Lenovo ThinkPad X9 15 Aura Edition Review

Lenovo ThinkPad X9 15 Aura Edition: In-Depth Review

By Ambar Jimenez | 2025-04-26 09:17:16

Uncover the strengths of the Lenovo ThinkPad X9 15 Aura Edition in our comprehensive review. Find out how it stands out in performance and design.

Lenovo ThinkPad X9 15 Aura Edition Review

The realm of the 15-inch business laptop might seem like a shrinking landscape, yet Lenovo's esteemed ThinkPad line steadfastly holds its ground. Before you conjure images of another quintessential boxy black Lenovo workhorse, prepare for a surprise. The Lenovo ThinkPad X9 15 Aura Edition, with a starting price of $1,599 and our test configuration ringing in at $2,069, is a departure from the traditional ThinkPad aesthetic. While retaining the hallmark Lenovo blend of performance, features, and reliability, the X9 15 Aura Edition is strategically designed to directly compete with the sleek elegance and advanced capabilities of Apple's MacBooks, particularly targeting small businesses and discerning consumers rather than sprawling corporate fleets. While not achieving absolute perfection, this laptop stands out as a compelling and highly capable contender. Our editorial team held a slight preference for the 14-inch iteration of the X9, awarding that smaller model our coveted Editors' Choice.The ThinkPad X9 15 belongs to Lenovo's innovative Aura Edition series, a line of premium systems born from a collaborative effort with Intel to harness the cutting-edge features of the chip manufacturer's latest "Lunar Lake" processors. This partnership signifies a commitment to integrating advanced technologies and user-centric design.A foundational aspect of every Aura Edition laptop is its designation as a Microsoft Copilot+ PC. This integration brings the eponymous AI assistant and a suite of powerful generative AI tools designed to enhance productivity when working with both text and images. However, the Aura Edition goes beyond the standard Copilot+ offerings by incorporating Lenovo AI Now, a locally executed version of Meta's Llama 3. This proprietary AI layer unlocks a wealth of exclusive new functionalities.In the case of the ThinkPad X9 15 Aura Edition, Lenovo AI Now introduces intelligent AI-enabled Smart Modes that dynamically adjust system settings based on the user's immediate needs. Working in a public space? Shield Mode will activate features designed to protect your on-screen privacy. Participating in an online meeting? Collaboration Mode will intelligently optimize your camera settings for the best possible video conferencing experience. Need to laser-focus on a critical task? Attention Mode will silence distracting notifications and even block access to distracting website domains for a pre-defined period, culminating in a gentle reminder to take a well-deserved break upon completion.

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The Aura Edition also introduces seamless tap-to-share functionality with both Android and iOS phones. This intuitive feature leverages an "AI Virtual Smart Sensor", a sophisticated blend of NFC and Intel Unison-like technology, streamlining the process of sharing photos without the cumbersome need for cables or navigating complex file menus. Complementing this is Lenovo Smart Care, offering real-time, on-device troubleshooting assistance, providing users with immediate support when needed.The Aura Edition enhancements even extend to the laptop's internal design. Lenovo and Intel jointly developed a novel cooling approach dubbed "Engine Hub". This innovative system strategically houses key components together within a distinct blocky strip located on the underside of the laptop, resulting in improved thermal management. The Engine Hub enables the laptop to achieve a thinner and lighter profile without significantly compromising performance.Delving into processor power, the Lenovo ThinkPad X9 15 Aura Edition is exclusively powered by Intel, offering configurations with either an Intel Core Ultra 5 or a more potent Core Ultra 7 processor. The base model features an Intel Core Ultra 5 226V paired with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, priced at $1,599. Our review unit was equipped with a more robust Intel Core Ultra 7 258V, 32GB of RAM, and a spacious 1TB SSD, carrying a price tag of $2,069. The top-tier configuration, priced at $2,249, boasts an Intel Core Ultra 7 268V processor, along with 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. Regarding upgradability and reparability, the laptop utilizes soldered-on memory, meaning there is no option for adding RAM after purchase. However, users do have the flexibility to swap in a different M.2 SSD to increase storage capacity if needed.

