Note: I appear to have measured keyboard key travel wrong. Official spec denotes key travel as 1.5mm on this unit and 1.8mm on T15g. Will investigate why my numbers were wrong and fix that for next time. Before anyone asks - After repaste doesn't affect cpu+gpu stress test or performance results as the CPU is limited by the EC to 30w at all times during combined heavy load. On my live coverage of the laptop I did test this so you can check out that video for that info: ruclips.net/video/gDsUdUGkwFU/видео.html Also GPU TGP is "100W" but it runs at 80W when not boosting (so pretty much always). also sorry for sniffles, wildfire smoke making my allergies flare up lol
Btw, you said 30 watts at all times here, but isn't that actually just a limit under sustained shared GPU+CPU load? As in, under stress test, CPU goes to 30 watts and GPU to 80 watts-but if GPU is not under heavy load, dynamic boost allows some of those watts to go to CPU?
For me, this is a really very good laptop, the recent bios update 1.09 greatly improves the battery life, no creaking at all, looks and feel very solid.
Sometime late to the party, but I can definitely confirm the high temps. However, I repasted with Thermal Grizlly Kryonaut, as the default paste was really rubbish. Also. I removed that protective net from the back-cover along with the black "paper" covering the bottom grid in the middle. Now there's a better air flow for the fans. Whereas before I was idling at 50C+ and ~75C was the norm, now it idles between 37-40 and never passed further then 62C in higher sustained loads.
Hey Marius, would you mind going into more detail? I don’t know if I got what you meant by protective net and black paper. I wanna be sure I take off the right things. I got the liquid metal part tho. Thanks.
Thank you so much for this review. I purchased the most expensive model of the X1E gen3 last year and was starting to get buyers remorse because the gen4 has a NVidia RTX card in it and slightly bigger display. But now after your review I feel better because a creaking anything would drive my sensitive ears crazy! Also have have sensitive eyes too and OLED even though it is a power hog, is very easy on my eyes so not having OLED might be an issue too. I also have my X1E gen3 heat management tuned and I rarely hear my fans anymore until I play a 3D game. I guess we would have to wait for a gen6 for a perfect new X1E? By then my warranty would have expired and I could get a new one :-)
The issues shown in this review are surprising to me, considering this is a Gen 4 laptop. Lenovo should have sorted all the issues as this is their flagship series
This is a gen 1 laptop. It is a complete redesign and they decided to cram powerful graphics (A4000/3070 or A5000/3080) inside a very thin chassis. Previous generations of the P1/x1 extreme line uses intro-level graphics card such as 1650, 1650ti and t2000. It is very cool-looking, but considering the fact that it is half as thick as the P15 gen 2/T15g gen 2 line but housing a same graphics card only 10W lower in TGP (80w vs 90w), it is quite obvious that thermal would be an issue. That being said, I am all for Lenovo doing experiments on their long-standing product lines such as x1 extreme. If they want to improve this product next year, they might want to look at Razer, who specifically lower the performance to avoid thermal issues.
@Z J not exactly an excuse imo, Lenovo knows how to made adequate cooling and just failed to do so with this product. And, well, as I've mentioned before Razer's first gen, new 2021 RB 14 gets better thermals so I have a hard time excusing it as just first gen growing pains rn.
It's a completely new formfactor. Literally 16" chassis vs 15" last year. I agree its unacceptable but it's also admittedly a gen 1 product in all senses.
I do want to say that I have the exact same device and have there's no creeking.I have had it for 2 weeks and removed the bottom several times to install ram and a 2tb ssd.
Thanks for the time and effort to post this review! No chassis creaking with mine, nor in Lenovo forum posts or other site reviews recently published; sounds like you may have received a defective one. But nice video...
I've seen plenty of folks complaining of chassis creak outside of just me, so maybe you weren't using the right terms. In this comments section, even :)
@@codeHusky seems hit or miss then, some people impacted, some not. :) Plenty of owners without creaking too. I checked the same area you were pressing and it is solid, no flex or creaking etc.
damn, I have that creaking problem in X1 Carbon 1st gen!!!! It's been like what, 10 years? And they haven't even tried addressing this issue? It's completely unacceptable! I thought they'd resolved this issues long ago.
I am glad that I found this. I have been waiting for the gen four redesign for 2 1/2 years now and I am a little bit disappointed. Especially in the thermal issues because I was hoping to use this laptop for the occasional PCVR experience which I now know is basically impossible even with re-pasting.
be sure to also check the notebookcheck review, though... The performance seemed to actually be consistent and quite good. I compared it against the XMG Neo 15 (which has 165 watts available to the GPU), which they reviewed with the 3080--while their X1 Extreme Gen 4 review had the 3070, and it was broadly within 25% in the worst case scenario comparisons. That's actually super impressive. I have also read from others that they don't experience this creak, which this reviewer made a _serious_ deal out of. I'm planning to do some PCVR gaming with it, and I'm convinced it can actually handle it just fine. After a week of deliberating, I'm pulling a trigger on one with a 3080 and i9 at $3500. the XMG has a terrible keyboard and would take a month to order anyways, and gaming is use #2 for me, so: yolo.
I'll have to revisit this laptop again to see if they've fixed the throttling issue or not. It's possible they might've fixed things somewhat but I doubt that they've revised the heatsink exactly. Also I've seen plenty of reports of this creaking issue from others online so it's definitely not just me.
@@KyleBaker Glad to hear you have the courage to take that on. I have now opted for the Thinkbook 16p Gen2 and it definitely serves the purpose gloriously. I did take a look under the hood and it does have a better heatsink and bigger fans. The only thing I really miss is the trackpoint. I can deal with the lack of the glass touchscreen as I do not need to rely on pen input anymore. Can you answer here once you have made your experiences? Also willing to share mine with the Thinkbook, I believe it is an under-the-radar unit
@@dawid6324 nice! Yeah, think book isn't quite the same build quality, 3060 would be borderline step down from my 2070, and amd Linux compatibility is good-but-not-great, but it does look like a very cost effective compromise! There are enough videos showing this laptop successfully 4k gaming now that the thermals seems effective, and benchmarks show it meeting/exceeding average laptop rtx 3070mq benchmarks. Yes, some throttling is expected, but it seems to pretty much maintain 80 watts to the GPU under full on stress test... All that together, I think this is "the one". We'll see, and I'll definitely do a write up on reddit when I've had mine for a bit.
@@codeHusky i believe you, but I've also seen at least one other reviewer refer to yours and specifically mention they didn't have that experience at all. Hard to say why, but that also is not a deal break for me, especially as 98% of my usage is on a laptop stand anyways. I do hope you look into it again, and remember to appreciate it for where it's at-not a gaming laptop, but something that is damn close while being MacBook light. Btw-did you say there's no undervolting? And did you try the mux switch in bios at all?
Hey would you review the X1 Carbon Gen 9 next? You're the only reviewer that doesn't shill the product for views / to confirm people's already made decisions.
Thanks for such a great review! I was really looking forward to this, but the creaking is kind of a deal breaker, especially at that price point. Is there another laptop you recommend at around the same specs?
@@ClarkSwofford Most units probably won't initially have creaking - I know mine didn't. It gets worse with time and seems to be exaggerated by removing/reinstalling the bottom cover.
Lenovo should return the "ThinkPad" brand to IBM. ThinkPad series developed by Japanese engineers was awesome quality. Currently, China ruins their efforts.
I bought the thinkpad gen 4 almost exactly your model but with mine is with touch screen and i7 2.5 has no problems! And doest have this noise problem and the cooling systems is far more better than gen 2! Is the best computer I ever seen the screen also is amazing!!! Call Lenovo and ask them to replace the chassis! They have a very good warranty.
I got the same model 2 days ago. Every 10% of the battery goes down every 15 min of a normal use. The unit gets super hot even after re-paste it with mx-5. Fan is much louder than a non-vapor chamber version. This 3070 version will 100% goes back to Lenovo. I am happy with an x1 ext gen 4 3050ti version though.
Yep. There is no guarantee that $3K (or $4K) buys you a tip top laptop from Lenovo. I briefly had an X1E G2 last year and returned it, because of a raspy fan and crooked USB ports. This model is marked up and sometimes on sale for very steep discounts. That would be the time to buy. I now have a T14s G1 AMD. It's fine. You might hope for better QC with more expensive models, but I wouldn't be surprised if the T-series were higher volume and better debugged on account of that. Pure speculation, though. QC is probably the same and it's all the luck of the draw.
MSI Creator 16 is a mobile workstation with 16:10 screen and RTX 3060. If you don't mind 16:9, HP ZBook Studio is also a good option because it goes up to RTX 3080.
@@mini9503 MSI's and Asus laptops have terrible keyboards, though. Most anyone looking for a thinkpad is going to want a decent keyboard. I've played with plenty of MSI's in computer shops and the keyboards are pretty nasty. And I had an Asus lent to me at a previous job and the key travel and response was awful for touch-typing. I'm guessing that these keyboards are better for gaming? I don't know. But I'd touch-type on a potato in preference to an Asus laptop keyboard.
