Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 vs. Surface Duo 2: Which is better?

Here is a side by side comparison between Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 and Surface Duo 2 specs including CPU, RAM, storage, battery, display, and more.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 Pros

Reasons that Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 is better than Surface Duo 2.

Supports larger memory

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 supports a larger memory capacity than the Surface Duo 2. It supports up to 32GB versus 8GB of system memory on the Surface Duo 2.

Max system memory size
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9
32 GB
Surface Duo 2
8 GB
68% larger display

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 has a 14-inch screen size 68% larger than the 8.3-inch Surface Duo 2.

Display size
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9
14-inch
Surface Duo 2
8.3-inch

Surface Duo 2 Pros

Reasons that Surface Duo 2 is better than Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9.

About 76% lighter

Surface Duo 2 weighed 0.62 pounds, 76% lighter than the 2.49 pounds Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9.

WeightLenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9Surface Duo 2
Pound
2.49 lbs.
0.62 lbs.
Kilogram
1.13 kg
0.28 kg

Prices

Here are the latest price updates and offers for both devices.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 Price
LENOVO ThinkPad X1 Carbon 9th Gen 9 Intel Core i7-1165G7, FHD Non-Touch Screen,16GB RAM, 512GB NVMe SSD, Backlit KYB Fingerprint Reader, Windows Pro
LENOVO ThinkPad X1 Carbon 9th Gen 9 Intel Core i7-1165G7, FHD Non-Touch Screen,16GB RAM, 512GB NVMe SSD, Backlit KYB Fingerprint Reader, Windows Pro
By LENOVO
$1,009.77
$1,059.77 5% OFF
Lenovo Gen 9 ThinkPad X1 Carbon Laptop with Intel i7-1165G7 Processor, 14" WUXGA 100%sRGB Anti-Glare Display, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 2.49lbs, Carbon Fiber, Windows11 Pro, and Three Year Premier Warranty
Lenovo Gen 9 ThinkPad X1 Carbon Laptop with Intel i7-1165G7 Processor, 14" WUXGA 100%sRGB Anti-Glare Display, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 2.49lbs, Carbon Fiber, Windows11 Pro, and Three Year Premier Warranty
By Lenovo
$1,129.99
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 20XW004QUS 14" Ultrabook - WUXGA - 1920 x 1200 - Intel Core i5 i5-1135G7 Quad-core (4 Core) 2.40 GHz - 8 GB RAM - 256 GB SSD - Black - Windows 10 Pro - Intel Iris
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 20XW004QUS 14" Ultrabook - WUXGA - 1920 x 1200 - Intel Core i5 i5-1135G7 Quad-core (4 Core) 2.40 GHz - 8 GB RAM - 256 GB SSD - Black - Windows 10 Pro - Intel Iris
By Lenovo
$659.01
$699.00 6% OFF
Surface Duo 2 Price
Microsoft Surface Duo 256GB (Unlocked) - Glacier
Microsoft Surface Duo 256GB (Unlocked) - Glacier
By Microsoft
$750.00
$1,094.99 32% OFF
Microsoft Surface Duo 128GB AT&T Locked, Glacier
Microsoft Surface Duo 128GB AT&T Locked, Glacier
By Microsoft
$349.99
Microsoft Surface Duo Bumper 2 - Tangerine
Microsoft Surface Duo Bumper 2 - Tangerine
By Microsoft
$24.73
$29.95 17% OFF

Availability

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9Surface Duo 2
Released20212021
Release Date
  • Announced on January 11, 2021 (CES 2021)
  • Available starting February 2021
  • Introduced: September 22, 2021
  • Pre-ordered: September 22, 2021
  • Released: October 21, 2021
PricingStarting at $1,429
  • $1,499
    8GB 128 GB
  • $1,599
    8GB 256 GB
  • $1,799
    8GB 512 GB
    Obsidian only.

Exterior

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9Surface Duo 2
Dimensions12.38” x 8.72” x 0.59” (314.5 x 221.6 x 14.9 mm)
  • 7.26 x 5.71 x 0.21 (184.5 mm x 145.2 mm x 5.50 mm)
    Open
  • 3.62 x 5.71 x 0.43 (92.1 mm x 145.2 mm x 11.0 mm) 
    Closed
WeightStarting at 2.49 lbs (1.13 kg)0.62 lbs (284 g)
Colors
Black
Optional woven carbon fiber top cover
Obsidian Glacier
Keyboard and Trackpad
  • Spill-resistant, Backlit with white LED lighting keyboard.
  • New FN row F9-F11
  • Trackpad + TrackPoint® pointing device.
-

