Lenovo ThinkPad X390 review: 13.3-inch business notebook for those who travel light

Lenovo's 2022 wave of laptop refreshes includes the 13.iii-inch ThinkPad X390, a business-focused device that'southward thin and light, with hardware options suited for just about any non-specialized work you throw at information technology. I used the X390 for about a week to come across whether or not it's worth the money and whether or non information technology has the right set of features to be your next laptop.

13-inch business Ultrabook

Lenovo ThinkPad X390

From $830

Bottom line: The ThinkPad X390 comes with actress security features, powerful hardware, and a generous selection of ports, all wrapped upwardly in a slim chassis that's priced competitively.

Pros

• USB-C charging
• Thin chassis, lots of ports
• Display has authentic color
• Thoughtful security features
• M.2 SSD can be upgraded

Cons

• RAM is non upgradeable
• Battery won't terminal a workday
• Thunderbolt 3 is 2x lanes PCIe

Lenovo ThinkPad X390 tech specs

Lenovo supplied Windows Primal with a review unit of the ThinkPad X390. This is the standard notebook version, and there is a convertible option bachelor under the name X390 Yoga. This verbal model costs near $1,369 and includes an 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8565U Whiskey Lake processor (CPU), 16GB of DDR4-2400MHz RAM, a 512GB Yard.2 PCIe solid-state drive (SSD), and a 13.3-inch FHD touch brandish.

Nosotros reviewed the 2022 X380 Yoga and noted the colorful display, swell keyboard, generous port selection, and speedy hardware. We besides dinged it for having soldered RAM and no removable battery. Remarkable changes to the X390, other than the non-convertible hinges, include a CPU upgrade to Whiskey Lake, a unlike port selection, a webcam shutter, and a thinner and lighter chassis.

Here is a detailed breakdown of the exact specs in our review model.

Category	Spec
Processor	8th Gen Intel Cadre i7-8565U Iv cores Upwardly to 4.60GHz
RAM	16GB DDR4-2400MHz Dual channel Soldered
Graphics	Intel UHD Graphics 620
Storage	512GB PCIe NVMe M.2 Intel Pro 7600p
Display	thirteen.3 inches 1920x1080 (FHD) IPS, touch, anti-glare
Ports	USB-C three.ane (Gen 1 charging) Thunderbolt 3 (2x lanes PCIe) Two USB-A 3.1 HDMI 1.4 Ethernet Extension iii.5mm audio Micro-SIM (optional) Smart Carte du jour Reader (optional)
Audio	Dolby Audio Premium Dual 1W speakers
Wireless	Intel Wireless-Air-conditioning 9560 802.11ac Bluetooth five.0
Camera	Front-facing 720p Camera shutter IR camera (optional)
Biometrics	Fingerprint reader IR camera dTPM two.0
Keyboard	Backlight
Touchpad	Precision TrackPoint system
Battery	48Wh
Dimensions	12.28 inches x eight.55 inches x 0.67 inches (312mm 10 217.2mm x xvi.9mm)
Weight	From ii.84 pounds (i.28kg)

Lenovo ThinkPad X390 design and features

There's cypher out of the ordinary for the X390, at to the lowest degree when it comes to ThinkPads. Information technology has a blackness soft-touch on end that picks up fingerprints and smudges quite easily — you'll want to proceed a cleaning cloth handy if yous're item about having a clean laptop — and it has the usual ThinkPad logos on the correct palm rest and corner of the hat. It uses dual argent hinges that let for 180 degrees of move, just, unlike the X390 Yoga, information technology'southward not a convertible. The hinges are business firm enough that the display shouldn't milk shake around on you when in a moving vehicle, only they're smooth enough that you lot tin can almost open up the laptop with ane hand … just need a fleck more weight in the chassis.

The ThinkPad X390 is a durable, powerful 13.3-inch business organisation laptop with an overall build cut out for those who similar to stay mobile.