@@CountSessine These are mobile workstations, the chassis is different from gaming lineups, just like Lenovo Thinkpads are different from Lenovo Legion. And IMO HP business has better keyboard than Thinkpads in general.
I've had a Gen1 X1 Extreme for just under three years. (i7-8750h, 16GB , 1050ti) Never a creak from the keyboard. I have had persistent throttling, and have mitigated somewhat with undervolting through the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility. Will try and repaste maybe, but I don't expect any miracles. When I purchased mine, I also was looking at Dell XPS 15 9500? series ; very similar types of throttling on those machines too. I was working as a repair tech at the time and discussed it with a Lenovo tech to see if it was a persistent problem. He said; "you should have gotten the i5, the i7 puts out too much heat". I feel the same about it; I like the thin and light aspect of the machine, but have paid for more power than I end up being able to use. A T15 might b a better machine when all is said and done. However, I might just replace it with a new Mackbook M1 Pro, which of course has many limitations including glossy screen and low-travel keyboard. I'm not bound to Windows as much as I once was. Your review is pretty harsh, but I'm guessing that's just "your style".
If the laptop wasn't a $3000 machine intended for professionals, I'd be more hesitant to give it harsh criticism. However, for the price point the faults of the product are just completely unacceptable in my book. Also, "the i7 puts out too much heat" isn't really a thing anymore, especially with the state of Intel mobile. It either keeps itself under control thermally or it throttles just to get the additional like 2% benchmark score in lab tests. This laptop is simply just not properly designed to handle its hardware, and the chassis is flawed. The new MBPs are much closer to something I'd recommend on the channel, ignoring some of their thermal shortcoming that are typical of an Apple product.
Thanks for a great review. I wonder if it's possible to have a look at P15v Gen 2 as it seems to be the last reasonable option for a lightweight machine with an 11th gen 8-core Intel. Also super interesting what's the difference between FHD and UHD versions there, especially in terms of GtG response times and ghosting. X1 Carbon Gen 8 and its low-power display has it around 60ms and it is unbearable to use without an external one.
Hello there. Awesome video! Quick question; for someone having to use this laptop for architecture applications such as autocad, revit and doing renders, do you think this laptop will perform good? I won’t use it for gaming so I guess it shouldn’t quite overheat as other people are saying? Obviously it depends on the size of the files etc but, what’s your opinion?
I guess the primary reason for the squeak sounds is that Lenovo modified the Magnesium alloy structural frame to reduce the weight and the palm rest is much less supported by the metal frame. The screw locations look fine to me since my T480 only has screw at the corners and it never squeaks. The palm rest and the keyboard of T480 is supported by Magnesium alloy structural frame with the some reinforcing ribs, so I guess that is why it is so sturdy and never deform even under pressure.
I have not got hands on the never arrived P1G4, but from your review it looks like the squeaking palm is made of badly supported thin metal alloy whose composition gives lighter weights but also less structural strength. Nevertheless, the aspect ratio, the HDR screen, and the front fire speakers make the squeaking problem much less significant to me LOL
Your T480 doesn't squeak because it's built in a way that makes sense. The P1G4/X1E4 is basically just using the front of the laptop as a hinge with one screw with zero clips. There's nothing to secure it for most of the front of the shell, so it's super easy for creaking to occur. It's less a material problem and moreso some pretty pathetic engineering issue
I'm still thinking about pulling the trigger and hopefully avoid the creaking. Not sure there is any alternative 16:10, upgradable memory, dual ssd, dgpu. I could deal with slower CPU performance.
I really want to see some Zen 3 laptops from Lenovo. Availability has been rubbish for that. Curious about throttling in that case. I cant take throttling one bit…you’ve earned my sub. Great content
There's some suggestion they're considering high end AMD versions of their notebooks - this laptop is internally referred to as the X1 Extreme Gen4i ("i" as in intel!)
Thank you for putting the effort into this review. I'm looking to replace a mid-spec 2012 Retina Macbook Pro and would like to run X-Plane at decent frame rates. Is the 4k display worth the extra cost over 2560x1600? The P15 and P17 look pretty massive, but is the quality that much better that I should be looking at them instead? I don't travel much, so I'd generally use it around the house or at my desk. I'd prefer to run Linux, so I've also had my eye on the System76 Oryx Pro and the Eluktronics MAX-15 and MAX-17 which are highly performant machines for the money.
I don't have the gen 4, but I do have a gen 2 which I'm looking to replace with a gen 4 soon. And I used to have an early-2015 15" macbook pro (which I replaced with the gen 2). I have the 4k screen with my gen 2, but when I get my gen 4, I'm going to be ordering the 2.6k screen (which wasn't an option with the gen 2). First, if you run linux with an X11 distro, X11 is terrible with screen scaling and you'll be fighting the native resolution constantly because 4k is too many pixels for a 15" screen. If you run wayland like I do, then you'll be just find with 4k or 2.6k. Second, the battery life with 4k screens is so much worse than it is with 2.6k screens. I do a lot of programming and occasionally I need to be able to display 4 columns of 80 character-wide source files. 2k (HD) isn't enough pixels for this (1920/4/80 = 6 pixels per character), but 2.6k is ok (2560/4/80 = 8 pixels per character, which actually makes a big difference). I kind of feel that given the huge extra battery drain, 4k is a pretty silly screen resolution. Third, my macbook pro had a 2.6k screen, and when I moved up to my x1 gen 2 with it's 4k screen, I really didn't notice the difference. Maybe my eyesight is bad but they're both so much better than 2k HD (which isn't enough pixels for a 15" screen and shouldn't be offered).
Just saying, Notebookcheck shows this laptop with 3070 holding nearly 60fps with x plane at 4k res. I was also looking at the system76 oryx pro and Tuxedo Stellaris 15 (which might be the same eluktronics you're looking at?). I ended up going with this one. I don't think system76 would have better performance than this, and is about 01% heavier + it's thicker, and it isn't really cheaper, but core boot and full freedom on the machine at firmware level is cool. Stellaris 15 keyboard was the deal breaker for me on that one, but performance wise it looks like the absolute top of the line.
codeHusky, I called Lenovo Technical Support twice and they mentioned that the Chassis Creaking Noise is not normal for the X1 Extreme Gen 4. Can you send it back for a replacement and test the new replacement for the noise again? I asked the people on the Lenovo forums and they said that they don't experience that amount of chassis creaking noise but might be a factory QC thing. On the throttling, I realized the thermals are bad because the application of the paste is uneven out of the factory. It is sad anyone who wants to get this will need to repaste. I really hope Lenovo solves this as it is so impractical for people to get this and then they need to repaste it! How much temperature drop did you record before and after repasting for the GPU and CPU? Couldn't see it properly, sorry. Good work on the thorough review~!
As seen in the comments here, the creak isn't exactly impossible to encounter. I don't doubt that not all units suffer from it, and it's far from the most glaring issue with the device. Regarding the throttling, its definitely fixable with repasting but it's not because the paste job is bad. Lenovo is using a less than ideal paste for thermal conductivity which keeps the chips hotter, especially with the less than ideal heatsink design. After a repaste it works much better (power consumption is more relevant than strictly just temps), but the firmware restricts performance significantly. I might revisit the device if they fix the software throttling.
What would be a good alternative to this laptop? I need this as my daily working laptop as a software engineer, so I do not care as much about aesthetics or battery life but I need good performance. Most people in my company either use a Microsoft Surface Book 3 oder Dell XPS 15, but I've had only bad experiences with both in the past few years (heating aswell). Would use it with an external keyboard + mouse anyway!
Thank you very much for a fanstastic review. I was hesitating if I should order this machine vs the Razer Blade 14. After watching your videos I canceled my Lenovo order and bought a Razer Blade. After having that Blade 14 for 2 days I love the machine but agree with you that Razer's customer support is terrible. At any rate, do you think that the Blade has a better cooling solution and is going to be therefore more reliable and durable over the long run?! I tend to buy expensive computers that I generally use for 5 years before repeating the process so long-term durability and reliability is an important issue for me. I am not gamer but content creator. So the laptop will be used for light office tasks at home by my wife and then by me on the road for content creation. I still have over 3 weeks grace period to return my Blade 14 but so far I am thinking of keeping it. What do you think?
@@codeHusky Thank you very much for your super quick reply. What's your take on overall performance, parts, and material quality vs the Lenovo X1 extreme?
