation ThinkPad X1. It’s also, as you would expect, capable of a Windows Copilot+ experience when Microsoft rolls that out for Intel chips later this year. 

But I’m particularly impressed with the design of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon — and with an incredibly neat party trick that’s exclusive to Lenovo.

At just 2.16lbs it’s one of the lightest laptops I’ve picked up in a long time, almost feeling like it’s just a chassis with no internals. The lid opens incrediblely smoothly with a minimal amount of effort – everything feels plush. 

Lenovo has also kept the environment in mind with a customer-replaceable battery, 90 percent recycled magnesium in the C cover, and 100 percent plastic-free packaging made from bamboo and sugarcane. 

Onto the Aura Edition’s party tricks, which are branded as AI of course.

I like the idea of “Smart Modes.” A quick tap of a modes key on the keyboard summons a small window where you can select Shield, Attention, Collaboration, and Wellness along with power modes. These can help you focus and are customizable so you can make them work for your needs.

Chris Martin / Foundry

Chris Martin / Foundry

Chris Martin / Foundry

Lenovo’s real party trick here is Smart Share, where you can physically tap your phone on the side of the lid and, like magic, a window pops up with your gallery to transfer your pictures between the two devices. 

Rather than something like NFC to trigger the connection, Lenovo says it uses ‘sensor fusion’ with elements like listening for the resonance of the tap as well as the accelerometer in the phone. It then uses a combination of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi for the connection. 

When it works (I was looking at a pre-production sample) it’s almost instantaneous, and importantly works with both Android and iPhone. You just need the Intel Unison app on your phone and, for now at least, the Smart Share feature is exclusive to Lenovo. 

Otherwise, Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Carbon Aura Edition touts things like a whopping ‘more than 18 hour’ battery life, a Haptic ForcePad, a gorgeous 14-inch 2.8K OLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate, and a decent selection of ports. 

All of this makes it a great candidate for work trips (like IFA), where I need my laptop to power through everything I’m doing without slowing down or running out of juice halfway through the day. 

I’m drafting an email to the IT department to request one as my next machine. Although at a starting price of $1,999, I’m not so hopeful it will be approved. 

Author: Chris Martin, Reviews Editor, Tech Advisor

Chris got his break as a reporter at infamous site The Inquirer and has been at our sister site Tech Advisor for more than 12 years. With a BA degree in Music Technology, audio is his specialism, but over the years he has reviewed all kinds of gadgets, from smartwatches to mesh Wi-Fi to coffee machines.

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