Display

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9Surface Duo 2
Size14 Inches8.3 Inches
Info
  • 14" UHD+
    16:10 3840 x 2400 IPS low-power HDR400 with Dolby Vision™ DCI P3 100% 500 nits TÜV Rheinland-certified for reduced blue light emissions
  • 14" FHD+
    16:10 1920 x 1200 IPS anti-glare low-power 100% sRGB 400 nits Low-power TÜV Rheinland-certified for reduced blue light emissions
  • 14" FHD+ with Touch support 
    16:10 1920 x 1200 IPS anti-glare touchscreen 100% sRGB 400 nits TÜV Rheinland-certified for reduced blue light emissions
  • 14" FHD+ with Touch & PrivacyGuard support 
    16:10 1920 x 1200 IPS anti-glare touchscreen 100% sRGB PrivacyGuard 500 nits
  • Dual PixelSense™ Fusion Displays open: 8.3” AMOLED, 2688x1892
  • Single PixelSense™ Screen: 5.8” AMOLED 1344x1892 (13:9)
  • 401 PPI
  • HDR
  • Wide color 100% SRGB, DCI-P3
  • Dual displays with 90Hz adaptive refresh rate
  • 800 nits max brightness
  • Display Material: Corning® Gorilla® Glass Victus™

Ports

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9Surface Duo 2
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 Ports
Image Source: Lenovo
Left (4)
  • 2 x Thunderbolt 4
    40 Gpbs, DisplayPort, Power Delivery
  • 1 x USB-A
    USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps)
  • 1 x HDMI
    v2.0
Right (4)
  • 1 x headphone jack
    Headphone/Microphone
  • 1 x nanoSIM card slot
  • 1 x USB-A
    USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps), Always On
  • 1 x lock slot
    Kensington Lock
Surface Duo 2 Ports
Image Source: Microsoft
  • 1 x USB Type-C 
    USB 3.2 Gen 2.
  • 1 x SIM card slot

Internal Specs

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9Surface Duo 2
Processor
  1. 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1130G7
    4 cores, 8 threads, 1.80 → 4.00 GHz, 8MB SmartCache, 15W
  2. 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1160G7
    4 cores, 8 threads, 1.20 → 4.40 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 15W
  3. 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1180G7 with vPro™
    4 cores, 8 threads, 2.20 → 4.60 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 15W
  1. Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 888
    8 cores, 8 threads, 1.80 → 2.84 GHz, 5MB Cache, 5W
Integrated Graphics
  1. 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1130G7
    Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics
    80 Execution Units, 400 → 1100 MHz
  2. 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1160G7
    Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics
    96 Execution Units, 400 → 1100 MHz
  3. 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1180G7 with vPro™
    Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics
    96 Execution Units, 400 → 1100 MHz
  1. Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 888
    Qualcomm® Adreno™ 660 GPU
Memory
8GB 16GB 32GB
4266 MHz Dual-channel LPDDR4x Memory.
8GB DRAM LPDDR5 memory
Storage
256 GB 512 GB 1 TB 2TB
M.2 2280 PCIe Gen 4 SSD (Replaceable).
128GB 256GB 512GB
UFS 3.0 of internal storage

Connectivity

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9Surface Duo 2
Wi-FiIntel® Wi-Fi 6™ AX201 802.11AX (2 x 2)
Up to 2400 Mbps, Dual band 2.4 GHz/5 GHz, 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax.
Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax (2.4/5GHz)
BluetoothBluetooth 5.1Bluetooth Wireless 5.1 technology
MoreOptional WWAN: 4x4 MIMO 5G (LTE CAT20) / 4G (LTE CAT12)
  • NFC for payments and provisioning
  • 5G-NR NSA (mmWave): Release 15 DL 64 QAM up to 6 Gbps, 8xDL CA (800MHz), 2x2 MIMO
  • 5G-NR NSA (mmWave): Release 15 UL 64 QAM, 2xUL CA (200MHz), 2x2 MIMO
  • 5G-NR NSA (mmWave) Bands: n257, n260, n261
  • 5G-NR NSA (Sub-6): Release 15 DL 256 QAM up to 3.2 Gbps, 2xDL CA (TDD+TDD), 4x4 MIMO
  • 5G-NR NSA (Sub-6): Release 15 UL 256 QAM
  • 5G-NR NSA (Sub-6) Bands: n1, n2, n3, n5, n7, n20, n25, n28, n38, n41, n66, n71, n77, n78, n79
  • Gigabit LTE - A Pro Release 15 with 4x4 MIMO and LAA
  • LTE DL Cat 20, 256 QAM up to 2Gbps, 5xDL CA
  • LTE UL Cat 13, 64 QAM Contiguous 2X ULCA
  • LTE Bands: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 46, 48, 66, 71
  • WCDMA: 1,2,5,8
  • GSM/GPRS: GSM-850, E-GSM-900, DCS-1800, PCS-1900
  • Location: GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, BeiDou, QZSS