Design and Build Quality: A Departure from Tradition

While bearing the iconic ThinkPad name, the ThinkPad X9 15 deviates significantly from the traditional ThinkPad design language in both appearance and feel. Instead of the familiarblack, boxy chassis, the X9 boasts a sleek aluminum chassis and lid finished in a sophisticated Thunder Grey shade with a subtle textured matte finish.

The resulting design is a remarkably slim chassis, measuring a mere half-inch in thickness and weighing just over 3 pounds. This level of portability is exceptional for a business-orientedmachine featuring a display of this size. The chassis construction feels impressively sturdy, effectively preventing anynoticeable flexing when the laptop is picked up or during intensivetyping sessions. Furthermore, the X9 15 meets stringent MIL-STD-810H standards for resistance against cold, heat, dust, and vibration, ensuring a high degree of durability. Achieving significantly greater ruggedness wouldtypically necessitate opting for a semi-ruggedized or fully ruggedlaptop.

One of the most visually striking features of the ThinkPad X9 is its stunning OLED display. The 15.3-inch panel, with a sharp 2,880-by-1,800-pixel resolution, delivers a truly gorgeous visual experience characterized by vibrant colors, crisp detail, and rich, inky dark hues and blacks. While the base model features a standard OLED panel, our review unit included a touch screen, an option available on all but the most entry-level configurations.

In a system clearly positioned to rival the MacBook Pro, Lenovo's strategic combination of an OLED panel and touch-screen support provides it with a distinct visual and tactile advantage, catering tousers who value both immersive visuals and interactive input.

The panel itself boasts a smooth 120Hz refresh rate for exceptionally fluid motion and X-Rite color calibration, ensuring professional-grade color accuracy for color-sensitive tasks. A brightness rating of 500 nits (candelas per square meter), coupled with HDR support, contributes to a vibrant and easily readable display, even for finetext and detailed spreadsheets. Furthermore, the display is designed tobe gentler on the eyes, earning a TÜV Rheinland certification for low blue-light emissions. Users can further enhance the screen's usability with optional anti-glare and anti-smudge coatings.

Above the display panel, a small, subtle protruding stripe discreetly houses the high-resolution 1440p IR webcam and also serves as a convenient lip for easily opening the laptop'slid. Aside from this minimal webcam bump, the display is surrounded byremarkably thin 5mm-wide bezels, which practically disappear from view during screen usage, further enhancing the immersive visual experience.

Keyboard and Touchpad: A Mixed Bag

If there's a notable downside to the ThinkPad X9's departure from many traditional ThinkPad norms, it lies in the keyboard. Loyal ThinkPad users will undoubtedly miss the signature red TrackPoint nestled in the center of the key layout, and the typing experience onthe ThinkPad X9 represents a discernible downgrade from the typicallyexcellent ThinkPad keyboards.

For one, the overall key feel isn't exceptional. The keys have a lower profile and a noticeably mushier feel compared to classic ThinkPad keyboards. While the sculpted keycaps are a nice touch, the spacebar has a different tactile feel than the rest of the keys, and the more generic layout is likely to frustrate long-time ThinkPad aficionados accustomed to a more specialized arrangement.

Furthermore, the ThinkPad X9 15 lacks both a dedicated number pad and a dedicated function-key cluster – two omissions that will be significant drawbacks for users who frequently rely on these features for productivity. The arrow keys are another point of contention, featuring half-size up and down arrows crammed into the space of a single standard key, potentially leading to accidental presses and a less comfortable navigation experience.

All that being said, while a direct side-by-side comparison with a moretraditional Lenovo ThinkPad will highlight the differences, the ThinkPad X9's keyboard is still objectively very good. While it doesn't reach the pinnacle of keyboard excellence, it remains a morethan adequate typing experience compared to the majority of otherlaptops on the market.

