Lenovo ThinkPad X1 review

It’s not often that we get excited about a laptop aimed primarily at business users, but Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 is an exception; the 13.3in ultra-portable might be less than 2cm thick, but it still squeezes in some clever features and plenty of high performance hardware.

Instead of using an Intel low-voltage Core processor, Lenovo has opted for a much more powerful Core i5 based on the newer Sandy Bridge technology. The dual-core i5-2520M can Turbo Boost from 2.5GHz up to a healthy 3.2GHz when more power is needed; this, combined with hyper-threading and 8GB of RAM, helped it achieve a very respectable 58 overall in our multimedia benchmarks, which should be plenty of power for almost every desktop task. However, it has an unavoidable effect on battery life. The laptop lasts just under four and a half hours in our light-use test, so you’ll need to take the mains adaptor with you for all-day computing.

This is a shame, as at 1.7kg, the ThinkPad X1 won’t weigh you down when on the move. Although not a substitute for a larger battery, Lenovo’s RapidCharge feature can restore up to 80% battery life in just half an hour; this is great for frequent travellers that may not have much time between to recharge their laptop. Other refinements designed to protect the laptop from mishaps while in transit include a spill-proof keyboard and a screen made from scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass – although as any iPhone 4 owner knows, this is just as shatter-prone as normal glass.

Having a scratch-resistant screen is a bonus, but it comes at a price; instead of the matt coating preferred by many business customers for its reflection-defeating properties, the X1’s 1,366×768 display has a glossy finish. This makes it difficult to work in direct sunlight and under harsh office lighting, but thankfully there’s over 180 degrees of screen tilt and reasonable viewing angles to help prevent screen glare. Images looked sharp and fast moving video played without noticeable blurring.

The X1 relies on the processor’s integrated graphics chip for video playback as it lacks a dedicated graphics card. It’s certainly capable of playing 1080p video on an external display using either mini DisplayPort or HDMI, but it struggles with modern games; it could only run our new Dirt 3 benchmark at a juddering 13.7fps. You don’t buy an ultra-light laptop to play 3D games, though.

Unusually for an ultra-portable, the ThinkPad X1 has quite a wide array of connectivity options. As well as a single USB3 port, one of the two regular USB ports doubles as an eSATA port. There’s also a multi-format card reader and SIM card slot for mobile internet. A fingerprint reader and an HD webcam that can lock the computer when it detects you’re not sat in front of it are both useful security features that business users are sure to appreciate. The laptop has a 160GB SSD, which will be more resistant to shock damage than a normal hard disk but has a much smaller capacity.

In everyday use the ThinkPad X1 was something of a mixed bag. Typing on the backlit keyboard was, for the most part, trouble free; each full-sized key has a reasonably short travel time and plenty of tactile feedback, but we found it difficult to adapt to the reversed placement of the control and function keys. The touchpad isn’t flawless either. As well as dedicated touchpad buttons, the entire pad can act as one large button, registering a left click when pressed down with a single finger, or a double click if done with two. While a good idea in principle, it’s too sensitive – it’s easy to trigger a right-click accidentally. The second set of mouse buttons just below the space bar, designed for use with the red touchstick recessed into the keyboard, are easier to use.

Battery life is below average for an ultra-portable and the touchpad can be irritating, but despite these faults the ThinkPad X1 is still a great ultra-portable laptop. It fits easily into a bag and won’t weigh you down once it’s there, but still has great performance thanks to the powerful processor.

The X1 is hugely expensive, though – at over £1,700 it’s £1,000 more than the Asus U36JC, which may have a last-generation Core i5 processor but still manages 56 in our benchmarks, has nearly six hours of battery life and weighs just 1.6kg. Unless you need the X1’s tough build quality and extra security features, it’s a better buy.