Coming in at about 2.84 pounds (1.28kg), this thirteen.3-inch laptop is minor enough to easily tuck under an arm or slide into a backpack without taking up much space. It's as well 0.67 inches (16.9mm) thick, giving it a sleek await that'south bonny when open or closed. Thinness is often a reason for lack of ports, but as a business laptop, Lenovo has kept a generous mix and has even ditched its proprietary rectangular charging port for USB-C three.one. Forth with the smaller and more versatile charging port, on the left side is a single Thunderbolt iii (unfortunately with 2x lanes PCIe, which cuts something similar external GPU performance), HDMI, USB-A, and an Ethernet Extension port that hooks up to Lenovo's RJ45 adapter. Information technology'south a flake of a nuisance having to behave effectually an extra piece of hardware, though nothing you won't exist able to live with.

The correct side has some other USB-A port and an optional Smart Card reader, and forth the back is a microSD card reader that doubles every bit a Micro-SIM slot if you opt for a configuration that includes a Fibocom LTE adapter. A single-watt speaker is positioned on either side of the bottom of the laptop, and audio is about what's expected from a ThinkPad. It'southward loud, it'southward clear, only it's not going to knock you lot back in your seat. In your lap audio can be deadened, but on a flat surface, y'all're in the clear.

The ThinkPad X390 is not exempt from the usual MIL-STD 810G durability testing, ensuring information technology'due south ready to handle just about anything you subject it to. The aluminum-magnesium alloy chassis feels house when handled, in that location'south no flex in the body, and the lid, which is made from a PPS plastic, doesn't have much flex and seems as sturdy as the main body. Lenovo besides likes to keep its ThinkPads secure, and other than a dTPM 2.0 chip inside, there'southward a fingerprint reader set into the right palm rest and an optional IR camera above the display, both compatible with Windows Hello for fast and secure logins. One affair I dearest seeing on laptops is a webcam shutter, which is included here.

Lenovo ThinkPad X390 brandish

To keep costs down for Enterprise majority purchases and anyone who doesn't mind a low-res brandish, Lenovo offers a 1366x768 (Hd) option that hits about 250 nits effulgence. There's also a not-touch 1920x1080 (FHD) version, too as the model I have here, which is multi-touch FHD. Effulgence reaches up to about 300 nits, and though it's not completely matte, it does have an anti-glare coating to assist see what's on the screen in well-lit spaces.

I'm not entirely sold on the idea of a clamshell notebook with a touch brandish since I can't rotate it around for tablet style, but I'thousand certain some of you lot out there will find it worth the extra cost. Colour reproduction in the sRGB gamut is excellent, hitting 98 per cent in my testing. I can't speak for the HD display, but the FHD touch version has deep color without any washed out await.

Lenovo isn't trying to impress anyone with a slim bezel, so if that'due south the look yous're going for, you'll probably want to bank check out something else, like the ThinkPad X1 Carbon. At least skillful apply is made of the mesomorphic top bezel, as it contains the IR camera for facial recognition, front end-facing 720p camera, and webcam shutter.

Lenovo's website also mentions another X390 display expected to be bachelor Summer 2022, this one with PrivacyGuard that cuts down viewing angles so that those over your shoulder can't see what's on the screen. Information technology volition also include PrivacyAlert software that lets you know when someone is checking out your screen from afar. If these features are of import to you, y'all'll probably want to wait a couple of months for the new display to be released.

Lenovo ThinkPad X390 keyboard and touchpad

The X390's keyboard is immediately recognizable, with cupped keys, smooth travel, perfect spacing, and three-tier backlight. Compared to the ThinkPad P52 and ThinkPad P72 mobile workstations with silky keyboards I tested, the X390 just doesn't experience similar information technology has the aforementioned amount of travel and some keys seem to require a bit more than actuation force. That's no doubt due to the slimness of the laptop, and though I say it's still a superb keyboard — I typed thousands of words without issue — it might accept a day to go used to.

The touchpad is sized well to match the rest of the laptop, and the Precision drivers allow for a full range of Windows ten gestures and smooth tracking. There are no physical buttons below the touchpad, but to a higher place are three included with the TrackPoint arrangement. Yes, the red arrow is all the same in the middle of the keyboard, and it works as well as always.

Lenovo ThinkPad X390 performance and battery

The X390 has inside Intel'south 8th Gen Whiskey Lake Core i7-8565U CPU, which gives a nice boost to performance over the older i7-8550U Kaby Lake R choice. I used this laptop equally a daily driver for about a week, and it handled everything I threw at it — video streaming, heavy web browsing with many tabs and windows, discussion processing, and file sharing — without even bothering to turn on the fan.

