Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme (i5, FHD, GTX 1050 Ti Max-Q) Laptop Review

[Redaktion]

The more expensive model of the ThinkPad X1 Extreme has been found to be a worthy competitor  to the Dell XPS 15 in many respects. Today, the question is whether the same is true for the base model with the i5-8300H and the matte FHD screen. Find out which configuration of the X1 Extreme fares better in this comprehensive review!

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-ThinkPad-X1-Extreme-i5-FHD-GTX-1050-Ti-Max-Q-Laptop-Review.339576.0.html

[ThinkPad]

Can you please explain why x1e has such pathetic battery life? Due to lack of IGZO display? or the motherboard? or the wifi module?

[ThinkPad]

Can you please explain why x1e has such pathetic battery life? Due to lack of IGZO display? or the motherboard? or the wifi module?

I meant is that possible to fix it by firmware update?

[splus]

Lenovo has pathetic power consumption optimizations on most of its laptops, not just X1E.
Dell, on the other hand has an excellent optimizations.

XPS 15 with 4K display has the same battery life as X1E with FHD display, or almost 50% better than X1E with 4K display.
That says a lot.

[Benjamin Herzig]

Can you please explain why x1e has such pathetic battery life?

I wouldn't call 9 hours and 30 minutes pathetic. But alas: Compared with the Dell XPS 15, the X1 Extreme just consumes more when in Idle (roughly 20 to 30%). Combine that with the fact that the XPS 15 has a 20% bigger battery and the difference is easily explained.

Maybe Lenovo could enhance the power consumption a little bit with software/firmware updates, but the battery capacity is just smaller, so the XPS will always offer better battery life.

[Browny]

Ultrabookreview.com's measurements estimate 4h for UHD and 6h for FHD, which is a bit more realistic for moderate productivity work at medium screen brightness. Dave2D is also known for his realistic battery life testing.

Unlike Lenovo that have sourced large batteries since before ULV Haswell, Dell has been working on power saving features for a longer time. Primarily with XPS and Latitudes, they constantly experiment with CABC, LP memory and displays, auto on/off touchpad, capped SSD speeds, I/O power capping and such that have benefits but causes some reliability issues.

Firmware is not likely to noticeably improve battery. Instead, it is recommended to tweak native power settings, use 3rd party programs like Throttlestop or Intel XTU, and have at least one battery monitoring software installed. Also, manually observe power draw throughout the workflow and check which usage or background apps behave abnormally and draw more power.

[Disagree]

Dell, on the other hand has an excellent optimizations.

If you say so. Optimization does not come free. There is always a cost somewhere down the road. Probably why their entire XPS 15 suffer from high DPC latency issues which make them unusable for dealing with real time audio work. I'd much rather prefer a system that does not implement such driver level hacks even if it means slightly worse power efficiency.

So yeah, I guess you're right. It does say allot about different company approaches. One likes to cheat while some others don't.

[Unister]

I have FHD i7 version, but that electronic noise exists, smth related to CPU, cos switching between performance level changes noise loudness a bit.

[Rayben]

Would sell my Dell and order this tomorrow if it only could Yoga. Sadly once you go 2 in 1, you can't go back.

[SadFace]

Did you test a standard "off the shelf" model or did Lenovo send you a specifically pre-tuned/tampered model to test?

My generic online store model delivered disappointing benchmark results:
Specs: i7-8750H, 32GB, 1x 2TB Samsung 970 EVO

Cinebench 15 x64, Windows 10 Pro x64, BIOS 1.15, latest drivers/FW, clean install, BitDefender Total Security
~875 points (stock)
~1010 points (undervolted)

Undervolted in XTU
-0.155mAh, 57Watt (sustain), 78Watt (burst)

This is nowhere near your 1200+ results, and I could have spent my 2600EUR on a better laptop! In fact, this is as slow as the Core i5 reviewed here :(

[szymonbartus]

I am about to order a X1 Extreme with the FHD screen and I can pay just slightly more for i7-8750H instead of i5-8300H. Will the battery life, temperatures and noise be affected in any way in normal, non-demanding, use? I suppose that the battery life is much more influenced by the the type of screen (4K vs FHD), correct?

[Apemantus]

This review was the catalyst that convinced me to go ahead and get a similarly configured X1 Extreme. The only differences to my configuration were an i5-8400H CPU, a 1TB PCIe NVMe Samsung SSD, and 16 GB (8 + 8) of RAM. I got the X1E in mid-December and within a few hours (on the day it arrived) I bricked it by switching to discrete graphics in the BIOS. Two days later it was on a FedEx plane to Memphis for a motherboard replacement. Lenovo shipped it back to me on January 29 and after spending hours configuring and updating it I am totally happy with this computer. It is excellent in every way. Too bad the BIOS (1.15) was so completely messed up. This has been a very interesting experience.

[LJ]

I have no idea how the reviewer got that many hours out of this laptop. I am running an P1 with an i7 and FHD and am at 5 hrs runtime. I've googled the crap out of it to see what the issue is b/c 5 hrs is not acceptable to me as I am away from an outlet most of the day.

[sticky]

@LJ, You should be getting around 6 hours with i7 and FHD. Try this.
reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/9xyo2j/disabling_an_reenabling_gpu_in_device_manager_on/

[Amartya Bhattacharya]

Please update this review with the new v6 rating standards, or at least remove it from the Multimedia laptop buyer guide. It's unfair to the newer devices.