Lenovo ThinkPad X9 14″ Review: Discover the Pinnacle of Premium Laptops!

When you think of “ThinkPad”, what image comes to mind? Most likely, it’s the little red TrackPoint button in the middle of the keyboard, used to control the mouse. In a world dominated by touchpads, the brand has been one of the few to maintain this distinct feature, making it a hallmark of its identity. However, the ThinkPad X9 has made a tough decision: to part ways with it.

Technical Specifications

Design

Without the iconic red button, the ThinkPad X9 suddenly looks like a more conventional modern laptop. It retains typical Lenovo design elements, such as the protruding camera that doubles as a small handle for opening the lid.

The all-aluminum chassis makes this PC very lightweight at just 1.24 kilograms, yet Lenovo claims no compromises were made on the durability it’s known for, with MIL-STD-810H certification.

At just 1.3 centimeters thick, the ThinkPad X9 is definitely a premium laptop, crafted with fine materials and meticulous design. It feels great in hand, but the ThinkPad DNA is now mostly visible in the red illuminated dot on the logo on the case.

Keyboard and Touchpad

The keyboard on the ThinkPad X9 is simply outstanding. Despite its thin and light frame, Lenovo has managed to maintain the precise and light touch characteristic of this range, with very accurate tactile feedback. It’s a notable success, with each key featuring good travel and responsive yet gentle feedback.

The touchpad is also exceptional. To justify the removal of the TrackPoint, Lenovo has incorporated a glass haptic touchpad that performs excellently.

Ports and Connectivity

On the left, there’s a full-size HDMI 2.1 port and a USB-C Thunderbolt 4 port. On the right, there is a combo jack and another USB-C Thunderbolt 4 port.

The selection is quite minimal. Despite other manufacturers proving that it’s possible to include a wide range of ports on a 14-inch chassis without excuses, at least one additional USB A or USB-C port would have been welcome. Here, we’re just meeting the “sufficient” criteria.

Webcam and Audio

In our test configuration, the Lenovo ThinkPad X9 includes an 8 MP webcam capturing in 4K. Its performance is excellent, ensuring you can send the best video feed in your Microsoft Teams meetings. However, note that most configurations actually include a 1080p sensor that’s likely less impressive.

The dual Dolby Atmos-compatible speakers on this laptop only have one flaw: they are integrated below the chassis. Otherwise, their audio output is very good, with surprisingly present bass and very good mids. The highs could be more refined, but it’s rare to find such quality in this size.

Display

In our test configuration, the Lenovo ThinkPad X9 features a 14-inch OLED panel with a resolution of 2880 x 1800 pixels, a 16:10 aspect ratio, and a refresh rate that peaks at 120 Hz, supported by VRR and can drop to a minimum of 30 Hz. The display is touchscreen and has an anti-reflective coating.

Using our probe and the Calman Color Calibration software from Portrait Displays, we found that the panel covers 167% of the sRGB color space and 112% of the DCI-P3 color space in volume. The maximum brightness is measured at 508 cd/m², which is excellent, especially for an OLED panel of this size, with a naturally unlimited contrast ratio.

The average color temperature is measured at 5848, warmer than the 6500K NTSC standard sought. The average delta E00 is measured at 4.55, quite good though not perfect, with a maximum deviation of 6.49 on royal blue tones.

However, it’s noteworthy that in HDR, the scores improve to an average of 2.56 with a deviation of 4.94. HDR mode is often underestimated by manufacturers, but here we can say we have an excellent versatile panel.

Software

The Lenovo Vantage software, central to the experience, is not bad. It might be a bit cluttered compared to the best in the market, but it still offers numerous options and clearly explains the utility of each.

Lenovo doesn’t push its services too hard, which is appreciated. However, as usual, there are some bloatware apps pre-installed.

Performance

In our test configuration, the 14-inch Lenovo ThinkPad X9 Gen 1 features an Intel Core Ultra 7 258V, an 8-core SoC (4 performance and 4 efficiency cores) and 8 threads that can turbo up to 4.8 GHz. It is supported by 32 GB of LPDDR5X RAM at 8533 MT/s and 1 TB of storage on PCie Gen 4.

Benchmarks

In Cinebench 2024, we see scores of 534 points in multi-core and 120 points in single-core. Here, we see a common trend in ultraportables, which tend to focus on single-core performance at the expense of multi-core. The Core Ultra 258V can exceed 1000 points in multi-core, but it doesn’t here to manage heat and battery life. At 120 points in single-core, the ThinkPad X9 remains excellent for office tasks and everyday fluidity.

In 3DMark, we find the usual SoC score of 3237 points on Steel Nomad Light. Again, this is power that allows launching many small 3D games at optimized settings and supports editing small videos on the go.

As for artificial intelligence, the scores are again typical for the SoC. Here, 1362 points in integer number calculations is on the lower end of mobile SoCs, but still average. The integrated NPU capable of 48 TOPS allows the computer to access the Copilot+ label and its features.

The storage is excellent, very close to the maximum that can be extracted from PCIe Gen 4 today without moving to PCIe Gen 5.

Cooling and Noise

This is where we understand the power limitation choices in multi-core of the ThinkPad X9. Simply put: if it heats up to 52°C, the norm on a laptop of this size, its fans almost never activate and are barely audible in everyday use. It would really need to be used in a full-blown heatwave for it to even whisper that it’s overheating.

Battery Life

The 14-inch Lenovo ThinkPad X9 features a 55 Wh battery, which is charged using a 65-watt power brick. This brick is barely larger than a standard smartphone charger, and the laptop is compatible with the Power Delivery standard, allowing it to benefit from any charger of this standard.

With typical office use and the brightness set to 50%, we get between 11 to 12 hours of use. This high-definition OLED display does consume a significant amount of power, but nonetheless, the ThinkPad X9 can easily last a full day of work without any issues.

Price and Availability

The 14-inch Lenovo ThinkPad X9 is available in France starting from 1628.90 euros. Our test configuration, however, is significantly more expensive at 2608.91 euros.