Battery

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9Surface Duo 2
Size57 Wh
  • 4,449 mAh
    Typical dual battery capacity.
  • 4,340 mAh
    Minimum dual battery capacity.
Battery LifeUp to 15 hours
Based on MobileMark® 2018 battery-life benchmark test
  • Up to 15.5 hours of Local Video Playback
  • Up to 28 hours of Talk Time
Power Supply65 W USB (Type-C) power adapter
Supports Rapid Charge.
23W USB-C PD charger
Supports Fast Charging.

Software

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9Surface Duo 2
OS
  • Windows 10 Home 64-bit
  • Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
Android™ 11
3-years of software updates.
Built-in Apps
Lenovo Vantage
  • Microsoft built-in applications:
    • Intune Company Portal
    • LinkedIn
    • Microsoft Authenticator
    • Microsoft Bing Search
    • Microsoft Edge
    • Microsoft Lens - PDF Scanner
    • Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, PowerPoint & More
    • Microsoft OneDrive
    • Microsoft OneNote
    • Microsoft Outlook
    • Microsoft Start
    • Microsoft Teams
    • Microsoft To Do
    • Surface
    • Tips
    • Xbox Game Pass
  • Microsoft Surface Duo 2 UI core features:
    • App Groups
    • Dual screen windowing
    • Dynamic Dock
    • Dynamic Triple-Lens Camera
    • Microsoft 365 Feed
    • Span apps automatically
    • Surface Duo Glance Bar
    • SwiftKey Adaptive Keyboard
    • Universal Search
    • Your Phone Companion - Link to Windows
  • Other preinstalled apps:
    • Calculator
    • Chrome
    • Clock
    • Contacts
    • Files
    • Gmail
    • Google Assistant
    • Google Calendar
    • Google Drive
    • Google Duo
    • Google Maps
    • Google Photos
    • Google Play Movies & TV
    • Google Play Store
    • Google Search
    • Messages
    • Phone
    • Sound recorder
    • YouTube
    • YouTube Music

Camera & Audio

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9Surface Duo 2
Camera
  • Front-facing camera with ThinkShutter privacy shutter
    720p (1280 x 720 HD) camera.
  • Optional: Hybrid Infrared (IR) & HD 720p with ThinkShutter
  • Dynamic triple-lens rear-facing camera:
    • Wide 
      12MP f/1.7 aperture 27 mm 1.4µm dual pixel PDAF OIS
    • Telephoto
      12MP f/2.4 aperture 51 mm 1.0µm PDAF OIS 2X optical zoom
    • Ultra-Wide
      16MP f/2.2 aperture 13 mm 1.0µm 110o diagonal field of view with distortion correction
  • Front-facing Camera:
    12MP f/2.0 24 mm 1.0µm Dual color LED flash
  • Photos:
    • Auto mode with low-light & HDR multi-frame photo capture and dynamic range scene detection
    • Dedicated night photography mode
    • Smooth Zoom between all 3 Rear Facing Camera combined with digital super zoom up to 10x
    • Portrait mode with adjustable depth control. Portrait mode supported for wide and tele camera. Machine learning used for portrait mode
    • Panorama mode with wide dynamic range
    • Capture short video during photo capture with a long press
    • Capture photos during video recording
  • Video recording:
    • HDR Video
    • 4K video recording at 30 fps and 60 fps
    • 1080p video recording at 30 fps and 60 fps
    • Slow-motion video at 120 or 240fps
    • HEVC and H.264 video recording formats
  • Microsoft Teams and Skype video conferencing up to 1080p at 30fps
Audio
  • Dolby Atmos™ Speaker System
  • Dolby® Voice®
  • 4 x 360-degree microphones
  • Stereo speakers
  • Dual Mic AI-based noise suppression and acoustic echo cancellation optimized for productive use in all postures
  • Best-in-class Full Duplex communication for voice calls in hands-free mode, receiver, and LRA
  • Audio formats supported: 3GP, MP3, MP4, MKV, WAV, OGG, M4A, AAC, TS, AMR, FLAC, MID, MIDI, RTTL, RTX, OTA, IMY
  • Qualcomm® aptX™ Classic, HD and TWS
  • Hearing aid compatibility: M4/T3
  • Wake on Voice using Google Assistant