I actually just returned my Blade 15 after two weeks and bought this X1 Extreme Gen 4. My prior Lenovo got burned out after just 3 years of moderate gaming, web browsing, video, and productivity. The components literally burned from too much overheating. So I tried the Razer for its superior cooling and gaming performance. However, I found that it made too many compromises in other areas. The battery life is horrendous. I got between 60-90 minutes, even if I wasn't doing anything demanding. The track pad was really troublesome for me--it's too big and the integrated buttons were too hard to find to use accurately. I was constantly was making mistakes when using the track pad and the buttons. It even happened regularly that I would be typing and some portion of my palm would graze the pad, causing my cursor to fly elsewhere unexpectedly. I would play games requiring left and right mouse clicks, and it was just too much. My last big issue was that when pushed, the whole body of the computer would get very warm. I expect this is a function of advanced heat dissipation, but it was at times uncomfortable. Minor issues with my Blade 15 are lack of biometrics, a tad bulky and heavy, and I found the keyboard just slightly less intuitive. The buttons are all flat and evenly spaced, and my fingers sometimes struggled to find the right keys around the periphery (ctrl, fn, alt, shift, enter, arrow keys, etc). I expect the key-finding issue would mostly go away with long-term use. There were also things I liked about the Blade. Feels sturdy and solid. The keystrokes are nice. The multi-color keyboard backlight is cool, it performed great even under high graphic load. As such, I'll be returning to Lenovo knowing that I'll be giving up some performance and cooling, but really looking forward to having better battery life and a trackpad more conducive to accuracy in an array of tasks.
Ouch, very disappointing. I had very high hopes for this laptop. I wonder if it could just be early production issues? Still no excuse to release a product with these issues though.
I kinda doubt it - Lenovo rarely changes the design of cooling or anything mid-cycle for a product, so if they're shipping these out then this is probably final quality in terms of performance and whatnot. If you're referring to the creaking, that seems to be more of a design fault than a manufacturing defect.
@@codeHusky I don’t know, man. Mine doesn’t have any creaking issues. It’s silent when I’m touching, pressing, squeezing it the way you do in the video.
I appreciate your perspective on this laptop. I just purchased a slightly upgraded version of this on black Friday sale at Lenovo. My last Lenovo wore itself out after just 3 years, due to overheating. I tried the Razer Blade 15, but found it made too many compromises in mobility, battery life, and other minor issues. Am wondering now what I can do to either improve cooling on my Gen 4, or otherwise protect the parts from heat, while also being able to take advantage of the components I paid extra to have. Any recommendations on where I can look?
I have a P1 Gen 4 with 3080 GPU on order. I think it will be fine. From experience, there will be a few months of fairly regular firmware updates which will fine tune performance and thermals and fix bugs and sub-optimisations. I lost count of how many firmware updates my Thinkpads have had in the first year alone. Sadly its how the industry works. Also if the creaking happens on my unit which I doubt it will, I can always get a replacement on Lenovo's support. The only thing I don't like is to have to reapply thermal paste. It looks like the assembly can be a bit sloppy. When I opened up my X1 Carbon Gen 6 and X1 Yoga Gen 3, everything looked well assembled. But the thermal paste was done poorly. Looks like they were trying to save on paste. One part under the heat sink (chip set?) didn't even have paste on it! I cleaned up the old paste with alcohol and put in generous portions of top end paste. Both machines later ran 8 to 10 degrees cooler! The yoga still runs a bit hotter than the Carbon. I suspect its due to the keyboard design which lowers the keys when folding and that was trapping heat. Nice thing to have but Lenovo dropped it in subsequent models. Guess the thermals were being affected. I still like the lowering keys on my model though. All in all I have had very good experience with my Thinkpads. I think they put in more effort in fixing issues post roll out than most other manufacturers. I also think the Thinkpads are generally very reliable. I also like their user expandability.
If Lenovo does remove the 30w throttling I'd be happy to revisit the device, but for now I'm hesitant to recommend it to anyone looking to do any hardware intensive work tbh.
@@codeHusky yea. I don't understand why Lenovo put in the 30w limit which is very limiting. I can't see that they are going to leave it at that. Maybe its just they are rushing the product through and its going to change with firmware. BTW, can you tell me which software you used to test that? I couldn't quite make it out on your video. I'd like to test it myself when it arrives. Thanks. And great vid.
Well this is kind of a bummer. I have an X1 extreme gen 2 and I'm pretty happy with it (mostly because of the keyboard), but I have to admit that it also has the creaking sound. I was thinking of getting the gen 4... but now I'm not so sure. I wonder - what are the alternatives for a 15" laptop with decent CPU, better-than HD resolution screen (absolutely mandatory - HD resolution is unacceptable), a really good keyboard and trackpad, and linux compatibility in 2021? I really don't care at all about the GPU, except that it needs to work with linux (the integrated Intel gpu serves that purpose in my gen 2).
You might try the XPS. It isn't as powerful, but is in some ways more refined than the Thinkpad. I would assume good Linux compatibility, but haven't personally checked that model. Speakers and screen are supposed to be top notch, still quite powerful, finish excellent, and usually dell does well with Linux. Less emphasis on the GPU for their models, I think maxes out at 3060.
Thank you very much for your review. I think I watched it 3 times already. I have a question. It it suitable for long gaming ? Or any other long work with loading GPU. I have p1 gen2 and it also have thermal issues. More than that when I start gaming for example just Tomb Raider (2013) it can work only half an hour and then shut down due to thermal... So did you have any similar issues with GPU?
what i don't understand is... why supply a 230W power brick if you can only pull some 110W sustained on cpu + gpu (add in some 20W for the rest of the components to make it 130W) :/ seems kind of overkill.
I've been speaking with Lenovo about it and apparently it has to do with some sort of thermal spec they're targeting. Still in chats with them about it so I'll update when I can.
@@codeHusky also wanted to say, thank you so much for such a great review! its so difficult/nigh impossible to find someone review the particular points you went through (ie long term thermals and power limits) especially for thinkpads. i've been debating between p1 gen 4 or p15 gen 2. p15 doesn't have 16:10 and weighs more, but your reviews are convincing me to go with p15 gen 2 anyway.
Sounds like you may have an early example, especially after hearing about those oddities with the heatsink. I'm hoping the mounting tabs and shims have been corrected for by Lenovo. That's unacceptable.
Thanks for this review. I have been waiting for it for a long time but now I am a bit disappointed. So will the CPU performance be enhanced by releasing new BIOS? If not, is it possible to get a laptop with a similar weight, a similar size and a similar performance?
Did you undervolt it? Could really help thermals durings stress testing. Too bad about the creak, hopefully they will sort this out with later units - will wait for reviews and see. Also, if you use the emp discount you can get this spec for $1900..
@@codeHusky really, Intel XTU doesn't work? Also with the P1? Thought Tiger Lake H chips supported it. Thinkbook 16 G2 w RTX 3060 may be a better (value) option when it comes out with regards to chassis and thermals w 7nm AMD
Great review... I'm pretty close to ordering one but for this kind of money I expect zero creaking.. that is what I'd expect out of like a $700 walmart laptop.. Need to see other people review this and see if they also have the same problems. Updated today and looks like delivery is "4 months+" out right now, meaning you toss them nearly $3k for a laptop that you'll probably get next year... eh.
All ThinkPad's had problems on release, in some countries this wasn't released yet, this laptop will be really good but only after some months from now. but mid 70ºC isn't not bad for any laptop.
I'm looking for a creator book that can even play games (games like gta5). After watching your extreme 4th gen review, I think I shouldn't buy it due to overheating and other issues. Is there a laptop that can be replaced?
This is an extremely damaging review for a situation that seems to be one-off. I have the P1 Gen 4 Workstation, identical machine minus the X1 Logo with i7-11850H, 32GB ram, Faster 1TB NVME, 3070 RTX with Max Q, WXGA that I paid USD $2239. For these specs you get a garbage XPS which only looks good, but has the worst track pad experience or a Razer with the ugliest logo in the world that screams you spend 1500 hours a days on Apex or Fortnite.This is a premium quality laptop, and i have had no issues with the chassis making any noise whatsoever. DO NOT go with this one review alone. I use my laptop for heavy analytics and data science as well as non-competitive gaming.
If you check the comments you can see that this isn't the only instance of this squeaking issue happening. The only premium part of this notebook, in my opinion, is the Intel/Nvidia components and pricing. Otherwise it's pretty shoddily constructed if creaking as bad as this occurs even without servicing the machine.
@@davideandreamauro4519 Yes, it was kind of weird. I ordered it two weeks ago and got it 3 days ago. The X1-extreme was priced higher, and then i looked for the P1 which was priced lower with 16gb more ram.
@@codeHuskyI am not a laptop expert and certainly don't know much about construction. I have had to return the XPS and Alienware x17 with 3080 because of the trackpad, But, I have been using the laptop for 12 hours a day and so far no creaking issue. Keeping my fingers crossed.
No - brands typically don't reach out to me following reviews. I'd appreciate if they did to share information about why certain things might be happening + fixes they have planned, but that's never happened.
Same issue, had to return. Became unusable as it would throttle so quickly. Benchmarks, fps, speed all much slower than the hardware should put out, by almost 50%. That and the keyboard would get far too hot. Really sad, as I love the carbon aesthetic and weight.
