Dynabook Portégé X40-G in Review: Luxury business notebook offers display protection against unwanted glances
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Best Price |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
85.4 % | 11/2020 | Dynabook Portégé X40-G-10K i5-10210U, UHD Graphics 620 | 1.3 kg | 16.9 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1080 | |
87.8 % | 11/2020 | HP EliteBook 845 G7-23Y60EA R5 PRO 4650U, Vega 6 | 1.5 kg | 17.9 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1080 | |
88.9 % | 07/2020 | Dell Latitude 7410 i7-10610U, UHD Graphics 620 | 1.4 kg | 19.3 mm | 14.00" | 3840x2160 | |
90.2 % | 07/2020 | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 2020-20UAS04T00 i7-10510U, UHD Graphics 620 | 1.1 kg | 14.9 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1080 |
Case, equipment and input devices
Dynabook relies on a slim, dark blue metal case with matt-blunt surfaces, which was adopted from the Toshiba Tecra X40-E. The device does not show any manufacturing flaws. While the stiffness of the base unit is pleasing, the lid should have a bit more of it. The battery is firmly installed. You can reach the innards after disassembling the lower shell.
The notebook has a USB 3.2 Gen 1 port (Type A USB) and two Thunderbolt 3 slots (Type C USB) on board. The latter support Displayport-per-USB-C andPower Delivery. The X40is powered by the included Type-C-USB power supply.The computer does not havea proprietarypower supply connector. The built-in MicroSD memory card reader is one of the slowest of its kind.
The WLAN chip (Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201) supports the standards 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax and provides Bluetooth 5 functionality. The data rates determined under optimal conditions (no other WLAN devices in the vicinity, short distance between notebook and server PC; router: Netgear Nighthawk AX12) turn out very good.
The illuminated chiclet keyboard has proven to be suitable for everyday use, and the keystrokes for the second and third functions have been criticized. These are kept in a grey tone and are generally difficult to recognize. They are also not illuminated. A multi-touch capable click pad (approx. 9.9 x 5.7 cm) and a trackpoint including two mouse buttons serve as mouse replacement.
SD Card Reader | |
average JPG Copy Test (av. of 3 runs) | |
Dell Latitude 7410 (Toshiba Exceria Pro M501 64 GB UHS-II) | |
Dynabook Portégé X40-G-10K (Toshiba Exceria Pro M501 microSDXC 64GB) | |
Toshiba Tecra X40-E-10W (Toshiba Exceria Pro M501 microSDXC 64GB) | |
Average of class Office (8 - 196.8, n=49, last 2 years) | |
maximum AS SSD Seq Read Test (1GB) | |
Dell Latitude 7410 (Toshiba Exceria Pro M501 64 GB UHS-II) | |
Toshiba Tecra X40-E-10W (Toshiba Exceria Pro M501 microSDXC 64GB) | |
Dynabook Portégé X40-G-10K (Toshiba Exceria Pro M501 microSDXC 64GB) | |
Average of class Office (25 - 173.2, n=43, last 2 years) |
Networking | |
iperf3 transmit AX12 | |
Dynabook Portégé X40-G-10K | |
HP EliteBook 845 G7-23Y60EA | |
Average Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 (49.8 - 1775, n=324) | |
Dell Latitude 7410 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 2020-20UAS04T00 | |
Toshiba Tecra X40-E-10W | |
iperf3 receive AX12 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 2020-20UAS04T00 | |
Dynabook Portégé X40-G-10K | |
Average Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 (136 - 1743, n=324) | |
HP EliteBook 845 G7-23Y60EA | |
Dell Latitude 7410 | |
Toshiba Tecra X40-E-10W |
Display
While the matte, viewing angle-stable 14-inch screen (IPS, FHD) delivers a good brightness value (371.6 cd/m²), the contrast (927:1) is too low. We consider values beyond 1,000:1 to be good. The display flickers at brightness levels of 20 percent and below with a frequency of 24,000 Hz.
The screen already shows good color representation in the as-delivered condition. With a color deviation of about 2.7, the target (Delta E less than 3) is met. It does not suffer from a blue cast. On the color space representation side, the display performs relatively well with coverage rates of 62% (AdobeRGB) and 96% (sRGB).