However, directly below the keyboard lies a significant positive: a high-quality haptic touchpad featuring a smooth glass surface and impeccable response to every tap and swipe. This touchpad is also significantly larger than the typical ThinkPad offerings, measuring an expansive 6.5 inches diagonally, and thoughtfully includes dedicated thumb buttons to complement the absent TrackPoint.

Ports and Connectivity: Modern Essentials

As is common with ultraportable laptops prioritizing a slim profile, the port selection on the ThinkPad X9 15 is slim but capable, focusing on modern connectivity standards. Users will find two versatile Thunderbolt 4/USB-C ports, which conveniently double as charging ports, supporting power delivery on either side of the machine. A single USB-A connection provides compatibility with legacy peripherals, while an HDMI 2.1 output supports high-resolution 60Hz output to external monitors or televisions. A standard headphone jack is also included for audio connectivity.

While the port selection is not extensive, the inclusion of Thunderbolt 4 capability is a significant advantage, offering high-speed data transfer, displayconnectivity, and power delivery, especially when paired with a desktopdock. For wireless connectivity, the ThinkPad X9 15 offers robustsupport for both cutting-edge Wi-Fi 7 for high-speed wireless networking and the latest Bluetooth 5.4 standard for reliable wireless peripheral connections.

Performance Benchmarks: Everyday Productivity

To provide meaningful performance comparisons for the ThinkPad X9 15, thereview benchmarked it against several top-tier thin-and-light 15- and16-inch laptops. These included the Acer Swift 16 AI, another AI-enhanced system with a comparable Intel processor; the Apple MacBook Air 15 and MacBook Pro 16, flagship systems representing the X9's direct competition; the Asus ProArt P16 (H7606), a high-quality professional system featuring an OLED display; and the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition, a more consumer-focused implementation of Lenovo's Aura Edition AI enhancements.

The primary overall benchmark, UL's PCMark 10, evaluates a system's performance across a range of productivityapplications, from web browsing and word processing to spreadsheet work. Its Full System Drive subtest specifically measures the PC's storage throughput.

Three additional tests focused on CPU-centric or processor-intensive tasks. Maxon's Cinebench 2024 utilizes the company's Cinema 4D engine to render a complex 3D scene. Primate Labs' Geekbench 6.3 Pro simulates the performance of popular applications, including PDFrendering, speech recognition, and machine learning tasks. Finally, thereview measured the time taken by the freeware video transcoder HandBrake 1.8 to convert a 12-minute 4K video clip to 1080p resolution.

For content creation performance, the review utilized workstation maker Puget Systems' PugetBench for Creators, which rates a PC's image editing prowess through a series of automated operations performed within Adobe Photoshop 25.

In everyday work tasks as measured by PCMark 10, the ThinkPad X9 15 slightly outperformed theAcer Swift 16 AI and the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition. However, allthree systems scored comfortably above the 4,000-point baseline,indicating good performance for typical business productivity tasks.(MacBooks cannot run PCMark, so they were excluded from this specifictest.)

In the Cinebench 2024 CPU rendering benchmark, the MacBook Pro with its M4 Pro chip significantly outpaced the competition, as expected given its powerfulsilicon. The ThinkPad X9 15 delivered the lowest score in this group but still achieved a respectable result. The ThinkPad X9 also proved to bethe slowest in the Handbrake video-transcoding trial,taking over seven minutes compared to the five to six minutes of mostcompetitors and lagging considerably behind the MacBook Pro and AsusProArt.

Looking at Geekbench 6.3 Pro, the ThinkPad X9 15 performed closely to the Acer Swift 16 AI and the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i. In the Photoshop trial, the X9 fared better, likely benefiting from the 32GB of RAM in thereview configuration. However, it still trailed the premium MacBook Proand MacBook Air, as well as the Asus ProArt P16 in this contentcreation-focused benchmark.

