Hands On: Will Lenovo’s ThinkPad X13s Be a Snapdragon Battery-Life Monster?

In addition to updating several existing IdeaPad laptops and tablets, Lenovo unveiled today its latest ThinkPad model, the Qualcomm Snapdragon-based ThinkPad X13s Gen 1, running Windows on ARM (WOA).

This machine aims to maintain the quality of the ThinkPad series while bringing best-in-class portability, 5G network access, and extreme battery life to the well-known business laptop family. The Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 chip is the key to powering this always-on concept.

We were able to get a hands-on preview of the ThinkPad X13s in New York ahead of the launch. Check out the video below for a capsule look at all of the details.

WOA Makes for an Even Trimmer ThinkPad

First, the physical design. To live up to its goals of portability, this is an extremely thin and light system. It measures 0.53 by 11.8 by 8.1 inches (HWD) and weighs a mere 2.35 pounds, perfect for a smaller bag or one-handed carrying around an office or a conference. It's made of 90% recycled magnesium alloy, a light material with a higher-quality feel than plastic.

(Photo: Molly Flores)

As an obviously compact system, the screen size will be limited here, but Lenovo packs a 16:10, 13.3-inch display into the chassis. It features a full HD resolution, and it is rated at 300 nits by default, but an improved 400-nit panel option with 100% sRGB coverage will be available, too.

(Photo: Molly Flores)

The rest of the build includes the usual ThinkPad feature set, from the comfortable keyboard to the signature red pointing stick in its midst, with its own set of dedicated click buttons. The chassis is MIL-STD 810H certified, and it comes only in the classic ThinkPad-black color scheme.

Pro Features, Maximum Battery Life

In addition to portability, Lenovo is stressing the connectivity offerings. The aim is a laptop that delivers a smartphone-like experience, so the laptop is equipped with Wi-Fi 6E, 5G WWAN (supporting mmWave), a 5-megapixel IR camera, and sensors to detect your presence near the machine.

The presence-detection feature can wake or dim the display when you’re at or away from the screen, as well as protect data from those looking over your shoulder. The wake/dim will help extend the battery life, as the display panel is typically the largest battery drainer in any laptop when it's not cranked up for maximum performance.

(Photo: Molly Flores)

The physical ports include just two USB-C ports, an audio jack, and a SIM slot for the card enabling the 5G support. The X13s can be outfitted with up to 32GB of memory and a 1TB SSD.

As for the marathon battery life promise, Lenovo claims up to 28 hours of video playback. We’ve seen a couple of laptops hit runtimes like that in our many battery tests, among them a few WOA models like the Lenovo Flex 5G. But it’s a rare group indeed, and we’ll have to see how the ThinkPad X13s fares when we can review it ourselves.

(Photo: Molly Flores)

This is not a large system that Lenovo simply stuffed a big battery into, clearly, so it’s the Qualcomm efficiencies working to make the battery last. Lenovo is targeting “multiday” battery life with this system, ready to go whenever you flip it open during a trip or full day's of work, even if you didn’t have a chance to charge it. Indeed, Lenovo reps told us that the driving idea behind this machine, beyond the connected-everywhere 5G, is the ability to rely on a battery life long enough that leaving behind a charger for a daily commute or a short business trip might not be a worry.

(Photo: Molly Flores)

In keeping with other ThinkPad business-first features, the ThinkPad X13s also features integrated TPM and Windows 11 Secure Core for data security.

Of course, though, the elephant in the room with any WOA machine is how the software that it can run, and run well, fits with your (or your users') needs. The struggle for native application support with WOA to gain momentum has been well-documented. (See our lead mobile analyst's take on WOA.) Some emulated applications tend to perform poorly. Microsoft Office has gained a 64-bit ARM version, and while that may suffice for many highly mobile users, this is not a cheap PC. A Lenovo rep we spoke with pointed out that with the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3, the time was finally right for the ThinkPad to give the 8cx a shot, with some benchmark estimates putting the performance at a Core i5 equivalence in raw CPU performance.

How will that translate to actual applications in and out of the WOA world? We'll see when we get one in hand. We’ll have a full review of the ThinkPad X13s when it arrives this May with a starting price of $1,099.