Hey guys, I’m Roland, the Techusiast, and I’ve been using the Lenovo X1 Carbon Gen
10 for about two weeks, and here’s my full review.
Let’s take a look!
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 10 is quite a mouthful name, so from here and out, I’ll
be referring to the laptop as the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon.
As the name suggests, the laptop is made of lightweight carbon fiber and magnesium, and
it weighs just 1.12kg.
It’s remarkably lightweight, and the rubberised finish feels durable and premium.
The material feels great to touch, but it’s easy to ruin with some dust and greasy fingers,
so I’d likely advise you to wipe it clean before and after use.
That said, the design, overall, is excellent, and I love how simple and elegant it looks
on the table.
On top of the device, the laptop sports Windows Hello, a web camera, and a physical privacy
cover that lets you cover the sensor when it’s not being used.
This is executed really well, and I’d love to see this on all current and future laptops.
Moving over to the ports, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon features two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports,
two USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports, a headphone and microphone combo jack, a HDMI 2.0 port, and
this model also comes with the optional Nano SIM slot and Kensington lock.
And before you ask, yes, you can insert a SIM card and wirelessly connect to the internet,
without always having to rely on your smartphone’s hotspot, or your neighbour's Wi-Fi.
It’s excellent for those regular commuters and business users who are always on the move
and need to get work done on the go.
Despite the thin and light design, the keyboard doesn’t flex too much, and it’s perfectly
fine during day-to-day use.
I haven’t found any soft spots that’d call for a cause of concern, and it feels
pretty solid.
The keyboard is backlit, tactile, and spill-resistant.
When it comes to the typing experience, I really enjoyed my time using it, and I can
comfortably say that it’s easy to get used to the keys and the short travel.
I also want to highlight that there’s a built-in fingerprint sensor embedded in the
power button, and it works really well.
Unlike the Lenovo Z13 Gen 1, I didn’t have to do anything about the trackpad on this
laptop, and it worked perfectly well out of the box.
Bear in mind, it’s not the largest trackpad out there, but it gets the job done.
The palm rest is fairly small, but it’s adequately sized compared to the laptop, although
I do wish Lenovo made the trackpad ever so slightly wider.
Aside from that, the design and the build quality of this device is spot on, and it’s
built to last.
The display on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon is gorgeous.
Here I have the 14-inch 2.8K OLED display with 16:10 aspect ratio, and I must say, it
looks absolutely amazing.
The panel is pretty accurate and comes with the usual Eyesafe technology to reduce blue-light
emissions.
When it comes to using the laptop outside, it gets pretty bright, and it’s more than
usable in bright rooms and in brightly lit environments.
The colors look fantastic, and the viewing angles are also excellent.
The bezels are pretty thin on the sides, although the top does have a chunky bezel as it houses
the web camera and the IR sensor for unlocking the laptop.
During my use, the screen was always large enough and colorful, and bright.
I enjoyed my time watching videos on YouTube and on various streaming services, and it’s
also perfectly sized for getting work done on the go.
Lenovo calls the top of the laptop the “Communications Bar”, as there are four integrated 360-degree
microphones with AI-based noise cancellation and Dolby Voice features.
As for the webcam, it’s a Full HD camera with an IR sensor that works with Windows
Hello.
The web camera does a decent job, and it’s great for video and conference calls.
The ThinkPad X1 Carbon comes with four front-facing Dolby Atmos speakers, and it sounds pretty
good.
Music has plenty bass, and it sounds clear even at higher volumes.
Movies and videos are more than enjoyable and immersive, and I enjoyed my time listening
to music and consuming content.
Moving over to the main part, performance.
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon has plenty of power under the hood, and my review unit is
powered by the 12th Generation Intel Core i7-1260P processor.
There are 12 cores and 16 threads, and there’s 32GB of RAM.
When it comes to graphics-intensive work, the integrated Intel Iris Xe will take care
of whatever you’re working on and will provide a comfortable experience.
I’ve used the laptop for work, and some light gaming, and it hasn’t slowed down,
or shown any signs of sluggish behaviour.
It was always snappy, and it only seemed to throttle when I tried running a simulation
game at high graphics settings.
When it comes to browsing, the laptop managed my normal work-load of running about 80 Chrome
tabs with ease, and I didn’t see any hiccups or any signs of slow-downs.
The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 10 is capable of running practically any workload, for as long
as you set your expectations, since it’s not suitable for high-graphics intensive tasks.
And, of course, here are some gaming tests.
I’ve tried CS:GO and Train Life, a simulation game.
Both games worked perfectly, although the train sim had to be turned down to medium
settings to get a more playable 60FPS.
It’s worth noting that lightweight and less graphics-intensive games will run just fine,
but you shouldn’t expect to be able to play AAA titles as it’s simply not built for
that, nor does it have the power.
During day-to-day use, the laptop has plenty of power to plow through general tasks, and
it’s the perfect size for a laptop that you can always carry with you due to its compact
design.
The ThinkPad X1 Carbon doesn’t overheat, and it’s pretty efficient at running tasks
without blasting the fan all the time, although it can get pretty loud if you’re putting
it under a heavy load.
That said, it’s a great machine for light work and gaming, and I enjoyed my time using
it for entertainment and work.
The Lenovo X1 Carbon comes with a 57Whr battery, and it charges via USB-C. The battery is fairly
small for a laptop of this size, but luckily, Lenovo ships the laptop with a 65W Rapid charger.
This can charge the laptop to full in about an hour an half, and it’s certainly great
to see.
When it comes to the battery life, the numbers aren’t looking all that great.
General browsing resulted in about 4-5 hours, with the screen brightness set to about 60-70%.
The ThinkPad X1 Carbon isn’t exactly a battery champ.
The lightweight and compact design comes with a few sacrifices, and the battery is certainly
something that takes a hit.
It’s also worth pointing out that despite having a fast PCIe 4.0 NVMe drive and the
Intel Iris Xe graphics, this is just a power-hungry machine, and it can drain rather quickly.
During a short one-hour gaming session, playing Train Life, the battery went all the way down
to 40%.
You’d be lucky to get 2 hours of gaming out of this machine, but it’s worth noting
that I was running the game in high-settings, and it was certainly put under a heavy load.
That said, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Gen 10 is decent for the most part, and it performs
well under a light workload, but chances are, you’ll have to carry around a charger, and
you’ll have to plug in mid-day to get some extra boost to make it through the entire
day.
So, should you buy the Lenovo X1 Carbon Gen 10?
Well, there are lots of things to love about this unique laptop, and the lightweight, compact,
and premium design is one of the main reasons.
The display is also large, and colorful, and this OLED panel is breathtaking.
It’s enjoyable for editing photos, working on documents, and consuming content, but it’s
not exactly built for heavy workloads.
If you’re looking for a device that allows you to get work done on the go, and you only
require to use a few applications, the internet and a browser, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon will
be an excellent machine.
However, if you’re looking for a lightweight machine with the means to run a few graphics-intensive
tasks, I’d probably tell you to look elsewhere, as this isn’t made for that kind of workload.
I think the Lenovo X1 Carbon Gen 10 is perfectly suited for business customers who often travel,
and don’t mind paying a premium for the high-quality components and hardware.
It’s a great machine for light work, but it’s simply not something that general users
should consider without a company credit card.
There you have it.
I hope you found this video useful.
Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a like if you enjoyed this video.
With all that said, thank you for watching.
I’ll see you next time.