The display offers a switchable protection ("Fn" + "D") against side views. There is a difference between the two states, the wisdom of last resort does not represent the function. Screen contents are still visible from the side.
|
Brightness Distribution: 85 %
Center on Battery: 408 cd/m²
Contrast: 927:1 (Black: 0.44 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 2.73 | 0.5-29.43 Ø5
ΔE Greyscale 4.13 | 0.57-98 Ø5.3
96% sRGB (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
62% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
68% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
96.1% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
66.1% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.46
Dynabook Portégé X40-G-10K Toshiba TOS508F, IPS, 1920x1080, 14.00 | HP EliteBook 845 G7-23Y60EA LG Philips LGD064E, IPS, 1920x1080, 14.00 | Dell Latitude 7410 AU Optronics B140ZAN, IPS, 3840x2160, 14.00 | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 2020-20UAS04T00 BOE NE140FHM-N61, IPS, 1920x1080, 14.00 | Toshiba Tecra X40-E-10W Toshiba TOS508F, IPS, 1920x1080, 14.00 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Display | -43% | 6% | -1% | -38% | |
Display P3 Coverage | 66.1 | 36.76 -44% | 71.8 9% | 68.9 4% | 40.55 -39% |
sRGB Coverage | 96.1 | 55.3 -42% | 99.3 3% | 91.6 -5% | 61 -37% |
AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 68 | 37.98 -44% | 72.4 6% | 67.1 -1% | 41.9 -38% |
Response Times | 9% | 7% | -58% | 16% | |
Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 39 ? | 37 ? 5% | 39.2 ? -1% | 64.8 ? -66% | 22 ? 44% |
Response Time Black / White * | 26 ? | 23 ? 12% | 22.4 ? 14% | 30.4 ? -17% | 22 ? 15% |
PWM Frequency | 24000 ? | 2404 ? -90% | 21000 ? -12% | ||
Screen | -11% | -13% | -9% | -15% | |
Brightness middle | 408 | 227 -44% | 388.6 -5% | 422 3% | 266 -35% |
Brightness | 372 | 220 -41% | 365 -2% | 395 6% | 244 -34% |
Brightness Distribution | 85 | 82 -4% | 82 -4% | 90 6% | 86 1% |
Black Level * | 0.44 | 0.18 59% | 0.35 20% | 0.27 39% | 0.2 55% |
Contrast | 927 | 1261 36% | 1110 20% | 1563 69% | 1330 43% |
Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 2.73 | 4.1 -50% | 4.04 -48% | 4.7 -72% | 4.61 -69% |
Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 5.61 | 7.06 -26% | 9.2 -64% | 10 -78% | 7.46 -33% |
Greyscale dE 2000 * | 4.13 | 1.99 52% | 6.4 -55% | 6.4 -55% | 4.31 -4% |
Gamma | 2.46 89% | 2.48 89% | 2.3 96% | 2.12 104% | 2.54 87% |
CCT | 5862 111% | 6607 98% | 6957 93% | 7106 91% | 6848 95% |
Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998) | 62 | 35 -44% | 66.4 7% | 59.5 -4% | 39 -37% |
Color Space (Percent of sRGB) | 96 | 55 -43% | 99.4 4% | 91.5 -5% | 61 -36% |
Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated * | 4.04 | 1.25 | 2 | ||
Total Average (Program / Settings) | -15% /
-15% | 0% /
-6% | -23% /
-17% | -12% /
-14% |
* ... smaller is better
Display Response Times
↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
---|---|---|
26 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 14 ms rise | |
↘ 12 ms fall | ||
The screen shows relatively slow response rates in our tests and may be too slow for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 57 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (21.6 ms). | ||
↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
39 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 21 ms rise | |
↘ 18 ms fall | ||
The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.2 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 53 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (33.9 ms). |
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
Screen flickering / PWM detected | 24000 Hz | ≤ 20 % brightness setting | |
The display backlight flickers at 24000 Hz (worst case, e.g., utilizing PWM) Flickering detected at a brightness setting of 20 % and below. There should be no flickering or PWM above this brightness setting. The frequency of 24000 Hz is quite high, so most users sensitive to PWM should not notice any flickering. In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 18071 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured. |
Performance, emissions and battery life
The built-in Core i5-10210U processor (4 CPU cores, 8 threads; UHD Graphics 620 GPU) offers sufficient performance for office and internet applications. The CPU can use its turbo permanently at medium level. The Portégé was not created for displaying games. The hardware can only handle a few modest titles.