Misc

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9Surface Duo 2
Inking-Supports all in market generations of Surface Slim Pen, Surface Pen and Surface Hub 2 Pen
4096 levels of pressure Tilt sensing Best in class latency Paper feel 0.1mm precision magnetic storage
Sensors
  • Windows Hello compliant fingerprint reader on the palm rest
  • Optional IR Camera
  • Ambient light sensor
  • NFC
  • Dual Accelerometer
  • Dual Gyroscope
  • Dual Magnetometer
  • Dual Ambient Light Sensor
  • Dual Proximity Sensor
  • Hall Sensor
  • Fingerprint Sensor
Security
  • Power-on Touch Fingerprint Reader
  • Match on Chip Touch Fingerprint Reader
  • dTPM 2.0 chip
  • Webcam privacy shutter
  • HPD sensor with IR Camera
  • ThinkPad PrivacyGuard
  • ThinkPad PrivacyAlert
  • Kensington™ lock slot
  • Biometric lock type: Fingerprint reader with enterprise-grade security
  • Lock type: Swipe, PIN, password
  • Security applications pre-loaded on the device: Microsoft Authenticator
In the box
  • ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9
  • 65W AC adapter
  • 57Wh Internal battery
  • Quick Start Guide
  • Surface Duo 2
  • Surface Duo 2 (Color: Glacier or Obsidian)
  • Surface Duo 2 USB-C Cable
  • Quick Start Guide
  • Warranty and Compliance Guide
  • SIM Ejector tool
Warranty1-year Depot or Carry-in
  • One-year limited hardware warranty
More-
  • Exterior Material: Corning® Gorilla® Glass
  • Video Playback Formats:
    • MKV, MOV, MP4, H.265(HEVC), AVI, WMV, TS, 3GP, FLV, 3G2, AVI, FLV, TS/M2TS, MKV, WEBM, 3GP/MPEG-4,HEIC/HEIF,ASF/WMV, MOV
  • Wireless
    • Chromecast and Miracast support
  • Wired:
    • DisplayPort over USB-C®. Supports video out when connecting via HDMI Adapter7
    • 4K video out over USB-C when connecting via DisplayPort cable or HDMI Adaptor to an external monitor
      Wireless dependent on the TV/monitor support.

Key Features

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9Surface Duo 2
At Glance
Released in Early
2021
16:9 4K UHD+
14”
2400p 60Hz
Weight
2.49 lb
1.13 kg
Up to
Intel Core i7-1180G7
4C/8T, 2.20 → 4.60 GHz
Geekbench 5
1,364
Single Core
Geekbench 5
4,474
Multi-Core
With integrated
Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics
96 Execution Units, 400 → 1100 MHz
Configurable up to
32GB
4267 MHz LPDDR4X
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 Ports
Released in
2021
13:9 2.6K
8.3”
1892p 90Hz ARR
Weight
0.62 lb
0.28 kg
Powered By
Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 888
8C/8T, 1.80 → 2.84 GHz
With integrated
Qualcomm® Adreno™ 660 GPU
8GB
LPDDR5 Memory
Surface Duo 2 Ports

Comparison Summary

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 vs. Surface Duo 2

Lenovo has released the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9, a 14-inch machine, in early-2021. It is powered by up to a quad-core Intel Core i7-1180G7 with a boost clock speed up to 4.60 GHz. The laptop has an integrated graphics option up to Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics (96 Execution Units, 400 → 1100 MHz).

On the other hand, we have the 8.3-inch Surface Duo 2 was introduced by Microsoft around the same year in 2021. It comes with an octa-core Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 888 with a boost clock speed up to 2.84 GHz. It has an integrated graphics option up to Qualcomm® Adreno™ 660 GPU ().

Geekbench 5 Single Core

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 91
11th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1130G71,23890.76%
2
11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1160G71,34198.31%
3
11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1180G7 with vPro™1,364100.00%
Surface Duo 201,364

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 91
11th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1130G74,07991.17%
2
11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1160G74,23894.73%
3
11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1180G7 with vPro™4,474100.00%
Surface Duo 204,474

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 has a 14-inch display which is way larger than the 8.3-inch Surface Duo 2. In addition, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 weighs 2.49 lbs. about 301% heavier than the 0.62 lbs. Surface Duo 2. Moreover, measured at 12.38” x 8.72” x 0.59”, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 is much bulkier than the Surface Duo 2 at 7.26” x 5.71” x 0.21”.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9Surface Duo 2

Moving over to upgradability, Lenovo claims that the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 supports up to 32GB 4267 MHz LPDDR4X memory. However, it has an onboard memory module that is not upgradable by the users. Fortunately, it comes with a single removable M.2 SSD slot that users can replace and upgrade in the future.

For Surface Duo 2, it supports 8GB LPDDR5 memory.

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