Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Yoga G3 laptop review: Alder-Lake makes business convertible worse

There aren’t many ThinkPad laptops exclusively available with Intel processors anymore. AMD’s Ryzen processors have found their way almost everywhere, at least as an option. One big exception is the convertible range.

So far, the inexpensive ThinkPad L13 Yoga G3 is the only convertible with AMD among Lenovo’s business laptops. Our test device today, the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Yoga Gen 3, is only available with Intel CPUs. The ThinkPad X series, formerly the vanguard in terms of mobility among ThinkPads, has been playing the role of the “cheaper alternative” to the ThinkPad X1 series for years.

In this case, the ThinkPad X13 Yoga G3 is the counterpart to the ThinkPad X1 Yoga G7 . At the same time, it is also the highest-ranking ThinkPad convertible with a 13. 3-inch display.

Lenovo has introduced a new, sweeping design for the 2022 ThinkPads. One feature of this design is that the case is now gray instead of black. The Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Yoga Gen 3 also comes in “Thunder Black”, but only the keyboard and the display frame are pure black here.

In terms of structural design, the X13 Yoga G3 is more typically representative of the modern ThinkPad design based on the X1 Carbon. This is particularly noticeable in the tapered base with the slanted side surfaces. The Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Yoga is also close to the X1 Carbon in terms of build material, since the case is largely made of carbon fiber plastic (CFRP).

Both the baseplate and the display cover are made from the extremely light and stable material, while the wrist rest and keyboard frame are made of magnesium. Percentage wise, more CFRP is used here than in the X1 Carbon. The combination of these high-quality materials ensures very high stability; the case can hardly be twisted or dented, whether in the area of the base or the display.

The entire case, excluding the glass plate in front of the display, has a velvety rubber coating that is significantly less sensitive to dirt than the previous black ThinkPad models. All in all, the ThinkPad X13 Yoga G3 feels very premium. The wide hinges allow for folding and unfolding into the modes typical for a convertible – tablet, tent and stand.

Accordingly, the maximum opening angle is 360 degrees. The hinges, which are equipped with silver metal caps, hold the monitor solidly in place, but you need two hands to open the laptop. The Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Yoga G3 is one of the lighter representatives among business convertibles.

Just like the Dell Latitude 9330 , it only weighs 1. 2 kg. The cheaper ThinkPad L13 Yoga Gen 4 weighs 1.

3 kg, the larger ThinkPad X1 Yoga G7 1. 5 kg. A convertible that can also be used as a tablet naturally benefits more from a lower weight.

So there is a tie in terms of weight, but the Dell laptop has the edge in terms of footprint (length times width) – and also has narrower display bezels. Most ports are on the left side of the Lenovo laptop. We would have liked to see one of the two Thunderbolt 4 ports on the right so that users can flexibly decide which side to load from.

An RJ45 connection and an SD card reader are also missing. In view of the small case, this is excusable. Lenovo installs Intel’s AX211 in the ThinkPad X13 Yoga Gen 3, a modern 2×2 card from Intel that supports WiFi 6E.

Strangely enough, our ThinkPad X13 Yoga G3 was unable to detect the 6 GHz network. According to Lenovo, WiFi 6E is not supported on Windows 10. In WiFi 6 mode, the X13 Yoga achieved very good transfer rates when receiving data, but the performance dropped significantly when sending.

In addition to the WiFi module, our test device also has a mobile phone module ex works in the form of the Quectel EM05-G. This is a CAT4 4G LTE module. Alternatively, a much faster CAT16 module is available, but 5G is not an option.

The Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Yoga Gen 3 has a 1080p webcam whose quality is just enough for video conferencing, but is far behind those of modern smartphones. Unlike the ThinkPad X1 Yoga, the X13 Yoga has a smartcard slot. Other security features include a dedicated TPM chip, the fingerprint reader in the power button, the infrared camera for facial recognition, the Kensington lock slot and the “ThinkShutter” mechanical privacy shutter.

In addition to the 65-watt power supply with USB-C connector, Lenovo also includes a stylus in the ThinkPad X13 Yoga G3, which is built into the front right corner of the case. It’s an active digital pen with an inbuilt battery that is charged in the slot, so there is no need to replace the battery. Seven screws have to be loosened before you can access the internals of the ThinkPad laptop.

In addition, there are only a few clips on the rear edge that have to be opened. Both steps are relatively easy. Unfortunately, there isn’t much that can be upgraded inside: only the WWAN module and the M.

2 2280 SSD can be upgraded. At least a simple battery swap is possible and the fan is easily accessible for cleaning. The keyboard, on the other hand, cannot be replaced so easily because it is part of the palm rest (a so-called “bottom load keyboard”, i.

e. installed from below). As usual, Lenovo provides a maintenance manual for its ThinkPad business series for the X13 Yoga G3, namely the Hardware Maintenance Manual .

The Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Yoga G3 is sold by Lenovo with a 36-month warranty. By default, the warranty package includes a bring-in service that also applies internationally. Optionally, the warranty can be extended or improved with additional upgrades, such as Premier Support , Onsite Service or Accident Protection .

In terms of layout, the keyboard of the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Yoga G3 corresponds to a typical representative of the ThinkPad X series of recent years. It is a 95% layout in which all keys are slightly smaller. The umlaut keys ( this only applies to the German keyboard ) are also smaller and the dedicated insert key is omitted.

The typing feel is on the usual high level of the current ThinkPads, with the typical travel of 1. 5 mm and a very pleasant pressure point. Compared to older generations of ThinkPads, the travel is no longer quite as generous, but it is still a keyboard that users will enjoy typing on all day.

The touchpad corresponds to the current ThinkPad standard outside of the high-end X1 and ThinkPad Z series: Lenovo installs a clickpad with a hinge design that can only be clicked in the lower area. The surface, which measures 11. 5 by 5.

5 cm, consists of smooth Mylar, which Lenovo advertises as “glass-like”. Indeed, it makes a good impression with good gliding traits, even if the touchpad doesn’t feel quite as high-quality as a real glass touchpad. The click mechanism, on the other hand, could be a bit better and is too loud for our taste.

At least the clickpad does not wobble, which has been the case in some current ThinkPads. In addition to the touchpad, as is always the case with ThinkPads, there is also the red TrackPoint, the universally popular red rubber button that allows the mouse pointer to be operated without users having to remove their hands from the keyboard. The TrackPoint works just as well as ever, as do the three dedicated TrackPoint buttons, which are flat in keeping with the current ThinkPad design.

As a convertible, the ThinkPad X13 Yoga G3 naturally has a capacitive 10-point touchscreen, which worked flawlessly in our tests. The same applies to the digital pen, which can be used for notes and drawing. The pen recognizes pressure levels and also works precisely near the edges.

Due to its size, it’s rather unsuitable for constant writing, and the flat keys on the pen are difficult to use. As for the display, the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Yoga Gen 3 uses a 13. 3-inch IPS LCD, the dimensions of which correspond to the 16:10 format.

All offered screens support multi-touch and the digital pen, and should deliver 100% sRGB color space coverage. As is often the case with ThinkPad laptops, there are several display options for this model: On average, the panel achieves the advertised brightness value of 400 cd/m² fairly accurately. Thus, the ThinkPad clearly lags behind the Dell Latitude 9330 , whose WQXGA display delivers more than 500 cd/m².

The grayscale is a bit too cool ex factory, but this can be overcome with calibration via the X-Rite i1Pro 2 Colorimeter and the X-Rite i1Profiler. The DeltaE value of 0. 8 measured afterwards is very good – it is a panel that can be easily calibrated.

The corresponding profile is, as always, available for free download (in the gray box above). With an sRGB value of 98. 6%, the target of 100% is marginally missed.

The Dell Latitude is also ahead here, but at least the ThinkPad X13 Yoga is good enough for simple image editing. Although this panel is not matte, the display brightness is good and the surface anti-reflective. Thus the ThinkPad Yoga can also be used outdoors, even though some reflections cannot be avoided, of course.

Lenovo offers four different Intel CPUs for the ThinkPad X13 Yoga G3, while AMD chips are not an option. There is the Intel Core i5-1235U , the i7-1255U and their vPro variants i5-1245U and i7-1265U . There are no dGPUs in the ThinkPad laptop and the RAM is always soldered and comes as 8, 16 or 32 GB of LPDDR4X-4266 RAM.

Lenovo specifies a maximum storage capacity of 2 TB, which comes as a single M. 2 2280 SSD. The Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Yoga Gen 3 has three performance modes that can be set via the native Windows settings.

These affect the processor’s maximum consumption. Power limit 2 (PL2) corresponds to short-term consumption during load peaks and power limit 1 (PL1) to the long-term limit: The difference between the last two performance modes is that the processor under Better Performance reaches the PL1 limit of 15 watts more quickly. The Intel Core i7-1265U is the fastest processor in the Alder Lake U15 series and is an Enterprise vPro chip.

It has a total of ten cores, two of which are performance cores and eight efficiency cores, with twelve threads thanks to hyperthreading of the P cores. The P cores have clock rates of 1. 8 to 4.

