There are many reasons why I liked the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12; its reputation is paramount and its build quality is excellent. That satisfying feeling when your palms are flat on a surface and you’re typing is hard to capture well—and the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12 does it with aplomb. The question is whether the rest of the car can live up to those expectations. We branded Lenovo ThinkPad Carbon 10th generation (2022) an outstanding product in almost every category, so we jumped at the chance to try out the latest version.
You can get quite a lot for your money these days—and at the $1,500 mark, that means the latest high-end hardware (minus a dedicated Nvidia or AMD GPU) and 32GB of RAM. If you’re lucky, you’ll also get a bright OLED display and battery life that can reach 15-plus hours. Our Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12 configuration, on the other hand, was a mid-range laptop equipped with an Intel Core Ultra 5 series chip. So it doesn’t reach the bar set by, say, HP OmniBook Ultra 14 – which uses high-quality AMD components for about the same price. However, if you want to get specific, you’re looking at around $4,000 (unless you’re lucky enough to snag one on sale). However, it does include a lot of enterprise-oriented features, which may mean it’s worth the price.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12: design and display
Unlike most laptops that are made from aluminum, Lenovo’s latest business PC uses carbon fiber made from recycled materials and 90% recycled magnesium. The result is a sleek, lightweight design that makes this Lenovo laptop comfortable to use—there’s a slight rubbery friction feel when you place your palms on it, enhancing your enjoyment of using it. The all-black matte body also has a certain elegance to it, although it’s somewhat undermined by the raised notch protruding from the washed-out lid seen on most other machines. It’s functional – makes it much easier to open the device – but sticks out a little like a sore thumb.
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12 is a great laptop for users who frequently work on the go, given its 2.72 lb (1.24 kg) weight, which is identical to the 13-inch MacBook Air (M3). This makes it one of the lightest mainstream enterprise devices. It is also slightly thinner than others (15mm) and more compact. It is also MIL tested for shock, vibration and extreme temperatures. In short, with this machine you will be a winner.
There may be a slight disappointment with the 14-inch 16:10 aspect ratio IPS HDR display with a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels in our configuration. We can’t reasonably compare it to the OLED configuration, but the standard IPS version we tested didn’t impress us. It’s durable and reliable, but you lack the depth of OLED, as well as the smooth 120Hz refresh rate you’d otherwise get, and a touchscreen if that’s on your wish list. In this base configuration, the maximum brightness was 317 cd/m2 below average, which is less than the OLED display’s maximum brightness of 446 cd/m2 in the base configuration. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold Gen 2. Other machines that perform a little better include HP Ghost x360 14 (365 cd/m2) and HP Envy x360 14 (360 cd/m2). Otherwise, for an IPS display, you get fairly accurate color reproduction and decent black levels and contrast. If you need something for multimedia or graphics work, this is not the laptop designed for those workloads, but as a secondary discipline, you could do worse.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12: performance and battery life
This machine is a mid-ranger in terms of performance, equipped with an Intel Core Ultra 5 135U processor and Intel graphics, along with a healthy 32GB of memory. RAM and 512 GB SSD.
That’s good enough for basic tasks, with single-threaded performance in GeekBench 6 tests actually matching the levels we recorded when testing computers equipped with the Intel Core Ultra 7 chip. However, it falls off somewhat when measured in terms of multi-threaded performance. Interestingly, the difference is not that big. The HP Specter x360 14 scored 10,480 points and the HP Envy x360 14 scored 8,365 points in testing – and both were equipped with a 7-series processor. Lenovo, on the other hand, registered 9,102. However, this is nowhere near the level that can be achieved with the Snapdragon X Elite chipset: in our tests for multi-threaded performance, the machines score between 13,000 and 15,000 points.
