Good
Phenomenal 4K HDR display
Blazing-fast performance
Luxurious design
Thin and lightweight
Comfortable keyboard
Bad
Below-average battery life
Runs warm
Expensive
Overall, the ThinkPad X1 Extreme is an impressive laptop, but is it a Dell XPS 15 killer? That depends. On the performance front, it tracks closely. But where it really shines is weight. While you may scoff at an 8-ounce difference (when similarly configured with touch panels), you’ll feel that in your bag and on your shoulder.
This is one expensive laptop, but many might willingly pay the price for this beautifully engineered and designed machine. If you want desktop-level power with portability in a robust package, the X1 Extreme is built for exactly that.
There are very few laptops we’d class as being a joy to review, but the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme was a delightful distraction from typical by-the-Intel-numbers hardware.
It’s got the performance and spec to replace most desktop systems, and probably a few workstation class PCs, too.
When you combine the raw speed with the well-considered nature of the keyboard, screen, ports, and the potential for upgrades, it all spells success to us.
However, it’s hard to ignore the rather steep price of this laptop, which is pitched at a level that all but excludes it as a choice for those who don’t have a company buying it for them.
You can knock the overall cost down if you have a less wonderful touch-less screen, a smaller SSD, less memory and a Core i5 CPU, but doing so demolishes the ‘Extreme’ nature of this package.
Spec
Intel 8th -gen Core i7-8850H
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Max-Q
32GB DDR4/2667 in dual-channel mode
1TB M.2 NVMe Samsung PM981 SSD
15.3-inch 4K screen with touch support
Biometric IR camera and finger-print reader