People are reporting it out of the box. Also a laptop shouldn't start squeaking from a simple disassembly. I've had $500 systems that don't have that issue.
Welp mine finally arrived. Exact same model as yours. First time booting up I get "FAN ERROR: Press Esc to Start with Limited Performance" Seems that one of the fans doesn't work at all. Sending to depot :-/ LENOVO FIX YOUR QC!!!!!!!!!!!
I literally just pressed order in this before seeing this video. Mine is the 3050 version so maybe the thermals will be a bit better but this is a big oh no
@@codeHusky with the cooling issue, could it be that copper shim for the cpu is the ultimate culprit? It feels almost as if their design for the cooling failed to compensate for 10mm difference between the height of the CPU and GPUs - or is it that they simply couldn't make the vapor chamber enlarge in a third dimension at that point?
The missing part you mentioned is par for the course from Lenovo. They've had problems like this for about a decade now, and don't seem interested in fixing them. The early Lenovo Thinkpads were maligned for having "spongy keyboards"... the problem was often missing supports under the keyboards that never got installed.
This laptop is pretty disappointing. The fans go off whenever I play a video without running anything else. It sounds like it's straining to do work, but my CPU usage is like 5%. Should have just gone with the Carbon.
Tbh sounds like your cooler isn't mounted properly. Didn't run into that issue with mine. Would recommend trying an exchange at least unless you've had other problems
hmm seems like it could be a great laptop with a good firmware update from Lenovo. Also, you said keyboard travel distance is 1.1mm, I thought it was 1.5mm.
@@cameronbosch1213 Yes that's true. Also I've gotten used to Lenovo's key arrangements and the key travel is still "better" the the other brands. That being said, when I travel again, I plan on bringing a Corsair k70 TKL with me.
@Han Wang Not surprising seeing how my Thinkpads still do peak in the 90s. Still after repasting my X1 Carbon Gen 6 hardly goes beyond early 90s under load with power plugged in. The X1 Yoga Gen 3 can still peak into the mid to high 90s but throttles back quickly. After repasting my yoga tends to cool down more quicly. i.e. stay in the high 90s much less often and for a much shorter time. Before repasting, it would stay in the mid to high 90s which was concerning.
Higher sku means higher performance with the same power draw/heat output, so it's not really overkill. I'd agree that it's fairly restrained in this chassis though.
That's disappointing... Had really high hopes and was about to buy one... Has anyone any alternative recommendation? For me a 3060 would be sufficient but the same ThinkPad build quality (without cracking of course) + portability and at least a QHD screen... Thank you for any help!
@@confidentlocal8600Eluktronics is great; are you getting anIntel or AMD model (I don't know much about the nitty-gritty of these Tongfang chassis resellers, but I am familiar with Eluktronics)?
@@cameronbosch1213 I'd spec it with AMD if possible, like the 5900. It p*sses me off that Lenovo would release this model knowing full well the CPU throttles at 30 watts, leaving it to buyers to discover it. I had this laptop in my shopping cart but then I found this.
What about the Thinkpad e15 gen3, it has a better build and even looks better than this one, with AMD it has better cpu performance and has better keyboard, all this with less than half price
If you’re not aware of the graphics card of a laptop you’re buying, you’re probably not too concerned about the badging either. The GPU options should be obvious to anyone looking to buy one of these. My point is that there was no other major differences so it’s not worth buying one over the other outside of their on-paper configs.
I've had numerous issues. So far have had the display and mobo+gfx card (3050ti) replaced by a maintenance guy on location. Problems: Flickering grays (they go up-down-up-down in brightness), completely garbled graphics with full-screen glitching and BSODs under idleish load. The latest was garbled text during Windows login with glitches alternating in visuals when hovering cursor over texts. I've been in contact with Lenovo support several times. Now they want to have me ship my only piece of work kit (the X1E Gen4 in question) to them so they can try to fix it. This sucks. I'd never have gone down this road would they've had P17s in stock back in Nov 2021. They do now. I can't even sell this piece of junk with a clear conscience as I know it's a nightmare. I thought I'm buying something that's not going to fail in any way. I was wrong. I've got other gripes as well, but they're preferential kind of things - not something you couldn't account for. Argh!
It sorta looks like the hinge is the same on the IdeaPad 5 15", if so it is trash, I have an ideapad 5 15" and have had to get the hinge repaired 2 times within a month, Ive had the laptop for almost a year and it started creaking and cracking during the first month.
@@codeHusky The model number is 15ARE05, I bought it around september of last year and a few reports of the hinges basically exploding have been reported, It would be sick if you made a video about it cause there isnt much on it and it seems every single one has been busted. The reason why it breaks is cause the hinge is attached to plastic, and when the hinges are over tightened it starts to crack that plastic. When I got mine back the second time from repair, the hinges where super loose and it seemed like they changes some stuff but its already starting to creaking and the bezel is starting to bulge.
![Summer Walker - Heart Of A Woman [Official Lyric Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/SFddctbZzw8/mqdefault.jpg)
Note: I appear to have measured keyboard key travel wrong. Official spec denotes key travel as 1.5mm on this unit and 1.8mm on T15g. Will investigate why my numbers were wrong and fix that for next time.
Before anyone asks - After repaste doesn't affect cpu+gpu stress test or performance results as the CPU is limited by the EC to 30w at all times during combined heavy load. On my live coverage of the laptop I did test this so you can check out that video for that info: ruclips.net/video/gDsUdUGkwFU/видео.html
Also GPU TGP is "100W" but it runs at 80W when not boosting (so pretty much always).
also sorry for sniffles, wildfire smoke making my allergies flare up lol
Can you post a review on battery life ?
so why does they say 6 row keyboard on their website
On a Gen 3 from 2020 and not experiencing any of these issues. Its an i7 though. And undervolted :)
bro make a possibility to make subtitles in other languages by viewers
Btw, you said 30 watts at all times here, but isn't that actually just a limit under sustained shared GPU+CPU load? As in, under stress test, CPU goes to 30 watts and GPU to 80 watts-but if GPU is not under heavy load, dynamic boost allows some of those watts to go to CPU?
For me, this is a really very good laptop, the recent bios update 1.09 greatly improves the battery life, no creaking at all, looks and feel very solid.
Glad to hear it
What kind of battery life can you get doing light tasks like RUclips and tying on word ? I’m wondering if it will last a day at school
Sometime late to the party, but I can definitely confirm the high temps. However, I repasted with Thermal Grizlly Kryonaut, as the default paste was really rubbish. Also. I removed that protective net from the back-cover along with the black "paper" covering the bottom grid in the middle. Now there's a better air flow for the fans. Whereas before I was idling at 50C+ and ~75C was the norm, now it idles between 37-40 and never passed further then 62C in higher sustained loads.
Hey Marius, would you mind going into more detail? I don’t know if I got what you meant by protective net and black paper. I wanna be sure I take off the right things. I got the liquid metal part tho. Thanks.
Keep up the laptop reviews PLEASE it’s great
Finally a very unbiased review. So rare on RUclips
Just wanted to drop some luv to this channel. Keep up the good work and quality reviewing!
Thank you for saving me $4000 and time waiting for shipping and going back to return to lenovo
Of course! That's what I'm here for :)
Thank you from Spain... I was thinking buy one of this.. but... Not now :)
Thank you so much for this review. I purchased the most expensive model of the X1E gen3 last year and was starting to get buyers remorse because the gen4 has a NVidia RTX card in it and slightly bigger display. But now after your review I feel better because a creaking anything would drive my sensitive ears crazy! Also have have sensitive eyes too and OLED even though it is a power hog, is very easy on my eyes so not having OLED might be an issue too. I also have my X1E gen3 heat management tuned and I rarely hear my fans anymore until I play a 3D game. I guess we would have to wait for a gen6 for a perfect new X1E? By then my warranty would have expired and I could get a new one :-)
at least you can undervolt it :) , gen4 can't do it.
Surgical review. Great work sir.
The issues shown in this review are surprising to me, considering this is a Gen 4 laptop. Lenovo should have sorted all the issues as this is their flagship series
This is a gen 1 laptop. It is a complete redesign and they decided to cram powerful graphics (A4000/3070 or A5000/3080) inside a very thin chassis. Previous generations of the P1/x1 extreme line uses intro-level graphics card such as 1650, 1650ti and t2000. It is very cool-looking, but considering the fact that it is half as thick as the P15 gen 2/T15g gen 2 line but housing a same graphics card only 10W lower in TGP (80w vs 90w), it is quite obvious that thermal would be an issue.
That being said, I am all for Lenovo doing experiments on their long-standing product lines such as x1 extreme. If they want to improve this product next year, they might want to look at Razer, who specifically lower the performance to avoid thermal issues.
@Quanti untrue, this is completely different design wide to the gen 3. Full redesign.
