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MagyarLenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9 laptop review: The ePrivacy screen remains problematic
We have already tested the current ninth-generation ThinkPad X1 Carbon, but the performance of the early models was not consistent under high load. Lenovo has meanwhile released several BIOS updates, which is why we want to check the performance development once again. At the same time, we still take a look at the optional ePrivacy display with the integrated privacy filter.
For all other information (casing, equipment and input devices), our previous reviews of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9 are available.
Possible competitors in comparison
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Best Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 87.4 % | 11/2021 | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE i5-1135G7, Iris Xe G7 80EUs | 1.2 kg | 14.9 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1200 | |
| 89.8 % | 08/2021 | HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA i7-1185G7, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 1.2 kg | 17.9 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1080 | |
| 90.3 % | 05/2021 | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW i7-1165G7, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 1.2 kg | 14.9 mm | 14.00" | 3840x2400 | |
| 89.1 % | 06/2021 | SCHENKER Vision 14 i7-1165G7, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 1 kg | 15.6 mm | 14.00" | 2880x1800 | |
| 87.1 % | 03/2021 | Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R i7-1165G7, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 995 g | 14.9 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1080 |
Display - ThinkPad with built-in privacy filter
The optional ePrivacy screen in our test device offers a resolution of 1,920 x 1,200 pixels (16:10) on the 14-inch diagonal. Lenovo states a brightness of 500 nits, which we can confirm according to our analysis (CalMAN & X-Rite i1 Pro 2) and the average brightness is even a bit more than 540 cd/m². At the same time, the black value is very low (0.24), which leads to a very good contrast ratio of 2400:1.
However, the subjective picture impression in practice is much worse than these rates suggest. Due to the ePrivacy filter, there is only a very small sweet spot when looking centrally at the display (even when ePrivacy is disabled). Even with small deviations, contrast and brightness visibly decrease and it almost seems as if a gray haze covers the picture. The viewing angles are also much worse than those of regular IPS displays.
The difference between enabled and disabled privacy filter (Fn + D) is actually not very big either. Lenovo tricks a bit here by reducing the brightness to ~160 cd/m² by default when the filter is enabled. You can then increase the brightness again, but the effect of the privacy filter is then practically gone. Realistically, it only brings the desired effect at low brightness levels, which can be problematic especially on the go.
We could not determine PWM flickering (even with the ePrivacy filter enabled), but the response times are quite slow and you can also see ghosting during operation, e.g. when moving the mouse pointer.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 85 %
Center on Battery: 577 cd/m²
Contrast: 2400:1 (Black: 0.24 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 2.2 | 0.5-29.43 Ø5, calibrated: 1.4
ΔE Greyscale 2.8 | 0.57-98 Ø5.3
70% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
98.6% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
69.3% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.23
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE LEB14201N, IPS, 1920x1200, 14.00 | HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA AU Optronics AUO068B, IPS, 1920x1080, 14.00 | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW MNE007A1-2, IPS LED, 3840x2400, 14.00 | SCHENKER Vision 14 CSOT T3_MNE007ZA1_1, IPS, 2880x1800, 14.00 | Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R B140HAN06.B, IPS, 1920x1080, 14.00 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | -1% | 22% | 6% | 1% | |
