Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (13th gen, Aura edition) review: Ultra-light

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon is Laptop line This one needs no introduction — it dates back to 2012 — but even those loyal to most Ultrabooks might do a double-take when this 13th edition of the laptop is introduced and “Halo edition“The rhombus.

Just unboxing my new laptop made me double check that I got the right one. You can primarily thank the new Carbon’s ultra-low weight for that: At just 2.2 pounds, the ThinkPad (Gen. 12, It is launched in early 2024weighing 2.4 pounds.) It’s the lightest 14-inch laptop I’ve ever tested. Variously crafted from aluminium, magnesium, carbon fiber and recycled plastic, the machine looks almost like a toy, although at 20mm thick, it has little to hold on to when you pick it up.

Its effects Semaglutide diet It’s not the only part of this story. The latest X1 Carbon has also been upgraded to an Intel Core Ultra 7 258V (Series 2) CPU, which is now The laptop qualifies as a Copilot+ PC. It is also labeled, more prominently, as an Aura Edition PC, and features the addition of “Smart Modes” that allow the user to turn on pre-configured settings that improve eye health, enhance privacy, reduce distractions, and more. It can be accessed by pressing the F8 key, which does double duty as the mode button.

But the big question is, how did Lenovo manage to reduce the weight of this laptop by almost 10 percent? Although there is Chintzy 512GB SSD On the device, the rest of the specs are consistent, including 32GB of RAM (non-upgradeable) and plenty of ports — two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 portsTwo USB-A 3.2 ports and a full-size HDMI port. There is a nano-SIM card slot as well. There are no clear signs of corners being cut yet.

Photo: Christopher Noll

The design is top shelf, for the most part. The iconic ThinkPad keyboard quality remains in effect; I don’t think you’ll find a better typing experience on a laptop today, especially one this small. Lenovo continues to offer a compact trackpad with three separate buttons as well as a nubbin pointing stick as an option. Separate buttons make things easier; I never realize how much I want them until I use a laptop that includes them. Although the arrow keys are oddly small and uneven in size, they are easier to use than some keyboards that use half-height versions of these buttons.

The Carbon doesn’t have a touchscreen, but the 2,880 x 1,800 display is very sharp and bright, and the webcam (the crappy 1080p model) is set a notch above. It includes a physical on/off switch right next to it – the switch is easy to use but a little difficult to handle. This small notch provides one of the few pieces of flair to the chassis — a raised bar on the lid that gives you something to hold on to when opening the laptop on your own. As usual, the dot over the ThinkPad’s “i” on the lid also lights up red.