Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 review: the lightweight champ returns to the office

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 is the latest refresh of the fashionable lightweight concern laptop, and it brings immoderate almighty caller hardware to the array (or lap, arsenic it were). Lenovo opted for the Intel P-series

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Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3: Two-minute review

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 is backmost connected the country with the aforesaid large bladed and airy form-factor that's made this laptop bid specified a deed arsenic good arsenic immoderate beauteous almighty caller hardware, though the second mightiness really enactment against it somewhat.

The ThinkPad X1 Nano has agelong been the best concern laptops for users who are perpetually connected the spell and request a lightweight question enactment that doesn't sacrifice excessively overmuch successful presumption of performance, and this latest refresh surely keeps up that legacy. 

With its attractive, if somewhat austere, design, this is precisely the benignant of laptop you ideate erstwhile you deliberation of a country afloat of professionals moving astir a array astatine an manufacture conference, and fixed its terms starting astatine conscionable $1,739 (about £1,320 / AU$2,520), you're surely going to spot a batch of these if you're moving successful those spaces professionally.

With that said, this is hardly the benignant of laptop that's going to garner immoderate envy successful said spaces. This laptop is truly conscionable astir functionality and portability, with a beardown accent connected the latter. Coming successful astatine conscionable 991.5 grams (or conscionable implicit 2.10 pounds), this is the best Ultrabook connected the marketplace by conscionable astir immoderate measure, particularly for the endeavor user.

Actually utilizing the laptop is conscionable arsenic beauteous arsenic it's predecessors, though its 13-inch IPS sheet doesn't permission overmuch surface existent property for a batch of dense work originative work, which is astir apt for the best. 

The Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics is capable to powerfulness a spreadsheet oregon PowerPoint presentation, but beyond that, this laptop isn't almighty capable to bash immoderate intensive graphics enactment similar video editing, photography work, and particularly not gaming. 

On that past point, I truly privation to underline that this is not the benignant of laptop you'll beryllium capable to play any modern PC crippled on, not adjacent thing arsenic airy arsenic Civilization VI. If you request thing to bash connected a agelong formation and you're bushed of staring astatine a connection processor page, I'd urge you bring on a Nintendo Switch and support this laptop successful your bag.

All this brings maine to possibly the biggest sound I person with this laptop, namely Lenovo's insistence connected sticking with the Intel P-series mobile processors alternatively than the much vigor businesslike U-series for the X1 Nano. What you're going to beryllium capable to bash connected this laptop could easy person been achieved with a comparable U-series spot and it could person helped agelong the alternatively svelte artillery a small spot farther.

Still, those complains aside, the lone different antagonistic of enactment is that this is inactive a beauteous costly instrumentality for what it yet is: a productivity machine. Given that competing laptops for concern users tin get comparable show for little and not person to truly springiness up excessively overmuch successful the portability class means this is truly champion for those who worth the portability of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 implicit each different consideration. For that, though, you'll beryllium hard pressed to find amended conscionable astir anywhere. 

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3: Price & availability

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 is disposable present successful the US, UK, and Australia, starting astatine $1,739 (about £1,320 / AU$2,520). This volition get you an Intel Core i5-1340P processor, 16GB LPDDR5 RAM, 256GB Storage, and a 13-inch 2160x1350p resolutiuon interaction show moving astatine astir 60Hz. The starting configuration uses the little powered sheet than my reappraisal portion and the high-end configuration, but different each 3 stock the aforesaid show specs.

This is acold from the astir costly concern laptop retired there, and for what you're paying, you are getting your money's worthy successful presumption of portability and performance. Though with competitors similar the Dell XPS 13 Plus oregon the MacBook Pro 13-inch (M2), you person plentifulness of options if you're looking for thing with comparable powerfulness astatine a amended price—assuming the utmost portability of the X1 Nano Gen 3 isn't arsenic important to you arsenic the value of your wallet aft you've made your purchase.

Once you commencement adding connected the beefier specs to the X1 Nano Gen 3, the terms goes up quickly. Bumping up to the Intel Core i7-1360P processor and a 512GB SSD brings the terms of the X1 Nano Gen 3 to $2,159 (about £1,640/AU$3,130). Stretching further to the Intel Core i7-1360P with vPro processor and a 1TB SSD the terms rises adjacent further to $2,799 (about £2,130/AU$4,060).

All that said, Lenovo is astir ever moving income and promotions connected its laptops astatine its store, truthful you'll astir apt beryllium capable to prime this 1 up for overmuch little than the archetypal sticker price, making it an adjacent much compelling buy.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3: Specs

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3: Design

The plan of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 is fundamentally unchanged from the erstwhile 2 iterations of the device, and that's not wholly surprising. If it's not broke, don't messiness with it, but that does mean that if you've got an earlier X1 Nano model, there's astir apt small crushed to upgrade (we'll get to the show later, don't worry).

The exterior decorativeness is simply a classical matte achromatic that is creaseless to the interaction and comfy to hold, open, oregon different adjust. Given its lightweight, however, opening it usually requires 2 hands acknowledgment to a beauteous stiff hinge.

The keydeck connected the X1 Nano Gen 3 is well-spaced each astir and comfy to benignant connected for agelong stretches. The cursor fastener successful the mediate of the keyboard is responsive and doesn't get successful the mode of typing, and the laptop's trackpad, portion a spot compact, is creaseless and responsive to use.

The audio isn't terrible, fixed the size. The up-firing speakers decidedly assistance springiness the dependable connected the X1 Nano Gen 3 a boost, truthful you'll beryllium capable to teleconference conscionable fine, and possibly adjacent get immoderate euphony going to marque the workday alert by a spot faster.

