Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition Long-Term Review: I’m Excited for the Future of ThinkPad Laptops

I’ve been using Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition laptop for over a month now. With CES (formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show) happening in just about ten days, and the early leak of Lenovo’s upcoming laptops, I’m very excited for what’s in store. I say that because the ThinkPad X1 Carbon G13 (as I’ll refer to it henceforth) has been one of my favourite laptops of 2025, and I don’t say that lightly.

This isn’t to say that the ThinkPad X1 Carbon G13 is perfect, far from it. But it has brought joy back to the Windows side of laptops. Again, I mean it when I say that. Over long periods with this laptop, I genuinely forgot that I was carrying it in my backpack. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon G13 is lightweight, sleek, and premium-looking. It also still has the TrackPoint pointer in the middle of the keyboard.

In fact, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon G13 weighs under a kilogram. That’s impressive. Lenovo have been known as the laptop of the business world. There are pure workhorses, with nothing flashy. They’re understated, yet premium. They just work. That’s precisely the case with the ThinkPad X1 Carbon G13. Combining productivity, binge-watching and professional computing, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon G13 gets my vote as one of the laptops of 2025.

A combination of carbon fiber, magnesium and aluminium makes up the chassis of this laptop. There is little to no flex on the hinge, and the laptop feels very durable. The lid can be opened with just one finger and extends up to 180 degrees.

While I do aesthetically like the red TrackPoint nestled in the middle of the keyboard and that it is unmistakably ThinkPad, its functionality and usage have dwindled over the years. There’s also a red dot over the ‘i’ on the logo in the bottom right-hand corner, which I appreciate. 

Display & Audio

The model I received for review features a 14-inch 16:10 IPS panel. It’s touch-enabled, with a resolution of 1920x1200 and a peak brightness of 500 nits. The only downside is that it is restricted to a maximum refresh rate of 60Hz. There is an upgraded OLED option (with a much crisper 2800x1800 resolution) with a refresh rate of up to 120Hz.

Nonetheless, I still enjoyed the IPS display on this laptop. The laptop is perfectly usable outside, the anti-glare coating is very welcome when I’m binge-watching content, and with 100% sRGB colour space support, it’s suitable for editing my photos. I’m entirely sold on the 16:10 aspect ratio, and I much appreciate that here in the laptop. I wish the resolution and refresh rate were a tad bit better.

There are two 2-watt upward-firing stereo speakers on this laptop. The sound gets surprisingly loud, but doesn’t crackle at extreme volumes. It’s very usable up to 80 percent volume. The soundstage is good, but the bass is lacking. This is one of the better sound outputs on a laptop for video conferencing and watching those movies.

Keyboard, Trackpad and TrackPoint

 The TrackPoint, as I mentioned above, is basically useless. Over the years, it has lost its functionality, and I don’t know how Lenovo can reinvent the wheel here. You can double-tap it to bring up a shortcut menu and perform a few other tasks, but I suspect that, like me, most won’t be using the TrackPoint.

The keyboard is my favourite thing about this laptop. It’s the most comfortable typing experience I’ve had in years. Keyboards have been ThinkPads' strong suit for years, and I’m glad Lenovo hasn’t changed what doesn’t need fixing. It’s got 1.5mm of key travel, good feedback, and snappy keys. There are dedicated ‘home’ and ‘end’ buttons, the page up and page down keys are well placed, and plenty more to make sure your typing speed doesn’t slow down.

The one thing I’ll say about the trackpad is that it’s very accurate. I’m not a fan of having physical buttons on a trackpad, especially at the top. But that’s required for the TrackPoint, so I understand why it’s been included. The physical buttons even include a desiccated middle mouse button. 

Performance

Smooth sailing. That’s the best way to describe the ThinkPad X1 Carbon G13. Yes, this will stutter somewhat when you push it to the limit while editing videos, but otherwise, you won’t find a single instance when it slows down. Intel has really stepped up its game, and I’m looking forward to the next generation of Intel’s laptop chips in January.

With this laptop, you’re getting Intel’s Core Ultra 7 268V 8-core processor. It’s equipped with an Intel Arc Graphics 140V internal GPU.

Paired with 32GB of RAM, this laptop is a true workhorse. It doesn’t heat up, and performance remains smooth throughout the day. Yes, it is a low-power implementation of the Lunar Lake V hardware, and that’s the only downside.

One more thing to note is that you can’t really play any of the latest video games on this laptop. You’ll have to severely downgrade your settings to get an acceptable FPS while playing.

 Battery life

With a 57Wh battery, I achieved a screen-on time of around 10-11 hours. That’s not great in the grand scheme of things, but it’s far better than it was years ago. I’m hoping Intel takes it up another notch come CES in January. You can easily get through a workday, and if you have the laptop charger, you can charge up to 80 percent in just one hour, thanks to the fast-charging tech.

Verdict: Too costly

Why do I say I’m excited for the future of Lenovo laptops, and I'll tell you that the ThinkPad X1 Carbon G13 is one of the best laptops of 2025, yet I don’t recommend it outrightly? Well, it's almost all down to the price. Rs 2,80,000, this laptop is costly. There’s no OLED panel at this price point, and you can’t really play any games or have long video editing sessions.

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon G13 is a fantastic laptop. It’s got an excellent IPS panel (yes, I would have preferred an OLED display), a solid build, a lightweight design and one of the best keyboards in the business. But one thing I didn’t mention above is the mediocre webcam. I hope Lenovo finally improves its quality by January.

But again, it all comes down to the laptop's price. I’m hoping that Lenovo realises this and comes to CES with all the upgrades at a slightly more affordable price. If the competition can offer cheaper laptops with top-of-the-line features, why not Lenovo?