Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 vs. Surface Laptop 3 13.5”: Full specs comparison

We have comprehensively compared the specifications for the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 and Surface Laptop 3 13.5” models. The report includes detailed information regarding both models' CPU, memory, storage, battery life, display quality, and other features.

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Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 image

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9

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Surface Laptop 3 13.5” image

Surface Laptop 3 13.5”

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Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 Pros

Reasons that Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 is better than Surface Laptop 3 13.5”.

Newer manufacturing

2021 vs. 2019

Significantly faster CPU performance

Intel Core i7-1180G7 inside Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 has a 20% better multi-core CPU performance score than the Intel Core i7-1065G7 inside Surface Laptop 3 13.5”.

Geekbench 5 multi-core score
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 - Intel Core i7-1180G7
4,474
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 - Intel Core i7-1160G7
4,238
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 - Intel Core i5-1130G7
4,079
Surface Laptop 3 13.5” - Intel Core i7-1065G7
3,722
Surface Laptop 3 13.5” - Intel Core i5-1035G7
3,691
Supports larger memory

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 supports a larger memory capacity than the Surface Laptop 3 13.5”. It supports up to 32GB versus 16GB of system memory on the Surface Laptop 3 13.5”.

Max system memory size
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9
32 GB
Surface Laptop 3 13.5”
16 GB
Supports faster memory

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 supports a faster memory speed than the Surface Laptop 3 13.5”. It supports up to 4267MHz versus 3733MHz of system memory on the Surface Laptop 3 13.5”.

Memory type and speed
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 - LPDDR4X
4,267 MHz
Surface Laptop 3 13.5” - LPDDR4X
3,733 MHz
About 11% lighter

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 weighed 2.49 pounds, 11% lighter than the 2.79 pounds Surface Laptop 3 13.5”.

WeightLenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9Surface Laptop 3 13.5”
Pound
2.49 lbs.
2.79 lbs.
Kilogram
1.13 kg
1.27 kg

Surface Laptop 3 13.5” Pros

We couldn't find any advantages of Surface Laptop 3 13.5” over Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9.

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
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Lenovo Thinkpadx1 Carbon Gen9 Intel Evo Core i7-1185G7| Windows11 Pro| 14inch WQXGA 16:10 IPS Display| Backlit Keyboard| Thunderbolt4| Wi-Fi6| Fingerprint| HDMI Cable (16GB RAM | 512GB PCIe SSD)
 Lenovo Thinkpadx1 Carbon Gen9 Intel Evo Core i7-1185G7| Windows11 Pro| 14inch WQXGA 16:10 IPS Display| Backlit Keyboard| Thunderbolt4| Wi-Fi6| Fingerprint| HDMI Cable (16GB RAM | 512GB PCIe SSD)
By Lenovo
$1,149.99
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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
$670.00
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Surface Laptop 3 13.5” Price
Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 13.5" Touch-Screen Intel Core i5-8GB Memory - 256GB Solid State Drive (PKX-00003) Matte Black (Renewed)
 Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 13.5" Touch-Screen Intel Core i5-8GB Memory - 256GB Solid State Drive (PKX-00003) Matte Black (Renewed)
By Microsoft
$299.00
$319.00 6% OFF
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Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 13.5 Inch Touch-Screen 256GB SSD i5 8GB with Windows 10 Pro (WiFi, 1.2GHz Quad-Core i5) Black (Metal) PKU-00022 (Renewed)
 Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 13.5 Inch Touch-Screen 256GB SSD i5 8GB with Windows 10 Pro (WiFi, 1.2GHz Quad-Core i5) Black (Metal) PKU-00022 (Renewed)
By Microsoft
$299.00
$339.00 12% OFF
See at Amazon
Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 – 13.5" Touch-Screen – Intel Core i7 - 16GB Memory - 512GB Solid State Drive (Latest Model) – Platinum with Alcantara (Renewed)
 Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 – 13.5" Touch-Screen – Intel Core i7 - 16GB Memory - 512GB Solid State Drive (Latest Model) – Platinum with Alcantara (Renewed)
By Microsoft
$425.00
$449.00 5% OFF
See at Amazon

Specs Comparison

Availability

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9Surface Laptop 3 13.5”
Released20212019
Release Date
  • Announced on January 11, 2021 (CES 2021)
  • Available starting February 2021
  • Introduced: October 2, 2019 (Microsoft October Event)
  • Pre-ordered: October 2, 2019
  • Released: October 22, 2019
PricingStarting at $1,429Starting at 999$
Generations-

