Breaking From Tradition, ThinkPad X9 Offers a Cheap Path to OLED Ultraportable

7.8/ 10
SCORE

Lenovo ThinkPad X9 14 Aura Edition

Pros

Thin, sturdy design
Includes OLED display for a great price
Excellent haptic touchpad
Great battery life

Cons

So-so performance
Keyboard isn’t up to ThinkPad standard
Heavier than it looks
Aura Edition stuff is more marketing fluff than anything actually useful

For a laptop line steeped in tradition like the ThinkPad, one that goes back before Lenovo acquired IBM’s computer business, the Lenovo ThinkPad X9 14 Aura Edition marks a radical departure. For starters, it lacks a ThinkPad’s familiar boxy shape and matte black finish. There’s also no red TrackPoint pointing stick in the middle of the keyboard, and the keyboard itself isn’t very ThinkPad-like.

Flip it over, and you’ll notice a pair of unusual design elements: a grooved bottom cover and what Lenovo calls an Engine Hub, a vented strip that houses the ThinkPad X9 14’s cooling fans and ports. This hub protrudes from the bottom panel to optimize thermals while also allowing the rest of the laptop to be impressively thin.

While I like the sleek look of the ThinkPad X9 14 and love its rigid, sturdy aluminum enclosure, it’s significantly heavier than the carbon fiber ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition. The X9 might force you to carry around some extra weight, but its price is lighter. The X9 costs hundreds less while offering two key items found on the X1 Carbon: a beautiful OLED display and a generously proportioned haptic touchpad. If you can do without the pointing stick, then the ThinkPad X9 14 Aura Edition offers a well-rounded package at a more budget-friendly price than flagship business ultraportables like the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 and the HP EliteBook Ultra G1i.

Lenovo ThinkPad X9 14 Aura Edition

Price as reviewed	$1,337
Display size/resolution	14-inch 2,880×1,800 120Hz OLED display
CPU	Intel Core Ultra 5 226V
Memory	16GB LPDDR5-8533
Graphics	Intel Arc 130V
Storage	512GB SSD
Ports	2 x Thunderbolt 4, HDMI 2.1, combo audio
Networking	Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4
Operating system	Windows 11 Pro
Weight	2.84 lbs (1.28 kg)

The ThinkPad X9 14 Aura Edition starts at just over $1,000, which is significantly less than the entry point for the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13. You’ll spend closer to $2,000 for even the cheapest X1 Carbon Gen 13, and it won’t have an OLED display or haptic touchpad, both of which come standard on all ThinkPad X9 14 models.

The entry-level ThinkPad X9 14 features an Intel Core Ultra 5 226V processor, 16GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD and a 1,920-by-1,200 OLED display with a 60Hz refresh rate and a rated 400 nits of brightness. My test model features three upgrades: a 512GB SSD for $100, a 2,880-by-1,800 OLED for $100, and Windows 11 Pro for $60. The 2.8K OLED panel not only supplies a higher resolution than the base display, it also comes with touch support, a variable refresh rate of up to 120Hz and a rated 500 nits of brightness. At the time of this review, my test system was discounted to $1,337 at Lenovo.

Other upgrades include two slightly higher-end Core Ultra 5 processors as well as a pair of Core Ultra 7 options, all of which come with 32GB of memory. The Core Ultra 5 228V upgrade with 32GB of RAM for only $20 is a great deal for just the memory upgrade alone. You can also outfit the laptop with up to 2TB of storage. One upgrade not offered that you can get with the X1 Carbon is mobile broadband, a feature many road warriors require for times when they can’t connect to a Wi-Fi network.

The ThinkPad X9 14 Aura Edition starts at £1,020 in the UK and AU$1,945 in Australia.

