For a decade, the ThinkPad X1 has been Lenovo’s flagship line of productivity and business PCs, while the Carbon has served as the bar for thin and light laptops. With 14th Gen Intel mobile platforms just introduced at CES 2024, it’s time to say goodbye to 13th Generation, and what better computer to do it than the Carbon Gen11?
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 is the company’s flagship business ultraportable, and it has become the benchmark by which other business ultraportables are evaluated. The 11th edition of the legendary X1 Carbon offers no surprises or dramatic advancements over previous generations, but you don’t buy a ThinkPad for unexpected pleasures. You chose a ThinkPad for its dependability, security, and exceptional build quality, which features the industry’s finest keyboard. And the redesigned ThinkPad X1 Carbon delivers on these promises, with a slim yet durable chassis that’s now a little greener but still enjoyable to use.
With a 14-inch display and a weight of 2.5 pounds, the laptop strikes the ideal balance between providing enough screen size to work for extended periods of time without the need for an additional display and being light enough for everyday travel. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 also has a long battery life, allowing you to work for extended periods of time without having to recharge. The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon, now in its eleventh edition, remains our favorite business ultraportable for executives on the road.
Configuration as tested
| Price as reviewed | $1,589 |
|---|---|
| Display size/resolution | 14-inch 1,920 x 1,200; IPS, Anti-Glare, Touch display |
| CPU | 1.7GHz Intel Core i7-1355U |
| Memory | 16GB LP-DDR5 6,400MHz |
| Graphics | 128MB Intel Iris Xe graphics |
| Storage | 512GB SSD |
| Networking | Wi-Fi 6E AX211 2×2 AX vPro® & Bluetooth 5.1 |
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows 11 Pro |
The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 fared well in lab testing, but the charts below show the sheer performance cost you incur when using the efficient Core i7 U-series CPU vs a high-powered chip from Intel’s Core i7 H series or Apple’s strong M2 processor. The X1 Carbon Gen 11 lagged the Acer Swift Go 14 with its Core i7-13700H CPU and the Apple MacBook Air 15 in testing, but it was disappointing to finish behind the HP Dragonfly Pro, which has an efficient AMD Ryzen 7 U-series chip. Nevertheless, the X1 Carbon performed admirably overall. In our battery drain test, it lasted over 13 hours, second only to the long-running 15-inch MacBook Air. In general, it performed fast and silently, with no hitches or delays when I tested it with various multitasking circumstances.
Lenovo does offer one Core i7 P-series CPU option for the X1 Carbon Gen 11 if you want more performance and are ready to sacrifice battery life. Intel’s P series falls between the economical U series and the powerful H series. There is no possibility to update the Intel Iris Xe graphics, and you cannot change the memory after purchase. The RAM is soldered on, so make sure you purchase the correct quantity upfront. Our test laptop included 16GB of RAM, which can be upgraded to 32GB or 64 GB.
Carbon copy
If you expected the ThinkPad X1 Carbon would get a major makeover for its 11th birthday, you were incorrect. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 has the same appearance as previous generations. It’s a boxy, matte-black laptop with red accents that’s easily identifiable as a ThinkPad. I happen to prefer this classic appearance. It’s like seeing a familiar face at a busy party or a beloved family member over the holidays. While it may be described as “boxy,” the X1 Carbon is neither cumbersome nor hefty. In fact, I believe it’s nearly perfect in terms of providing workspace while being lightweight enough for everyday commutes or extended days on the road.
Like previous versions, the X1 Carbon Gen 11 has a carbon-fiber lid, a magnesium-alloy keyboard deck, and an aluminum bottom panel, allowing the laptop to be lighter than competitor models constructed largely of aluminum while maintaining robustness. It weights just 2.5 pounds, which is less than the 13.6-inch M2 MacBook Air (2.7 pounds) and the 13.4-inch Dell XPS 13. Both of these devices have smaller screens than the 14-inch X1 Carbon. It’s also a whole pound less than the 14-inch MacBook Pro, which weighs 3.5 pounds. The 14-inch Asus Expertbook B9450, made of magnesium-lithium alloy, weighs only 2.2 pounds, but its 14-inch display has a widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio and is not as huge as the X1 Carbon’s 16:10 panel. I’d gladly carry a few additional ounces for the greater screen area of the X1 Carbon.
The X1 Carbon Gen 11 may not seem much different from previous versions, but Lenovo did made several tweaks to its architecture. This newest X1 Carbon has 90% recycled magnesium in the palm rest and 55% recycled aluminum in the bottom cover. Other components, such as the speaker and battery casings and power adaptor, are manufactured using post-consumer recycled content (PCC) plastics. It is one of the first ThinkPad models to use recycled materials, which is a crucial factor for many enterprises aiming to lessen their carbon impact.
A notebook as tiny as the X1 Carbon should not be able to have such a nice and soft keyboard. The keys have a smooth, buttery feel with a quiet response, but they also provide rapid feedback that makes me feel like a fast and accurate typist, something I can easily lose touch with on other computers. The keyboard is also spill-resistant and has dual-level backlighting. My main issue with the keyboard is that Lenovo squeezed the PgUp and PgDn buttons over the side arrow keys. It took a few days for me to stop mistakenly tapping them when trying to browse a document with the arrow keys.
If you’re one of the few who like to use a pointing stick instead of a touchpad, you’ll appreciate the red pencil-eraser nub in the middle of the newest ThinkPad X1 Carbon. The sole disadvantage of its incorporation is the smaller size of the touchpad. It’s thin from top to bottom to accommodate the mouse buttons meant to be used with the pointing stick. With our test system’s touch display, you have three options for controlling the cursor. Unfortunately, if you choose the touch display update, you will be unable to eliminate the pointing stick.
FAQ
Is the X1 Carbon Gen 11 worth it?
Lenovo’s flagship business notebook, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 11), is versatile enough to be used at home or at school. This laptop excels in practically every regard, from its exceptional build quality to its top-tier input devices, connection, and battery life.
Is the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon worth it?
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon may be one of the greatest business laptops available. This is not your typical laptop. It’s a high-end device that combines cutting-edge Intel hardware with a plethora of additional features that make it simply enjoyable to use. It uses carbon fiber to make it more lightweight and robust.
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