@Z J not exactly an excuse imo, Lenovo knows how to made adequate cooling and just failed to do so with this product. And, well, as I've mentioned before Razer's first gen, new 2021 RB 14 gets better thermals so I have a hard time excusing it as just first gen growing pains rn.
It's a completely new formfactor. Literally 16" chassis vs 15" last year. I agree its unacceptable but it's also admittedly a gen 1 product in all senses.
I do want to say that I have the exact same device and have there's no creeking.I have had it for 2 weeks and removed the bottom several times to install ram and a 2tb ssd.
This is not to say it's the reviewer anyone else's fault. It's just inconsistent. May get worked out later in the production run.
I've extreme x1 gen 1, it's the same bottom as gen4 and there's no creaking too.
Thanks for the time and effort to post this review! No chassis creaking with mine, nor in Lenovo forum posts or other site reviews recently published; sounds like you may have received a defective one. But nice video...
I've seen plenty of folks complaining of chassis creak outside of just me, so maybe you weren't using the right terms. In this comments section, even :)
@@codeHusky seems hit or miss then, some people impacted, some not. :) Plenty of owners without creaking too. I checked the same area you were pressing and it is solid, no flex or creaking etc.
damn, I have that creaking problem in X1 Carbon 1st gen!!!! It's been like what, 10 years? And they haven't even tried addressing this issue? It's completely unacceptable! I thought they'd resolved this issues long ago.
Thanks for the review
I am glad that I found this. I have been waiting for the gen four redesign for 2 1/2 years now and I am a little bit disappointed. Especially in the thermal issues because I was hoping to use this laptop for the occasional PCVR experience which I now know is basically impossible even with re-pasting.
be sure to also check the notebookcheck review, though... The performance seemed to actually be consistent and quite good. I compared it against the XMG Neo 15 (which has 165 watts available to the GPU), which they reviewed with the 3080--while their X1 Extreme Gen 4 review had the 3070, and it was broadly within 25% in the worst case scenario comparisons. That's actually super impressive.
I have also read from others that they don't experience this creak, which this reviewer made a _serious_ deal out of.
I'm planning to do some PCVR gaming with it, and I'm convinced it can actually handle it just fine. After a week of deliberating, I'm pulling a trigger on one with a 3080 and i9 at $3500. the XMG has a terrible keyboard and would take a month to order anyways, and gaming is use #2 for me, so: yolo.
I'll have to revisit this laptop again to see if they've fixed the throttling issue or not. It's possible they might've fixed things somewhat but I doubt that they've revised the heatsink exactly.
Also I've seen plenty of reports of this creaking issue from others online so it's definitely not just me.
@@KyleBaker Glad to hear you have the courage to take that on. I have now opted for the Thinkbook 16p Gen2 and it definitely serves the purpose gloriously. I did take a look under the hood and it does have a better heatsink and bigger fans.
The only thing I really miss is the trackpoint. I can deal with the lack of the glass touchscreen as I do not need to rely on pen input anymore.
Can you answer here once you have made your experiences? Also willing to share mine with the Thinkbook, I believe it is an under-the-radar unit
@@dawid6324 nice! Yeah, think book isn't quite the same build quality, 3060 would be borderline step down from my 2070, and amd Linux compatibility is good-but-not-great, but it does look like a very cost effective compromise! There are enough videos showing this laptop successfully 4k gaming now that the thermals seems effective, and benchmarks show it meeting/exceeding average laptop rtx 3070mq benchmarks. Yes, some throttling is expected, but it seems to pretty much maintain 80 watts to the GPU under full on stress test... All that together, I think this is "the one". We'll see, and I'll definitely do a write up on reddit when I've had mine for a bit.
@@codeHusky i believe you, but I've also seen at least one other reviewer refer to yours and specifically mention they didn't have that experience at all. Hard to say why, but that also is not a deal break for me, especially as 98% of my usage is on a laptop stand anyways.
I do hope you look into it again, and remember to appreciate it for where it's at-not a gaming laptop, but something that is damn close while being MacBook light.
Btw-did you say there's no undervolting? And did you try the mux switch in bios at all?
Hey would you review the X1 Carbon Gen 9 next? You're the only reviewer that doesn't shill the product for views / to confirm people's already made decisions.
I could but I'm not horribly interested in Ultrabook type devices tbqh. Companies like Lenovo don't exactly send me samples either rn.
@@codeHusky I'm interested in it as an eGPU device. I was thinking about the X1E4 but not any more.
Nice review!
this is the most honest review ive seen of this laptop. u sound smart thanks husky!
Thanks for doing this review.
The SKU ending with SUS is all I needed to know to love this laptop and nothing will change that
Thanks for such a great review! I was really looking forward to this, but the creaking is kind of a deal breaker, especially at that price point. Is there another laptop you recommend at around the same specs?
My copy doesn’t have any of the creaking issues his has. Mine feels as solid as a thinkpad should.
@@ClarkSwofford Most units probably won't initially have creaking - I know mine didn't. It gets worse with time and seems to be exaggerated by removing/reinstalling the bottom cover.
@@ClarkSwofford Can you post a review on battery life ?
@@codeHusky Have you tried applying WD-40 or some other (safe) light lubricant along the bottom cover's contact edges to get rid of the creaking?
@@ivan_dramaliev that sounds pretty stupid when this laptop is so expensive. If i have to do that, I will surely just return it.
Lenovo should return the "ThinkPad" brand to IBM.
ThinkPad series developed by Japanese engineers was awesome quality.
Currently, China ruins their efforts.
nt 4000+
Fascinating.
I bought the thinkpad gen 4 almost exactly your model but with mine is with touch screen and i7 2.5 has no problems! And doest have this noise problem and the cooling systems is far more better than gen 2! Is the best computer I ever seen the screen also is amazing!!! Call Lenovo and ask them to replace the chassis! They have a very good warranty.
I got the same model 2 days ago. Every 10% of the battery goes down every 15 min of a normal use. The unit gets super hot even after re-paste it with mx-5. Fan is much louder than a non-vapor chamber version. This 3070 version will 100% goes back to Lenovo. I am happy with an x1 ext gen 4 3050ti version though.
thonkpad chonkpad
Yep. There is no guarantee that $3K (or $4K) buys you a tip top laptop from Lenovo. I briefly had an X1E G2 last year and returned it, because of a raspy fan and crooked USB ports. This model is marked up and sometimes on sale for very steep discounts. That would be the time to buy.
I now have a T14s G1 AMD. It's fine. You might hope for better QC with more expensive models, but I wouldn't be surprised if the T-series were higher volume and better debugged on account of that. Pure speculation, though. QC is probably the same and it's all the luck of the draw.
Thank you for saving my money !
So what alternatives are out there? I was thinking about this laptop with a 3060 or 3070 with the 16:10. Great review, great channel!
Asus m16
MSI Creator 16 is a mobile workstation with 16:10 screen and RTX 3060. If you don't mind 16:9, HP ZBook Studio is also a good option because it goes up to RTX 3080.
@@mini9503 MSI's and Asus laptops have terrible keyboards, though. Most anyone looking for a thinkpad is going to want a decent keyboard. I've played with plenty of MSI's in computer shops and the keyboards are pretty nasty. And I had an Asus lent to me at a previous job and the key travel and response was awful for touch-typing. I'm guessing that these keyboards are better for gaming? I don't know. But I'd touch-type on a potato in preference to an Asus laptop keyboard.
@@CountSessine These are mobile workstations, the chassis is different from gaming lineups, just like Lenovo Thinkpads are different from Lenovo Legion.
And IMO HP business has better keyboard than Thinkpads in general.
I've had a Gen1 X1 Extreme for just under three years. (i7-8750h, 16GB , 1050ti) Never a creak from the keyboard. I have had persistent throttling, and have mitigated somewhat with undervolting through the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility. Will try and repaste maybe, but I don't expect any miracles. When I purchased mine, I also was looking at Dell XPS 15 9500? series ; very similar types of throttling on those machines too. I was working as a repair tech at the time and discussed it with a Lenovo tech to see if it was a persistent problem. He said; "you should have gotten the i5, the i7 puts out too much heat". I feel the same about it; I like the thin and light aspect of the machine, but have paid for more power than I end up being able to use. A T15 might b a better machine when all is said and done. However, I might just replace it with a new Mackbook M1 Pro, which of course has many limitations including glossy screen and low-travel keyboard. I'm not bound to Windows as much as I once was. Your review is pretty harsh, but I'm guessing that's just "your style".
If the laptop wasn't a $3000 machine intended for professionals, I'd be more hesitant to give it harsh criticism. However, for the price point the faults of the product are just completely unacceptable in my book. Also, "the i7 puts out too much heat" isn't really a thing anymore, especially with the state of Intel mobile. It either keeps itself under control thermally or it throttles just to get the additional like 2% benchmark score in lab tests. This laptop is simply just not properly designed to handle its hardware, and the chassis is flawed.