The Intel graphics chip also punches above its weight, scoring 18,463 in our GPU tests, which is more than good enough for entry-level GPU-intensive workloads. It is only slightly inferior in performance to the Qualcomm Adreno GPU found in the best AI PC. Elsewhere 521 GB solid state drive Quite fast, with read speeds of 6,709 MB/s and write speeds of 4,763 MB/s – it’s on par with the fastest we’ve tested, making it ideal if you frequently find yourself needing to do bulk data transfers.
Where we would like to see improvement over all other areas is the battery life of this machine. That’s one of the lowest ratings we’ve tested this year – 10 hours 29 minutes – and it’s sure to last you a full day’s work, but it falls short of the new benchmark set for 2024. We’re not sure if the Intel chipset is to blame, but most Snapdragon computers we’ve tested last at least 14 hours. In contrast, the excellent Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 lasted a staggering 26 hours and 9 minutes in our test.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12: specifications
One of the strengths of this laptop is the fast and responsive keyboard on which you can type for days on end without feeling any fatigue. Lenovo has redesigned it for the X1 Carbon, now featuring a larger fingerprint scanner, as well as tactile markings to help you find the keys you need when touch typing. In this sense, typing is a pleasure; There’s very low resistance when pressing the keys, a reasonable travel distance and good key placement means you can’t ask for more. On the other hand, navigation is a major issue. The red TouchPoint built into the middle of the keyboard feels more like a relic of every model released, although we did have a few issues with the folded touchpad. Firstly, it’s too small, but it also suffers from poor responsiveness when trying to move the cursor. It took a few minutes at times to register finger movements after right-clicking or sometimes when you’re looking to drag your fingers.
Elsewhere, Lenovo has equipped this machine with plenty of ports and features to give you all the tools you might need while working. In terms of ports, you have two USB-A, two USB-C, and an HDMI port, as well as a 3.5mm headphone jack and a SIM card slot (optional, but included on our review model). For a 14-inch machine, these are a lot more than you’d expect, and it’s a big deal to fit them into such a compact model.
This computer comes with a host of security features, including human presence detection, TPM 2.0, hardware-based security with an Intel chip, screen blur, and a webcam privacy shutter (thanks to a switch next to the lens). An integrated entry-level NPU also means being able to take advantage of Studio Effects – which is arguably the most useful AI feature built to date anyway.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12: Is it worth it?
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12 has a lot of great features that make it a compelling proposition for businesses, including fantastic build quality, a durable chassis, a refined keyboard, and the fact that it’s one of the most portable computers on the market. Essentially, however, our particular configuration suffered from average performance, a basic display (if that’s important to you), and poor battery life. We’d easily recommend – if money is no object – looking into the premium versions of this machine, as you’re unlikely to be disappointed with enterprise-grade performance and a likely more gorgeous OLED display. But for the hefty amount you’ll have to pay, it’s also hard to say you’re getting value for money. Regarding this particular configuration and its $1,500 price tag, we advise you to look elsewhere to get much better value.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12 Specifications
| CPU | Intel Core Ultra 5 135U 1600 MHz (12 cores) | Row 0 – cell 2 |
| RAM | 32 GB DDR5 SDRAM | Row 1 – Cell 2 |
| Video card | Intel Graphics | Row 2 – Cell 2. |
| NPU | Integrated (11 TOPS) | Row 3 – Cell 2. |
| Storage | 512 GB SSD | Row 4 – Cell 2. |
| Screen | 14 inches, IPS HDR, 1920 x 1200 pixels | Line 5 – Cell 2. |
| 3.5 mm audio jack | Yes | Line 6 – Cell 2. |
| Graphic outputs | HDMI, USB-C, USB-A x2, USB-C | Line 7 – Cell 2. |
| Connectivity | Intel Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3 | Line 8 – Cell 2. |
| operating system | Windows 11 Home | Line 9 – Cell 2 |
| Dimensions (SDG) | 8.45 x 12.31 x 0.59 inches (214.6 x 312.7 x 15 mm) | Row 10 – Cell 2 |
| Weight | 2.72 lb (1.24 kg) | Row 11 – Cell 2 |