Lenovo ThinkPad X9 14 Aura Edition Intel sticker — Matt Elliott/CNET

Lenovo ThinkPad X9 14 Aura Edition performance

My ThinkPad X9 14 test laptop isn’t a speed machine. It features the baseline duo of the Core Ultra 5 226V and 16GB of RAM, which are the same specs you get with the Acer Aspire 14 AI, which is a fine laptop in its own right but a truly budget model that you can pick up for between $500 and $700. The ThinkPad X9 14 costs double that and beyond, once you start adding upgrades.

You don’t necessarily need to upgrade the ThinkPad X9 14 with one of the Core Ultra 7 processors, but either of the other Core Ultra 5 options would go a long way toward snappier performance simply for the 32GB of RAM that they include. As configured, the ThinkPad X9 14 finished near the back of the pack on our application benchmarks and was particularly lackluster on the multicore tests for Geekbench 6 and Cinebench 2024.

Graphics performance from the integrated Intel Arc 130V was also so-so, trailing that of Core Ultra 7-based laptops with Intel’s integrated Arc 140V graphics but ahead of models with integrated GPUs from AMD and Qualcomm on the 3DMark Steel Nomad test. Its score on Procyon’s AI Computer Vision benchmark, which measures integer math proficiency for AI workloads, was slightly behind the scores from other laptops with current-generation AI CPUs but well ahead of the HP Pavilion Plus 14, which features a first-gen Intel Core Ultra chip.

What the ThinkPad X9 14 lacks in raw performance, it makes up for in efficiency. It ran for more than 17 hours on our YouTube streaming battery-drain test, which is an excellent result for an Intel-based laptop. You can get longer battery life from a laptop based on a Qualcomm Snapdragon X series CPU, where we’ve regularly seen battery life of more than 20 hours, including Microsoft’s 13-inch Surface Laptop, which lasted for more than 24 hours on the same test.

The Core Ultra 5 226V from Intel’s Lunar Lake series has none of the potential Windows-on-Arm software compatibility issues, however, and it still provides battery life long enough that you can leave your charger at home, take the ThinkPad X9 14 to work all day and return home with plenty left in the tank.

Check out CNET’s mobile CPU explainer for more details on what to expect from different laptop processors in 2025.

A ThinkPad that thinks different

Without the matte black finish and slightly chunky, boxy shape, the ThinkPad X9 14 doesn’t look all that much like a ThinkPad. And the keyboard has a different look and feel, even without considering the distinct lack of the red TrackPoint in its center. I mean, there are still some ThinkPad touches, like the ThinkPad logo in the corner of the lid with the “i” getting the glowing-red-dot treatment, the notch above the display for the webcam and the sturdier single hinge for the display that runs nearly the width of the laptop.

Matt Elliott/CNET

Instead of the traditional matte black, the ThinkPad X9 14 features a brushed aluminum finish in a dark gray that’s between Apple’s space gray and midnight black options for its MacBooks. It’s fairly rigid but doesn’t have a very distinctive look, which maybe you won’t mind if you aren’t looking to make a statement with your work laptop.

The keyboard also lacks distinction. The squared-off keys are a departure from the usual ThinkPad shape, where the keys have a rounded bottom. There’s a hint of the rounded shape as the bottom edge of the X9’s keys is gently sloped, but the keys certainly have a different look. They also have a different feel — one that’s not quite as plush as the ThinkPad X1 Carbon’s. Because the ThinkPad X9 14 is so thin, key travel is shallower than on the X1 Carbon and feels rather generic, bordering on mushy.

Lenovo ThinkPad X9 14 Aura Edition keyboard and touchpad — Matt Elliott/CNET

The ThinkPad X9 14 scores points for being very thin — it’s less than 18 millimeters thick, or roughly 0.7 inches — but it’s not very light. At 2.8 pounds, it’s merely average for its size. Other 14-inch laptops are much lighter, including the 2.2-pound ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 and the 2.6-pound HP EliteBook Ultra G1i. And among similarly sized consumer models, the 13.6-inch MacBook Air weighs 2.7 pounds and the Asus Zenbook A14 weighs just 2.2 pounds.

