Lenovo ThinkPad X9-14 review: an iconic laptop continues to evolve

For years, the ThinkPad lineup was easy to spot. Every ThinkPad featured the same iconic design, from the red-on-black color scheme to the keyboard design to the TrackPoint nubbin. Then, Lenovo introduced the ThinkPad Z series that altered the design a bit, and now there’s a new model that takes the lineup even further away from tradition.

The ThinkPad X9-14 is a brand-new design that looks — and feels — even less like the ThinkPad of yesterday. That’s not a bad thing, because the new laptop has a lot going for it — although it doesn’t quite make it onto our list of the best business laptops. But it’s a sure sign that Lenovo isn’t holding onto the past.

Specs and configuration

The ThinkPad X9-14 is a business laptop that most likely will be purchased by companies on contract that will have customized pricing. But, if you were to go to the Lenovo Web store and purchase the laptop yourself, you’ll pay $1,239 for the bast configuration with an Intel Core Ultra 5 226V chipset, 16GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD, and 14.0-inch FHD+ IPS display. I reviewed the laptop with a 14.0-inch 2.8K OLED panel ($100) and a 512GB SSD ($100). You can upgrade up to a Core Ultra 7 268V chipset with vPro for $360, which also ups the RAM to 32GB. Upgrading to a 2TB SSD costs $240. The most expensive configuration runs $2,289.

Those are all expensive prices, but not unusually so for business-focused laptops. Some premium laptops with similar configurations cost around the same or more, such as those from HP and Dell. Even some consumer premium laptops cost the same. So, the bottom line is you’re not paying a huge premium for those business-centric features.

Design

The first thing you’ll notice when you handle the ThinkPad X9-14 is that it’s incredibly thin — at least outside of what Lenovo calls the “Engine Hub” that houses the critical components and the thermal system to keep them cool. The laptop is the thinnest ever at 0.26 inches in that front portion, even thinner than the Apple MacBook Air 13 at 0.44 inches. But, it bloats up to 0.68 inches at the hub. So, it’s both extremely thin and just very thin at the same time. It’s reasonably light at 2.8 pounds, but not the lightest 14-inch laptop you’ll find. Ultimately, I’d rate the design as just a little bit of a gimmick.

The laptop feels very robust, as do all ThinkPads. It’s subjected to a host of MIL-STD 810H tests, meaning it’s guaranteed to last. That’s thanks to an all-aluminum construction that feels quite solid. It’s as good as any other similar laptop in this regard, and better than most. That’s important for a laptop that’s aimed at business users, who are as likely as any users to be traveling extensively with a laptop in tow.

Aesthetically, the ThinkPad X9-14 doesn’t look much like a ThinkPad of old. It’s all-black and features the iconic red dots over the “i” on the lid and the palm rest logos, but the similarity ends there. ThinkPad’s have historically sported more red throughout the design, even the ThinkPad Z13 that eschewed the all-black aesthetic. The ThinkPad X9-14 cuts a slim figure thanks to the thin front portion of the chassis, but the Engine Hub kind of sticks out a little more than I like. It’s a good looking laptop, but nothing that really stands out to me.

As a laptop aimed at business users, the ThinkPad X9-14 has several features aimed at better security and manageability. You can get Intel vPro capabilities that support enterprise management solutions, along with enhanced security and access to a higher level of support.

It’s also a member of Lenovo’s Aura Edition laptops, with a variety of extra functionality. They include additional privacy guard and alerts, timers for extra distraction-free work, collaboration features, wellness, and power modes to optimize performance. Those aren’t unique to the Thinkpad X9-14, but they’re available to any users who want them.

Keyboard and touchpad

ThinkPad keyboards were once indistinguishable. They had highly sculpted keycaps, tight spacing with seven levels of keys, and deep switches that required a bit of force to depress. Really, they weren’t my favorite, because I prefer more key spacing and lighter, more precise switches. That’s exactly why Apple’s Magic Keyboard is my favorite, and the ThinkPad X9-14’s version is very similar. The switches are a little deeper, but they’re still snappy with a bounce in the bottoming action. And there the layout is more traditional (i.e., non-ThinkPad) and spacious, with Ctrl and Alt keys that aren’t annoyingly reversed from the usual. I’d rate it very high on my list in terms of comfortable long-term typing, and an improvement over the old-school ThinkPad keyboard.

Similarly, the touchpad is larger than usual for ThinkPads. First, there’s no red TrackPoint nubbin in the middle of the keyboard and therefore some of the touchpad space isn’t taken for an extra set of buttons. That’s huge departure, dropping on of the most iconic ThinkPad features. I suspect, though, that not too many users will be upset at the omission. The touchpad itself is an excellent haptic version that’s almost as good as Apple’s Force Touch version. Apple’s has the advantage of a Force Click feature where clicking a little “harder” invokes extra functionality. But, the ThinkPad touchpad arguably has more customization options.

