Review - Lenovo Thinkpad X390 Full HD Business Laptop

The most consistent brand in the laptop market is undoubtedly Lenovo’s ThinkPad. It depends on your perspective if this is a compliment or not, but there’s no denying the ThinkPads’ consistent quality and aesthetic through a wide variety of price ranges. This series has one of the fiercest fan base, which is a major reason behind the lack of change in terms of design.

Lenovo ThinkPad X390 is a recent laptop that doesn’t deviate from ThinkPads’ standard design features. Our model has 1080p resolution and IPS panel, while the processor is an Intel Core i5-8365U. Is the device worth your money? Let’s find out.

Specifications

Processor	Intel Core i5 (8th Gen) 8365U / 1.6 GHz
Display	13.3-inch Full HD IPS Display (1920 x 1080) Resolution
RAM	16 GB
Storage	512 GB SSD
Graphics	Integrated/On-Board Graphics
Operating System	Windows 10 Pro

Design

Like we previously mentioned, you won’t find anything out of the ordinary in terms of design when it comes to ThinkPads (also known as LenovoThink series). And the X390 is no different. It’s got that black soft-touch finish that can sometimes pick up fingerprints and smudges -- we advise keeping a cleaning cloth handy if you like your laptop to always stay clean.

There are the usual ThinkPad logos on the palm rest and lid corner. The dual hinges bend full 180 degrees but don’t mistake it for a convertible. The build quality of the hinges is solid enough to not shake around when in a car, but they’re still smooth enough to almost open with one hand.

This 13.3-inch laptop weighs under three pounds and is small enough to carry around in a bag or under an arm. Its got a sleek look to it thanks to just 0.67 inches of thickness. Many thin laptops don’t have enough space for a good variety of ports, but we’re happy to report that Lenovo was able to add a good mix in the X390. There’s a USB-C 3.1 charging port, Thunderbolt 3, HDMI, USB-A, and an Ethernet Extension port on the left side.   

You’ll find one more USB-A port and an optional Smart Card reader on the right side. Along the back is a microSD card reader that can also act as a Micro-SIM slot. There’s a speaker placed on either side of the bottom of the laptop and its quality is pretty decent for a ThinkPad.  

As for the overall build quality, the ThinkPad has gone under all sorts of durability tests and can handle all kinds of bumps. Its chassis is made from aluminium-magnesium alloy and feels firm when handled. Also, there was no flex in the body and lid. In short, nothing felt cheap and everything was sturdy.

Lenovo is known to keep its ThinkPads secure. Hence, there is a dTPM 2.0 chip inside, a fingerprint reader on the right palm rest, and an optional IR camera above the screen. There’s also a webcam shutter to make sure your privacy isn’t being compromised.

Display

This ThinkPad X390 model has a Full HD LCD IPS display. Its got up to 300 nits of brightness, which is poverty good in this range. The screen has a matte finish that makes the colours look a bit “dim”, but that only means there’s one less sheet of glass (making the screen lighter) and it won’t reflect light as strongly. 

The screen on the X390 can bend 180-degrees, which could become very convenient if you’re very tall or are sitting on a seat or chair that has an uncomfortable height.

Performance

This X390 unit comes with an 8th generation Intel Core i5 processor clocked at 1.6 GHz, 16 GB RAM, and 512 GB SSD. Hence, it delivers great performance and can be used for office work tasks and everyday computing.  

As long as you don’t need to perform CPU or GPU-heavy tasks like video editing, hardcore gaming, scientific computing, etc. Core i5 and 16 GB RAM is more than enough. Our experts always recommend 16 GB RAM and SSD storage in order to avoid huge memory-eating beasts like browser tabs. For example, using apps like Google Chrome are considered as light computing, but their memory consumption can never be considered as “light”.

As far as gaming is concerned, this ThinkPad X390 model actually performs better than previous models thanks to some hardware updates. Some light gaming is definitely possible, but don’t expect the laptop to run AAA titles without a dedicated graphics card.  

Battery Life

The ThinkPad X390 has a 48 Wh battery. We tested a robust set of office tasks at 200 nits and managed to get 15 hours and 40 mins from the laptop. That’s very good for a laptop with such a great performance.

However, battery tests are not always accurate. They depend on a lot of factors like app settings, background tasks, brightness level, and network conditions. And all of these factors can change from user to user. So, your X390’s battery life may be a bit shorter or even longer than ours.

Verdict

In the beginning, we may have been slightly annoyed by the similarities between all the ThinkPad devices, but it wasn’t that bad at all. In fact, we hardly found anything to complain about. Lenovo has another gem in their hands as the ThinkPad X390 is simply one of the best business laptops in its price range.