The ultraportable laptop segment has undergone a dramatic transformation over the years, driven by the relentless pursuit of thinner, lighter, and more powerful devices. Early ultraportables often compromised on performance and features to achieve their svelte profiles. However, advancements in technology have enabled manufacturers to pack incredible power and functionality into increasingly compact form factors. The ThinkPad X9 Aura Edition, unveiled at CES 2025, exemplifies this evolution, representing a new generation of ultraportables that seamlessly blend cutting-edge performance with intelligent features and exceptional portability. This isn’t merely about incremental upgrades or iterative improvements; it’s about a fundamental shift in how we interact with our laptops, a transition towards a more intelligent, personalized, and intuitive computing experience.

Design and Cooling: A Masterclass in Thermal Engineering:

The ThinkPad X9 Aura Edition immediately captivates with its remarkably thin and lightweight design. Measuring a mere 0.3 inches at its thinnest point, it pushes the boundaries of what’s possible in an ultraportable form factor. This remarkable feat of engineering is made possible by Lenovo’s innovative “Engine Hub” design, a strategically placed rectangular protrusion on the laptop’s base that houses the vapor chambers and dual fans responsible for dissipating heat generated by the powerful Intel Core Ultra processor. The Engine Hub also cleverly integrates the Thunderbolt 4 ports, optimizing space utilization and contributing to the laptop’s overall svelte profile. This design not only enables a thinner chassis but also facilitates active cooling, a significant advantage, particularly when it comes to sustained performance under demanding workloads. The inclusion of a full-size HDMI port is a welcome addition, catering to professionals who require compatibility with legacy displays and peripherals.

The design of the ThinkPad X9 is a departure from traditional ThinkPad aesthetics, opting for a more modern and minimalist approach. The aluminum chassis is sleek and elegant, with clean lines and a premium feel. The “Thunder Grey” color adds a touch of sophistication, while the ribbed texture on the bottom plate provides a secure grip, enhancing portability and reducing the risk of accidental drops. The hinge mechanism is robust and allows for smooth opening and closing of the lid. Overall, the ThinkPad X9’s design is a successful blend of form and function, offering both aesthetic appeal and practical considerations.

Build Quality and Aesthetics: A Fusion of Durability and Elegance:

The ThinkPad X9 exudes a sense of solidity and refinement that is synonymous with the ThinkPad brand. The aluminum chassis feels incredibly robust, inspiring confidence in its ability to withstand the rigors of daily use and travel. The “Thunder Grey” color lends an air of understated sophistication, while the ribbed texture on the bottom plate provides a secure grip, enhancing portability and reducing the risk of accidental drops. The keyboard, though devoid of the iconic TrackPoint, remains a tactile delight, offering well-defined key travel and responsive feedback that make typing a pleasure. The oversized glass touchpad with haptic feedback is a testament to Lenovo’s attention to detail, providing a smooth and precise tracking experience with a satisfyingly tactile click.

Lenovo has a long-standing reputation for building durable laptops, and the ThinkPad X9 is no exception. The laptop has undergone rigorous testing to meet MIL-STD-810H standards, ensuring its ability to withstand extreme temperatures, humidity, vibration, and shocks. This makes the ThinkPad X9 a reliable companion for professionals who work in demanding environments or travel frequently.

Display: A Visual Spectacle:

Lenovo offers two display options for the ThinkPad X9: a 1200p non-touch panel and a breathtaking 1800p OLED touch screen. The latter is a visual masterpiece, boasting 500 nits of peak brightness, HDR 600 support, and a 120Hz variable refresh rate. This combination delivers vibrant colors, deep blacks, and incredibly smooth motion, making it ideal for creative professionals, media enthusiasts, and anyone who appreciates a truly immersive visual experience. Both display options cover 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, ensuring accurate color reproduction for professional workflows. Furthermore, both panels feature Eyesafe certification, which reduces harmful blue light emissions, minimizing eye strain and promoting user well-being during extended usage sessions. The OLED panel, in particular, is a standout feature, offering exceptional contrast, deep blacks, and vibrant colors that make it a joy to behold.

The ThinkPad X9’s display is one of its strongest features, offering exceptional image quality and a wide range of customization options. The OLED panel delivers stunning visuals with deep blacks, vibrant colors, and excellent contrast. The 120Hz refresh rate ensures smooth motion, making it ideal for gaming and media consumption. The display also supports HDR content, providing a more immersive viewing experience with greater dynamic range and detail. Lenovo has also included several display profiles, allowing users to fine-tune the color accuracy and gamma to their liking.