Lenovo ThinkPad X9 14 Aura Edition grooved bottom panel — Matt Elliott/CNET

The ThinkPad X9 14 achieves its remarkable thinness by putting the cooling fans in the Engine Hub, a rectangular bump-out on the bottom panel. Between the two cooling fans is the Core Ultra 5 226V CPU and its integrated memory module.

The ports are also located on either end of this hub: a Thunderbolt 4 port on either side, along with an HDMI out on the left and a headphone jack on the right. By placing these items in this vented strip, Lenovo says, the cooling and performance are optimized. I don’t know if it helped the X9’s performance any, but the laptop did stay cool and quiet during my time with it.

The ThinkPad X9 14 lacks many of the advantages you get with the flagship X1 Carbon, but it includes two features I’d want in my primary work laptop: an OLED display and a haptic touchpad. Even the baseline X9 model comes with an OLED, and our unit included the upgrade option that delivers a higher resolution, a higher (and variable) refresh rate, increased brightness and touch support. It’s a 2.8K-resolution OLED panel (2,880-by-1,800 pixels) with a variable refresh of up to 120Hz. Text and images look incredibly crisp with such a high resolution on a 14-inch display, and you get the vibrant colors and stellar contrast you’d expect from an OLED. It’s definitely worth the modest $100 up-charge.

Matt Elliott/CNET

The haptic touchpad comes standard, and it’s excellent. It’s generously portioned, especially for a ThinkPad whose touchpad surface is usually squeezed by the two added mouse buttons wedged between it and the spacebar for the pointing stick. But without a pointing stick, there’s more space for the touchpad. I loved having a consistent and customizable click response across its entire surface instead of just along its bottom half, as you’d get with a basic mechanical touchpad.

So, what’s with this Aura Edition business, you might be wondering. It comes from Lenovo partnering with Intel on a handful of “smart” features, such as smart sharing for swapping files between the laptop and your phone via Intel’s Unison app. There’s an attention mode where you can set a timer to limit or disable notifications, and a wellness mode that reminds you to take a break to rest your eyes or sit up straight when you begin to slouch. I don’t like the idea of the camera monitoring me as I work, but maybe you miss having your mom or dad giving you proper posture reminders. Perhaps the most useful part of the Aura Edition thing is Smart Care, which provides specialized support for one year, where you get access to dedicated virtual and live agents.

Lenovo ThinkPad X9 14 Aura Edition webcam notch — Matt Elliott/CNET

The ThinkPad X9 14 offers both biometric options — facial recognition via the webcam and a fingerprint scanner on the power button — for secure logins. These are appreciated features on a consumer laptop and must-haves on a business machine. And the webcam itself is great: an 8-megapixel sensor that captures sharp, well-balanced images and video.

Should I buy the Lenovo ThinkPad X9 14 Aura Edition?

If you’re a ThinkPad traditionalist, then it’s best to pass on this model. But if you’re looking for a business laptop for basic office tasks and want an OLED display and roomy haptic touchpad for a great price, then the ThinkPad X9 14 starts to look like a winner.

The review process for laptops, desktops, tablets and other computerlike devices consists of two parts: performance testing under controlled conditions in the CNET Labs and extensive hands-on use by our expert reviewers. This includes evaluating a device’s aesthetics, ergonomics and features. A final review verdict is a combination of both objective and subjective judgments.

The list of benchmarking software we use changes over time as the devices we test evolve. The most important core tests we’re currently running on every compatible computer include Primate Labs Geekbench 6, Cinebench R23, PCMark 10 and 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra.

A more detailed description of each benchmark and how we use it can be found on our How We Test Computers page.

Geekbench 6 CPU (multi-core)

HP Pavilion Plus 14 11646Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 11079HP EliteBook Ultra G1i 11032Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i 14 Gen 10 Aura Edition 11029Microsoft Surface Laptop, 13 inch 10985Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 (DR04255) 10554Acer Aspire 14 AI (A14-52MT) 10082Lenovo ThinkPad X9 14 Aura Edition 9844