Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch Review

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch is an extremely impressive business machine which will suit a discerning executive who needs a portable, extremely well built, ultra compact laptop.

Lenovo don't ship the system with a plethora of bundled items. You simply get the laptop in a plain brown box along with the power supply and a sheet of reference literature to get the system up and running. The full user manual is installed on the machine along with everything else.

There is no question that the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch is not designed for gaming. This is compounded by the fact that the company have yet to update to incorporate the latest Haswell range of processors which feature more powerful integrated graphics.

The Core i7 3667U processor is a great choice for a business user who requires a powerful processor for video editing and even 3D rendering, but it has problems dealing with the latest game engines at even modest 720p settings. We are confident Lenovo will adopt the latest Haswell processors sooner rather than later, giving a much needed boost to the 3D rendering prowess of these machines.

For a business user, the keyboard really is class leading. It is miles ahead of almost every other machine we have reviewed in the last two years – nothing has yet to come close. If you need to type long documents on the move then this single point alone should ensure the ThinkPad X1 gets serious consideration. It is a truly remarkable design.

Additionally, the keyboard offers user adjustable back lighting as well, which will be beneficial in certain situations. The trackpad is also as good as you are likely to find, although I do love the little red joystick in the middle of the keyboard as it is more user friendly than any trackpad.

The touch screen takes a little getting used to, and although I hate getting fingerprints on a screen, it did prove useful in certain situations, such as when travelling on a train with limited space to operate. The panel has noticeable grain due to the touch screen layer, however the overall quality is well above average. I would like another couple of notches on the brightness slider as I found operation during direct sunlight almost impossible, even at full setting. The Anti glare finish on the panel is commendable however, blocking out all but the strongest of rear lights close to the user.

In regards to performance, the Solid State Drive combined with the Intel Core i7 3667U leave no concerns. The machine is very quick to boot and general operation is snappy and responsive. Outside of gaming duties, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch will not leave the user wanting for more.

Thanks to the adoption of an Ultra Low Voltage processor, the cooling system in the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch never has to work that hard, meaning noise levels are reasonably low. The underside never gets hot too either meaning it is practical to regularly use this machine on a lap.

We highly recommend the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch, if you require touch screen features alongside a fast, compact, powerful ultraportable laptop then this should definitely be shortlisted. If you want to play the latest games on the move, then look elsewhere.

If you want to save some money and don't need the touch screen functionality, then we recommend the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon. It is lighter, thinner, has better battery life and is around £350 less expensive. You can check out the full range over here.

Pros:

• fantastic build quality.
• responsive touchscreen.
• class leading keyboard.
• good SSD options.
• quick charging.

Cons:

• integrated graphics are weak.
• Due a Haswell update.
• touchscreen adds a fine layer of grain to the images.
• battery life could be better.
• audio is thin.

Kitguru says: A fantastic ultra portable which is quiet, powerful and cool running.

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