Lenovo X1 Carbon Gen 11 and Lenovo X1 Yoga Gen 6 Review: Lenovo’s Flagship Cousins Offer Enough Differences for Analysis Before Purchase

Lenovo X1 Carbon Gen 11 and Lenovo X1 Yoga Gen 6 Review

Save for a few notable internal differences, Lenovo’s X1 models leverage the same basic platform. They generally share ports, keyboards, displays, and basic features like power, sound, graphics processing and security.

X1 offers flagship quality for business users. These aren’t gaming devices. They aren’t really “creator” devices aimed at heavy video or image editing, or on-device AI work—though they will suffice for many developers, especially when attached to an external monitor.

Subtle internal and configuration differences require more thinking than making a choice between the 2-in-1 or clamshell laptop designs.

To expedite that thinking, power goes to the X1 Carbon Gen 11, which almost universally offers higher-end options—except for a superior display option on the X1 Yoga Gen 6. The significantly heavier Yoga offers more flexibility with its tablet transformation, but the weight doesn’t offer the convenience of a tablet like Apple’s iPad, all of which are smaller and lighter. 

That said, there are use cases for the X1 Yoga in a Windows world, but I’m not sure they are common enough to choose the Yoga over the Carbon unless the buyer’s use case is very specifically aligned with pen-based input or keyboard-less display.

What we like

Pros

At the core, the X1 Carbon and Yoga are mostly the same device, but they support different use cases. The X1 Carbon focuses on traditional computing, with the archetypical computer keyboard. Not even Apple makes more input-forward keyboards. The legacy TrackPoint remains a feature that I challenge as an anachronism, but Lenovo insists that it remains a brand benefit. Either is true, depending on the owner’s proclivities.

The internal differences are few, with the X1 Carbon sporting WiFi 6E and the X1 Yoga only offering 802.11ax. And of course, the X1 Yoga also brings its rotating tablet capabilities, along with a pen.

Both devices offer a variety of available 12^th Generation Intel® Core processors from the lowly i5-1240P to the i7-1270P. As always, buy as much CPU as you can afford. The review units both arrived with an i7-1355U, which proved adequate for all basic office tasks, including content creation, content consumption and browsing.

Memory and storage is also configurable. The X1 Carbon comes configured with memory up to 64GB, while the Yoga maxes out at 32GB. The review units both arrived with 16GB of RAM, which, again, was adequate for basic office work. The units sported 512GB SDs, but 2TB drives are available.

Both also offer a variety of displays, from non-touch screens on the X1 Carbon to lower-end touch screens on the Yoga. Unfortunately, the Carbon X1 does not offer the Yoga’s top-end 14.0″ WQUXGA (3840 x 2400) IPS panel, but it can be delivered with a 2.8K, 2880×1800 OLED display, which likely looks sharper, but with less screen real estate than the Yoga. This display disparity seems confusing, as the X1 Carbon, with its high-capacity memory option, leans into more graphics and video which would benefit from the larger pixel count even without the OLED technology.

The X1 includes Tile® for tracking. Another oversight on the Yoga, which to me, is the more mobile of the two and would be just as worthy of tracking, especially given its high price.

Of course, the centerpiece of the X1 experience is always going to be the keyboard. I think it would be improved by losing the TrackPoint and going with a simple flat touchpad, but that’s just me. The keys seem slightly lighter than previous generations, but they are just as responsive.

As listed above, the ports are similar, with dual USB-C Thunderbolt and a pair of USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports, one of which is always on. The X1 Carbon’s HDMI port runs 2.1, while the Yoga only supports 2.0. Both include a headphone/microphone 3.5mm combo jack.

Sound was adequate on both units, though serious listeners will want external speakers or headphones.

Both cameras support Windows Hello face recognition along with fingerprint recognition on the power button.

Of course, the Yoga comes with a stylus. It’s fine, but I would rather have a larger, more pencil-like stylus that offers a more secure grip for detailed work.

While the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 touts environmentally positive street cred on the X1 Carbon, like low-temp soldering, 90% recycled magnesium on the cover, 98% post-consumer content (PCC) recycled plastic in the speaker enclosure, 25-30% PCC recycled plastic in the battery enclosure, and 90% PCC recycled plastic in the power adapter and packaging is entirely plastic-free—it makes no such claims about the X1 Yoga.

What could be improved

The extra half-pound on the X1 Yoga Gen 6 takes it to 3lbs, which feels significantly heavier than the X1 Carbon. Most of that weight comes from the aluminum chassis

The number of options can be confusing. Even available model listings suggest that some options are not available. The X1 Yoga, for instance, only appears while writing this review in its highest-end configuration.

Both devices need an SD slot. Sure, USB-C hubs can be had for cheap, and USB-A to SD card adapters are easy to come by, but it’s a notable missing element that even Apple has acquiesced to include in its latest models.

As similar as these devices are, they need to be even more similar. I understand the difference in design teams and release timing, but areas like Bluetooth®, WiFi, partnerships like Tile® and webcams should be standardized. That the X1 Yoga Gen 6 does not include an HD front-facing camera is a critical oversight that harkens back to the grainy days of 2019, doing no favors for the Yoga. After the pandemic, all “business laptops” should include 1080p cameras, or better.

I see the high list price, particularly of the X1 Yoga, as a negative. In the real world, these devices rarely sell at list price. If they do, then wait, as a discount is likely just around the next weekend or holiday.

Lenovo needs to define a standard set of specifications for flagship models and make sure those specs travel across designs within a design year. Of course, newly released versions should be adopted when ready, but that means newer devices would always be better, never worse. The X1 Yoga, should have, for instance, included an FHD camera and Wifi 6E as those were available at the time of its manufacture, whereas the difference between Bluetooth® 5.2 and 5.3 may have been a design timing event rather than a choice of one over the other.

Lenovo X1 Carbon Gen 11 and Lenovo X1 Yoga Gen 6: The bottom line

I like both of these laptops. They look great and perform well. They are essentially the same platform; however, slight differences make the X1 Carbon the overall superior choice despite its inability to rotate its display or support a pen—though the lack of a high-resolution panel makes it less compelling than a similarly configured MacBook Pro, which offers Apple’s retina display. The Carbon’s lighter weight and option for additional memory make it a more compelling companion.

I would like to see Lenovo converge these platforms even more and eliminate the slight inconsistencies in specifications that make for more of a conversation than is necessary. Concentrate on the hinge and the materials, otherwise, keep them the same. A more converged configuration would help give consumers a clearer choice based on use case rather than low-level specs, and it would also drive down manufacturing costs by standardizing on parts and reducing configuration changes to the production line.

For those who need stylus input to support business apps or for notetaking and annotation, the Yoga is a solid choice, but the X1 Carbon remains the better overall choice.

Lenovo provided the X1 Carbon Gen 11 and X1 Yoga Gen 6 for review. Images courtesy of Lenovo unless otherwise noted.

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