The new MBPs are much closer to something I'd recommend on the channel, ignoring some of their thermal shortcoming that are typical of an Apple product.
Thanks for a great review. I wonder if it's possible to have a look at P15v Gen 2 as it seems to be the last reasonable option for a lightweight machine with an 11th gen 8-core Intel. Also super interesting what's the difference between FHD and UHD versions there, especially in terms of GtG response times and ghosting. X1 Carbon Gen 8 and its low-power display has it around 60ms and it is unbearable to use without an external one.
Hello there. Awesome video! Quick question; for someone having to use this laptop for architecture applications such as autocad, revit and doing renders, do you think this laptop will perform good? I won’t use it for gaming so I guess it shouldn’t quite overheat as other people are saying? Obviously it depends on the size of the files etc but, what’s your opinion?
Do you maybe recommend another model of thinkpad?
I guess the primary reason for the squeak sounds is that Lenovo modified the Magnesium alloy structural frame to reduce the weight and the palm rest is much less supported by the metal frame.
The screw locations look fine to me since my T480 only has screw at the corners and it never squeaks. The palm rest and the keyboard of T480 is supported by Magnesium alloy structural frame with the some reinforcing ribs, so I guess that is why it is so sturdy and never deform even under pressure.
I have not got hands on the never arrived P1G4, but from your review it looks like the squeaking palm is made of badly supported thin metal alloy whose composition gives lighter weights but also less structural strength. Nevertheless, the aspect ratio, the HDR screen, and the front fire speakers make the squeaking problem much less significant to me LOL
Your T480 doesn't squeak because it's built in a way that makes sense. The P1G4/X1E4 is basically just using the front of the laptop as a hinge with one screw with zero clips. There's nothing to secure it for most of the front of the shell, so it's super easy for creaking to occur. It's less a material problem and moreso some pretty pathetic engineering issue
@@codeHusky ok got you. Never thought Lenovo could be that stupid lol
I'm still thinking about pulling the trigger and hopefully avoid the creaking. Not sure there is any alternative 16:10, upgradable memory, dual ssd, dgpu. I could deal with slower CPU performance.
I have a gen 2 and it looks quite similar and I don't experience the squeeking at all
@@FooBar89 just a data point about the lines build quality. But agreed
I really want to see some Zen 3 laptops from Lenovo. Availability has been rubbish for that. Curious about throttling in that case. I cant take throttling one bit…you’ve earned my sub. Great content
There's some suggestion they're considering high end AMD versions of their notebooks - this laptop is internally referred to as the X1 Extreme Gen4i ("i" as in intel!)
Thank you for putting the effort into this review. I'm looking to replace a mid-spec 2012 Retina Macbook Pro and would like to run X-Plane at decent frame rates. Is the 4k display worth the extra cost over 2560x1600? The P15 and P17 look pretty massive, but is the quality that much better that I should be looking at them instead? I don't travel much, so I'd generally use it around the house or at my desk. I'd prefer to run Linux, so I've also had my eye on the System76 Oryx Pro and the Eluktronics MAX-15 and MAX-17 which are highly performant machines for the money.
I don't have the gen 4, but I do have a gen 2 which I'm looking to replace with a gen 4 soon. And I used to have an early-2015 15" macbook pro (which I replaced with the gen 2). I have the 4k screen with my gen 2, but when I get my gen 4, I'm going to be ordering the 2.6k screen (which wasn't an option with the gen 2).
First, if you run linux with an X11 distro, X11 is terrible with screen scaling and you'll be fighting the native resolution constantly because 4k is too many pixels for a 15" screen. If you run wayland like I do, then you'll be just find with 4k or 2.6k.
Second, the battery life with 4k screens is so much worse than it is with 2.6k screens. I do a lot of programming and occasionally I need to be able to display 4 columns of 80 character-wide source files. 2k (HD) isn't enough pixels for this (1920/4/80 = 6 pixels per character), but 2.6k is ok (2560/4/80 = 8 pixels per character, which actually makes a big difference). I kind of feel that given the huge extra battery drain, 4k is a pretty silly screen resolution.
Third, my macbook pro had a 2.6k screen, and when I moved up to my x1 gen 2 with it's 4k screen, I really didn't notice the difference. Maybe my eyesight is bad but they're both so much better than 2k HD (which isn't enough pixels for a 15" screen and shouldn't be offered).
Just saying, Notebookcheck shows this laptop with 3070 holding nearly 60fps with x plane at 4k res. I was also looking at the system76 oryx pro and Tuxedo Stellaris 15 (which might be the same eluktronics you're looking at?). I ended up going with this one. I don't think system76 would have better performance than this, and is about 01% heavier + it's thicker, and it isn't really cheaper, but core boot and full freedom on the machine at firmware level is cool. Stellaris 15 keyboard was the deal breaker for me on that one, but performance wise it looks like the absolute top of the line.
codeHusky, I called Lenovo Technical Support twice and they mentioned that the Chassis Creaking Noise is not normal for the X1 Extreme Gen 4. Can you send it back for a replacement and test the new replacement for the noise again?
I asked the people on the Lenovo forums and they said that they don't experience that amount of chassis creaking noise but might be a factory QC thing.
On the throttling, I realized the thermals are bad because the application of the paste is uneven out of the factory. It is sad anyone who wants to get this will need to repaste. I really hope Lenovo solves this as it is so impractical for people to get this and then they need to repaste it! How much temperature drop did you record before and after repasting for the GPU and CPU? Couldn't see it properly, sorry.
Good work on the thorough review~!
As seen in the comments here, the creak isn't exactly impossible to encounter. I don't doubt that not all units suffer from it, and it's far from the most glaring issue with the device. Regarding the throttling, its definitely fixable with repasting but it's not because the paste job is bad. Lenovo is using a less than ideal paste for thermal conductivity which keeps the chips hotter, especially with the less than ideal heatsink design. After a repaste it works much better (power consumption is more relevant than strictly just temps), but the firmware restricts performance significantly. I might revisit the device if they fix the software throttling.
They replaced my bottom cover and even the upper chassis part with the keyboard twice, and it didn't resolve the issue for me...
What would be a good alternative to this laptop? I need this as my daily working laptop as a software engineer, so I do not care as much about aesthetics or battery life but I need good performance. Most people in my company either use a Microsoft Surface Book 3 oder Dell XPS 15, but I've had only bad experiences with both in the past few years (heating aswell). Would use it with an external keyboard + mouse anyway!
Thank you, nearly bought one of this with i9 spec. On Extreme Gen2 since 2018 and am looking for a replacement.
Thank you very much for a fanstastic review.
I was hesitating if I should order this machine vs the Razer Blade 14. After watching your videos I canceled my Lenovo order and bought a Razer Blade. After having that Blade 14 for 2 days I love the machine but agree with you that Razer's customer support is terrible.
At any rate, do you think that the Blade has a better cooling solution and is going to be therefore more reliable and durable over the long run?!
I tend to buy expensive computers that I generally use for 5 years before repeating the process so long-term durability and reliability is an important issue for me. I am not gamer but content creator. So the laptop will be used for light office tasks at home by my wife and then by me on the road for content creation.
I still have over 3 weeks grace period to return my Blade 14 but so far I am thinking of keeping it.
What do you think?
The blade does have a superior cooling system, although I can't really attest to the long term durability of vapor chambers in laptops
@@codeHusky Thank you very much for your super quick reply. What's your take on overall performance, parts, and material quality vs the Lenovo X1 extreme?
I actually just returned my Blade 15 after two weeks and bought this X1 Extreme Gen 4. My prior Lenovo got burned out after just 3 years of moderate gaming, web browsing, video, and productivity. The components literally burned from too much overheating. So I tried the Razer for its superior cooling and gaming performance. However, I found that it made too many compromises in other areas. The battery life is horrendous. I got between 60-90 minutes, even if I wasn't doing anything demanding. The track pad was really troublesome for me--it's too big and the integrated buttons were too hard to find to use accurately. I was constantly was making mistakes when using the track pad and the buttons. It even happened regularly that I would be typing and some portion of my palm would graze the pad, causing my cursor to fly elsewhere unexpectedly. I would play games requiring left and right mouse clicks, and it was just too much. My last big issue was that when pushed, the whole body of the computer would get very warm. I expect this is a function of advanced heat dissipation, but it was at times uncomfortable.
Minor issues with my Blade 15 are lack of biometrics, a tad bulky and heavy, and I found the keyboard just slightly less intuitive. The buttons are all flat and evenly spaced, and my fingers sometimes struggled to find the right keys around the periphery (ctrl, fn, alt, shift, enter, arrow keys, etc). I expect the key-finding issue would mostly go away with long-term use. There were also things I liked about the Blade. Feels sturdy and solid. The keystrokes are nice. The multi-color keyboard backlight is cool, it performed great even under high graphic load.
