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Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Review
The display options when it comes to the ThinkPad x1 extreme gen 2 there are two full HD options and there are two 4k options.
I looked at the 4k IPS display before and also the 4k OLED multi-touch option.
I can say it without hesitation that the 4k OLED touch panel is absolutely gorgeous. It’s stunning in fact it’s a Dolby vision HDR 500 display.
That means if you’re watching high dynamic range content you’re going to absolutely love it on this display.
This display really shines.
When you’re looking at an OLED display one of the things you’re going to notice is how you’re going to get those really deep blacks.
The very vibrant colors that really pop off the display and this is no exception this is exactly what you’re going to experience with this OLED display on the ThinkPad x1 extreme gen 2.
While it has the same resolution as the 4k IPS panel there is some differences and you’ll notice that the contrast and the black levels are going to be significantly better on the OLED version.
That’s of course a USP of an OLED panel and the OLED version covers the color gamut extremely well 100% srgb 98% Adobe RGB.
Making this a great choice for those creative professionals that do Photoshop Lightroom and of course video editing.
Lenovo claims that the IPS panel will get up to 500 nits in terms of brightness and the OLED panel up to 400 nits.
I measured 403 on the IPS panel and measured 368 on the OLED panel both are good although. The IPS panel does get a little bit brighter and both of these can be used outdoors.
The OLED model seems a little bit better a little bit more readable in direct sunlight.
On the left is the IPS panel you’ll notice that matte display versus the slightly glossy display of the OLED version.
You can see the difference between the two. I actually like the OLED version of course.
But again both of these can be used in indoor and outdoor scenarios and the other key difference is that the OLED panel is a touch display.
Which is really responsive and it also has Pen support. It uses the Wacom AES technology and I am using it with the pen sent over.
If you want to take notes with this or sketch out some artwork you have that option.
Something you don’t get with that IPS panel doesn’t get me wrong the IPS panel is excellent in its own right really deep blacks excellent contrast really vibrant colors.
It really is a great display.
But you will pay more for the OLED panel of course. but not that much more when you compare it to the IPS panel when it comes to the bezels the top and side do allure a decent or the top bezel does.
The webcam and the bottom bezel there’s a bit of a chin but remember this is a 15-inch laptop so I’m not expecting the thinness.
The bezels on this laptop and they’re not bad at by any stretch.
keep that in mind but don’t get me wrong this thing looks amazing of course there’s a price to pay for having that OLED display and that’s going to be battery life.
Lenovo ThinkPad x1 extreme specs
- CPU: Intel Core i9-8950HK
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q
- DISPLAY: 15.6”, Full HD (1920 x 1080), IPS
- STORAGE: 1000GB SSD
- RAM: 16GB DDR4, 2666 MHz
- WEIGHT: 1.70 kg (3.7 lbs)
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- Thin and light workstation with a great build quality
- 92% sRGB coverage and no PWM for brightness adjustment (BOE NV156FHM-N63 (BOE07D8))
- Super comfortable keyboard
- Up to 64GB DDR4 memory
- Has two Thunderbolt 3 ports and an SD card slot
- Dual M.2 slots that support PCIe x4 drives and RAID 0 mode
- Great battery life
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- Premium price tag
- Core i9-9880H would be too hot in this device
- Its display uses PWM for almost all brightness levels (our Health-Guard profile takes care of that)
- Speakers are average
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The battery life of ThinkPad x1 extreme
The Lenovo Thinkpad x1 extreme lasts for only four hours and twelve minutes on my continuous web surfing test over Wi-Fi at 115 nits.
It’s the 4k IPS panel that did six hours and 46 minutes. If you need better battery life take a look at that 4k IPS panel or take a look at any of the 1080p panels Lenovo do offer.
If you do need to plug in it’ll take a little over 2 hours to give you a full charge with the supplied 135-watt power adapter.
I love the fact that this ThinkPad x1 extreme is a user upgradeable laptop. All you need to do is loosen the captive Phillips head screws remove the bottom plate and you’re in.
Thinkpad x1 extreme Internals
Once inside you’ll notice extra SSD slots. If you want to add more storage you have that option and the RAM is socketed in.
You can add more RAM and I love that option as well. The Wi-Fi card is swappable as well although you do get some really great range, good uploads, good downloads, and speaking of the SSD.
You get some excellent reads and writes speed from this SSD.
Ports
You get some really excellent port selections. On the left side, you get your power port, two thunderbolts three ports and they do support four lanes.
You do get an HDMI port at breakout Ethernet port and a 3.5-millimeter headset jack.
Moving over to the right side you get your optional smart card reader which is a full-size SD card slot.
2 USB a 3.1 ports and a Kensington lock port and we have to say that’s a pretty good selection of ports.
Webcam
The IPS version does have a Windows hello camera login which is a 720p cometa with 30 frames per second.
