Review: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 13, Aura Edition)

Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 Carbon is a laptop line that needs no introduction—it dates back to 2012—but even those loyal to the most ultra of ultrabooks may do a double-take when presented with this, the 13th-edition of the laptop and an “Aura Edition” designate.

Just unboxing the new laptop had me double-checking that I’d received the right computer. You can primarily thank the new Carbon’s insanely low heft for that: At just 2.2 pounds, it’s the lightest ThinkPad X1 Carbon ever—by a considerable margin. (The Gen 12, launched in early 2024, weighed 2.4 pounds.) It’s the lightest 14-inch laptop I’ve ever tested. Variably constructed from recycled aluminum, magnesium, carbon fiber, and plastic, the machine feels almost like a toy, though at 20 millimeters thick, it does have at least a little something to hold on to when you pick it up.

The effects of its semaglutide diet aren’t 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 now qualifies the laptop as a Copilot+ PC. It’s also, and more prominently, branded as an Aura Edition PC, distinguished by the addition of “Smart Modes” that let the user launch preconfigured settings that optimize eye health, enhance privacy, limit distractions, and more. These are accessible by tapping the F8 key, which does double-duty as a Mode button.

But the big question is, how did Lenovo trim nearly 10 percent off the weight of this laptop? Although there’s a chintzy 512-GB SSD on the device, the rest of the specs are solid, including 32 GB of RAM (not upgradeable) and plenty of ports—two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB-A 3.2 ports, and a full-size HDMI port. There's a nano-SIM slot too. No obvious signs of corners being cut so far.

Photograph: Christopher Null

The design is top-shelf, for the most part. The renowned ThinkPad keyboard quality remains in effect; I don’t think you’ll find a better typing experience on a laptop today, particularly one this small. Lenovo continues to provide a compact trackpad with three separate buttons along with the pointing stick nubbin as an option. The separate buttons do make things easier; I never realize how much I like having them until I use a laptop that includes them. And while the arrow keys are weirdly small and unevenly sized, 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-pixel display is sharp and plenty bright, and the webcam (a crummy 1,080p model) is set into a small notch above. It includes a physical on/off switch right beside it—the switch is handy but a little difficult to manipulate. That small notch provides one of the few bits of flair to the chassis—a raised strip on the lid that gives you something to hold on to when opening the laptop singlehandedly. And, as usual, the dot on the “i” in ThinkPad on the lid also lights up in red.

Photograph: Christopher Null

Core Problems

So far, so good, but the experience here is not entirely wine and roses.

The first bit of bad news relates to performance, which is in line with other Series 2 Core Ultra laptops I’ve seen of late. It’s fairly pedestrian on the whole. CPU-oriented benchmarks haven’t improved at all over the last generation of laptops, and graphics scores have made only modest gains—typically coming in at about 20 percent higher than the Gen 12 version of the machine based on my tests. On AI-based tests, the speed was at the lower end for a Core Ultra Series 2 machine, though the difference was not egregious.

Battery life is perhaps of greater concern. I got just under nine hours of running time on the Carbon, functionally the same that I encountered on the Gen 12. A year ago that was a reasonable running time, but in today’s market, anything under 10 hours is considered poor. While it’s tempting to suggest that Lenovo has trimmed the size of the battery to lose that weight, both generations boast a 57-watt-hour capacity.

Photograph: Christopher Null

The laptop doesn’t run particularly hot, but the fan does tend to spin a lot—even when the system is idling. Stability is a bigger issue: I encountered several problems attempting to do tasks I’d otherwise expect to be routine, such as downloading Windows Update files. And I was never able to get Windows’ Live Translations feature to work, because the required language packs refused to install properly. Whether these are Windows problems or Lenovo problems is a mystery.

The $2,000+ cost (as configured) is generally what you’d expect from the always premium-priced ThinkPad brand, and while it’s considerably cheaper than the Gen 12 was at launch ($2,703), that $2,000 barrier is still a tough one to overcome, at least for this reviewer. While some growing pains may be evident here, I’m still a fan, operating under the assumption that they’ll be remedied over time. But whether shaving a few ounces off the weight of the system is enough to merit the extra outlay over competing products is something that only you can decide.