Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 13.8 vs Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition (14ʺ Intel)

Please select specific configurations for the laptops to get a more accurate comparative review
Display 2304 x 1536
CPU
RAM
Storage

Review

Evaluation of Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 13.8 and Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition (14ʺ Intel) important characteristics
Performance
System and application performance
Gaming
Performance in popular 3D games
Display
Viewing angle, color accuracy, brightness
Battery Life
Potential battery life in light and average use
Connectivity
Ports, webcam and other interfaces
Portability
Design, materials, durability and usability
Pick the usage scenario that best matches your needs
Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

Please input up-to-date prices for the selected laptop configurations to get an accurate value-for-money index.
Currency
VS
112.0
(Excellent)
Value Index
34.4
(Mediocre)

Key Differences

What are the key differences between the notebooks
Advantages of the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 13.8
  • Higher screen refresh rate: 120 versus 60 Hz
  • Can run popular games at about 50-68% higher FPS
  • Around 66% better multi-core CPU performance in the Cinebench 2024 test
  • Display has support for touch input
  • 24% sharper screen – 201 versus 162 pixels per inch (PPI)
  • Provides 20% higher max. screen brightness: 600 vs 500 nits
Advantages of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition (14ʺ Intel)
  • Easier to carry: weighs 360 grams less (around 0.79 lbs)
  • Includes an old-school USB-A port

Tests and Specifications

Comparison table of test results and technical specs

Case

Weight 1.34 kg (2.95 lbs) 0.98 kg (2.16 lbs)
Dimensions 301 x 220 x 17.5 mm
11.85 x 8.66 x 0.69 inches
312.8 x 214.75 x 14.37-17.95 mm
12.31 x 8.45 x 0.57-0.71 inches
Area 662 cm2 (102.6 inches2) 672 cm2 (104 inches2)
Screen-to-body ratio ~85.6% ~84.6%
Side bezels 4.7 mm 5.7 mm
Colors Black, Gray, Blue, Yellow Black
Material Aluminum Top: Carbon fiber
Middle: Aluminum
Bottom: Aluminum
Transformer No No
Opening angle 135° 180°
Size comparison
Cooling solution
Cooling system Active Active
Vapor chamber No No
Liquid metal No No
Number of fans 1 2
Noise level (max. load) 40.3 dB 54.9 dB

Display

Size 13.8 inches 14 inches
Type IPS LCD IPS LCD
Refresh rate 120 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (60-120 Hz) No
PPI 201 ppi 162 ppi
Aspect ratio 3:2 16:10
Resolution 2304 x 1536 pixels 1920 x 1200 pixels
HDR support Yes, Dolby Vision No
Sync technology No No
Touchscreen Yes No
Coating Glossy (Antireflective) Matte
Ambient light sensor Yes Yes
Display tests
Contrast 1400:1 1000:1
sRGB color space 98.2% 100%
Adobe RGB profile 87.3% -
DCI-P3 color gamut 97.8% -
Response time 28 ms -

Battery

Capacity
Full charging time 2:18 hr -
Battery type Li-Po Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Fast charging Yes Yes
Charging via USB (Power Delivery) Yes Yes
Charging port position Left, Right Left
Charge power 39 W 65 W
Weight of AC adapter 213 grams 263 grams

CPU

CPU name
Base frequency 3.4 GHz 1.5 GHz
Turbo frequency - 4.8 GHz
Cores 10 12 (2P + 10E)
Threads 10 14
L3 Cache 6 MB 12 MB
Integrated GPU Qualcomm Adreno X1-85 Arc Graphics (4-Cores)
Fabrication process 4 nm 3 nm

Benchmarks

Graphics Card

GPU name
TGP 30 W 14 W
Type Integrated Integrated
Fabrication process 4 nm 5 nm
GPU base clock 300 MHz 300 MHz
GPU boost clock 1250 MHz 2000 MHz
FLOPS 3.8 TFLOPS 2 TFLOPS
Memory size System Shared System Shared
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR5X
Memory speed 8.45 Gbps 8.53 Gbps
Shading units (cores) 1536 512
Texture mapping units (TMUs) 96 32
Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) 48 16
GPU performance 3.8 TFLOPS 2 TFLOPS
Solar Bay 8415 -

RAM

RAM size
Channels 2x8 GB 2x8 GB
Clock 8448 MHz 8533 MHz
Type LPDDR5X LPDDR5X
Upgradable No No

Storage

Storage size
Bus PCI-E Gen 4.0 (4x) PCI-E Gen 5.0 (4x)
Storage type SSD (M2) SSD (M2)
Channels 1x256 GB 1x256 GB
Upgradable Yes Yes
Total slots 1 1
NVMe Yes Yes

Sound

Audio chip - Realtek ALC713, Realtek ALC3306
Speakers 2.0 2.2 (2 tweeters and 2 woofers)
Power - 4x2W
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Loudness ~81.8 dB ~81 dB
Microphones 2 4

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard v7 v7
Bluetooth v5.4 v5.4
Fingerprint No Yes
Infrared sensor Yes Yes
Optical drive No No
Webcam Above the display Above the display
Webcam resolution 1920 x 1080 1920 x 1080
Ports
USB-A 1x USB 3.1 2x USB 3.2
USB Type-C 2x USB 4.0 2x USB 4.0
Thunderbolt Thunderbolt 4 Thunderbolt 4
HDMI No 1x HDMI 2.1
DisplayPort No No
VGA No No
Audio jack (3.5 mm) Yes Yes
Ethernet (RJ45) No No
SD card reader No No
Proprietary charging port Yes No

Input

Keyboard
Keyboard type Island Island
Numpad No No
Backlight Yes Yes
Key travel 1.5 mm 1.5 mm
Touchpad
Size 12.0 x 8.0 cm 12.0 x 7.0 cm
Surface Glass Glass
Windows Precision Yes Yes
Further details
Notes on Surface Laptop 7 13.8:
    - The Intel Core Ultra (Series 2) model is slightly heavier at 1.65 kg and features faster LPDDR5X memory (8533 MHz) than the Snapdragon version.
Notes on ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition (14ʺ Intel):
    - One model has a standard trackpad weighing 986g, while the Haptic Touchpad version weighs 996g. The trackpad sizes are 12.0 × 5.62 mm and 12.0 × 70.5 mm, respectively.
*Disclaimer! Ports, speakers, display, and other specifications can vary depending on the laptop's specific configuration or region.

Cast your vote

So, which laptop would you choose?
1 (50%)
1 (50%)
Total votes: 2

Comments

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ComputerNerd December 6, 2024 at 12:30 AM
For the target market, data analysts/finance professionals, both are excellent laptops. However, both have 2 major flaws. Surface Laptop 7 has software/apps limitations and people cannot game on it. X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition is outrageously expensive, it costs above $2,000, and the multi-core CPU performance is above average at best.
+2 Reply