ThinkBook laptops are primarily targeted at business customers looking for something more affordable than a ThinkPad. But they can also be interesting for the average user if they need an ultraportable image laptop with good battery life. This is exactly what the Lenovo ThinkBook 13x G4 IMH is. It has quite powerful hardware and a good display. Let us tell you more about it.
Lenovo ThinkBook 13x G4 IMH specifications
| Model | Lenovo ThinkBook 13x G4 IMH |
| Display | IPS, 13,5”, resolution 1920×1080 pixels, 16:9 aspect ratio, 120 Hz refresh rate |
| Processor | Intel Core Ultra 9 185H, 16 cores, 22 threads up to 5.1 GHz |
| RAM | 32 GB LPDDR5x-8400 |
| Storage | 1 TB M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0×4 |
| Graphics | Intel Arc |
| Ports | 3x USB Type-C (Thunderbolt 4, DisplayPort, Power Delivery), 3.5 mm combination jack |
| Wireless modules | Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax, Bluetooth 5.1 |
| Camera | HD |
| Audio | Built-in 4x2W speakers and 4 microphones |
| Keyboard | Backlit island keys |
| Battery and charging | up to 13 hours, 74 W-h, 65 W power supply |
| Dimensions | 293x205x12.9 mm |
| Weight | 1.16 kg |
| The cost of the configuration | 92 699 UAH |
Package contents
Lenovo is also actively switching to eco-friendly packaging for its products, so the Lenovo ThinkBook 13x G4 IMH is packaged almost entirely in recycled cardboard. There is a minimum of printing on the outer box, and only an embossed name of the ThinkBook line on the inner box.
Despite the high price, there are no bonuses included with the laptop. Only a small 65W USB Type-C power supply and documentation. In general, this is not a problem: almost all modern backpacks have laptop compartments. But if you want a cover, you'll have to buy one separately.
Design and construction
The Lenovo ThinkBook line of laptops is positioned as an intermediate between the top ThinkPad business solutions and mainstream models for the average user. These are image laptops designed for small and medium-sized businesses. ThinkBooks don't have the carbon fiber chassis, trackpads, and a large set of ports that ThinkPads have.
Instead, these are mostly ultra-compact models with thin metal cases. This is exactly what Lenovo ThinkBook 13x G4 is. The case is made entirely of gray aluminum: the top lid and topcase are made using CNC machines, the bottom lid is stamped aluminum. The metal is thick and almost does not bend.
The top cover is divided horizontally into two parts. They do not differ in color, but the lower one can be conditionally called more matte. The lid features the Lenovo logo and the ThinkBook line. In the upper part, there is a protrusion, which is already quite common in Lenovo laptops, on the inside of which there are cameras and microphones.
The usable area is utilized as efficiently as possible: the bezels around the display are very thin, and the keyboard takes up almost the entire width of the topcase. The topcase itself, like the top lid, has a pleasant to the touch matte surface, which has one drawback: it actively collects fingerprints and dirt, so perfectionists should have a piece of microfiber with them.
To diversify the design of the Lenovo ThinkBook 13x G4, the company decided to make all the side edges brushed. All the ports are located on the side, which is traditional for ultraportable models. There are not many of them here, we will return to them later.
The laptop uses a very good hinge with a smooth and pleasant movement. It holds the display well in the desired position and allows you to open the laptop with one hand. The maximum opening angle is approximately 135°.
The wider area above the display of the Lenovo ThinkBook 13x G4 houses a large number of functional elements. In addition to a webcam with a work indicator and microphones, there is an ambient light sensor, an infrared camera for owner identification, and a ToF presence sensor that can automatically lock or activate the laptop. It is also used for gestures in the air.
The bottom lid is quite typical. A large area with ventilation holes and large rubber feet. The speaker holes are placed on chamfers, at an angle to the table surface. It is claimed that there are four speakers. It seems that they are placed two by two under these holes.
