Today I’m going to talk about another laptop powered by the new Lunar Lake processors that I managed to see live at IFA 2024 in Berlin. As in my previous reviews, I tried to find an unusual device that stands out from the crowd. So, meet the updated Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition.
ThinkPad X1 Carbon is, without exaggeration, the flagship line of the Chinese technology manufacturer Lenovo. The device has always been characterized by its light weight and elegant aluminum and carbon fiber body. In addition to this, it has traditionally been equipped with a powerful filling and long battery life.
What did we get this year? The device has become even lighter, weighing only 980 grams, and is equipped with a new Intel® Core Ultra (Series 2) processor with Intel Arc Xe2 graphics and an NPU module for AI operations.
The laptop looks like a premium device, if you’ll pardon the expression. The lid opens and closes with minimal effort, the movement is smooth, nothing squeaks or wobbles, and the almost perfect black recycled magnesium case, as in previous models, looks luxurious. The case, however, is relatively non-glare, but it still leaves subtle fingerprints.
But this was also the case in previous series, and Lunar Lake processors are also in dozens of other devices this fall. The killer feature of this particular laptop is a function similar to the one Apple has called AirDrop. Samsung offers something similar called Quick Share, but the function works only between devices of the same brand (guess which one).
Lenovo’s is called SmartShare and allows you to share photos between a laptop and an Android or iOS smartphone. To share photos, you just need to hold your phone to the side of the laptop screen, and then magic happens and everything happens automatically.
The new feature is based on Elliptic Labs AI Virtual Sensor™ technology. It’s not a physical sensor, but a software solution that uses a combination of data from Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and other device components and uses artificial intelligence to understand when the user wants to send photos. It is not yet clear whether this thing works with videos and other files, but we will definitely check this possibility when we can fully test the device.
Other interesting updates include a three-button Haptic TouchPad (the middle button is used for scrolling) (a new generation touchpad with feedback, used by Apple, among others) and a set of workflows called Smart Modes.
Features Shield is useful if you work from cafes or other public places. It turns on the VPN and also tells the user if someone is sitting behind them and looking at their screen, in which case you can set up automatic image blur.
Features Warning is similar to the one already built into Windows and disables all notifications, including those from messengers, for a specified period of time.
Features Welfare monitors your posture, for example, if you are leaning over a laptop and sitting in a posture that is unhealthy for your spine, and notifies you of this. The program also reminds you at certain intervals to rest your eyes and look elsewhere, at least for a while.
All these functions, despite their usefulness, caused me a little concern. After all, the camera is constantly tracking my actions, and I really hope that the logs are not stored anywhere, and especially not transferred to the company’s servers.
As for everything else, in addition to the new Lunar Lake processor, the laptop received an anti-reflective 14-inch 2.8k OLED display with a refresh rate of 120 Hz. A 57 Wh replaceable battery allows for up to 18 hours of battery life, and network interfaces include Wi-Fi 7 and, most interestingly, 5G. However, the latter will not be available in all regions, and it is not yet known whether Ukraine will be among them. Ports: 2 USB-A, 2 Thunderbolt 4 and 1 HDMI. RAM — dual-channel DDR5 up to 32 GB, hard disk — up to 2 TB.
In my previous reviews from IFA 2024, I did not mention the performance of the devices, since it is quite difficult to visually assess the potential of new Intel processors. But in the case of the X1 Carbon, I managed to find the results of the Geekbench test from my colleagues at TomsGuide online. To be honest, I expected more from them, but again, this is only preliminary testing (I made a note for myself to write down the main benchmarks for field-testing of devices on a flash drive for the next exhibition).
And finally, the price. As with all devices in the X1 Carbon line, the prices are steep. In the European market, Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition will go on sale in November 2024 and will cost buyers from 2699 euros excluding local taxes. Considering the prices of the previous line, in Ukraine we should expect prices from UAH 120 thousand.
Overall, the laptop leaves a positive impression. With its chic appearance, top-end hardware, and 18 hours of battery life, X1 Carbon is primarily for connoisseurs of beautiful things who don’t like MacBooks. And this is one of the few cases where the built-in software is really useful, and not a duplication of Windows functions or made for hype and marketing materials. At first glance, the device — definitely a like.