Lenovo ThinkPad X13s Gen 1 – Top 5 Pros and Cons
We didn’t really think that Lenovo could output a laptop more interesting than the ThinkPad Z13 and the ThinkPad Z16, however, we were wrong, plain and simple.
The ThinkPad X13s introduces smartphone-level connectivity inside a laptop, thanks to the Qualcomm SnapDragon 8cx Gen 3 SoC, an ARM-based solution. This improves the experience of the laptop by a lot, increasing the efficiency and ease of cooling, as the chip doesn’t need active cooling, making the laptop essentially dead-silent. Windows on ARM has also progressed a lot, being ready enough to be implemented in high-end business machines like the ThinkPad X13s Gen 1.
Today we present you with LaptopMedia’s top 5 picks about the Lenovo ThinkPad X13s Gen 1.
Lenovo ThinkPad X13s Gen 1: Full Specs / In-depth Review
3 reasons to BUY the Lenovo ThinkPad X13s Gen 1
1. Design and build quality
The laptop bears a strong resemblance to the Z13, especially with the notch that protrudes on top. The laptop is just as strong as the Z13, using a combination of magnesium aluminum alloy and a glass fiber-reinforced chassis. This selection of materials also makes the laptop incredibly thin, as it measures just 13.4 mm while weighing 1.06 kg.
The lid of the device opens up with one hand, revealing two speaker grills, the keyboard, and the touchpad. The board doesn’t have long key travel, considering the thin profile, however, the feedback is incredibly clicky, so comfort is quite good. It also has spill resistance and a backlight, making it ready for any situation. The touchpad is covered in Mylar, same as with any other ThinkPad, but here it is way smoother than anything we’ve seen before.
2. Battery life
The laptop comes with a 49.5 Wh battery pack which lasts for 14 hours and 16 minutes of Web browsing, or 21 hours and 7 minutes of video playback. Now, we conduct the battery tests with the Windows Better performance setting turned on, screen brightness adjusted to 120 nits, and all other programs turned off except for the one we are testing the notebook with.
3. Display quality
The 13.3-inch FHD+ IPS panel has excellent viewing angles and reaches 433 nits of brightness. The contrast ratio is quite high as well, at 1790:1. It covers 100% of the sRGB color gamut while delivering excellent color accuracy.
Using our Design and Gaming profile, we lowered the dE value down to just 1.3. Here are the results of our test with the stock settings (left) and with our profile applied (right).
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Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for Lenovo ThinkPad X13s Gen 1 configurations with 13.3″ AUO B133UAN02.1 (LEN41A6) (FHD, 1920 × 1200) IPS.
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Office Work
Office Work should be used mostly by users who spend most of the time looking at pieces of text, tables or just surfing. This profile aims to deliver better distinctness and clarity by keeping a flat gamma curve (2.20), native color temperature and perceptually accurate colors.
Design and Gaming
This profile is aimed at designers who work with colors professionally, and for games and movies as well. Design and Gaming takes display panels to their limits, making them as accurate as possible in the sRGB IEC61966-2-1 standard for Web and HDTV, at white point D65.
Health-Guard
Health-Guard eliminates the harmful Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) and reduces the negative Blue Light which affects our eyes and body. Since it’s custom tailored for every panel, it manages to keep the colors perceptually accurate. Health-Guard simulates paper so the pressure on the eyes is greatly reduced.
Get all 3 profiles with 33% discount
2 reasons NOT to buy the Lenovo ThinkPad X13s Gen 1
1. Upgradeability
The laptop lacks RAM upgradeability, instead offering up to 32GB of LPDDR4x memory that runs at 4266 MHz. Storage-wise, there’s a single M.2 slot for Gen 4 SSDs, however, it only fits the smaller 42mm drives.
Here is our teardown video, where we show how to access the insides of the ThinkPad X13s Gen 1.
2. I/O
The port selection includes two USB Type-C 3.2 (Gen. 2) ports, an audio jack, and a NanoSIM slot. Both Type-C ports have Power Delivery 3.0 and DisplayPort 1.4a output.