Performance: Harnessing the Power of Intel Core Ultra:

At the heart of the ThinkPad X9 lies Intel’s latest Core Ultra 200V “Lunar Lake” processors, offering configurations up to a Core Ultra 7 with vPro security. These cutting-edge chips represent a significant leap forward in mobile computing performance, particularly in the realm of artificial intelligence. The integrated Neural Processing Unit (NPU) is capable of an astounding 48 trillion operations per second (TOPS), enabling lightning-fast execution of AI-powered tasks and features. This translates to enhanced responsiveness in AI-driven applications, smoother multitasking, and an overall more fluid user experience. The integrated Arc graphics processor is Intel’s most powerful to date, delivering impressive graphics performance for both productivity and entertainment. Whether you’re editing photos, creating videos, or enjoying casual gaming, the ThinkPad X9 has the graphical horsepower to handle it all with ease. Furthermore, the laptop supports up to 32GB of RAM and a massive 2TB of SSD storage, providing ample capacity for demanding workloads and ensuring a future-proof computing experience.

The ThinkPad X9’s performance is nothing short of impressive. The Intel Core Ultra processor delivers exceptional speed and responsiveness, making light work of even the most demanding tasks. The integrated Arc graphics provide ample power for casual gaming and media editing, while the generous RAM and storage options ensure smooth multitasking and ample space for your files and applications. The laptop also boots up quickly and resumes from sleep almost instantly, thanks to the fast SSD storage.

AI-Powered Features: Lenovo’s Aura Edition Smart Experiences:

Lenovo’s Aura Edition Smart Experiences represent a paradigm shift in how we interact with our laptops. These intelligent features leverage the power of the Core Ultra processor and AI to enhance productivity, security, and well-being. Let’s explore each feature in detail:

• Collaboration Mode: This feature streamlines the virtual meeting experience by automatically optimizing camera settings, applying preferred background effects, and activating auto-framing. It’s like having a personal assistant dedicated to ensuring you always look your best during video conferences. The low-light enhancement and environmental adaptation capabilities further enhance the experience, ensuring optimal video quality regardless of lighting conditions.
• Attention Mode: In today’s distraction-filled world, maintaining focus can be a challenge. Attention Mode helps you reclaim your concentration by intelligently silencing notifications and blocking access to distracting websites. The level of customization is impressive, allowing you to specify which websites to block and for how long, putting you in complete control of your digital environment.
• Power Mode: Battery life is a critical consideration for any ultraportable laptop. Power Mode intelligently manages power consumption, dynamically adjusting settings to balance performance and longevity. Whether you’re engaged in resource-intensive tasks or simply browsing the web, Power Mode ensures you get the most out of your battery.
• Wellness Mode: Lenovo recognizes the importance of user well-being, and Wellness Mode reflects this commitment. This feature minimizes eye strain by adjusting display settings and even monitors your posture, providing timely reminders to take breaks and stretch. This holistic approach to user health promotes a more sustainable and comfortable computing experience.
• Shield Mode: Security is paramount in today’s interconnected world. Shield Mode utilizes AI-powered computer vision to detect shoulder surfers, automatically blurring the screen to protect sensitive information from prying eyes. It can even prompt you to activate your VPN for an added layer of security, ensuring your data remains private and confidential.
• Smart Share: Seamless device integration is a hallmark of modern workflows. Smart Share enables effortless connectivity between your smartphone and your ThinkPad X9, facilitating quick file transfers, photo editing, and even text messaging from your laptop. This streamlined approach to device interaction enhances productivity and simplifies cross-device workflows.

Lenovo’s Aura Edition Smart Experiences are a testament to the company’s commitment to innovation and user-centric design. These AI-powered features genuinely enhance the user experience, making the ThinkPad X9 a more productive, secure, and enjoyable device to use.

Keyboard and Trackpad: A Departure from Tradition:

The ThinkPad X9 marks a departure from tradition by omitting the iconic TrackPoint, a staple of ThinkPad keyboards for decades. This decision, while potentially controversial among long-time ThinkPad users, is likely aimed at broadening the laptop’s appeal to a wider audience, including those who may be more accustomed to traditional touchpads. The keyboard itself, however, remains true to the ThinkPad legacy, offering a comfortable typing experience with well-defined key travel and tactile feedback. The oversized glass touchpad with haptic feedback is a welcome addition, providing a smooth and precise tracking experience with a satisfyingly tactile click.

