Review: Lenovo X1 Carbon Is the Best Light, Portable Laptop

Why this ultra-light portable is a great choice for developers looking to switch away from the Mac

Owen Williams
OneZero

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All photos courtesy of author

Choosing a Windows laptop isn’t easy. For the last two years, I’ve been lugging around Microsoft’s 15-inch Surface Book 2, and while it was my favorite laptop I’d tested, I started wondering what ultra-light portables are out there that might fit my needs.

Lenovo’s X1 Carbon kept appearing on my radar, a retro-cool 13-inch laptop (well, technically 14-inch), with a real, squishy keyboard, a gorgeous HDR display, and great customization options to match. Plus, it’s built to last forever. I finally got my hands on one a few months ago, and while I was skeptical at first, it’s become the machine I always come back to.

Not only is the X1 fast, ultra-lightweight, and solidly built, it’s also much more versatile than most other laptops in its class. For developers looking to switch away from the Mac, it’s a breath of fresh air with squishy keys, a gorgeous display, and a negligible weight that means you’ll forget it in your bag.

Here’s why I think the Lenovo X1 Carbon is a trojan horse in the laptop game, hiding inside an old-school design that I secretly kind of love.

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