Long battery life with extended Lenovo ThinkPad X250 laptop battery; Comfortable keyboard; Accurate touchpad and pointing stick; Solid performance; Plenty of ports
Disadvantages of Lenovo ThinkPad X250 laptop:
Bland screen colors; Tinny sound; Middling endurance with default battery
Conclusion:
Lenovo's 12.5-inch ThinkPad X250 fits epic battery life, a sharp display and a snappy keyboard into a lightweight, durable package.
The ThinkPad X250 has Lenovo's simple but classy ThinkPad aesthetic, with a raven-black lid, deck, sides and bottom. The red TrackPoint pointing stick and silver ThinkPad logos on the deck and lid provide a splash of color.
At 12.03 x 8.21 x 0.8 inches, Lenovo's 12-inch ultraportable isn't the thinnest laptop on the market, but its girth allows it to provide strong battery life and all the ports you need, a worthwhile trade-off. During my testing, the X250 slipped into my bag easily and felt very comfortable in my hand as I carried it around the office.
Like other ThinkPads, the X250 is designed to withstand some punishment. Its carbon-fiber- reinforced plastic lid and glass-fiber-reinforced plastic bottom allow it to pass 11 MIL-SPEC durability tests, including those for extreme temperatures, pressure, vibrations and dust.
The ThinkPad X250 offers a better typing experience than most notebooks on the market, with a good tactile feel and a lightly curved key shape. Because of the snappy feedback, I scored 95 words per minute on the typing test, which is my typical rate. The keys have a solid 1.8mm of travel and require 56 grams of actuation force, which is excellent. However, the 14-inch ThinkPad T450s' keyboard is even snappier, providing 1.9mm of travel and 63 grams of actuation force.
Like other ThinkPads, the ThinkPad X250 offers both a TrackPoint pointing stick and a traditional touchpad. Though it's not for everyone, I prefer the TrackPoint because it provides extremely accurate navigation and lets me keep my hands on the home row. While some business notebooks from Dell, HP and Toshiba also have pointing sticks, the competitors' nubs just aren't as comfortable or accurate as Lenovo's TrackPoints. The X250's TrackPoint has its own trio of mouse buttons, which is a big improvement over the X240, which built these buttons into the top of its touchpad.
The ThinkPad X250 has four different screen options: 1366 x 768; 1366 x 768 with IPS; 1920 x 1080 nontouch (also IPS); and 1920 x 1080 with touch but less brightness. Our review unit's 1920 x 1080 IPS touch screen offered sharp images and plenty of screen real estate, but dull colors and middling viewing angles.
The notebook's speakers were loud enough to fill an office, but I didn't enjoy listening to music on them. When I played the bass-heavy "Forget Me Nots," the drum-laden "Uptown Funk" and the guitar-centric "Holy Diver," the sound was tinny, flat and downright unpleasant. The included Dolby Digital Plus software allowed me to choose from different sound profiles, such as Movies or Music. Enabled by default, it added some depth to the audio as the music sounded even worse when I turned Dolby off.
Amazing Lenovo ThinkPad X250 laptop battery:
- Battery Chemical: Li-ion
- Battery Voltage: 11.1V
- Battery Capacity: 4500mAh
- Battery Color: black
- Type: original
- Warranty: 9 months
- Battery Source: http://www.laptop-battery.org.uk/laptop-batteries.php/lenovo/thinkpad%20x250/100114/1003489/175670
