The memory and storage ceilings are 16GB and 1TB respectively; Lenovo.com's price for a maxed-out Core i7-10610U system with the 4K screen is $2,378. The PCMark 10 test we run simulates different real-world productivity and content-creation workflows. None of the competitors came close to either score. Keep an eye on your inbox! Check out all Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 8th Gen prices and configurati[...] Read more . You can swap out the ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 8)’s M.2 NVMe SSD by simply loosening the five Philip’s head screws on the bottom panel, prying the panel off and then unscrewing and pulling out the drive. Here you can see an approximate comparison between the CPUs that can be found in the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (8th Gen, 2020) models on the market. Colors don't quite pop but are rich and well saturated. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 8) comes with a couple of useful utilities and, at least on the units we tested, almost no crapware. It’s a beautiful, super cool product with plenty of potential — but it has a few issues, and it also costs $2,499. In low light, the image quality was just plain awful with my face looking really blurry and washed out. Gamers in recent years have been shunning passable 30fps systems for rigs capable of 60fps or more, so you can imagine their likelihood of settling for 4fps. A tech journalist since the TRS-80 and Apple II days, Grevstad specializes in lightweight laptops, mobile workstations, and productivity software. The 4K display returned a strong 498 nits of brightness on our light meter while the 1080p screen hit a respectable 364 nits. Available for $1,331.40, the base model features a Core i5-10210U CPU, a 1080p non-touch display, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. Long workdays, transcontinental flights, and catch-up evenings in business hotels will be no problem. We time each operation and add up the total (lower times are better). We also run a custom Adobe Photoshop image-editing benchmark. Both screens were bright enough for productivity, but the 4K HDR panel is a true visual treat. Using Windows precision drivers, the 3.9 x 2.2-inch buttonless touchpad provides accurate navigation, and supports all the Windows gestures, including pinch to zoom, three-finger swipe and two-finger scroll. As with last year’s model, the power button is located on the right side of the laptop, rather than above the keyboard; this allows you to turn the laptop on even if the lid is closed and it’s docked. CPU Performance: Intel Core i7-10510U . 3D Rendering; Adobe Photoshop; Results are from the … On the laptop's left side are two Thunderbolt 3 ports, a connector for a $35 Ethernet dongle, a USB 3.2 Type-A port, an HDMI video output, and a headphone/microphone jack. There was a problem. According to Lenovo, the Thinkpad X1 Carbon is constructed of four layers of carbon fiber, together with a magnesium alloy roll-cage. The Good Incredibly light for a 14-inch laptop, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon is ruggedly built, and has a better keyboard than any ultrabook-style … AC/DC’s “Back in Black,” which sounds distorted or tinny on lesser laptops, was clear and clean if not overly detailed. The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon gets its name from the built-in carbon fibre 'roll cage' and lid, which keeps the chassis light, yet extremely resilient. The top warranty plan, which has five years of on-site service, was $424 at publish time. The RAM is soldered to the motherboard so you’ll never get to upgrade. He works in a catful home office in Bradenton, Florida. The configuration with the 4K panel was less impressive, lasting only 7 hours and 23 minutes. Lenovo charges a whopping $268 to move up from a 256GB SSD to a 512GB model and a gobsmacking $536 to go all the way to 1TB. For our benchmark comparisons, I matched the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 8 against four other 14-inch business laptops ranging from Lenovo's own ThinkPad T14s (whose eight-core AMD Ryzen 7 Pro processor makes it the favorite in our CPU tests) to the Dell Latitude 7410 and abovementioned Acer TravelMate P6 and Asus ExpertBook B9450. Both times are faster than all of its competitors but the Dell XPS 13 9300, which completed the task in just 15 minutes and 40 seconds. It’s got the larger screen, durable build, and spartan looks of a business machine. As always, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is a strong business laptop that delivers an excellent keyboard and good performance in an elegant body. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon’s 720p webcam is unimpressive at best. Unlike some other ultralights, the magnesium-reinforced-with-carbon-fiber ThinkPad doesn't feel flimsy; there's no flex if you grasp the screen corners or press the keyboard deck. To see how the ThinkPad X1 Carbon performs under stress, we took both configurations and ran Cinebench R20 on them 20 times and logged the results and the clock speeds. What are your thoughts? A bent paper clip removes a tiny tray at the rear that holds the optional SIM card. You will receive a verification email shortly. Designed to add more utility than what the standard row … (We also turn Wi-Fi off, putting the laptop into airplane mode.) This way you can decide for yourself which Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (8th Gen, 2020) model is the best bang for your buck. HP’s Elite Dragonfly is an appealing business 2-in-1 with a gorgeous blue chassis and longer battery life, but it is still only available with older, Intel 8th Gen Core CPUs. PCMag.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering Labs-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon with Core i7 took 18 minutes and 28 seconds to transcode a 4K video to 1080p using Handbrake while the Core i5 model finished in 19 minutes and 51 seconds. This 14-inch business system combines an unbeatable screen and keyboard with MIL-STD 810G toughness to pass torture tests involving shock, vibration, and environmental extremes, yet it weighs just 2.4 pounds, less than the XPS 13 and many other ultraportables. Supplied Dolby software lets you switch among music, movie, dynamic, game, and voice presets or play with an equalizer. Because the lower-end panel is matte, I saw no reflections and image quality didn’t degrade at all even at a full 90 degrees to the left or right. If you click an affiliate link and buy a product or service, we may be paid a fee by that merchant. Perhaps the most noticeable and important change to the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is what Lenovo calls the Adaptive Function Row. As we’ve come to expect from Lenovo ThinkPads, the X1 Carbon (Gen 8)’s keyboard is a joy to use. The main changes to the ThinkPad X1 Carbon in this revision round involve the display and the exterior styling of its lid. When I played Earth, Wind and Fire’s “September,” there was a clear separation of sound with some notes and instruments appearing to come from the right side while others streamed in from the left. Dolby Atmos Speaker System allows you to change audio profiles and adjust the equalizer. The only real trialware we noticed on the two systems we tested was Microsoft Office 365, something a lot of people and companies already have a license for. A handy webcam shutter and a … This year is no exception, though we're sad Lenovo keeps sending us relatively modest Core i5 models. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 8) delivers all day battery life with its 1080p non-touch screen, as it lasted 10 hours and 45 minutes on our battery test, which involves continuous web surfing, video streaming and OpenGL tests over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness. However, it lacks some necessities, like an SD card reader, or upgradable memory. Email him at, How to Free Up Space on Your iPhone or iPad, How to Save Money on Your Cell Phone Bill, How to Find Free Tools to Optimize Your Small Business, How to Get Started With Project Management, Testing the X1 Carbon: The Executive Elite, Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 8 (2020) Specs, Read Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 7 (2019) Review. Using an early 2018 release of the Creative Cloud version of Photoshop, we apply a series of 10 complex filters and effects to a standard JPEG test image. It’s only 19mm thin at its thickest point, … The ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 8) has a number of useful ports, including two Thunderbolt 3 connectors (one of which is used for charging), two USB 3.1 (Gen 1) Type-A ports, a 3.5mm headphone jack and a full-size HDMI port. If you plan to do a lot of video conferencing, it’s always a good idea to get one of the best external webcams. As with the XPS 13, the Carbon’s slim bezels and minimal excess bulk results in … 3DMark measures relative graphics muscle by rendering sequences of highly detailed, gaming-style 3D graphics that emphasize particles and lighting. Available on configs with the 4K screen only, Lenovo Display Optimizer allows you to calibrate the panel or change it for different viewing modes such as movie editing or blue-light reduction. Configurations of ThinkPad X1 Carbon The ThinkPad X1 Carbon is available in a wide variety of configurations and, if you purchase it from Lenovo.com, you can even custom configure it, … Review: Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Fold Is An Achievement, With Room To Improve. Facebook Our review unit was the X1 Carbon, which contains the most recent 8th-gen Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 20U9005KUS (14.0 Inches 60Hz 4K UHD/10th Gen Intel Core i7 10610U/Intel UHD Graphics 620/16GB RAM/1TB SSD/Windows 10 Pro) Add to wishlist Added to wishlist Removed from wishlist 0. It's a breeze to stash in any briefcase. In addition to the 4K and 1080p non-touch screen options, there’s also a 1080p touch screen with 500 nits and Privacy Guard, a 1080p 400-nit touch screen and a 2K, 300-nit screen. Lasted more than 12 hours browsing, and videoconferencing is part of Future US Inc, an media... 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