This Lenovo ThinkPad is my top pick for remote work - and it's nearly 50% off now

Cesar Cadenas/ZDNET

The 12th-Gen ThinkPad X1 Carbon is backmost connected sale. Over astatine Lenovo's website, you tin acquisition the laptop for arsenic debased arsenic $1,404, a astir 50% discount.

ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• After making calculated adjustments to past year's model, Lenovo's 12th-Gen ThinkPad X1 Carbon offers a much user-friendly acquisition starting astatine $1,759 for the 32GB, 1TB configuration.
• It sports an 8MP webcam that allows for 4K video, a stunning 2.8K display, and a somewhat redesigned keyboard.
• Despite these changes, the laptop does person immoderate show quirks.

Sometimes, the astir impactful changes successful a laptop bid are tiny improvements made implicit time, arsenic collectively, they adhd much to the idiosyncratic acquisition than conscionable 1 large upgrade. Case successful point: the 12th-generation ThinkPad X1 Carbon. The 11th-gen exemplary from 2023 is simply a fantastic laptop successful its ain right, truthful I had a hard clip imagining what Lenovo could bash to one-up it. But I'm blessed to accidental the institution recovered aggregate ways, opening with the display.

Also: The champion Lenovo laptops of 2025: Expert tested and reviewed

Simply put, it's amended than before. The 12th-Gen ThinkPad X1 Carbon has a 14-inch 2.8K solution (2,880 x 1,800 pixels) OLED show outfitted with image-enhancing software. It supports the entirety of the DCI-P3 gamut and HDR 500, delivering bright, vivid arrays of colour rivaled lone by the top monitors. Moreover, it's covered successful an anti-glare (and anti-smudge) coating, maintaining its precocious prime adjacent nether agleam sunlight.

All successful all, it's a precise bully display, but it's not what impressed maine the most. The different changes made astir the screen, similar the webcam, yet felt much impactful. It's an 8MP camera susceptible of shooting video successful 4K solution (3,840 x 2160 pixels), with a lens housed wrong a ample digit tab jutting retired from the top. You'll look large successful video calls connected this camera, adjacent successful atrocious lighting scenarios.

This ridge has 2 effects: one, it lets you easy unfastened the lid with a azygous finger, and two, it enables smaller bezels. Shrinking the bezels allowed Lenovo to summation the aboveground country of the ThinkPad display, giving it the quality of a bigger surface contempt being 14 inches connected some the 11th and 12th-Gen models. This is simply a cleanable illustration of a tiny alteration that makes a large difference.

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The keyboard has not changed overmuch compared to the older devices. It's covered successful a matte-like worldly that's creaseless to the touch, and each cardinal has a flimsy indentation that alleviates manus accent erstwhile typing. But erstwhile I looked closer, I began to spot the tiny tweaks. 

For starters, the FN and Ctrl keys person switched places, falling successful enactment with mainstream keyboard layouts (and reducing the accidental that you'll deed the incorrect button). Additionally, Lenovo placed much tactile bumps adjacent the FN and Enter keys for easier interaction typing. The Page Up and Page Down keys person antithetic shapes, truthful you tin archer wherever they are, and the arrow keys are located with a flimsy touch. The fingerprint scholar stands retired from the assemblage acknowledgment to its caller glassy covering. 

Like different ThinkPads, the second-generation Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 besides has a TrackPoint betwixt the G, H, and B keys. What's absorbing astir it is that double-tapping it opens a floating toolbar, giving you speedy entree to immoderate of the ThinkPad tools, similar the microphone and Voice Typing.

Also: This Lenovo ThinkPad gets my proposal for distant workers - and it's connected sale

Before I forget, I should notation the trackpad due to the fact that it has its just stock of improvements. For starters, it's bigger now, measuring 4.72 inches across. Above it are 3 buttons that relation likewise to those recovered connected a mouse. Personally, I similar utilizing these implicit pressing down connected the trackpad arsenic they connection amended haptic feedback and a satisfying "click." You tin inactive propulsion down connected the trackpad itself, but it's a batch much mushy. It each comes down to preference, and if you similar having the haptic feedback connected the trackpad itself, you whitethorn consciousness a interaction disappointed.

Cesar Cadenas/ZDNET

My reappraisal portion came with the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor, which allowed the laptop to enactment truly good for the bulk of the time. I was capable to person aggregate windows and tabs unfastened astatine the aforesaid clip without having a large show drop. However, I did acquisition a show driblet erstwhile I tried waking up the ThinkPad and opening Google Chrome. The laptop would sometimes instrumentality an abnormally agelong clip to aftermath up oregon motorboat an app to the constituent wherever I disquieted I had breached something.

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These problems extended to the battery, too. I performed my accustomed artillery trial of playing a 720p YouTube video non-stop astatine 50 % brightness to spot however agelong it lasts. I bash this to simulate an mean time of work. On artillery saver, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon lasted astir 5 hours earlier dying. That's not precise long. With the quirky show successful mind, each this leads maine to judge that the ThinkPad's hardware isn't good optimized.

ZDNET's buying advice

I would urge the 12th-generation ThinkPad X1 Carbon to conscionable astir everyone: casual users, professionals, programmers, and creators. There are a myriad of antithetic ThinkPads retired there, but this 1 stands retired for its thoughtful attraction to item and improved design. Like each ThinkPads, it's durable, utilitarian, and airy capable to commute to and from the bureau with. If you're idiosyncratic who takes a batch of video calls, you'll emotion the webcam. 

You tin take a fewer antithetic configurations for this machine, which volition rise oregon little its price. The basal exemplary usually retails for $2,649, but it does spell connected sale.