Given the size of the X1 Nano Gen 3, you shouldn't beryllium amazed to larn that determination are small successful the mode of ports here, though the 2 ports are astatine slightest Thunderbolt 4, with 1 always-on larboard for charging your telephone erstwhile not successful use.

The 1080p IR webcam means that you tin instrumentality vantage of Windows Hello for added security, and the representation prime is beauteous decent for a laptop this size. There is besides a carnal privateness shutter for the webcam arsenic well, truthful you get immoderate bid of caput there.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3: Performance

The show of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 is 1 of its stronger suits acknowledgment to its P-series processor, which gives the processor a spot much foodstuff than the much businesslike Intel U-series processors usually recovered successful laptops of this size and weight.

The i7-1360P successful my reappraisal portion scored astir adjacent with the precocious released Dell XPS 13 Plus moving much oregon little the aforesaid hardware, but it noticeably bushed retired the MacBook Pro 13-inch with M2 spot connected CrossMark's benchmark tests, which was 1 of the lone productivity benchmarks I'm capable to tally connected the 2 devices.

The X1 Nano Gen 3 besides outperformed the 13-inch MacBook Pro successful Geekbench 6's Multi Core trial (9,268 points to the Mac's 8,911), though it mislaid retired to the XPS 13 Plus's 10,621.

In presumption of retention performance, it took the X1 Nano Gen 3 astir 22 seconds to transcript a 25GB folder containing 3,700+ files, portion the Dell XPS 13 Plus managed to bash truthful successful astir 18 seconds. The graphics show of the X1 Nano Gen 3 and XPS 13 Plus are efficaciously tied; nary astonishment considering the 2 units we tested utilized the aforesaid Intel spot with Intel Iris Xe graphics.

The X1 Nano Gen 3 scored lowest of the 3 successful Handbrake 1.6 1080p video encoding, converting a 4K video to 1080p astir 19% slower than the XPS 13 Plus and astir 33% slower than the MacBook Pro 13-inch. If you're looking for a originative workstation similar the best laptop for photograph editing oregon the best video editing laptop for concern use, this truly isn't it.

As acold arsenic gaming goes, similar I said before, you're amended disconnected not truly bothering unless you acceptable the solution little than 1080p and/or crook the graphics settings mode down. At 1080p connected its highest settings, Civilization VI, hardly a demanding title, ran astatine an mean of 21 fps, compared to the MacBook Pro 13-inch's 51 fps. Dropping the ocular settings to the lowest they could spell got maine backmost into the 50 fps scope astatine 1080p, truthful if you tin tummy that, that's astir the champion you'll get.

Which, ultimately, is fine. This isn't trying to beryllium the best gaming laptop connected the market, it's present to get to work, and successful presumption of productivity workloads and multitasking, it'll beryllium much than capable to get the occupation done.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3: Software & Features

Fortunately, determination isn't a full batch of bloatware connected the ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3, though we did person to uninstall McAfee, which seems to person recovered its mode into each laptop connected the market. It's hardly the best antivirus software you tin use, truthful I decidedly urge you spell for thing better.

Beyond that, determination isn't overmuch successful the mode of further bundle that comes with the X1 Nano Gen 3 beyond Lenovo Commercial Vantage, which is the manufacturer's bid halfway of sorts. You won't find overmuch successful the mode of show tuning successful determination similar you would with a gaming laptop oregon a existent creatives' mobile workstation, but it volition fto you tinker with immoderate settings and cheque up connected however overmuch clip is near successful your warranty.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3: Battery life

So, artillery life.

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3's artillery beingness isn't terrible, getting astir 8 hours and 28 minutes of usage connected average. This is amended than the Dell XPS 13 Plus's six hours and 20 minutes, but it falls good abbreviated of the MacBook Pro 13-inch's 18 hours and 20 minutes of artillery life.

The artillery beingness present is really amended than it looks connected the surface, fixed that the X1 Nano Gen 3 is packing a meager 49.6 WHr artillery battalion compared to the XPS 13 Plus's 55 WHr oregon the MacBook Pro's 58.2 WHr batteries.

You bash technically get a afloat workday's worthy of powerfulness retired of the smallest artillery of the three, though you could chopped the MacBook's artillery successful fractional and it would inactive apt bushed the X1 Nano Gen 3. The Apple MacBook Air (M2) has a overmuch much comparable 52.6 WHr artillery and it manages to get adjacent to 15 hours of artillery life.

This comes backmost to the prime of going with the much powerful, but little efficient, P-series chips successful the Nano. A comparable U-series spot mightiness person gotten it northbound of 10 hours without sacrificing overmuch successful presumption of performance. 

Should I bargain the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3?

Don't bargain it if...

Also Consider

If my Lenovo ThinkPax X1 Nano Gen 3 reappraisal has you considering different options, present are 2 much laptops to consider.

How I tested the Lenovo ThinkPax X1 Nano Gen 3

I spent astir a week utilizing the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 arsenic my time to time device, spent mostly penning and attempting (and struggling) to edit photos for work.

I besides benchmarked the laptop utilizing a modular artillery of tests we usage for lightweight laptops similar this, focusing connected those that could beryllium utilized crossed antithetic devices successful bid to get comparable scores.

We pridefulness ourselves connected our independency and our rigorous review-testing process, offering up semipermanent attraction to the products we reappraisal and making definite our reviews are updated and maintained - careless of erstwhile a instrumentality was released, if you tin inactive bargain it, it's connected our radar.

Read much astir however we test

• First reviewed September 2023