Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 AMD: A good choice even in 2023

Ryzen 7000 has been announced in its entirety, but availability is still bad. This is especially true for the Phoenix CPUs of the U class - or Ryzen 7040U to be specific. These CPUs are meant to power compact high-end laptops.

Of course, Ryzen 7040 are not the only Ryzen 7000 chips on the block. There also is Ryzen 7030 and Ryzen 7035, rebadged versions of Ryzen 5000 and Ryzen 6000. If AMD judges these older CPUs worthy of featuring in brand new 2023 laptops - buyers can simply pick the older models instead.

Take, for example, the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 3 AMD (available from Amazon for $1,200). We recently reviewed this small 13.3 inch laptop. It contains an AMD Ryzen 5 Pro 6650U, which guarantees a good performance with low heat and noise emissions - and it has USB4, too. There is little reason not to recommend this laptop.

Of course, one could argue that the ThinkPad X13 Gen 4 has already been announced, with Ryzen 7040U. This is a laptop that we are eager to review, of course, but its existence does not make the ThinkPad X13 Gen 3 a bad laptop. On the contrary: Such a drastic redesign always carries the risk of teething problems. The X13 G3 meanwhile is a tried and tested design, which is based on the X13 G2 platform from 2021 - it is a ripened, proven model.

So, does it always have to be the newest model? For some users for sure, but this does not necessarily have to be the best choice.