| Display P3 Coverage | 69.3 | 68 -2% | 95.2 37% | 75.4 9% | 69.8 1% |
| sRGB Coverage | 98.6 | 97.6 -1% | 99.8 1% | 99 0% | 98.8 0% |
| AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 70 | 69.3 -1% | 89.2 27% | 76.4 9% | 71.3 2% |
| Response Times | 10% | 11% | 38% | -3% | |
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 52.4 ? | 48 ? 8% | 46 ? 12% | 32.8 ? 37% | 60 ? -15% |
| Response Time Black / White * | 32.8 ? | 28.8 ? 12% | 30 ? 9% | 20.4 ? 38% | 29.6 ? 10% |
| PWM Frequency | |||||
| Screen | -27% | 9% | -22% | -5% | |
| Brightness middle | 576 | 466.4 -19% | 497 -14% | 390 -32% | 437 -24% |
| Brightness | 541 | 426 -21% | 488 -10% | 387 -28% | 421 -22% |
| Brightness Distribution | 85 | 84 -1% | 87 2% | 94 11% | 87 2% |
| Black Level * | 0.24 | 0.32 -33% | 0.35 -46% | 0.29 -21% | 0.29 -21% |
| Contrast | 2400 | 1458 -39% | 1420 -41% | 1345 -44% | 1507 -37% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 2.2 | 2.84 -29% | 1.2 45% | 2.8 -27% | 1.8 18% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 4.3 | 4.73 -10% | 2.1 51% | 4.4 -2% | 3.5 19% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated * | 1.4 | 2.27 -62% | 0.9 36% | 1.8 -29% | 1.4 -0% |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 2.8 | 3.7 -32% | 1.3 54% | 3.5 -25% | 2.3 18% |
| Gamma | 2.23 99% | 2.13 103% | 2.16 102% | 2.24 98% | 2.18 101% |
| CCT | 6792 96% | 6886 94% | 6690 97% | 6174 105% | 6782 96% |
| Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998) | 79.37 | 76.4 | 65.4 | ||
| Color Space (Percent of sRGB) | 99.78 | 99 | 98.7 | ||
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | -6% /
-16% | 14% /
12% | 7% /
-7% | -2% /
-4% |
* ... smaller is better
The display is already calibrated quite well ex-works and the readings do not deteriorate even with the enabled ePrivacy filter. The grayscale does show a slight color cast (green/blue), but this is hardly visible in practice. With our calibration (profile is available for free download above), we can improve the values a bit further and thanks to the almost complete sRGB coverage, the panel is also suitable for editing pictures/videos.
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 32.8 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 16.4 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 16.4 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 87 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (21.5 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 52.4 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 24.8 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 27.6 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. » 87 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (33.8 ms). | ||
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
| Screen flickering / PWM not detected |  | ||
In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 17933 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured. | |||
Despite the matte surface and the high maximum brightness, the privacy filter visibly restricts outdoor usability. In terms of viewing angle stability, you also quickly see a drop in brightness and contrast.
Performance & Emissions
The CPU performance of the current ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9 is very good and the Core i5-1135G7 can also keep up very well with the actually faster i7 models thanks to high TDP limits. After a few minutes, the power consumption stabilizes at around 27 watts, a good result.
However, the CPU performance was already good before that, but we could see strong performance drops under combined load. Lenovo has now gotten a grip on this with the BIOS updates, which can also be clearly seen in the Witcher 3 diagram below. However, Lenovo has made it quite easy for itself and limits the performance to 15 watts under combined CPU/iGPU load quite quickly.
We also noticed that the fan curve now works more aggressively. Even during everyday tasks, a quiet hiss can often be heard and under more load (even when gaming), the cooling very quickly reaches the maximum 40.9 dB(A), which makes it significantly louder than the first test device with the Core i7.