This is the OLED version of the ThinkPad x1 extreme Gen 2. It’s an infrared camera 720p 30 frames per second.
It also is Windows hello login compatible. So, you can login with face recognition good for Skype, Good for video conferencing.
I’m curious to know what you think about this lenovo thinkpad x1 extreme gen 2? Let me know in the comment section below!
Performance of Lenovo thinkpad x1 extreme
As far as performance is concerned I was hoping that this unit with the OLED panel would have the core i9 with its eight cores 9th gen processor.
Of course, they sent over one with the core i7 9850 H.That’s the same as the 4k IPS panel. The performance is very good, great for productivity and works great for consuming media.
The Lenovo ThinkPad x1 extreme gen 2 is also good for gaming.
The X1 Extreme Gen 2 looks and feels just like a ThinkPad, but does it run like one?
It’s not even as different as the ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 4 with its all-aluminum design. But the X1 Extreme Gen 2 isn’t just like other ThinkPads inside.
Nope, this one runs an 8-core, 16-thread Intel 9th-gen Core i9-9880H.
That’s not quite the fastest chip you can get in a laptop today the Core i9-9980HK in the Dell XPS 15 and Apple MacBook Pro 16 inch has a higher frequency.
But, the Extreme is much faster than typical ThinkPad fare.
Looking at the Geekbench 4 synthetic benchmark, the X1 Extreme Gen 2 was slower than the Dell and the Apple as expected, but not by much.
When we ran our real-world Handbrake test that converts a 420MB video to H.265, the ThinkPad was even more competitive.
There’s a caveat, though: Lenovo has leveraged the Windows 10 power slider to implement its Intelligent Cooling feature.
Move the slider all the way to the right, and you’ll kick off the Performance setting that maximizes processor performance (and ramps up the fans).
Heat and thermals
They also went over the thermals and cooling.
But, Poor cooling was one of the few complaints we had with the first-gen ThinkPad X1 Extreme.
Fortunately, the new model did much better in our heat test, topping out at 99 degrees Fahrenheit.
That’s still above our 95-degree comfort threshold but nowhere near the 123 degrees the Gen 1 version reached on the same test (playing a 15-minute, 1080p video).
The 2nd Gen Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme’s touchpad (82 degrees) and the center of the machine’s keyboard (92 degrees).
Two places you often rest your hands, were only warm to the touch.
Built and looks
As far as the durability is concerned. Thinkpad x1 extreme gem 2 is excellent of course. This has a military standard 810g rating.
That means it underwent a series of tests to make sure that this ThinkPad x1 extreme can be durable.
One thing to note though is the ThinkPad x1 extreme is a major fingerprint magnet you will be wiping it down quite a bit.
My first laptop had a 15-inch display, and as much as I appreciated the screen real estate it offered, that thick brick of a device was too heavy to haul around.
When it was time to upgrade, I, like so many, rode the wave of small-screened laptops that had become popular over the last decade.
It’s time to return to the big screen because 15-inch laptops like the ThinkPad X1 Extreme prove that a large display doesn’t mean a big chassis.
Yes, the X1 Extreme has a much larger footprint than something like the XPS 13 or even the 14-inch ThinkPad X1 Carbon, but at 0.7 inches thick, it’s thin enough to slip into a handbag or backpack.
I’m even more impressed by its weight; a 15.6-inch laptop weighing 3.8 pounds would have been unheard of just a few years ago.
Lenovo didn’t make any major changes to the design of this sophomore effort.
This machine’s sleek, thin-and-lightweight chassis remains the best presentation (alongside the X1 Carbon) of Lenovo’s iconic ThinkPad aesthetic.
Keyboard and Touchpad
The ThinkPad keyboards are some of the best in the business and this is no exception. I love the keyboard on the Lenovo ThinkPad x1 extreme Gen 2.It has got good key travel and good tactile feedback. The keys are nicely spaced out. This keyboard has everything you’d want in a great keyboard. The precision touchpad and i have to say. I’m a huge fan of this touchpad.
Speakers
This ThinkPad x1 extreme has Dolby Atmos speakers and I think they sound okay. These are not the best speakers I’ve ever heard.
I’m not gonna say these are better than a MacBook Pro cuz they’re not.
But, they are good enough to watch a YouTube video to fill up a room rather nicely. It has a pretty decent volume. But again I would say this is a pretty average experience. Let’s wrap it all up.
So, Can I recommend the Lenovo ThinkPad x1 extreme gen 2?
I think you know the answer is yes. This is a definite yes you definitely want to take a look at this.
Especially, if you do video editing, Photoshop, Lightroom. You need this display.
It’s simply superb. I also like the 4k IPS panel. I also like the fact that it is a touch display as well something you don’t get with that IPS panel.
As far as the performance I was very impressed with the core i7. With the ninth generation Intel processor you do have the option to go with the core i9.