As such, I'll be returning to Lenovo knowing that I'll be giving up some performance and cooling, but really looking forward to having better battery life and a trackpad more conducive to accuracy in an array of tasks.
Great review, I do 3d blender and Adobe software for content creation. Do you recommend getting p1 gen4 rtx3080 or legion 7i rtx3080 labtop. Thanks
This is a great review. I just wonder if the Thinkpad P1 G4 will have the same mess. I am waiting for the shipment of my P1 and now worried about it.
Since it's literally the same hardware I would imagine it's the same throttling wise. Can't confirm 100% but I'm 99% confident on that
@@codeHusky Thanks a lot. I will reconsider it now.
Ouch, very disappointing. I had very high hopes for this laptop. I wonder if it could just be early production issues? Still no excuse to release a product with these issues though.
I kinda doubt it - Lenovo rarely changes the design of cooling or anything mid-cycle for a product, so if they're shipping these out then this is probably final quality in terms of performance and whatnot. If you're referring to the creaking, that seems to be more of a design fault than a manufacturing defect.
@@codeHusky I don’t know, man. Mine doesn’t have any creaking issues. It’s silent when I’m touching, pressing, squeezing it the way you do in the video.
@@ClarkSwofford Have you taken it apart or owned it for a terribly long time so far?
@@codeHusky No, I’ve not taken it apart. Maybe that’s the difference. I’ve had it for a little over a week is all.
I appreciate your perspective on this laptop. I just purchased a slightly upgraded version of this on black Friday sale at Lenovo. My last Lenovo wore itself out after just 3 years, due to overheating. I tried the Razer Blade 15, but found it made too many compromises in mobility, battery life, and other minor issues. Am wondering now what I can do to either improve cooling on my Gen 4, or otherwise protect the parts from heat, while also being able to take advantage of the components I paid extra to have.
Any recommendations on where I can look?
I have a P1 Gen 4 with 3080 GPU on order. I think it will be fine. From experience, there will be a few months of fairly regular firmware updates which will fine tune performance and thermals and fix bugs and sub-optimisations. I lost count of how many firmware updates my Thinkpads have had in the first year alone. Sadly its how the industry works. Also if the creaking happens on my unit which I doubt it will, I can always get a replacement on Lenovo's support. The only thing I don't like is to have to reapply thermal paste. It looks like the assembly can be a bit sloppy.
When I opened up my X1 Carbon Gen 6 and X1 Yoga Gen 3, everything looked well assembled. But the thermal paste was done poorly. Looks like they were trying to save on paste. One part under the heat sink (chip set?) didn't even have paste on it!
I cleaned up the old paste with alcohol and put in generous portions of top end paste. Both machines later ran 8 to 10 degrees cooler! The yoga still runs a bit hotter than the Carbon. I suspect its due to the keyboard design which lowers the keys when folding and that was trapping heat. Nice thing to have but Lenovo dropped it in subsequent models. Guess the thermals were being affected. I still like the lowering keys on my model though.
All in all I have had very good experience with my Thinkpads. I think they put in more effort in fixing issues post roll out than most other manufacturers. I also think the Thinkpads are generally very reliable. I also like their user expandability.
If Lenovo does remove the 30w throttling I'd be happy to revisit the device, but for now I'm hesitant to recommend it to anyone looking to do any hardware intensive work tbh.
@@codeHusky yea. I don't understand why Lenovo put in the 30w limit which is very limiting. I can't see that they are going to leave it at that. Maybe its just they are rushing the product through and its going to change with firmware. BTW, can you tell me which software you used to test that? I couldn't quite make it out on your video. I'd like to test it myself when it arrives. Thanks. And great vid.
@@dyong888 AIDA64
Well this is kind of a bummer. I have an X1 extreme gen 2 and I'm pretty happy with it (mostly because of the keyboard), but I have to admit that it also has the creaking sound. I was thinking of getting the gen 4... but now I'm not so sure.
I wonder - what are the alternatives for a 15" laptop with decent CPU, better-than HD resolution screen (absolutely mandatory - HD resolution is unacceptable), a really good keyboard and trackpad, and linux compatibility in 2021? I really don't care at all about the GPU, except that it needs to work with linux (the integrated Intel gpu serves that purpose in my gen 2).
You might try the XPS. It isn't as powerful, but is in some ways more refined than the Thinkpad. I would assume good Linux compatibility, but haven't personally checked that model. Speakers and screen are supposed to be top notch, still quite powerful, finish excellent, and usually dell does well with Linux. Less emphasis on the GPU for their models, I think maxes out at 3060.
@@KyleBaker I actually went and bought an XPS 17 and it's fantastic. Highly recommended.
Thank you very much for your review. I think I watched it 3 times already. I have a question. It it suitable for long gaming ? Or any other long work with loading GPU. I have p1 gen2 and it also have thermal issues. More than that when I start gaming for example just Tomb Raider (2013) it can work only half an hour and then shut down due to thermal... So did you have any similar issues with GPU?
what i don't understand is... why supply a 230W power brick if you can only pull some 110W sustained on cpu + gpu (add in some 20W for the rest of the components to make it 130W) :/ seems kind of overkill.
I've been speaking with Lenovo about it and apparently it has to do with some sort of thermal spec they're targeting. Still in chats with them about it so I'll update when I can.
@@codeHusky also wanted to say, thank you so much for such a great review! its so difficult/nigh impossible to find someone review the particular points you went through (ie long term thermals and power limits) especially for thinkpads. i've been debating between p1 gen 4 or p15 gen 2. p15 doesn't have 16:10 and weighs more, but your reviews are convincing me to go with p15 gen 2 anyway.
@@KumaMech You and me both! Though the t15g seems like the better deal if you don't need certified drivers.
The Lenovo P1 is also available with Xeon processors and ECC memory.
Same exact unit just different CPU/GPU combos
Sounds like you may have an early example, especially after hearing about those oddities with the heatsink. I'm hoping the mounting tabs and shims have been corrected for by Lenovo. That's unacceptable.
If Lenovo's sending preproduction samples to their customers that's pretty unacceptable. Doubt that's the case anyway.
Thanks for this review. I have been waiting for it for a long time but now I am a bit disappointed. So will the CPU performance be enhanced by releasing new BIOS? If not, is it possible to get a laptop with a similar weight, a similar size and a similar performance?
Unsure on the BIOS thing. The upcoming ThinkBook 16g/p might be worth it although idk yet
Should I buy it if it’s on sale for ~1600?
3050ti version, 512gb
Did you undervolt it? Could really help thermals durings stress testing.
Too bad about the creak, hopefully they will sort this out with later units - will wait for reviews and see. Also, if you use the emp discount you can get this spec for $1900..
Undervolting isn't allowed unfortunately, it's a bios restricted feature
@@codeHusky really, Intel XTU doesn't work? Also with the P1? Thought Tiger Lake H chips supported it.
Thinkbook 16 G2 w RTX 3060 may be a better (value) option when it comes out with regards to chassis and thermals w 7nm AMD
@@yohandsome nope, XTU doesn't work at all. Same with ThrottleStop. Also good note on the 16" thinkbook, will watch for it
Great review... I'm pretty close to ordering one but for this kind of money I expect zero creaking.. that is what I'd expect out of like a $700 walmart laptop.. Need to see other people review this and see if they also have the same problems. Updated today and looks like delivery is "4 months+" out right now, meaning you toss them nearly $3k for a laptop that you'll probably get next year... eh.
Yeah the creaking only has gotten worse, pretty disappointing since I've had $500 Ideapads with better chassis stability
All ThinkPad's had problems on release, in some countries this wasn't released yet, this laptop will be really good but only after some months from now. but mid 70ºC isn't not bad for any laptop.
Where did you see Mid 70C? Lol
So you’ll keep T15g2 instead of this? 😁
How can u get the T15 g2 to Vietnam btw ? There are no reseller
It's so far the device I prefer
I'm looking for a creator book that can even play games (games like gta5). After watching your extreme 4th gen review, I think I shouldn't buy it due to overheating and other issues. Is there a laptop that can be replaced?
This is an extremely damaging review for a situation that seems to be one-off. I have the P1 Gen 4 Workstation, identical machine minus the X1 Logo with i7-11850H, 32GB ram, Faster 1TB NVME, 3070 RTX with Max Q, WXGA that I paid USD $2239. For these specs you get a garbage XPS which only looks good, but has the worst track pad experience or a Razer with the ugliest logo in the world that screams you spend 1500 hours a days on Apex or Fortnite.This is a premium quality laptop, and i have had no issues with the chassis making any noise whatsoever. DO NOT go with this one review alone. I use my laptop for heavy analytics and data science as well as non-competitive gaming.
If you check the comments you can see that this isn't the only instance of this squeaking issue happening. The only premium part of this notebook, in my opinion, is the Intel/Nvidia components and pricing. Otherwise it's pretty shoddily constructed if creaking as bad as this occurs even without servicing the machine.