Cinebench R15 Multi Endurance test
Cinebench R23: Multi Core | Single Core
Cinebench R20: CPU (Multi Core) | CPU (Single Core)
Cinebench R15: CPU Multi 64Bit | CPU Single 64Bit
Blender: v2.79 BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 | 7z b 4 -mmt1
Geekbench 5.5: Multi-Core | Single-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
| CPU Performance Rating | |
| Average of class Subnotebook | |
| SCHENKER Vision 14 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW | |
| Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE | |
| HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA -2! | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 | |
| Cinebench R23 / Multi Core | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (2485 - 16201, n=69, last 2 years) | |
| SCHENKER Vision 14 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE | |
| HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (2786 - 6136, n=55) | |
| Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R | |
| Cinebench R23 / Single Core | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (598 - 1934, n=69, last 2 years) | |
| SCHENKER Vision 14 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW | |
| HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA | |
| Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (1062 - 1373, n=53) | |
| Cinebench R20 / CPU (Multi Core) | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (810 - 6314, n=65, last 2 years) | |
| SCHENKER Vision 14 | |
| Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (979 - 2382, n=62) | |
| HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA | |
| Cinebench R20 / CPU (Single Core) | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (216 - 738, n=65, last 2 years) | |
| SCHENKER Vision 14 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW | |
| Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (375 - 527, n=62) | |
| HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA | |
| Cinebench R15 / CPU Multi 64Bit | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (514 - 2581, n=71, last 2 years) | |
| SCHENKER Vision 14 | |
| Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (431 - 941, n=65) | |
| HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA | |
| Cinebench R15 / CPU Single 64Bit | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (91.8 - 280, n=63, last 2 years) | |
| SCHENKER Vision 14 | |
| Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW | |
| HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (141.4 - 205, n=61) | |
| Blender / v2.79 BMW27 CPU | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (499 - 1044, n=60) | |
| HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW | |
| Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R | |
| SCHENKER Vision 14 | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (201 - 1600, n=67, last 2 years) | |
| 7-Zip 18.03 / 7z b 4 | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (16223 - 67444, n=58, last 2 years) | |
| SCHENKER Vision 14 | |
| Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE | |
| HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (14745 - 24873, n=62) | |
| 7-Zip 18.03 / 7z b 4 -mmt1 | |
| SCHENKER Vision 14 | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (2197 - 6403, n=59, last 2 years) | |
| HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA | |
| Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (3924 - 4921, n=62) | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE | |
| Geekbench 5.5 / Multi-Core | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (4274 - 12580, n=66, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW | |
| SCHENKER Vision 14 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE | |
| Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (3475 - 5472, n=58) | |
| Geekbench 5.5 / Single-Core | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (672 - 2350, n=66, last 2 years) | |
| SCHENKER Vision 14 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW | |
| Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (1147 - 1428, n=58) | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE | |
| HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2 / 4k Preset | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (1.5 - 19.4, n=57, last 2 years) | |
| SCHENKER Vision 14 | |
| Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R | |
| HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (3.57 - 7.6, n=57) | |
| LibreOffice / 20 Documents To PDF | |
| HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (44.2 - 62.9, n=60) | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (40.1 - 120.5, n=58, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE | |
| Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R | |
| SCHENKER Vision 14 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW | |
| R Benchmark 2.5 / Overall mean | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (0.619 - 0.727, n=59) | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW | |
| Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R | |
| HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA | |
| SCHENKER Vision 14 | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (0.4397 - 1.236, n=58, last 2 years) | |
* ... smaller is better
AIDA64: FP32 Ray-Trace | FPU Julia | CPU SHA3 | CPU Queen | FPU SinJulia | FPU Mandel | CPU AES | CPU ZLib | FP64 Ray-Trace | CPU PhotoWorxx
| Performance Rating | |
| Average of class Subnotebook | |
| SCHENKER Vision 14 | |
| Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE | |
| HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 | |
| AIDA64 / FP32 Ray-Trace | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (343 - 25961, n=58, last 2 years) | |
| SCHENKER Vision 14 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE | |
| Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (4313 - 7952, n=45) | |
| HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA | |
| AIDA64 / FPU Julia | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (11867 - 111109, n=58, last 2 years) | |
| SCHENKER Vision 14 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW | |
| Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (19402 - 32283, n=45) | |
| HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA | |
| AIDA64 / CPU SHA3 | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (453 - 4646, n=58, last 2 years) | |
| SCHENKER Vision 14 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW | |
| Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (1316 - 2172, n=45) | |
| HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA | |
| AIDA64 / CPU Queen | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (15447 - 115300, n=58, last 2 years) | |
| HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA | |
| SCHENKER Vision 14 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW | |
| Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (39000 - 46951, n=45) | |
| AIDA64 / FPU SinJulia | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (1223 - 14944, n=58, last 2 years) | |
| SCHENKER Vision 14 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW | |
| Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE | |
| HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (3497 - 4445, n=45) | |
| AIDA64 / FPU Mandel | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (6379 - 59053, n=58, last 2 years) | |
| SCHENKER Vision 14 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW | |
| Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (12569 - 19635, n=45) | |
| HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA | |
| AIDA64 / CPU AES | |
| SCHENKER Vision 14 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE | |
| Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R | |
| HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (28988 - 67977, n=45) | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (638 - 161430, n=58, last 2 years) | |
| AIDA64 / CPU ZLib | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (270 - 1123, n=58, last 2 years) | |
| SCHENKER Vision 14 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW | |
| Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R | |
| HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (265 - 373, n=51) | |
| AIDA64 / FP64 Ray-Trace | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (204 - 14018, n=58, last 2 years) | |
| SCHENKER Vision 14 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE | |
| Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (2226 - 4291, n=45) | |
| HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA | |
| AIDA64 / CPU PhotoWorxx | |
| Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (7622 - 53954, n=58, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE | |
| SCHENKER Vision 14 | |
| HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (9004 - 45366, n=45) | |
| PCMark 10 / Score | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (4384 - 7428, n=56, last 2 years) | |
| SCHENKER Vision 14 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW | |
| Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE | |
| HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (4026 - 4952, n=53) | |
| PCMark 10 / Essentials | |
| SCHENKER Vision 14 | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (8890 - 11168, n=56, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW | |
| Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE | |
| HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (8149 - 9917, n=53) | |
| PCMark 10 / Productivity | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (6213 - 10279, n=56, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW | |
| SCHENKER Vision 14 | |
| Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R | |
| HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (5040 - 6619, n=53) | |
| PCMark 10 / Digital Content Creation | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (4093 - 9749, n=56, last 2 years) | |
| SCHENKER Vision 14 | |
| HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW | |
| Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (3548 - 5255, n=53) | |
| AIDA64 / Memory Copy | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (22781 - 95353, n=58, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW | |
| Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE | |
| SCHENKER Vision 14 | |
| HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (17443 - 63889, n=45) | |
| AIDA64 / Memory Read | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (23831 - 87297, n=58, last 2 years) | |
| Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R | |
| SCHENKER Vision 14 | |
| HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (19716 - 63705, n=45) | |
| AIDA64 / Memory Write | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (23474 - 93382, n=58, last 2 years) | |
| Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW | |
| HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA | |
| SCHENKER Vision 14 | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (18722 - 66778, n=45) | |
| AIDA64 / Memory Latency | |
| Average of class Subnotebook (18.8 - 172, n=53, last 2 years) | |
| Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R | |
| HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (68.3 - 107, n=51) | |
| SCHENKER Vision 14 | |
* ... smaller is better
DPC latencies
| DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
| HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE | |
| SCHENKER Vision 14 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW | |
| Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R | |
* ... smaller is better
* ... smaller is better
Continuous reading: DiskSpd Read Loop, Queue Depth 8
| 3DMark 11 Performance | 6087 points | |
| 3DMark Cloud Gate Standard Score | 18583 points | |
| 3DMark Fire Strike Score | 4021 points | |
| 3DMark Time Spy Score | 1508 points | |
Help | ||
Witcher 3 FPS-Diagram
| low | med. | high | ultra | |
| The Witcher 3 (2015) | 85 | 53 | 28 | 10.6 |
| Dota 2 Reborn (2015) | 123 | 74.7 | 51.6 | 47.9 |
