Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition review: first look at this ultra-slim business laptop

We love an ultra-slim business laptop here at TechFinitive, and the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon sits at the top of the pile. It’s powerful. It’s compact. It’s light. It exudes professionalism. And it has a price to match.

Despite this, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition was one of our favourite products launched at IFA 2024. We had a chance to play with an early sample at an exclusive event, so here’s our first-look review of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13.

Super-slim design

As the photo at the top of this page highlights, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is a slim laptop. Its screen folds back 180 degrees, giving welcome flexibility, and you can hold it in one hand. But what really strikes you on lifting it up is that it feels so sturdy despite weighing less than 1kg.

When I spoke to Michael Ripp (above right), Product Manager for the X1 ThinkPad, he pointed out its key improvements over last year’s model. “It’s lighter [980g, about 2.17 pounds]. It’s a little bit thinner because we’ve optimised the top cover to work with the OLED.”

This matters because OLED panels are slimmer than IPS panels; the initial batch of ThinkPad X1 Carbons, which come out in November, will only be OLED, Michael confirmed. However, thicker versions (likely to tip over the 1kg mark) with IPS panels will arrive next year.

Lenovo also keeps the weight down by using carbon fibre in the lid. The main chassis uses recycled magnesium alloy.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 vs Gen 12

But the biggest difference this year is that the Gen 13 X1 Carbon includes Intel’s Core Ultra 200V processors. “The main benefit is performance has gone up, and the battery life has gone up,” said Michael. Normally one comes at the cost of the other.

As I cover in my separate article about the 200V chips, which use a very different approach to the first-gen Core Ultra chips, this is Intel’s main promise. Along with built-in support for Copilot+ PC features, such as AI-assisted real-time translation and image generation.

Last year Lenovo also introduced the option of a haptic touchpad rather than the physical keys to accompany the trackpoint. This means that the area at the top of the trackpad can be used as “buttons” or you can switch them off and use the whole area for navigation.

“We’ve made the speakers louder, bigger,” added Michael. “The speakers on this are darn good now, actually, compared to a couple of years ago.”

But if you prefer to use high-res headphones, then you can take advantage of the Gen 13’s support for SoundWire, with gives up to 192KHz audio output.

Easier to repair

Michael was also keen to point out that the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 was easier to repair than before. For example, the battery is now a customer-replaceable unit (CRU in Lenovo’s parlance).

I asked if he was working with iFixit to the same extent that Lenovo did with the T Series. The answer suggests not. “So we worked with iFixit on the T Series, and what we’re doing now is trickling that down into the other series as much as we can.”

To be fair, the X1 Carbon is much slimmer than the T14 or T14s. Plus the Core Ultra 200V chips integrate memory into the package, so it’s not replaceable.

Still the best keyboard on a business ultraportable

Michael confirmed that nothing had changed to the keyboard, aside from adding a Copilot key. I can confirm that it still feels just as lovely to type on as ever.

It’s much harder to confirm the quality of things like the screen and webcam without testing a laptop under “lab” conditions, but first impressions: both are top-notch. The webcam naturally benefits from AI optimisations, such as portrait blur.

Adding the Aura Edition to the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13

I’ve covered the main benefits of Aura Edition in a dedicated article, so won’t go into depth. The idea is to solve people’s problems, as identified by research done in partnership with Intel, using AI and software.

So, there are “Smart Modes” that adapt to situations. For example, Shield brings security features to the fore, automatically launching your preferred VPN when it detects you’re on a public Wi-Fi network. Or Attention dampens distractions such as notifications, when it knows you want to focus on work.

The most visual feature is Smart Share. Tap the side of the X1 Carbon’s screen with your phone and it knows you want to view photos and share photos between devices. All very clever.

This is all made possible by the NPU (neural processing unit) built into the new Intel chips. And hopefully Lenovo and Intel will keep adding useful features as time goes on.

Should you buy the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition?

If you have the budget, and need an ultraportable design, then yes, absolutely. And I actually think this is worth waiting for, because I expect to see far greater real-world battery life than before.

Lenovo claims that the 57Wh battery inside will give “more than 18 hours of battery life”, but that’s playing back video. I would expect around 12 hours under normal conditions and with the OLED screen at medium brightness. More than enough for most people.

With all the ports and connectivity you need – Wi-Fi 7, optional 5G, two Thunderbolt 4 and two USB-A ports, plus an HDMI output – the only real question is price.

Lenovo says the X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition will be available from November 2024. But with “limited availability” and with a starting price of €2,699 exc VAT.

Lenovo official photos of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition

Product specifications of ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition