ZDNET’s key findings

• The Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 starts at $1,580, with upgrades pushing the price closer to $2,000.
• It’s surprisingly versatile for its 13-inch size, with a powerful processor and an impressive battery.
• However, it’s not cheap and its ultra-portability means it only has USB-C ports.

Despite its compact shape, the ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 is a powerhouse. Lenovo first unveiled this ultraportable at CES 2024, and early impressions focused on the return of Magic Bay, a mix-and-match family of peripherals that connect to the laptop via magnetic pogo pins (think MagSafe, but for laptops).

View at Lenovo

But while the Magic Bay products may be the most eye-catching, there’s a lot more to this Lenovo laptop under the hood. In fact, this laptop is surprisingly versatile.

The ThinkBook 13x Gen 4 comes with an Intel Core Ultra 5 125H (2.4GHz) processor, but can be upgraded to an Intel Core Ultra 9—an option that surprised me on this laptop—which puts it on par with other powerful enterprise machines (which increases the price by over $400).

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The review unit I tested was snappy enough with the Ultra 5 and had absolutely no trouble multitasking with a handful of productivity apps and multiple browser tabs across two displays. Plus, this laptop is compact enough to make transporting it to and from the office a breeze, which makes me wonder why I chose a 16-incher as my primary drive.

But then I started working on the 13.5-inch display and remembered. Don’t get me wrong, the ThinkBook 13x Gen 4’s display looks good. Really good, in fact, with 500 nits of brightness and a variable 120 Hz refresh rate. But its size, even at maximum resolution, means the screen can feel a bit cramped if you’re used to more space. Ultimately, it’s a trade-off that comes down to personal preference.

However, the performance and versatility of this laptop are what really makes the difference. In my benchmarking of this laptop, I got solid read and write speeds from the SSD in PCMark 10 and slightly better than expected performance from the Intel Core Ultra 5 in Cinebench.

The ThinkBook 13x’s memory is also among the fastest you can get in an ultraportable of this size, as the 8400MHz dual-channel RAM is soldered in to future-proof the notebook. However, if you opt for the Intel Core Ultra 5, the maximum amount of RAM you can get is 16GB. To upgrade to 32GB, you’ll need to get the Core Ultra 9 chip. I wish the 32GB option was available with the cheaper processor as well.

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In that sense, this is a laptop that looks to the future and doesn’t try to be backwards compatible. This is also evident in the port selection. You get three USB-C ports on this machine, all of which are Thunderbolt 4 compatible. With three Thunderbolts, you don’t really need HDMI or USB-A, but there is a 3.5mm headphone jack and the power button is also a fingerprint reader.

Despite its small size, the keyboard feels spacious and clear. Its unique design extends the keyboard to the very edge of the device with virtually no bezels, resulting in satisfyingly thick keys that are the same size (or even larger) than those on a 16-inch device. The lack of a number pad on the right side exacerbates this fact.

The chassis of this laptop comes in a metallic “Luna Grey” colorway and a limited edition white colorway called “Seashell.” I wish I could have seen it up close and in person, as the standard grey looks thoroughly businesslike.

Still, the ThinkBook 13x feels extremely solid – I’d even say iron-hard – and there’s virtually no bending or flexing in the chassis. Its durability is measured using 12 military-grade certification methods and has achieved the MIL-STD 810H standard. If you prefer this type of laptop, you’ll love this notebook, which is absolutely sturdy despite its size.

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Okay, let’s talk about Magic Bay. If you’re into laptop accessories or have a drawer full of webcams, this is definitely something you should check out. The modular versatility of the Magic Bay ecosystem gives this laptop (and other Lenovo devices that support it) the ability to take on many functions depending on what accessories you want.

For example, the Magic Bay Light can act as a ring light when you’re on the phone in less than optimal lighting, or the Magic Bay LTE Hotspot can back up your internet connection when Wi-Fi is spotty. There are also more obvious additional features like external storage, fans (for you, not the notebook), or even a second display, although these are in various stages of development and availability.

The Magic Bay Studio is the most immediately useful add-on, though. It’s a 4K webcam with built-in speakers, and it elevates this laptop into the professional developer category. It remains to be seen how far Lenovo will take the Magic Bay products, but I think it could work well if implemented cleverly.

If you’re wondering how all these extra features affect battery life, luckily the Thinkbook 13x has no shortcomings in that regard. It has a 74Whr battery, which is quite a large capacity for a 13-inch device.

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In my testing, I got well over 10 hours on PCMark 10’s battery test and a little less when I ran my own test with a YouTube live stream at 50% brightness and 50% volume over Wi-Fi. This is definitely a laptop that can easily handle a day of heavy work and last into the second day with light or intermittent use.

The last thing that surprised me about this laptop was the sound quality. The Harman Kardon speakers have impressive bass and volume, especially for such a small device, which adds to its versatility even further.

Buying advice from ZDNET

If you are looking for a powerful and versatile 13-inch laptop, you should check out the Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Gen 4. It’s not cheap, but it offers powerful processor options and long battery life, and the Magic Bay adds a whole new level of versatility.

If you want a 13-inch laptop with similar specs but a bit more affordable, MSI’s Prestige 13 AI Evo is a solid alternative that starts at $899. If you like ThinkBooks but want a bigger screen, check out the Lenovo ThinkBook 14 2-in-1.