Lenovo ThinkBook 13x G4 is well built and feels quite solid. The laptop is certified according to the military-industrial standard MIL-STD-810H. That means it can withstand not the most favorable conditions of use. However, this does not mean that it should be dropped or covered with liquid.
In addition, Lenovo ThinkBook 13x G4 has very compact dimensions of 293x205x12.9 mm and weighs only 1.16 kg, so there will be no problems with transportation.
Connectors
The Lenovo ThinkBook 13x G4 has a minimum of ports, which is typical of ultraportable image models. In fact, there is only USB Type-C with support for Thunderbolt 4, DisplayPort, and Power Delivery. On the left is one Type-C with a charging indicator and a combined 3.5 mm audio jack. They are unusually spaced apart. This is because the laptop keyboard takes up almost the entire width of the topcase.
On the opposite side, there are two more Type-Cs with a similar arrangement, a power indicator, a two-position camera switch, and a power button that also serves as a fingerprint scanner.
There is no full-size USB Type-A or HDMI. Nor is there a memory card slot. The set of connectors is very modest. Although it all depends on the usage scenario. If you only plan to work with a browser, documents, and video conferencing, this should be enough.
Display
The Lenovo ThinkBook 13x G4 has a 13.5-inch IPS display with a resolution of 2.8K (2880x1920 pixels). The aspect ratio is 3:2, which is convenient for working with documents and browsing the web. The maximum refresh rate is 120 Hz, there is an adaptive frequency mode, and the pixel response time is 4 ms. Lenovo promises a maximum brightness of 500 cd/m², 100% coverage of the sRGB color space, and support for DisplayHDR 400 and Dolby Vision.
The screen has an effective matte anti-reflective coating. The picture is of excellent quality, with pleasant colors and a really high margin of brightness. Viewing angles are maximized, but there are features of IPS panels with a matte finish: reduced contrast at angles and a Glow effect, although not very pronounced. There are no complaints about the matrix, but given the price, I would like to see OLED.
Maximum brightness is 493,237 cd/m², black field brightness is 0.372, and static contrast is 1326:1. The color gamut is really close to sRGB. There is a slight emphasis on cold shades.
In the settings, there is a vision protection mode with color temperature settings and a schedule. You can also turn on adaptive brightness and color temperature.
Platform, performance and software
Lenovo ThinkBook 13x G4 has received the top processor of the new Intel Meteor Lake family. Intel Core Ultra 9 185H is manufactured using Intel's process technology 4 (7 nm) and contains 16 cores. 6 productive cores operating at 2.3-5.1 GHz, 8 energy-efficient 1.8-3.8 GHz and 2 energy-efficient 1-2.5 GHz cores. Up to 22 computing threads are supported. TDP is 45 watts.
The built-in graphics is based on the Arc architecture, has 8 Xe cores, and a frequency of up to 2.35 GHz. There is a separate Intel AI Boost NPU to be used for all AI and machine learning operations. However, its practical use is minimal: most of the AI is processed online. The RAM of is 32 GB, using fast LPDDR5x-8400. It is soldered on the board, no upgrade is provided. The laptop is equipped with a dual-band Wi-Fi 6 IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax wireless module and Bluetooth 5.1.
Lenovo ThinkBook 13x G4 demonstrates quite good results in synthetic performance tests for an ultraportable model. This is especially true of the processor tests. The built-in graphics are significantly more productive than previous Intel solutions. But, of course, this is not the level of discrete accelerators. In the Blender benchmark, the results are much higher than on the processor, but even basic GeForce is still more productive. Although this laptop is not designed for such tasks.
In maximum performance mode in the PCMark office benchmark, the laptop scores 6781 points, which is a high score for ultrabooks.
In the same performance mode, but without the power supply connected, the results are slightly lower: 6285 points. The difference is not dramatic, but the battery will not last long in this mode.