In summary, the ThinkPad X9 15 is a perfectly capable laptop for general office tasks and everyday productivity. However, it is not the fastest machine in its class and is outpaced bymore elite, content-creation-focused systems equipped with more powerful hardware. For basic productivity and everyday use, it should prove more than satisfactory.

Graphics Performance: Integrated Limitations

The review assessed the laptops' graphics capabilities using a quartet of animations and gaming simulations from UL's 3DMark test suite. Wild Life (1440p) and Wild Life Extreme (4K) utilize the Vulkan graphics API to measure GPU speeds, while Steel Nomad's regular (4K) and Light (1440p) subtests focus on APIs more commonly used for game development, such as DirectX12, to evaluate gaming geometry and particle effects. A fifth test, Solar Bay, specifically emphasizes ray-tracing performance.

The pattern observed in the general performance tests continued in the3DMark graphics benchmarks. The ThinkPad X9 15 exhibited a slightdowngrade in graphics capability compared to the consumer-orientedLenovo Yoga Slim 7i and often performed neck-and-neck with the AcerSwift 16 AI. However, the higher-end professional laptops like the Apple MacBook Pro and the Asus ProArt significantly outperformed them all,thanks to their dedicated graphics cards or, in the MacBook Pro's case,powerful discrete-grade graphics silicon integrated into the SoC. (Notethat the MacBooks are only compatible with a subset of these 3DMarkgraphics tests, as some are Windows-only, explaining their absence incertain bar charts.)

This performance disparity is not surprising considering that the pro-level systemsfeature either a dedicated discrete graphics card or, in the MacBookPro, powerful integrated graphics silicon approaching the performance of entry-level discrete GPUs. When comparing the ThinkPad X9 15 with other similarly equipped laptops in its category (relying on integratedgraphics), it holds its own.

Battery Life and Display Quality: Standout Features

The review assessed battery life by playing a locally stored 720p video file (the open-source Blendermovie Tears of Steel) with the display brightness set to 50% and audiovolume at 100%. The battery was fully charged before the test, withWi-Fi and keyboard backlighting disabled.

The review also utilized a Datacolor SpyderX Elite monitor calibration sensor and software to measure the laptop screen's color saturation (the percentage of the sRGB, Adobe RGB, and DCI-P3 color gamuts the display can reproduce) and its 50% and peak brightness in nits.

In terms of battery life, the ThinkPad X9 15 delivers an impressive 21 hours on a single charge. This surpasses the battery life of the Acer Swift16 and the MacBook Air and significantly outlasts the Asus ProArt P16.However, the ThinkPad X9 doesn't quite reach the "all-day-plus"endurance of systems like the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i and the 16-inchMacBook Pro, which exceeded 24 hours in the same playback trial.

Where the ThinkPad X9 15 truly shines, even against tough competition, is its display quality. In the tests, the 15.3-inch 2.8K OLED touch screen performed just as magnificently as it appears visually. It achieved 100% coverage of both the sRGB and DCI-P3 color ranges and an impressive 94% coverage of the Adobe RGB color gamut, giving it a slight edge over the Acer Swift 16 AI and the Lenovo YogaSlim 7i in color reproduction. Even the Asus ProArt P16, designed forcreative professionals, only surpasses it in Adobe RGB coverage by amere three percentage points.

The display is also notably bright, reaching 492 nits in the testing, closely aligning with Lenovo's claimed 500-nitbrightness. This level of brightness also puts it ahead of both the Acer Swift 16 AI and the Asus ProArt P16 in terms of luminance.

While a great display won't directly improve spreadsheet performance, it undeniably makes a noticeable difference in the overall user experience. The clearer, sharper, and easier-to-read screen contributes to a morepremium feel and can even enhance productivity by facilitatingcomfortable side-by-side window tiling, a feature that might feel overly cramped on the smaller 14-inch version of the ThinkPad X9.

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