Closest Windows competitor to the MacBook Air 13: Lenovo ThinkPad X9-14 laptop review

[Redaktion]

With the ThinkPad X9-14 Aura Edition, Lenovo has made a completely new addition to the already plentiful roster of 14-inch ThinkPads. In our review, we discover that it is a worthy addition to the line, despite its decidedly un-ThinkPad design - or maybe because of it?

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Closest-Windows-competitor-to-the-MacBook-Air-13-Lenovo-ThinkPad-X9-14-laptop-review.979149.0.html

[chattychuck]

Good review, better to have a side by side comparison between the X9-14 and X9-15 as i'm a little bit struggling between the two models

[Dan6]

Why I like MB Air - is because it's fanless, zero noise, while providing crazy performance. Unfortunately windows laptops are still far from it, even with arm cpus

[Dom]

It's not a proper Thinkpad. There's no track point! If I call a camel a horse, it is still a camel.

[CamelHorse]

It's not a proper Thinkpad. There's no track point!

That's literally the best thing about it imo. Just wish the entire ThinkPad line-up had no trackpoint and not just a few models.

Who cares what ThinkPad once original ly was. It was originally owned by IBM and they sold the division so that's how much the original inventors of the project cared about their own creation.

At the moment we've apple hemorrhaging pc laptop marketshare while we've dinosaur neckbeards like yourself reminiscing like it's 1967. *Shaking my head* As if the track point, is the sole reason for all of this. Lmao..

[Ednumero]

The Macbook Air competitorship argument is an interesting one, as displays are a critical component of the comparison.

On one hand, the review unit has only a WUXGA resolution. Just as, in the days of old, 1366x768 ultrabooks with bad TN panels could not be seen as level with the 1440x900 Air with a better TN, we cannot compare the 1920x1200 in this review unit with the 2560x1664 of the MBA 13. On the other hand, it does offer 2880x1800, and both display options are OLED in comparison to the globally-backlit (not MiniLED) IPS LCD of the Macbook Air.

In any case, this 1920x1200 and the Mac's 2560x1664 displays are both burdened by a 60Hz refresh rate. Only the 2880x1800 option here resolves that with its 120Hz. Moreover, we don't know how the upgraded panel will affect battery life, which is its own point of contention.

At least we're well ahead of those 768p TN days. We can rest easy knowing that every display in question here is respectable.

[CamelCamel]

As if the track point, is the sole reason for all of this. Lmao..

Trackpoint is the main reason behind buying Thinkpads, for me. If Thinkpads had no trackpoint, I'd probably buy other business machines, instead of tolerating many of the Lenovo's questionable design decisions upgrade cycle after upgrade cycle.

[James Dean]

I would remove "Windows" from the title of this article. A lot of Thinkpad users run Linux.

[Julian12345]

With a 1920 x 1200 display and 24% pricier, it's no MacBook Air competitor.

[Simon Wiklund]

Is there no mention here about keyboard repairability? Especially with a new keyboard design like this you could easily end up with a laptop ending up as a useless brick after 3 years if the keyboard breaks and can't be easily replaced.

[Adrien]

Lenovo probably had to remove their trackpoint from this model to avoid killing the rest of their more expensive line up

[Eyes for design]

- cheap looking port areas (as if Lenovo realized too late that they had forgotten the port ranges... too late to create a coherent design)
- cheap looking and misplaced looking ThinkPad logo below the keyboard area

[Eyes for design]

no USB-A port

It's time for you to take up. It's the year 2025.
Did you never hear of the things which are called adapters?

Otherwise: Some more wishes? How about a DVD drive and an Ethernet port?

[Benjamin Herzig]

Sorry, but no. USB A is still a standard that is used a lot and most business laptops still have it. If the X9 wants to play in this category, not having USB A is a disadvantage. Adapters are cumbersome and annoying.

No to mention the 15 inch X9 has USB A. "It is 2025" is a crappy justification.

[Worgarthe]

no USB-A port

It's time for you to take up. It's the year 2025.
Did you never hear of the things which are called adapters?

Lmao!! What an actual clown. Yeah, just remove everything and get a dongle for each removed thing. "It's 2025 baby!!!"