Lenovo’s New ThinkPad X13s Is The World’s First Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 Powered Thin-And-Light Laptop

At Mobile World Congress, currently underway is Barcelona, Spain, Lenovo unveiled an array of new devices spanning multiple product segments, including tablets, Chromebooks, displays, gaming devices and laptops. As the world begins to re-open and opportunities to travel become more common once again, one particular product – the Lenovo ThinkPad X13s – seems particularly well-targeted. You see, the Lenovo ThinkPad X13s is the world’s first thin-and-light, premium laptop to be built around the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3, which should offer road warriors more performance, comprehensive, always-connected wireless features, and battery life that’s simply not possible in similar form factors with less efficient, more power-hungry processing platforms.

The Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3: What We Know

Although Lenovo was showing off the ThinkPad X13s at MWC, and has disclosed the vast majority of specifications and system options, both Qualcomm and Lenovo remain somewhat vague about all of the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3’s inner workings.

Qualcomm’s own product brief notes that the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 features “Qualcomm Kyro CPU” cores paired to a “Qualcomm Adreno GPU”. Exactly how many, and what type of CPU cores are employed in the chip’s design, and how the GPU is configured, have not been detailed, however. There are rumors circulating regarding the 8cx Gen 3’s configuration, but we’ll refrain from speculation for now and re-iterate what actually has been disclosed. It’s a safe bet that the processor will feature at least 8 CPU cores though, leveraging some of the latest Arm64 architectures, with deeper caches, and increased memory bandwidth to keep the chip fed – we’ll know for sure soon enough.

The Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 is manufactured on an advanced 5nm process and is designed for always-on / always-connected Windows PCs. Versus older Snapdragon 8cx designs, Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 claims to offer a 3x uplift in AI acceleration, with up to 85% faster CPU performance and 60% faster GPU performance. The platform also features an array of leading-edge 5G modem options (X62, X55, or X65), offering up to 10Gbps of bandwidth and the latest Wi-Fi 6E+ connectivity with up to 4-stream DBS (Dual Band Simultaneous technology). There are AI-assisted audio and video optimizations offered by the 8cx Gen 3 platform too, in addition to a host of security related features. Qualcomm also lays claim to multi-day battery life, which is distinct possibility with mixed workloads. As it relates to the ThinkPad X13s specifically, Lenovo is claiming up to 28 hours of video playback. If you consider video playback tests require the display to be lit up for the duration of the test, getting longer than 28 hours with typical office-type workloads will likely be possible.

Lenovo ThinkPad X13s: The First Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 Laptop

The ThinkPad brand needs no introduction. Lenovo has been cranking out some of the most sought after mobile workhorses for many years. The new ThinkPad X13s, however, is a different sort of animal. Although the X13s resembles some of its ThinkPad-branded counterparts, under the hood is a completely different platform. The full list of features and specifications released thus far are as follows:

The ThinkPad X13s is built around the aforementioned Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 platform, paired with up to 32GB of LPDDR4X memory (in a dual channel configuration), up to 1TB of PCIe solid state storage, and a 49.5 Wh battery. The hardware resides in a 13.3” thin-and-light laptop form factor, that is built using a number of recycled materials. According to Lenovo, the X13s is, “…built with 90% certified recycled magnesium in the top and bottom covers, 97% PCC plastic in the battery Printed Circuit Board (PCB) cover and battery frame, and with recyclable carton and bumpers in the packaging.”

ThinkPad X13s features multiple low-power 13.3” 16:10 WUXGA (1900×1200) display configurations, with touch or Eyesafe low blue light options. Complementing the low-power display is the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3’s Computer Vision processor, which will dim the screen when users look away. Above the display is something Lenovo is calling a “Communications Bar”, which is essentially a pod that houses a 5-megapixel camera with AI-based auto framing, along with an Infrared (IR) camera and a triple microphone array, with intelligent noise suppression. The relatively high resolutions camera (versus most laptops) and microphone array are optimized for video conferences and should offer a much better experience than what is typical with mainstream Windows laptops.

In terms of physical IO, ThinkPad X13s doesn’t offer much, but the essentials are there. The right side of the machine is home to a 3.5mm audio jack, a sim slot and lock port, while the left side houses a pair of USB-C ports and a power LED. Overall the machine measures 11.76” x 8.13”, is barely over a ½ inch thick, and it weighs a paltry 2.53lbs. At that weight, with multi-day battery life, the ThinkPad X13s screams portability.

The physical design of the system will be familiar to anyone that’s seen a ThinkPad before, but the X13s is fan-less, silent and when enabled with 5G connectivity offers an always-on, always-connected PC experience. The ThinkPad X13s offers 5G mmWave or sub6 Wireless WAN, in addition to support for Wi-Fi 6E.

What About The Software?

The Lenovo ThinkPad X13s will run Windows 11 Pro. If you were an early adopter of Windows on Arm and snatched up a Surface Pro X, you may be wondering what that means in terms of software compatibility. Windows 10 on Arm lacked 64-bit x86 app support. Initially there were few native apps, and some software incompatibilities persisted. Virtually all of those issues have been resolved, however, and Windows 11 on Arm performs better in my experience as well. After updating my Surface Pro X to Windows 11 recently, I saw up to a 10% performance uplift with webapps using the Edge browser and the responsiveness of the system just feels better overall. 64-bit x86 emulation has also been available for a while now.

In addition to this, Lenovo, Qualcomm, and Microsoft collaborated with ISVs (Independent Software Vendors) through the Microsoft App Assure program to advance Windows on Arm even further. Lenovo’s releases states that, “…business-critical applications such as Microsoft 365, Zoom, Sophos and many more” natively run on the system and don’t require emulation.

Lenovo also offers its ThinkShield end-to-end security platform with the ThinkPad X13s, and the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 has secure boot and the Microsoft Pluton architecture implemented on its Qualcomm Secure Processing Unit for chip-to-cloud protection of personal data, that meets the Secured-core PC standard.

When Can I Get One?

According to Lenovo, the ThinkPad X13s will be available starting in May of this year, with a base price starting at $1,099. Both AT&T and Verizon are slated to offer the ThinkPad X13s as well, but pricing and specifics regarding wireless plans, and the actual configurations that will be offered, will be disclosed at a later date.

All told, assuming the reported performance and battery life claims ring true in the real-world, the Lenovo ThinkPad X13s seems like a winner for business and mainstream users that want uncompromised longevity and productivity. Qualcomm appears to have boosted performance over the previous gen Snapdragon 8cx, while bolstering wireless connectivity options and maintaining the power efficiency the platform is known for. Over time, Microsoft has effectively erased any software compatibility concerns with Windows on Arm and Lenovo has wrapped everything up in a highly-portable, attractive package. Users that have been craving a premium, always-connected machine, with excellent battery life and the pedigree of a workhorse ThinkPad will probably want to take a close look at the ThinkPad X13s.