8 GHz, while the E cores range from 1. 3 to 3. 6 GHz.

The typical consumption of this CPU is 15 watts. Of course, the CPU can also consume considerably more in the ThinkPad X13 Yoga G3, but not for long. Thus, the performance under sustained load remains significantly below the ThinkPad X1 Yoga G7 , and the convertibles from HP and Dell are also ahead.

The X13 Yoga G3 only performs better in Boost Performance . After all, the ThinkPad X13 Yoga G3 is also a fair bit faster than its predecessor, the X13 Yoga G2 . A CPU performance limitation in battery mode could not be determined.

The Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Yoga Gen 3 runs absolutely smoothly in everyday use. In the synthetic system performance benchmarks, however, it lags behind its direct competitors. Our test device had problems with DPC latencies, which can lead to dropouts when playing audio and video files.

Network and graphics drivers are mainly responsible for this. Corresponding driver updates may fix the problem. The 512 GB M.

2 2280 SSD with NVMe PCIe 4. 0 from Samsung runs slower in Lenovo’s ThinkPad X13 Yoga G3 than in the X1 Yoga G7 . However, the tables turn under sustained load, where the X13 is faster than its more expensive counterpart.

The Intel Iris Xe is no longer unfamiliar; after all, Intel has been using this iGPU for several generations. The X13 Yoga G3 is the version with 96 EUs since it has an i7 inside. As an iGPU, the GPU does not have its own memory and has to access the main memory.

As always with the Iris Xe, it is easily sufficient for everyday use in the absence of demanding tasks, as well as for older games in lower resolution and at low detail levels. It does not quite reach its maximum performance level in the ThinkPad either, but the difference is unlikely to matter in practice. After all, graphics performance is of little importance in a business device like this.

Under load, the fan of the ThinkPad X13 Yoga Gen 3 is considerably louder than that of the direct predecessor at over 40 dB(a) – the Dell Latitude 9330 2-in-1 is similarly loud. Under low load, the ThinkPad’s fan is mostly silent, but not always. Then again, it remains restrained at around 28 dB(a).

No electronic noises such as coil whine were detected. We measured just over 50°C on the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Yoga Gen 3, both underneath and above the keyboard. Of course, it only reaches such temperatures in the stress test under maximum CPU and GPU load – and only in individual hotspots; the palm rest always remains completely cool.

In the Witcher 3 test, case temperatures are also slightly lower than in the stress test. In the same stress test, the ThinkPad’s processor consumed around 15 watts after one hour with a few fluctuations. This is not temperature-related throttling, but an artificial TDP restriction, which should not affect everyday use.

As one of the few new ThinkPads, the X13 Yoga G3 still has its speakers on the underside. The stereo speakers are not so quiet, but they almost completely lack bass. The Dell Latitude 9330 2 in 1 is significantly better here, even overtaking the ThinkPad X1 Yoga in this regard.

Compared to its direct predecessor, the X13 Yoga G2 , the X13 Yoga G3 is a little more power hungry. On the other hand, Dell’s competitor, the Latitude 9330 , is about the same, at least under low load. The 65 watt power supply is slightly undersized for the maximum consumption of 66.

1 watts. However, since consumption quickly falls below this mark, this does not matter in everyday use. The Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Yoga G3 lasts for about eight hours with its 52.

8 Wh battery in our WiFi test (150 cd/m2 display brightness). Not a good result, but a passable one. All rival laptops deliver over an hour more battery life.

Things improve in maximum display brightness, where the ThinkPad utilizes the advantage of its low-power LCD: at around seven and a half hours, the battery runtime is hardly lower despite the significantly higher brightness. Compared to the previous model, the X13 Yoga G2, the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Yoga Gen 3 is essentially a minor upgrade without any real advantages. The convertible has even deteriorated in some important areas.

But the positives first: it is a comparatively light convertible with a stable carbon case, good hardware and great input devices. It also has a comparatively bright, high-resolution display and improved CPU performance compared to last year’s model. However, the latter comes at a price: the fan revs up more often and the battery life is shorter.

Another point of criticism is the below average speakers and the soldered RAM. The integrated digital pen is a great and convenient feature, but not very comfortable to use. Alder Lake makes for higher performance but reduced battery life and a louder fan on the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Yoga Gen 3.

These negative points prevent an even better overall score – the predecessor with Tiger Lake achieved 91% – but the ThinkPad X13 Yoga Gen 3 is still a very good convertible for the business sector. Compared to the Dell Latitude 9330 2-in-1 , the X13 Yoga Gen 3 wins in terms of port configuration, but loses significantly in speaker quality and display brightness. The ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 7 is bigger and heavier, but performs better.

The basic configuration of the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Yoga Gen 3 is available on Lenovo’s US website for US$1,301. 40 . .