I would like to get it too at that price, but it does not seem to exist. Was it a promotion? I can see that model in the US for 2629$ before taxes.
@@davideandreamauro4519 Yes, it was kind of weird. I ordered it two weeks ago and got it 3 days ago. The X1-extreme was priced higher, and then i looked for the P1 which was priced lower with 16gb more ram.
@@codeHuskyI am not a laptop expert and certainly don't know much about construction. I have had to return the XPS and Alienware x17 with 3080 because of the trackpad, But, I have been using the laptop for 12 hours a day and so far no creaking issue. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Given that this is the first review of its kind on RUclips for this model, has anyone from Lenovo reached out to you?
No - brands typically don't reach out to me following reviews. I'd appreciate if they did to share information about why certain things might be happening + fixes they have planned, but that's never happened.
I got the Legion 5 pro with the 3060. Runs fine from what I've seen so far. Got any opinion on it ?
Yeah, it's a great laptop imo.
Shall i buy this please suggest as its 2000 off now
Same issue, had to return. Became unusable as it would throttle so quickly. Benchmarks, fps, speed all much slower than the hardware should put out, by almost 50%. That and the keyboard would get far too hot. Really sad, as I love the carbon aesthetic and weight.
I think that noise was the result of your disassembly.
People are reporting it out of the box. Also a laptop shouldn't start squeaking from a simple disassembly. I've had $500 systems that don't have that issue.
Please do a review of Microsoft surface laptop studio when its available..
Welp mine finally arrived. Exact same model as yours. First time booting up I get "FAN ERROR: Press Esc to Start with Limited Performance" Seems that one of the fans doesn't work at all. Sending to depot :-/
LENOVO FIX YOUR QC!!!!!!!!!!!
lol tf
I literally just pressed order in this before seeing this video. Mine is the 3050 version so maybe the thermals will be a bit better but this is a big oh no
Please keep us posted. I'm very curious as to whether CodeHusky's situation is a one-off.
@@confidentlocal8600 they delayed it a month so not sure how soon I’ll get it
@@confidentlocal8600 ordered one today with the 3050 ti
So... Is the rtx 3060 version better than the stock MSI z16?
idk, I didn't have the 3060 version
@@codeHusky with the cooling issue, could it be that copper shim for the cpu is the ultimate culprit? It feels almost as if their design for the cooling failed to compensate for 10mm difference between the height of the CPU and GPUs - or is it that they simply couldn't make the vapor chamber enlarge in a third dimension at that point?
The missing part you mentioned is par for the course from Lenovo. They've had problems like this for about a decade now, and don't seem interested in fixing them. The early Lenovo Thinkpads were maligned for having "spongy keyboards"... the problem was often missing supports under the keyboards that never got installed.
This laptop is pretty disappointing. The fans go off whenever I play a video without running anything else. It sounds like it's straining to do work, but my CPU usage is like 5%. Should have just gone with the Carbon.
Tbh sounds like your cooler isn't mounted properly. Didn't run into that issue with mine. Would recommend trying an exchange at least unless you've had other problems
hmm seems like it could be a great laptop with a good firmware update from Lenovo. Also, you said keyboard travel distance is 1.1mm, I thought it was 1.5mm.
It is 1.5mm
@@cameronbosch1213 1.1mm would have been "apple standard".
@@dyong888 Apple's Magic Keyboard has 1.0 mm. And Lenovo's Keyboards used to be better than what they are now...
@@cameronbosch1213 Yes that's true. Also I've gotten used to Lenovo's key arrangements and the key travel is still "better" the the other brands. That being said, when I travel again, I plan on bringing a Corsair k70 TKL with me.
@Han Wang Not surprising seeing how my Thinkpads still do peak in the 90s. Still after repasting my X1 Carbon Gen 6 hardly goes beyond early 90s under load with power plugged in. The X1 Yoga Gen 3 can still peak into the mid to high 90s but throttles back quickly. After repasting my yoga tends to cool down more quicly. i.e. stay in the high 90s much less often and for a much shorter time. Before repasting, it would stay in the mid to high 90s which was concerning.
RTX 3070 for a slim & light itself is an overkill!! 3060 should be the sweet spot for creators!
Higher sku means higher performance with the same power draw/heat output, so it's not really overkill. I'd agree that it's fairly restrained in this chassis though.
That's disappointing... Had really high hopes and was about to buy one... Has anyone any alternative recommendation? For me a 3060 would be sufficient but the same ThinkPad build quality (without cracking of course) + portability and at least a QHD screen...
Thank you for any help!
XPS 9510 or 9710 and hope for a good QC unit.
@@Echoes- Nah, your better off going for a gaming laptop, every person I know has that horrible track pad issue and meh thermals.
@@cameronbosch1213 How about Eluktronics Max-17? Those seem promising for an off-brand.
@@confidentlocal8600Eluktronics is great; are you getting anIntel or AMD model (I don't know much about the nitty-gritty of these Tongfang chassis resellers, but I am familiar with Eluktronics)?
@@cameronbosch1213 I'd spec it with AMD if possible, like the 5900.
It p*sses me off that Lenovo would release this model knowing full well the CPU throttles at 30 watts, leaving it to buyers to discover it. I had this laptop in my shopping cart but then I found this.
Not sure how the P1 Gen 4 performs, but this X1 Xtreme Gen 4 model is such a huge disappointment:(, especially considering its price tag.
P1 Gen 4 is the same hardware unfortunately.
razer blade 14/15
Hi can you review dell xps 15 or 17 thx
Thank you - pretty disappointing results. Seems line Ryzen based gaming notebook is the only way to go to avoid thermal issues.
What was battery life like?
What about the Thinkpad e15 gen3, it has a better build and even looks better than this one, with AMD it has better cpu performance and has better keyboard, all this with less than half price
The X1 label is the "real" difference, not the graphics card? Alright.
If you’re not aware of the graphics card of a laptop you’re buying, you’re probably not too concerned about the badging either. The GPU options should be obvious to anyone looking to buy one of these. My point is that there was no other major differences so it’s not worth buying one over the other outside of their on-paper configs.
Hey can you test legion 5 2021 version please
Mine runs at 100C everytime I have repasted twice!
how's the 1080p camera
fantastic
Alienware laptops start from 77 C hahaha
Hey i have one question for you
Is legion 5 available on your country and if it is available can you do test on it
how about weight? I heard that x1e with vapor chamber weighs more than 2kg
It wasn't noticably heavy while I was using it actively.
squeaking problem scaring me off a bit, praying it just not that common
i've had a number of folks report they've ran into it already unfortunately.
Can you test legion 5 please
I've already done a series of videos on the Legion 5
@@codeHusky * legion 5 2021 version
I've had numerous issues. So far have had the display and mobo+gfx card (3050ti) replaced by a maintenance guy on location.
Problems: Flickering grays (they go up-down-up-down in brightness), completely garbled graphics with full-screen glitching and BSODs under idleish load. The latest was garbled text during Windows login with glitches alternating in visuals when hovering cursor over texts.
I've been in contact with Lenovo support several times. Now they want to have me ship my only piece of work kit (the X1E Gen4 in question) to them so they can try to fix it.
This sucks. I'd never have gone down this road would they've had P17s in stock back in Nov 2021. They do now.
I can't even sell this piece of junk with a clear conscience as I know it's a nightmare.
I thought I'm buying something that's not going to fail in any way. I was wrong.
I've got other gripes as well, but they're preferential kind of things - not something you couldn't account for.
Argh!
Hey please test legion 5 2021 version it is so good
You think we can get a bios mod for this?
There's a lot of boot security stuff in the way unfortunately
It sorta looks like the hinge is the same on the IdeaPad 5 15", if so it is trash, I have an ideapad 5 15" and have had to get the hinge repaired 2 times within a month, Ive had the laptop for almost a year and it started creaking and cracking during the first month.
It's a different design, but that's unfortunate. What's the model number of the IdeaPad 5 15 you have? Should be like 15XXX
@@codeHusky The model number is 15ARE05, I bought it around september of last year and a few reports of the hinges basically exploding have been reported, It would be sick if you made a video about it cause there isnt much on it and it seems every single one has been busted. The reason why it breaks is cause the hinge is attached to plastic, and when the hinges are over tightened it starts to crack that plastic. When I got mine back the second time from repair, the hinges where super loose and it seemed like they changes some stuff but its already starting to creaking and the bezel is starting to bulge.
@@alexbarry2497 strange, could you share some links to the posts you've found in my discord?
how about fan noize??
I never observed fan noise to be too terribly loud. Would measure but I've lost my sound meter for the time being.
@@codeHusky Thank you^^
You probably had a bad batch
I've rarely had that happen so far, unfortunately.
Sus laptop 😳
Can you explain the fun behind "sus" for non-native speakers, please?
UwU
Lenovo is become shitter and shitter everyday
Cut their crap
But directly from Microsoft.
Go surface
Idk how the surfaces are superior to this but lol