Unfortunately, RAM cannot be upgraded down the line because it's soldered to the board, though the M.2 SSD tin can be swapped out by removing the back embrace. Fans of modular batteries are also out of luck, and you lot'll have to bring a charger when leaving for a full mean solar day of piece of work. With a balanced battery plan and effulgence at nigh l per cent, I saw about six hours of regular employ earlier needing a charge. The 65W adapter with USB-C plug does get you back up to around 75 per cent in about an hour, and because the X390 no longer depends on the proprietary Lenovo charger, you'll no doubt be able to easier snag an adapter from someone else if you lot're running on a low charge.

I ran some benchmarks on the system to see how well it stacks up against a bunch of other laptops we've reviewed.

CPU GPU PCMark SSD

CPU

Geekbench 4.0 Benchmarks (Higher is better)

Device	CPU	Single core	Multi core
Lenovo ThinkPad X390	i7-8565U	v,472	xviii,059
Lenovo ThinkPad X380 Yoga	i5-8250U	4,242	11,996
MSI PS63 Modernistic	i7-8565U	4,909	14,466
Huawei MateBook X Pro	i7-8565U	v,192	sixteen,757
HP Spectre x360 13t	i7-8565U	v,056	14,767
Surface Laptop 2	i5-8250U	4,203	13,233
LG gram 14 2-in-1	i7-8565U	4,829	13,889

GPU

Geekbench 4.0 OpenCL (higher is amend)

Device	GPU	Score
Lenovo ThinkPad X390	Intel UHD 620	37,440
Lenovo ThinkPad X380 Yoga	Intel UHD 620	21,384
Huawei MateBook X Pro	NVIDIA MX250	45,365
HP Spectre x360 13t	Intel UHD 620	37,487
Surface Laptop 2	Intel UHD 620	35,473

PCMark

PCMark Home Conventional 3.0

Device	Score
Lenovo ThinkPad X390	three,934
Lenovo ThinkPad X380 Yoga	two,861
LG gram 14 ii-in-1	3,452
Lenovo Yoga C930	iii,506

SSD

CrystalDiskMark (College is amend)

Device	Read	Write
Lenovo ThinkPad X390	iii,024 MB/due south	1,563.ii MB/due south
Lenovo ThinkPad X380 Yoga	iii,337.5 MB/s	1,946.2 MB/s
Huawei MateBook X Pro	3,0416 MB/s	two,779 MB/s
HP Spectre x360 13t	iii,085 MB/s	one,182 MB/s
LG gram 14 2-in-1	558.ane MB/s	523.1 MB/south
Lenovo Yoga C930	two,596.2 MB/s	806 MB/s

The Intel M.2 SSD isn't equally fast as some of the higher-end options we've seen, but it is available up to 1TB in size from the manufactory. If you'd like to save some coin at checkout, information technology tin be upgraded in the future with something larger and faster.

Should yous buy Lenovo's ThinkPad X390?

If you're already using a mod TouchPad released in the concluding couple of years, including the X380 Yoga, an upgrade to the X390 probably isn't necessary unless you're interested in waiting for the new privacy options for the display, a slightly slimmer chassis, or the move from the proprietary charging port. You are going to get great performance out of the X390, though bombardment life sits somewhere effectually the six-hour mark, which doesn't go far through a workday.

If you are interested but don't know if the laptop is for y'all, the ThinkPad X390 is a great choice for anyone who wants to travel low-cal and who doesn't need anything larger than 13.three inches or who doesn't need a higher resolution than FHD. Information technology's slim and sleek, yet information technology's durable enough to accept a beating, and it's priced competitively. The model I reviewed has higher-finish hardware, yet information technology sits at almost $one,369. If yous're interested in seeing what other devices are out there with similar features, be sure to cheque out our roundup of the best business organisation laptops.

13.3-inch business notebook

Lenovo ThinkPad X390

Lightweight only durable Ultrabook

Those who'd similar a business-focused laptop that doesn't weigh a ton withal hangs onto ThinkPad immovability should requite the X390 a look. You go excellent functioning from eighth Gen Intel Whiskey Lake CPUs, a colorful FHD impact display, and a swell option of ports.

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Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/lenovo-thinkpad-x390-review

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