The system drive is an NVMe-SSD (M.2-2280) from Samsung, which provides 256 GB of storage space. The transfer rates of the SSD turn out very good, and replacing the SSD would require the complete removal of the motherboard. The SSD is located on the inward facing side of the motherboard.
When idle and under low load, the laptop's fan often stops. Under load it sometimes turns up too much: A sound pressure level maximum of 46.2 dB(A) should not occur with a simple office device. The SSD occasionally emits an audible whimper/squeak - for example during the DiskSpeed benchmark. The notebook does not heat up excessively over the entire load range. The stereo speakers produce an acceptable sound that lacks bass.
There are no conspicuous features regarding the energy consumption. In the WLAN test (simulates by means of a script the load when calling web pages, display brightness about 150 cd/m²) the computer reaches a runtime of almost 8 hours - a quite good, but not an outstanding value. A 14-incher of the price level presented here must deliver more. The competitors achieve better endurance values thanks to larger capacity batteries.
Cinebench R15 Loop
Cinebench R15 | |
CPU Single 64Bit | |
Average of class Office (82.6 - 284, n=117, last 2 years) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 2020-20UAS04T00 | |
Dell Latitude 7410 | |
HP EliteBook 845 G7-23Y60EA | |
Dynabook Portégé X40-G-10K | |
Average Intel Core i5-10210U (134 - 174, n=35) | |
Toshiba Tecra X40-E-10W | |
CPU Multi 64Bit | |
Average of class Office (160.8 - 2642, n=119, last 2 years) | |
HP EliteBook 845 G7-23Y60EA | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 2020-20UAS04T00 | |
Average Intel Core i5-10210U (320 - 790, n=35) | |
Dynabook Portégé X40-G-10K | |
Dell Latitude 7410 | |
Toshiba Tecra X40-E-10W |
Blender - v2.79 BMW27 CPU | |
Average Intel Core i5-10210U (585 - 1339, n=24) | |
Dynabook Portégé X40-G-10K | |
Dell Latitude 7410 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 2020-20UAS04T00 | |
Average of class Office (214 - 2844, n=119, last 2 years) | |
HP EliteBook 845 G7-23Y60EA |
7-Zip 18.03 | |
7z b 4 -mmt1 | |
Average of class Office (2233 - 6687, n=120, last 2 years) | |
Dell Latitude 7410 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 2020-20UAS04T00 | |
Dynabook Portégé X40-G-10K | |
HP EliteBook 845 G7-23Y60EA | |
Average Intel Core i5-10210U (3504 - 4467, n=24) | |
7z b 4 | |
Average of class Office (4226 - 62349, n=120, last 2 years) | |
HP EliteBook 845 G7-23Y60EA | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 2020-20UAS04T00 | |
Dell Latitude 7410 | |
Average Intel Core i5-10210U (10920 - 21679, n=24) | |
Dynabook Portégé X40-G-10K |
Cinebench R20 | |
CPU (Single Core) | |
Average of class Office (181.3 - 764, n=119, last 2 years) | |
HP EliteBook 845 G7-23Y60EA | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 2020-20UAS04T00 | |
Dynabook Portégé X40-G-10K | |
Average Intel Core i5-10210U (322 - 428, n=30) | |
Dell Latitude 7410 | |
CPU (Multi Core) | |
Average of class Office (356 - 5904, n=119, last 2 years) | |
HP EliteBook 845 G7-23Y60EA | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 2020-20UAS04T00 | |
Average Intel Core i5-10210U (722 - 1820, n=30) | |
Dell Latitude 7410 | |
Dynabook Portégé X40-G-10K |
Geekbench 5.5 | |
Single-Core | |
Average of class Office (510 - 1974, n=121, last 2 years) | |
Dell Latitude 7410 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 2020-20UAS04T00 | |
Dynabook Portégé X40-G-10K | |
Average Intel Core i5-10210U (949 - 1133, n=27) | |
HP EliteBook 845 G7-23Y60EA | |
Multi-Core | |
