Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 review: failing to stand out

The ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 has one of the stranger configurations that I can remember. Its base model costs $1,580 for an Intel Core Ultra 5 125H chipset, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, and a 13.5-inch 2.8K IPS display (the only option). For $432 more, you can upgrade all the way to an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H, which is a curious alternative. The Core Ultra 9 185H is a much more power-hungry chipset that you won’t often find in a 13-inch laptop. If you choose the Core Ultra 9, you can also configure 32GB of RAM — also likely overkill for this class of machine. That will cost you $2,220 with a 1TB SSD.

The ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 is a well-made little laptop. It’s all-aluminum and feels incredibly solid, with no bending, flexing or twisting in the lid, keyboard deck, or chassis. It’s easily the equal of the Dell XPS 13 and even slightly more rigid than the MacBook Air M3, which has a slightly bendable lid. It has a truly premium feel, and that extends to the hinge that allows smoothly opening the lid with one hand.

The ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 has Lenovo’s latest non-ThinkPad keyboard, with sculpted keycaps that seem a bit smaller than I remember and with an impression of more spacing overall. The switches are light and snappy, and I found myself quickly getting up to speed. It’s a different feel than Apple’s Magic Keyboard, but I imagine many people will like it just as much. It’s easily more comfortable than the zero-lattice keyboard on the XPS 13.

In a strange twist, Lenovo is offering two chipsets for the ThinkBook 13x Gen 4. My review unit came with the 28-watt Intel Core Ultra 5 125H with 14 cores (four Performance, eight Efficient, and two Low Power Efficient) and 18 threads, running at up to 4.5GHz. That’s less common than the Core Ultra 7 155H with two extra cores and threads, but not a bad choice for a 13-inch laptop.

The other option, though, is the 45-watt Core Ultra 9 185H with 16 cores (six Performance, eight Efficient, and two Low Power Efficient) and 22 cores running at up to 5.1GHz. That chipset requires a lot more power to run at full performance, and it gets hotter. It’s a questionable choice for a 13-inch laptop.

Simply put, most people are going to buy the ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 primarily for productivity tasks. For these users, the laptop was a decent performer in our benchmarks but it lagged behind several other 13-inch machines in most of our benchmarks. Interestingly, it did much better in the PCMark 10 Complete benchmark that runs through a more real-world workflow. It wasn’t impressive in 3DMark, so gaming isn’t really an option here.

Overall, if you’re looking for a laptop that will be fast enough for web browsing, email, office apps, and media consumption, then ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 will be a great option. If your needs are more demanding, however, you might find it a bit limiting. Upgrading to the Core Ultra 9 185H is a dubious proposition in that it might not provide that much more performance but will certainly run hotter and louder.

The ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 has a rather large battery for a 13-inch laptop, at 74 watt-hours. By comparison, the XPS 13 has just 55 watt-hours and the MacBook Air M3 52.6 watt-hours. The ThinkBook also has a 2.8K IPS display that should burn less power than an OLED panel, but won’t be as efficient as the FHD+ panels you’ll find in some alternatives.

In our benchmarks, the ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 wasn’t terribly impressive. It lasted for just 6.25 hours in our web browsing test and 12.3 hours in our video looping test. The XPS 13 with an IPS display made it to 14 hours of web browsing, and the MacBook Air M3 with a high-res IPS panel lasted for 19 hours of both web browsing and video.

With the advent of Microsoft’s new Copilot+ PC initiative with Windows on Arm laptops running Qualcomm’s very efficient Snapdragon X Elite chipsets, laptops like the ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 are even less impressive. Especially for typical productivity workflows, the Qualcomm machines will offer hours more battery life. And the MacBook Air M3 retains its spot at the top.

Most premium laptops today offer an OLED display option, but the ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 bucks that trend. It has one panel, a 2.8K (2880 by 1800) IPS running at 120Hz. Given the laptop’s longevity, that’s not a bad compromise. An OLED display would get even worse battery life. Subjectivity, the display was plenty sharp and very bright, and it has accurate colors and enough contrast to be great for productivity work.

My colorimeter measured brightness at 563 nits, which is excellent. Contrast came in at 1,340:1, which is very good for IPS (but well under a display like the XPS 13 OLED at 16,500:1). Color accuracy was excellent at a Delta-E of 0.90 (less than 1.0 is indistinguishable to the human eye). The only glaring weakness, at least compared to OLED, was color gamut support at 99% of sRGB, 73% of AdobeRGB, and 73% of DCI-P3. Those are average for IPS, although many competing laptops are better, and well under the 100%, 95%, and 100%, respectively, that OLED usually produces.

Once again, these are good enough results for a productivity user, but creators and media consumers won’t love this display.

Audio duties are performed by four speakers: two tweeters and two woofers. The system was loud enough and very clear, with good mids, highs, and even some bass. I’d rate audio as very good and better than that on the XPS 13 and MacBook Air M3.

The ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 ticks some of the important boxes. It’s very well-built, attractive, and has a great keyboard with an optional haptic touchpad. It’s highly portable, and its Magic Bay setup is unique.

But it’s not terribly fast, it doesn’t have great battery life, and its display is good but not great. If it were less expensive, then it would be easier to recommend. But if you’re spending more than $1,500 for a laptop, you shouldn’t have to accept so many compromises.