| Final Fantasy XV Benchmark (2018) | 39.9 | 21 | 15.1 | |
| X-Plane 11.11 (2018) | 38.1 | 32.3 | 29.7 |
Noise Level
| Idle |
| 24.7 / 24.7 / 24.7 dB(A) |
| Load |
| 40.9 / 40.9 dB(A) |
 | ||
30 dB silent 40 dB(A) audible 50 dB(A) loud |
||
min:  , med:  , max:  Earthworks M23R, Arta (15 cm distance) environment noise: 24.7 dB(A) | ||
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE Iris Xe G7 80EUs, i5-1135G7, Samsung PM9A1 MZVL2512HCJQ | HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA Iris Xe G7 96EUs, i7-1185G7, SK Hynix PC711 512GB HFS512GDE9X073N | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XWCTO1WW Iris Xe G7 96EUs, i7-1165G7, Samsung PM9A1 MZVL21T0HCLR | SCHENKER Vision 14 Iris Xe G7 96EUs, i7-1165G7, Samsung SSD 980 Pro 1TB MZ-V8P1T0BW | Asus ExpertBook B9 B9400CE-KC0166R Iris Xe G7 96EUs, i7-1165G7, Samsung PM981a MZVLB1T0HBLR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noise | 14% | 8% | -1% | -5% | |
| off / environment * | 24.7 | 24.1 2% | 23.66 4% | 25 -1% | 24 3% |
| Idle Minimum * | 24.7 | 24.2 2% | 23.6 4% | 25 -1% | 24 3% |
| Idle Average * | 24.7 | 24.2 2% | 23.6 4% | 25 -1% | 24 3% |
| Idle Maximum * | 24.7 | 24.2 2% | 23.6 4% | 26.9 -9% | 24 3% |
| Load Average * | 40.9 | 26.9 34% | 33.5 18% | 38.6 6% | 47.5 -16% |
| Witcher 3 ultra * | 40.9 | 27.9 32% | 41.2 -1% | 47.5 -16% | |
| Load Maximum * | 40.9 | 29.9 27% | 34.3 16% | 41.2 -1% | 47.5 -16% |
* ... smaller is better
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE audio analysis
(±) | speaker loudness is average but good (80.8 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(±) | reduced bass - on average 13% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (12.3% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 4.5% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (4.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 2.4% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (5.7% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(+) | overall sound is linear (13.9% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 20% of all tested devices in this class were better, 5% similar, 74% worse
» The best had a delta of 5%, average was 19%, worst was 53%
Compared to all devices tested
» 12% of all tested devices were better, 3% similar, 84% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%
HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 3E4Q6AA audio analysis
(±) | speaker loudness is average but good (78.6 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(±) | reduced bass - on average 11% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (10.6% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 4.3% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (3% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 2.5% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (4.3% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(+) | overall sound is linear (12.6% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 3% of all tested devices in this class were better, 1% similar, 96% worse
» The best had a delta of 7%, average was 22%, worst was 53%
Compared to all devices tested
» 8% of all tested devices were better, 2% similar, 89% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%
| Off / Standby | 0.43 / 0.71 Watt |
| Idle | 3.5 / 7.4 / 8.5 Watt |
| Load |
40.2 / 65.7 Watt |
   
| |
Energy consumption Witcher 3 / Stress test
Battery life
We determine a battery runtime of 10 hours in our WLAN test with an adjusted brightness of 150 cd/m² and still 7 hours when using the maximum brightness. This puts the test device pretty much in the midfield of the comparison group and also between the other two versions of the X1 Carbon G9. The high-resolution 4K model manages just 7 and 5 hours in the same tests, while the normal Full HD panel without a privacy filter lasts 11.5 and 9.5 hours, respectively.
Pros
Cons
Verdict - The cooling of the X1 Carbon still needs to be improved
Lenovo was able to solve the performance problems when the processor and the graphics card are loaded at the same time, but this comes at the price of a quite low TDP limit and significantly louder fans. The manufacturer should definitely improve this for the next generation.
The optional ePrivacy display remains a problem. In principle, the measured values are okay and the panel can convince especially in terms of brightness. The color accuracy is also on a good level and allows processing pictures in the sRGB color space (which is completely covered). However, due to the built-in privacy filter, there is only a relatively small sweet spot when you look very centrally at the display. As soon as you change the angle (horizontally or vertically) slightly, there is a visible loss of brightness and contrast. It almost looks as if a gray haze covers the picture. In addition, the effectiveness of the privacy filter is also limited. It certainly restricts the view from the side a bit, but it only really works reasonably at low brightness levels, which is obviously not always optimal on the go. Lenovo also tricks a bit here and reduces the brightness to about 160 cd/m² by default as soon as you activate the filter. You can increase the brightness again, but the visual protection decreases visibly.
Lenovo has stabilized the performance, but the fans are now louder in return. The built-in privacy filter offers a certain protection from unwanted glances, but you have to reckon with restrictions in the general picture quality.
For most users, we would certainly choose the normal Full HD panel. HP offers the EliteBook 840 with a built-in privacy filter as well (SureView technology), but there are limitations in the picture quality here as well.
Price and availability
The review sample of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9 is, among others, available at Cyberport for €2,140 (~$2,455).
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XW0089GE
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11/09/2021 v7
Andreas Osthoff
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