The Lenovo Thinkpad Streak Is Over - This Model Breaks A Decade-long Trend In The Best Way Yet

Lenovo ThinkPad X9 Aura Edition

ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

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

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

Now that I've been utilizing it for months now, it has go 1 of my favourite laptops of nan year, acknowledgment to its versatility, superb display, and awesome artillery life. In a sense, nan X9 Aura Edition is simply a ThinkPad that has evolved into a caller form, retaining immoderate of what we emotion astir nan iconic lineup while besides elaborating connected a caller vision. 

Also: How to bargain nan correct laptop for school, work, and play (and communal mistakes to avoid)

But I should besides mention that location is immoderate clash here. First, if you're a ThinkPad enthusiast, it's easy to consciousness for illustration Lenovo is abandoning nan line's halfway features, but nan X9 Aura Edition seems to beryllium much of an research than a sweeping redefinition of nan flagship family.

There's an evident resemblance to nan MacBook, and nan Aura Edition features are decidedly engineered to speak to nan Apple personification (or refugee). I've covered them extensively since nan tap-to-share functionality spurred hordes of participants to slam their smartphones against nan first Aura Edition laptops past year, and they're each still here, but much for illustration prize features alternatively than flagship headliners. 

Also: The Lenovo ThinkPad I urge to astir hybrid workers has an awesome spec list

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

Kerry Wan/ZDNET

Ultimately, though, nan X9 is simply a ThinkPad, moreover though it doesn't look nan part. Its value constituent positions it arsenic a mid-tier+ instrumentality pinch a sleek, forward-thinking creation and is notably much affordable than nan X1 Carbon. The ThinkPad reigns ultimate astatine nan apical successful some hardware and performance. 

The X9 Aura Edition's beingness framework is sleek and thin, but it feels coagulated and well-made. It has a cool slate grey colorway and a ribbed bottommost half of nan clamshell. One of nan first things you'll announcement is nan large barroom moving alongside nan bottommost of nan device.

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

Also: The champion Lenovo laptops

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

The integrated Intel Arc 130V GPU, mixed pinch nan 2.8K, 500nit 120Hz refresh complaint display, makes for a gorgeous ocular experience, whether gaming aliases spreadsheet surfing. 

But this is still a ThinkPad, and it's well-positioned arsenic a activity machine. The redesigned keyboard utilizes recently designed, positively silent keys and a ample haptic trackpad that replaces nan accustomed correct and near click buttons for a precise and minimal solid pad positioned correct successful nan halfway of nan device. 

Kyle Kucharski/ZDNET

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

Also: Why I urge this fund Lenovo ThinkPad complete laptops that costs doubly nan price

Portability pinch nan hybrid worker successful mind is nan wide taxable here, and this continues pinch nan halfway hardware connected nan X9, which is powered by an Intel Core Ultra 5 aliases 7 (Series 2) processor, modular fare for a lightweight and affordable laptop successful this value range.

Now, let's talk astir nan artillery life, which comes conscionable awkward of different flagship devices pinch Intel's "Lunar Lake"-series chips I've reviewed, for illustration nan Asus Zenbook S 14 and nan Dell XPS 13. I sewage complete 13 hours of artillery life during my testing of this device, which, compared to nan Zenbook (17 hours) and XPS 13 (16 hours), is nan outlier. But keeping nan large image successful mind, it is capable to past nan full activity day.

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

Also: How to clear nan cache connected your Windows 11 PC (and why you shouldn't hold to do it)

In position of pricing, location are immoderate things to statement here. The starting configuration pinch nan Intel Core Ultra 5 comes pinch conscionable 256GB of retention for $1,226. I understand that for users who unrecorded successful nan cloud, immense amounts of on-device retention aren't needed, but this is immoderate of nan lowest I've seen for a instrumentality successful this value range. 

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

Kerry Wan/ZDNET

This isn't a deal-breaker aliases needfully different for a high-design, experimental instrumentality that exists to break a mold, but it's surely thing consumers should beryllium alert of. Basically, you person to beryllium committed to nan creation here, arsenic it's imaginable to get a small much for little elsewhere. 

That being said, for each nan reasons mentioned above, there's a batch to love, particularly if you're attracted to nan bold design, durable shape 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 shape facet consequence successful a statement-making laptop pinch nan hardware to backmost it up. 

In position of pricing, hardware, and targeted demographic, I would put Lenovo's X9 14 Aura Edition successful nan aforesaid ballpark arsenic nan Asus Zenbook S 14 and Dell XPS 13, 2 different "Lunar Lake" devices pinch a bold creation streak. 

The X9 stands apart, however, pinch a much down-to-business artistic and base nan sanction of 1 of nan astir respected laptop families connected nan market. Despite nan on-device retention being little than I would expect for this laptop, I'd still urge it for folks who activity successful nan cloud, want a premium personification experience, and prioritize a high-quality webcam.