Average of class Office (1018 - 11980, n=121, last 2 years) | |
HP EliteBook 845 G7-23Y60EA | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 2020-20UAS04T00 | |
Dell Latitude 7410 | |
Average Intel Core i5-10210U (2079 - 4256, n=27) | |
Dynabook Portégé X40-G-10K |
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2 - 4k Preset | |
Average of class Office (1.55 - 17.4, n=119, last 2 years) | |
HP EliteBook 845 G7-23Y60EA | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 2020-20UAS04T00 | |
Dell Latitude 7410 | |
Average Intel Core i5-10210U (2.36 - 6.28, n=24) | |
Dynabook Portégé X40-G-10K |
LibreOffice - 20 Documents To PDF | |
HP EliteBook 845 G7-23Y60EA | |
Dynabook Portégé X40-G-10K | |
Average Intel Core i5-10210U (49.6 - 80.3, n=18) | |
Dell Latitude 7410 | |
Average of class Office (31.3 - 117.5, n=119, last 2 years) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 2020-20UAS04T00 |
R Benchmark 2.5 - Overall mean | |
Dynabook Portégé X40-G-10K | |
Average Intel Core i5-10210U (0.658 - 0.901, n=24) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 2020-20UAS04T00 | |
Dell Latitude 7410 | |
HP EliteBook 845 G7-23Y60EA | |
Average of class Office (0.4244 - 1.397, n=118, last 2 years) |
* ... smaller is better
PCMark 10 - Score | |
Average of class Office (2325 - 7157, n=104, last 2 years) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 2020-20UAS04T00 | |
Dell Latitude 7410 | |
HP EliteBook 845 G7-23Y60EA | |
Average Intel Core i5-10210U, Intel UHD Graphics 620 (3448 - 4353, n=28) | |
Dynabook Portégé X40-G-10K | |
Toshiba Tecra X40-E-10W |
DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
Dynabook Portégé X40-G-10K | |
HP EliteBook 845 G7-23Y60EA | |
Dell Latitude 7410 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 2020-20UAS04T00 |
* ... smaller is better
Dynabook Portégé X40-G-10K Samsung SSD PM981a MZVLB256HBHQ | HP EliteBook 845 G7-23Y60EA Samsung PM991 MZVLQ256HAJD | Dell Latitude 7410 Toshiba XG6 KXG60ZNV512G | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 2020-20UAS04T00 Samsung SSD PM981a MZVLB512HBJQ | Toshiba Tecra X40-E-10W Samsung PM961 MZVLW256HEHP | Average Samsung SSD PM981a MZVLB256HBHQ | Average of class Office | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CrystalDiskMark 5.2 / 6 | -29% | 11% | 21% | -22% | 9% | 35% | |
Write 4K | 149.1 | 80.6 -46% | 133.4 -11% | 185 24% | 100.1 -33% | 135.2 ? -9% | 157 ? 5% |
Read 4K | 45.53 | 31.2 -31% | 51.3 13% | 50.6 11% | 40.03 -12% | 44.6 ? -2% | 61.2 ? 34% |
Write Seq | 1845 | 883 -52% | 1897 3% | 1543 -16% | 1259 -32% | 2091 ? 13% | 2400 ? 30% |
Read Seq | 1359 | 1352 -1% | 2202 62% | 1509 11% | 1296 -5% | 2097 ? 54% | 2610 ? 92% |
Write 4K Q32T1 | 302.2 | 361 19% | 384.9 27% | 488.8 62% | 228.1 -25% | 370 ? 22% | 403 ? 33% |
Read 4K Q32T1 | 382.2 | 272 -29% | 318.7 -17% | 579 51% | 292.9 -23% | 372 ? -3% | 514 ? 34% |
Write Seq Q32T1 | 2351 | 979 -58% | 2866 22% | 2986 27% | 1286 -45% | 2308 ? -2% | 3044 ? 29% |
Read Seq Q32T1 | 3527 | 2286 -35% | 3122 -11% | 3555 1% | 3411 -3% | 3395 ? -4% | 4251 ? 21% |
3DMark - 1920x1080 Fire Strike Graphics | |
Average of class Office (712 - 8815, n=115, last 2 years) | |
HP EliteBook 845 G7-23Y60EA | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 2020-20UAS04T00 | |
Dell Latitude 7410 | |
Average Intel UHD Graphics 620 (557 - 2608, n=213) | |
Dynabook Portégé X40-G-10K | |
Toshiba Tecra X40-E-10W |
low | med. | high | ultra | |
BioShock Infinite (2013) | 53 | 30 | 24.2 | 7.9 |
Dota 2 Reborn (2015) | 67.9 | 38.2 | 18.1 | 16.1 |
X-Plane 11.11 (2018) | 9.67 | 7.94 | 7.91 |
Noise emissions
Noise Level
Idle |