While the omission of the TrackPoint may disappoint some purists, the ThinkPad X9’s keyboard is still a joy to use. The keys are well-spaced and offer excellent travel and feedback, making typing a comfortable and efficient experience. The haptic touchpad is a great alternative to the TrackPoint, providing precise cursor control and a satisfying clicking sensation. The touchpad also supports multi-touch gestures, allowing for intuitive navigation and interaction with the operating system.

Connectivity: Embracing the Latest Standards:

The ThinkPad X9 offers a comprehensive suite of connectivity options, including dual Thunderbolt 4 ports, a full-size HDMI port, and a USB-A port. Wireless connectivity is handled by Intel’s latest Wi-Fi 7 standard, ensuring blazing-fast speeds and reliable connections. The inclusion of Bluetooth 5.4 further enhances connectivity options, enabling seamless pairing with a wide range of peripherals.

The ThinkPad X9’s connectivity options are well-suited for both professional and personal use. The Thunderbolt 4 ports offer high-bandwidth connectivity for external displays, storage devices, and other peripherals. The HDMI port provides compatibility with legacy displays and projectors, while the USB-A port allows for connection to a wide range of devices, including mice, keyboards, and printers. The Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 standards ensure fast and reliable wireless connectivity for both data transfer and communication.

Battery Life: Exceeding Expectations:

The ThinkPad X9 is equipped with a large 80Wh battery, which, combined with the power-efficient Lunar Lake processors and intelligent power management features, delivers exceptional battery life. In our tests, the laptop achieved impressive runtimes. This exceptional battery life makes the ThinkPad X9 an ideal companion for mobile professionals and anyone who demands all-day productivity without being tethered to a power outlet.

The ThinkPad X9’s battery life is a testament to Lenovo’s commitment to providing users with a truly mobile computing experience. The laptop can easily last through a full workday on a single charge, even with moderate to heavy use. This is a significant advantage over many other ultraportable laptops, which often struggle to provide adequate battery life for extended use.

Audio: A Surprisingly Powerful Sound System:

The ThinkPad X9 boasts a surprisingly powerful sound system for an ultraportable laptop. The quad-speaker setup delivers loud and clear audio with a respectable amount of bass, making it suitable for both media consumption and video conferencing. The audio quality is further enhanced by Dolby Atmos support, which creates a more immersive listening experience.

The ThinkPad X9’s audio capabilities are a pleasant surprise, exceeding expectations for a laptop of its size and class. The speakers deliver rich and balanced sound, making it enjoyable to watch movies, listen to music, or participate in video calls. The Dolby Atmos support adds a further layer of immersion, creating a more cinematic audio experience.

Webcam: A High-Resolution Upgrade:

Lenovo has equipped the ThinkPad X9 with an 8MP webcam, a significant upgrade over the 1080p webcams commonly found in laptops. This high-resolution sensor captures more detail and offers improved image quality, particularly in low-light conditions. The inclusion of an IR module enables Windows Hello facial recognition, providing a secure and convenient way to log in to the laptop.

The ThinkPad X9’s webcam is a welcome upgrade, offering significantly better image quality than most laptop webcams. This is particularly important in today’s world of remote work and video conferencing, where clear and detailed video is essential for effective communication. The Windows Hello facial recognition feature adds a layer of security and convenience, allowing users to quickly and securely log in to their laptops.

The Verdict: A New Benchmark for Ultraportable Computing:

The Lenovo ThinkPad X9 Aura Edition is a remarkable achievement, a testament to Lenovo’s commitment to innovation and engineering excellence. It’s a machine that seamlessly blends the best of both worlds, offering the portability and elegance of an ultraportable with the power and intelligence of a professional workstation. The AI-powered features are genuinely useful, enhancing productivity, security, and well-being in meaningful ways. The performance is top-notch, thanks to the cutting-edge Intel Core Ultra processor and integrated Arc graphics. The design is both sleek and durable, exuding a sense of premium quality. The ThinkPad X9 offers a compelling value proposition for users who demand the best of both worlds. It’s a machine that not only keeps pace with the evolving landscape of computing but also helps define it.

The ThinkPad X9 Aura Edition excels in virtually every aspect. The AI-driven features are genuinely beneficial, the performance is exceptional, and the design is both elegant and robust. The only minor caveat is the potentially higher price tag. However, for those who prioritize productivity, security, and well-being, and are willing to invest in a premium device that pushes the boundaries of what’s possible in an ultraportable, the ThinkPad X9 Aura Edition is a clear winner. It’s a testament to the transformative power of AI, a glimpse into the future of computing. This machine isn’t just keeping up with the times; it’s defining them.