The drive is a fast Samsung PM9B1 M.2 SSD with PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe interface. The speed of reading information is about 6150MB/s, writing - 4700 MB/s
You can also play games on Lenovo ThinkBook 13x G4. Of course, not the latest and most demanding games. But if you lower the resolution to something close to FullHD (taking into account the non-standard aspect ratio) and use low/medium settings, you can get a quite comfortable FPS level:
The Lenovo ThinkBook 13x G4 uses the Lenovo Vantage app for all of its settings. In addition to the standard basic functions of checking for updates, system monitoring, display settings, performance, and sound, there are a few useful features. For example, widgets with quick settings. There is also the possibility of partial and slow (night) charging to extend battery life. There is a function to control media playback with gestures in the air. As practice has shown, you can play around with it. But eventually you just forget about this function.
Heating and stability of operation
Lenovo ThinkBook 13x G4 has an active dual-fan cooling system. It works quietly even at maximum loads. However, the situation with stability and heating turned out to be quite interesting. In the maximum performance mode, the processor can heat up to 100° and, accordingly, noticeably throttle. In automatic mode, the temperature of the system components does not exceed 80° and the system operates stably.
But, more importantly, the average processor frequency in automatic mode is about 2.1 GHz, and in maximum performance mode it is 2.15 GHz. So the automatic mode is optimal.
Sound, webcamera and security
Lenovo ThinkBook 13x G4 is equipped with an audio system that has 4 speakers. The company specifies 2 high-frequency and 2 low-frequency speakers of 2 watts each. There is support for Dolby Atmos virtual surround sound. The sound was surprisingly good, given its compact size. A very decent volume margin and quite good quality with a small amount of bass.
The built-in webcam has a resolution of 1080p. The picture is of quite good quality, especially with a sufficient amount of ambient light.
The Lenovo Smart Meeting app offers many additional camera settings. Image enhancement, various face enhancers, background changes, user tracking, and more.
Lenovo ThinkBook 13x G4 has a TPM 2.0 module. And there are two options for biometric identification. An infrared camera that recognizes the owner by face. And a fingerprint scanner in the power button. The scanner is triggered when you press it, so you don't need to touch it again after the OS boots.
Additionally, there are automatic locking and wake-up functions thanks to a ToF sensor that detects if the owner has moved away from the laptop or returned.
Keyboard and touchpad
The Lenovo ThinkBook 13x G4 laptop has a keyboard that is familiar to ultraportable models without an additional number pad. Since the keyboard occupies the entire width of the working surface, there was no need to reduce the size of the buttons or remove anything.
The layout is almost standard: a reduced top row of function keys, long Shift keys, and a non-separated navigation block. The left and right arrows are of standard size, and the up and down arrows are half the size. One of the more unusual solutions is a separate button for quick launch of Copilot. Although in the near future, the vast majority of Windows laptops will get it.
The keyboard is comfortable, with a clear and informative click. The only thing I would like to see is more key travel, but it's quite difficult to do in such a compact format. There is a white backlight with two brightness levels and an automatic mode.
The touchpad is large, has a nice glass coating, and your fingers slide perfectly. The sensitivity and accuracy are at a good level, and I had no complaints during use. The only slightly strange thing is the physical buttons. Their absence, to be more precise. Lenovo used the Haptic option, which means that the vibration imitates button presses. A similar solution has long been used in MacBooks. It works well, it really gives the impression of a real press. But the moment of operation is accompanied by a strange and not very pleasant sound, which is difficult to get used to.
Battery life
Lenovo ThinkBook 13x G4 has a 74 Wh battery. This is a very good indicator for this laptop format. The manufacturer promises up to 13 hours of operation. Fast charging is supported. The laptop charges up to 80% in an hour and takes about half an hour to fully charge.
In a typical office environment, the laptop works for 9 hours without any problems. This includes working with documents, a browser, and basic image processing in Photoshop. Brightness 50%, constant Wi-Fi connection.