| 25.2 / 25.2 / 25.2 dB(A) |
Load |
| 24.2 / 37.6 dB(A) |
| ||
30 dB silent 40 dB(A) audible 50 dB(A) loud |
||
min: , med: , max: Earthworks M23R, Arta (15 cm distance) environment noise: 25.2 dB(A) |
Temperature
(±) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 44.2 °C / 112 F, compared to the average of 34.2 °C / 94 F, ranging from 21.2 to 62.5 °C for the class Office.
(+) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 39 °C / 102 F, compared to the average of 36.7 °C / 98 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 26.9 °C / 80 F, compared to the device average of 29.5 °C / 85 F.
(+) The palmrests and touchpad are cooler than skin temperature with a maximum of 30.1 °C / 86.2 F and are therefore cool to the touch.
(-) The average temperature of the palmrest area of similar devices was 27.7 °C / 81.9 F (-2.4 °C / -4.3 F).
Speakers
Dynabook Portégé X40-G-10K audio analysis
(±) | speaker loudness is average but good (72.1 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 23.7% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (13.7% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 1.6% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (5.8% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 3.1% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (4.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (16.3% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 15% of all tested devices in this class were better, 5% similar, 80% worse
» The best had a delta of 7%, average was 22%, worst was 53%
Compared to all devices tested
» 22% of all tested devices were better, 5% similar, 73% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%
Energy consumption
Off / Standby | 0.4 / 0.46 Watt |
Idle | 2.7 / 11.2 / 11.8 Watt |
Load |
38 / 43.6 Watt |
Battery life
Battery Runtime - WiFi Websurfing | |
HP EliteBook 845 G7-23Y60EA | |
Dell Latitude 7410 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 2020-20UAS04T00 | |
Average of class Office (300 - 1137, n=106, last 2 years) | |
Toshiba Tecra X40-E-10W | |
Dynabook Portégé X40-G-10K |
Pros
Cons
Verdict
The Portégé X40-G is one of the business notebooks of the upper class. Accordingly, Dynabook lets the device be princely paid: Just under 1,600 Euros have to be paid for the 14-inch notebook. The computer's design is no longer as fresh as it used to be, but the relatively wide display frame makes it look a bit old-fashioned.
The metal casing and the low weight suggest a very durable notebook. With a WLAN runtime of just under 8 hours, this is only partly the case. Here the competition offers more.
A high purchase price goes hand in hand with a meagre equipment level. In terms of price, you would expect more RAM, dual-channel mode memory, more storage space, a larger-capacity battery, a higher-contrast screen - and perhaps an LTE modem.
Core i5 processor, 8 GB of memory (1x 8 GB, single channel mode, max. 32 GB) and 256 GB NVMe SSD should be sufficient for the expected usage scenarios. While the memory could still be easily expanded, replacing the SSD would not be easy. This requires the complete removal of the motherboard.
The matte screen (FHD, IPS) has made a positive impression to a large extent, but should offer a higher contrast. The switchable privacy screen is more a gimmick than really useful. Thanks to two Thunderbolt 3 connectors (display port via USB-C, Power Delivery) the power supply and an additional device (docking station, external GPU) can be plugged in at the same time.
Dynabook Portégé X40-G-10K
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11/12/2020 v7
Sascha Mölck