Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultrabook review (photo + video)

We managed to get our hands on a ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultrabook at Lenovo’s ThinkPad 20th anniversary event and boy that thing is light as a feather! Weighing in at only 1.35 kilograms, that thing is almost as light as a tablet. Make that two tablets, since the Apple iPad weighs a paltry 652 grams.

The “Carbon” in its monicker refers to its Carbon Fiber (or fibre, if you’re from the UK) reinforced roll cage chassis — you know, the ultra-light, ultra-durable material they use to build race cars. According to this website, carbon fiber is “five times as strong as steel, two times as stiff, yet weighs about two-thirds less”. The only downside is that it is very expensive, and that is true with the ThinkPad X1 Carbon. The top of the line Intel Core i7 model has a tag price of 116,990 PHP. An Intel Core i5 variant comes in at 94,990 PHP.

Both models sport 14″ HD Premium+ display capable of 1600×900 pixel native resolution, 3rd generation Intel Core processor, 4GB DDR3 memory and 256 GB SSD solid state drive (128GB for the i5 variant). The best part? 3 years of on-site warranty, which means a good 3 years of not having to worry about anything going wrong.

For the ThinkPad X1 Carbon, durability is not just skin-deep. Among its other advantages – or rather, “Thinkvantages” as Lenovo likes to call them, are shock protection and protection from data loss. We would were unable to get more information about this, but apparently the ThinkPad X1 Carbon passed eight US military tests for durability. This includes low pressure, humidity, vibration, high and low temperature, temperature shock, dust, and physical shock. Now that’s just about as tough as an Ultrabook can get.

According to Lenovo the ThinkPad X1 Carbon can charge up to 80% in only 35 minutes and reportedly provides over 5 hours of use. The battery life is a little underwhelming for an Ultrabook with a 100 thousand peso price tag. We are still hoping for some kind of power management technology to emerge that will lengthen the usage time of Ultrabooks similar to what you get in modern smartphones.

Thanks to its SSD hard drive and RapidBoost technology, the X1 Carbon starts up in less than 20 seconds. The display is crystal clear, and the matte display can be a little brighter. We’re not sure if a brighter display and Gorilla Glass would be any better, knowing that this product is aimed at professionals who travel – note: lots and lots of glare. For the frequent traveler the matte display might be the right way to go.

In conclusion the Lenovo ThinkPad is the stuff built for travelling profesionals prioritizing function yet delivering unprecedented durability and portability unlike any Ultrabook available in the market.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultrabook video

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultrabook photos

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