The display is also touch-enabled, which I like. Overall, this is probably my favorite ThinkPad I’ve reviewed in terms of controlling things and entering information.

Webcam and connectivity

Connectivity is light for a 14-inch machine. There are two USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4 and an HDMI 2.1 connection, along with a 3.5mm audio jack. That’s one of the prices you pay for that ultra thin section. Each port is located at the Engine Hub. Wireless connectivity is fully up-to-date with Wi-Fi 7.

The ThinkPad X9-14 has an optional 8MP webcam, which was on my review unit, and it provided a clear image in my testing. It supports the Aura Edition collaboration features mentioned above, including low light enhancement, better background blur, virtual presenter, and more. In addition, the Intel Lunar Lake chipset has a fast Neural Processing Unit (NPU) supporting Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC initiative for more efficient on-device AI processing.

Performance

There are several 8-core/8-thread Intel Lunar Lake (Core Ultra Series 2) chipsets available with the ThinkPad X9-14, from the Core Ultra 5 226V up to the  Core Ultra 7 268V chipsets. All run at a base of 17 watts, with various clock speeds. Lunar Lake is primarily focused on efficiency, and its performance falls somewhere between the older 15-watt U-series and 28-watt H-series Meteor Lake chipsets. You can also get versions with Intel’s vPro functionality.

As you can see in our benchmarks, there’s not a huge difference between Lunar Lake versions in performance in CPU-intensive tasks. It’s considerably slower than the other Windows efficiency option, the Qualcomm Snapdragon X chipsets, and the AMD Ryzen AI 9 and Apple M4 chipsets are a lot faster.. The Core Ultra 5 226V also uses the slower Intel Arc 130V integrated graphics, and that shows up in the 3DMark Wild Life Extreme benchmark.

The ThinkPad X9-14 is fast enough for productivity work, but gamers and creators won’t be too excited.

Battery life

There’s just a 55 watt-hour battery in the ThinkPad X9-14, likely a result of the incredibly thin chassis in all but the engine hub. Frankly, that’s not a lot of battery capacity for a 14-inch laptop with a power-hungry high-res OLED display. The Lunar Lake chipsets are efficient, but I wasn’t expecting great battery life.

And, I didn’t get it. Compared to the other laptops in the comparison group using today’s more efficient chipsets for Windows, including also Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X, the ThinkPad X9-14 wasn’t even close. Some of those also have OLED displays, although they also have larger batteries. Interestingly, the HP EliteBook X G1a with the AMD Ryzen AI 9 chipset also didn’t get the same kind of battery life as Intel’s and Qualcomm’s latest chipsets. As has been the case for several years, Apple Silicon is overall the most efficient.

The bottom line is that battery life is not a strength here.

Display and audio

There are two display options with the ThinkPad X9-14, both 14-inch panels at a 16:10 aspect ratio. One is a 2.8K (2880 x 1800) OLED panel running at 60Hz, the other is an FHD+ (1920 x 1200) IPS panel with a variable 120Hz refresh rate. That’s a mixed bag, with the sharper display offering up brighter colors and OLED’s usual inky blacks and the IPS panel offering a smoother user interface and better battery life.

I tested the OLED display, and my colorimeter found it a little different than most other OLED panels I’ve tested. It was very at 511 nits, brighter than most OLED displays and well above our older 300-nit threshold. My colorimeter couldn’t measure the contrast ratio, something I haven’t seen from an OLED display for a while, but blacks were perfect. Coloers weren’t quite as wide at 100% sRGB, 93% AdobeRGB (most are 97% or higher), and 100% DCI-P3, and accuracy wasn’t nearly as good as usual at a DeltaE of 1.62. Almost every OLED panel is below the cutoff for excellent displays of 1.0.

The display is still great for every user, and its support for Dolby Vision bodes well for media consumption. The IPS panel is for anyone who doesn’t care as much about colors and blacks and wants better battery life than I saw in my testing.

A business laptop with more than just business appeal

There’s a lot to like about the ThinkPad X9-14, and not just for ThinkPad fans. In fact, anyone who came here looking for a traditional ThinkPad design will be disappointed. The ThinkPad X9-14 is much more like other thin-and-light laptops today than that iconic brand, and that’s not actually a bad thing.

While the thin design is a bit of a gimmick, because you still need to contend with an Engine Hub that makes it a more typical thickness, it’s still light enough and well-built enough to be comfortably portable. It’s fast enough for productivity users and has a very good OLED display option — although that has an outsized impact on battery life. Business users will like it a lot, but consumers should consider it as well.