The Lenovo ThinkPad streak is over: I tested a new model that bucks a decade-long trend (for the better)

ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• Lenovo's first-edition ThinkPad X9 Aura Edition 14-inch is disposable now, starting astatine $1,239 for the lowest-tier configuration.
• It's an experimental improvement of the ThinkPad line, exchanging immoderate of the astir defining features for a caller sleek signifier origin and bold design.
• The introduction configuration lone comes with 256GB of storage, which is not capable for a laptop successful this terms range.

When I archetypal saw Lenovo's ThinkPad X9 Aura Edition at CES successful January of 2025, I praised its bold plan elements -- a striking departure from the norms of the ThinkPad line. There's nary TrackPoint, a noticeable deficiency of I/O, and a minimalist trackpad that looks thing similar the X1 Carbon -- its (significantly much expensive) older sibling.  

Now that I've been utilizing it for a fewer weeks, it's go 1 of my favourite laptops of the twelvemonth for its versatility, superb display, and fantastic battery. In a sense, the X9 Aura Edition is simply a ThinkPad that has evolved to a caller form, keeping immoderate of what we emotion astir the iconic lineup but elaborating connected a caller vision, arsenic well. 

Also: After years with Windows, I utilized the MacBook Air M4 for 1 week. Here's however it went

But I should besides notation that determination is immoderate friction here. First, if you're a ThinkPad enjoyer, it's casual to consciousness similar Lenovo is abandoning the line's halfway features, but the X9 Aura Edition seems to beryllium much of an experimentation than a sweeping redefinition of the flagship family.

There's an evident resemblance to the MacBook, and the Aura Edition features are decidedly engineered to talk to the Apple idiosyncratic (or refugee). I've covered them extensively since the tap-to-share functionality spurred hordes of participants to slam their smartphones against the archetypal Aura Edition laptops past year, and they're each inactive here, but much similar bonus features alternatively than flagship headliners. 

Besides photograph and record sharing capabilities designed to reflector Apple's AirDrop experience, Aura Edition laptops travel with further information features and 24/7 unrecorded chat enactment that allows Lenovo reps to spot your device's nonstop specs, absorption modes, artillery usage profiles, and wellness alerts successful the Intel Unison app.

Kerry Wan/ZDNET

Ultimately, though, the X9 is simply a ThinkPad, adjacent though it doesn't look the part. Its terms constituent positions it arsenic a mid-tier+ instrumentality with a sleek, forward-thinking plan and notably much affordable than the X1 Carbon, the ThinkPad reigning ultimate astatine the apical successful some hardware and performance. 

The X9 Aura Edition's carnal framework is sleek and thin, but it feels coagulated and well-made, with a chill slate grey colorway and ribbed bottommost fractional of the clamshell. One of the archetypal things you'll announcement is the large barroom moving alongside the bottommost of the device.

Lenovo calls this the "engine hub," and it's wherever the 2 USB-C ports (one connected each side), the HDMI port, and the headphone jack reside – an absorbing plan thought that consolidates I/O successful a abstracted portion from the existent chassis. 

Also: This fund Windows laptop easy replaced my M4 MacBook Air for 1 reason

The different happening you'll announcement is the gorgeous OLED display, which is glossy but precise businesslike astatine mitigating glare and reflections. In fact, it's importantly amended than the MacBook Air M4 (which doesn't travel with Apple's nano-texture display) -- nighttime and time erstwhile positioned broadside by side.

The integrated Intel Arc 130V GPU, successful conjunction with the 2.8K, 500nit 120Hz refresh complaint display, makes for a gorgeous ocular acquisition whether you're gaming oregon spreadsheet surfing. 

But this is inactive a ThinkPad, and it's well-positioned arsenic a enactment machine. The redesigned keyboard utilizes recently designed, positively soundless keys and a ample haptic trackpad that exchanges the accustomed close and near click buttons for a precise and minimal solid pad positioned close successful the halfway of the device. 

Kyle Kucharski/ZDNET

The 1080p webcam is besides rather good, a alleviation for users who walk tons of clip successful meetings. It's not precisely the 12MP sensor recovered connected the M4 MacBook Air (which I've already argued is the champion videoconferencing acquisition connected a laptop this year) but it blows the 720p webcam connected different ThinkPads similar the E14 Gen 6 retired of the water, offering a applicable mediate crushed for the price. 

Also: Why I urge this fund Lenovo ThinkPad implicit laptops that outgo doubly the price

Portability with the hybrid idiosyncratic successful caput is the wide taxable here, and this continues with the halfway hardware connected the X9, which is powered by either an Intel Core Ultra 5 oregon 7 (Series 2) processor, modular fare for a lightweight and affordable laptop successful this terms range.

Now, let's speech astir the artillery life, which comes successful a small shy of different flagship devices with Intel's "Lunar Lake"-series chips I've reviewed, similar the Asus Zenbook S 14 and the Dell XPS 13. I got implicit 13 hours of artillery beingness during my investigating of this device, which compared to the Zenbook (17 hours) and XPS 13 (16 hours) is the outlier, but reasoning large picture, is capable to past the full enactment day.

The different happening I person to telephone retired is that the X9 Aura Edition is surely not the coolest-running laptop retired of the caller lineup of Lunar Lake devices, oregon adjacent Lenovo's latest ThinkPads. During dense workloads I recovered palpable vigor procreation on the bottommost of the instrumentality adjacent the motor hub.  

Also: I switched to a high-end dumbphone for a week, and it enactment E Ink (and my iPhone) to shame

In presumption of pricing, determination are immoderate things to enactment here. The starting configuration with the Intel Core Ultra 5 comes with conscionable 256GB of retention for $1,226. I recognize that for users who unrecorded successful the cloud, immense amounts of on-device retention aren't needed, but this is immoderate of the lowest I've seen for a instrumentality successful this terms range. 

Additionally, the mentation with a 1TB SSD starts astatine $1,989 with the Intel Core Ultra 7 and 32GB of memory, putting it connected par with the Dell XPS 13, which features the aforesaid magnitude of RAM and retention but a much almighty Intel Core Ultra 9 CPU for a somewhat cheaper price. 

Kerry Wan/ZDNET

This isn't a dealbreaker oregon needfully antithetic for a high-design, experimental instrumentality that exists to interruption a mold, but it's surely thing consumers should beryllium alert of. Basically, you person to beryllium committed to the plan here, arsenic it's imaginable to get a small much for little elsewhere. 

That being said, for each the reasons mentioned above, there's a batch to love, particularly if you're attracted to the bold design, durable signifier factor, and gorgeous display.

ZDNET's buying advice

Ultimately, Lenovo's ThinkPad X9 14 Aura Edition is simply a sleek, gorgeous instrumentality that's a joyousness to use. The superb OLED display, redesigned keyboard, precise haptic trackpad, and experimental signifier origin effect successful a statement-making laptop with the hardware to backmost it up. 

Also: Why I urge this fund Lenovo ThinkPad implicit laptops that outgo doubly the price

In presumption of pricing, hardware, and targeted demographic, I would enactment Lenovo's X9 14 Aura Edition successful the aforesaid ballpark arsenic the Asus Zenbook S 14 and Dell XPS 13, 2 different "Lunar Lake" devices with a bold plan streak. 

The X9 stands apart, however, with a much down-to-business aesthetic and bearing the sanction of 1 of the astir respected laptop families connected the market. Despite the on-device retention being little than I would expect for this laptop, I'd inactive urge it for folks who enactment successful the cloud, privation a premium idiosyncratic experience, and prioritize a high-quality webcam.