Stunning screen, smart AI, and strong performance
The 15-inch business laptop is an unusual breed these days, but there’s one important holdout—Lenovo’s ThinkPad line. I know what you’re asking right now: Another review of a boxy black Lenovo workhorse? But hear me out. The Lenovo ThinkPad X9 15 Aura Edition ($1,599 to start; $2,069 as tested) is nothing like the ThinkPad you’re picturing in your mind. Yes, it’s a capable laptop, geared here toward small business and discriminating consumers instead of corporate fleets, and packed with Lenovo’s usual mix of performance, features, and reliability. But the X9 is a sharp departure from the Lenovo norm: It’s designed to go head-to-head with Apple’s MacBooks, serving up a combination of sleek industrial design and advanced AI features. It’s not a perfect laptop—but it’s very, very good. We were slightly bigger fans of Lenovo’s 14-inch version of the X9, tapping that smaller model for our Editors’ Choice award.What’s an ‘Aura Edition’? It’s About AI Enhancements
The ThinkPad X9 15 is part of Lenovo’s Aura Edition series of premium systems, part of a collaboration with Intel to deliver advanced features on machines with the chip maker’s latest-generation “Lunar Lake” processors.
For starters, every Aura Edition laptop is also a Microsoft Copilot+ PC, with the eponymous AI assistant and various generative tools for working with text and images. But Aura Editions also go above and beyond Copilot+ with Lenovo AI Now, a locally run version of Meta’s Llama 3 that adds a wealth of new features.
In this case, that means exclusive AI-enabled Smart Modes that automatically adjust your settings depending on what you need at the moment. Working in public? Shield Mode will protect your privacy. Online meeting? Collaboration Mode will optimize your camera settings. Need to focus? Attention Mode will mute notifications and block distracting domains to give you a timed chunk of wholly focused work. You’ll even get a reminder to take a break when you’re done.
Aura Edition also brings seamless tap-to-share with support for Android and iOS phones, using an “AI Virtual Smart Sensor”—imagine a mix of NFC and Intel Unison for sharing photos without having to fumble for a cable or navigate file menus. Lenovo Smart Care, meanwhile, offers real-time, on-device troubleshooting.
The Aura Edition enhancement even extends to the internal design, with a new cooling approach developed jointly by Lenovo and Intel. The setup—called “Engine Hub”, and centered inside a blocky strip on the underside of the laptop—houses key components together for improved cooling. The Hub enables the laptop to be thinner and lighter while minimizing the performance compromise.Configuration Options and Pricing
Let’s talk processor power. The Lenovo ThinkPad X9 15 Aura Edition is an Intel-only laptop, with options for an Intel Core Ultra 5 and Core Ultra 7 processors. The base model has an Intel Core Ultra 5 226V with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD for $1,599. Our review unit came with an Intel Core Ultra 7 258V, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD for $2,069. The top configuration ($2,249) serves up an Intel Core Ultra 7 268V processor, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD.
In terms of upgradability and reparability, the laptop uses soldered-on memory, so there’s no option for adding RAM. However, you can swap in a different M.2 SSD to add more capacity.Design: Not Your Average ThinkPad
The X9 15 may bear the ThinkPad name, but it doesn’t look or feel like your typical ThinkPad. Instead of the black, boxy chassis you might expect, the X9 has an aluminum chassis and lid in a spiffy Thunder Grey shade with a textured matte finish.
The end product is a slim chassis that measures a mere half-inch thick and weighs just over 3 pounds, which is as portable as you’ll get from a business machine with a display this size. The chassis build is sturdy enough to keep the machine from flexing when you pick it up or type on it, and durable enough to meet MIL-STD-810H standards for cold, heat, dust, and vibration. To get much more durable than that, you’d need a semi-ruggedized or fully rugged laptop.Display, Webcam, and Audio: Anchored by an Awesome OLED
One of the ThinkPad X9’s most striking features is its OLED display. The 15.3-inch, 2,880-by-1,800-pixel panel looks gorgeous, with vibrant colors, crisp detail, and rich dark hues and blacks. The base model has a standard OLED panel, but our review unit included a touch screen, which you can get on all but the most basic configurations.
