Lenovo is going a bit gadget-crazy at CES this January, and it has three new ThinkPads to show for it. The 11th-generation ThinkPad X1 Carbon, third-gen X1 Nano, and eight-generation ThinkPad X1 Yoga are all debuting before the show kicks off with better performance, tweaked designs, and new software tricks.
Admittedly, you’d be hard pressed to spot any difference between these ThinkPads and the ones that were announced at CES 2022. That’s because they mostly look the same. Lenovo is only changing some of the materials that are used for each laptop’s construction, making them more environmentally friendly by integrating recycled magnesium and aluminum on each device. The packaging is also completely recyclable, with their respective boxes constructed of 100 percent bamboo and sugarcane fiber. In addition, all three ThinkPads quality for Lenovo’s CO2 Offset Service, which lets you offset the carbon emissions needed to produce one of the laptops when you purchase it.
Lenovo throws in some new software tricks to help with energy consumption as well like presence detection, special settings for OLED-equipped models to avoid burn-in, Smart Charge to preserve the battery’s lifespan, and keyboard backlight controls. It’s all done through the Lenovo Commercial Vantage app, and Lenovo says it’ll even highlight the settings it recommends to maximize energy preservation.
There’s also a new Lenovo View app which gives you a suite of camera-based features that aim to improve your overall experience using one of the latest ThinkPads. A new Privacy Guard and Privacy Alert feature will automatically blur your screen when an unrecognized subject is looking at your ThinkPad, posture warnings and eye wellness alerts will let you know if you need to improve your position or take a break from staring at your screen, auto-framing for videos calls keeps you in view, a background concealer will do as its name implies, and camera enhancements powered by AI should improve image quality.
Other than that, you’re getting very familiar laptops. The X1 Carbon is still a somewhat chunky carbon fiber-covered business-oriented laptop, the X1 Yoga is still made of aluminum and flips around 360 degrees, and the X1 Nano continues to be one of Lenovo’s lightest and most portable laptops at just 2.13 pounds and 14.47mm thick.
The X1 Yoga still gets the nicest screen out of the bunch with a 14-inch display that can be configured with a 4K OLED panel at 500 nits of brightness. The X1 Carbon’s 14-inch display can go up to 2.8K with OLED and 400 nits of brightness, while the X1 Nano gets a 13-inch 2K display at 450 nits. All three ship with Intel’s 13th-generation Raptor Lake processors (up to an i7 vPro) with up to 64GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 2TB of PCIe Gen 4 storage on the X1 Yoga and Carbon. The X1 Nano also gets 2TB of storage, but drops the RAM amount down to 16GB. You’ll also find moderately-sized batteries across the board, a mix of ports ranging from Thunderbolt 4 to USB-A to HDMI, Bluetooth 5.2, Dolby Atmos audio, Full HD webcams, and fingerprint readers. 5G connectivity also available across the board, although there’s no mmWave support on the X1 Nano.
Lenovo also has a few accessories designed to help you complete your ThinkPad X1 desk setup. Its new Lenovo Go Desk Station with Webcam integrates a 4K webcam, a bunch of extra ports, a desk lamp, and a Qi wireless charger into one minimalist package, while the standalone Lenovo Go 4K Pro Webcam gives you sharper image quality for video calls. There’s also the new Lenovo Professional Wireless Rechargeable Combo Keyboard and Mouse (I know, it’s quite the mouthful) which offer sleek and stylish designs, support for both Bluetooth and 2.4GHz USB receivers, and custom action buttons.
Pricing and release dates for all of these new Lenovo gadgets is as follows:
- ThinkPad X1 Carbon (11th-gen): Starts at $1,729, goes on sale April 2023
- ThinkPad X1 Yoga (8th-gen): Starts at $1,859, goes on sale April 2023
- ThinkPad X1 Nano (3rd-gen): Starts at $1,649, goes on sale April 2023
- Lenovo Go Desk Station with Webcam: Costs $329, goes on sale March 2023
- Lenovo Go 4K Pro Webcam: Costs $149.99, goes on sale March 2023
- Lenovo Professional Wireless Rechargeable Combo Keyboard and Mouse: Starts at $99.99, goes on sale January 2023
Stay tuned for more content from CES 2023 – I’ll be live and in-person on the show floor come January!
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