Exterior

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9Surface Laptop 3 13.5”
Size Comparison
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9Surface Laptop 3 13.5”
Dimensions12.38” x 8.72” x 0.59” (314.5 x 221.6 x 14.9 mm)12.1” x 8.8” x 0.57” (308 mm x 223 mm x 14.5 mm)
Width: 12.1” (308 mm)
Depth: 8.8” (223 mm)
Height: 0.57” (14.5 mm)
WeightStarting at 2.49 lbs (1.13 kg)
  • 2.84 lb (1,288 g)
    Sandstone and Matte Black
  • 2.79 lb (1,265 g)
    Cobalt Blue and Platinum
Colors
Black
Optional woven carbon fiber top cover
  • Metal
    Matte Black Sandstone
  • Alcantara
    Matte Black Platinum
Keyboard and Trackpad
  • Spill-resistant, Backlit with white LED lighting keyboard.
  • New FN row F9-F11
  • Trackpad + TrackPoint® pointing device.
  • Keyboard:
    • Full-size backlit keyboard with the soft-touch feel and full 1.3mm travel.
    • Large palm rest with premium Alcantara® material for maximized typing comfort.
  • Trackpad:
    • Larger size 115 mm x 76.66 mm, glass.
    • Supports up to Five-finger multitouch gesture.

Display

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9Surface Laptop 3 13.5”
Size14 Inches13.5 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
  • Resolution: 2256 x 1504 (201 PPI)
  • PixelSense™ Display
  • Aspect ratio: 3:2
  • Inking: designed together with Surface Pen
  • Touch: 10 points multi-touch
  • Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3
  • 10nm Oleophobic Coating
  • 100% sRGB color, individually calibrated

Ports

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9Surface Laptop 3 13.5”
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 Laptop 3 13.5” Ports
Image Source: Microsoft
  • 1 x Full-size USB 3.0
  • 1 x USB Type-C 3.1 Gen 2
    Supports Power Delivery and DisplayPort.
  • 1 x Surface Connect™
    Supports charging and docking station.
  • 1 x Headset jack

Internal Specs

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9Surface Laptop 3 13.5”
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. 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1035G7
    4 cores, 8 threads, 1.20 → 3.70 GHz, 6MB SmartCache, 15W
  2. 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1065G7
    4 cores, 8 threads, 1.30 → 3.90 GHz, 8MB SmartCache, 15W
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. 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1035G7
    Intel® Iris® Plus Graphics
    64 Execution Units, 300 → 1050 MHz
  2. 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1065G7
    Intel® Iris® Plus Graphics
    64 Execution Units, 300 → 1100 MHz
Memory
8GB 16GB 32GB
4266 MHz Dual-channel LPDDR4x Memory.
8GB 16GB
3733 MHz LPDDR4X RAM
Storage
256 GB 512 GB 1 TB 2TB
M.2 2280 PCIe Gen 4 SSD (Replaceable).
128 GB 256 GB 512 GB 1 TB
Removable M.2 NVMe SSD

Connectivity

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9Surface Laptop 3 13.5”
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: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax compatible.
BluetoothBluetooth 5.1
  • Bluetooth Wireless 5.0 technology
MoreOptional WWAN: 4x4 MIMO 5G (LTE CAT20) / 4G (LTE CAT12)-

Battery

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9Surface Laptop 3 13.5”
Size57 Wh45.8 Wh
Battery LifeUp to 15 hours
Based on MobileMark® 2018 battery-life benchmark test
Up to 11.5 hours of typical device usage
Power Supply65 W USB (Type-C) power adapter
Supports Rapid Charge.
  • 60W power supply with USB-A (5W) (65W total)
  • Supports Fast Charge (0-80% in about one hour)

Software

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9Surface Laptop 3 13.5”
OS
  • Windows 10 Home 64-bit
  • Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
  • For Consumer: Windows 10 Home
  • For Commercial: Windows 10 Pro
Free upgrade to Windows 11
Built-in Apps
Lenovo Vantage
Microsoft Office 365 30-days trial

Camera & Audio

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9Surface Laptop 3 13.5”
Camera
  • Front-facing camera with ThinkShutter privacy shutter
    720p (1280 x 720 HD) camera.
  • Optional: Hybrid Infrared (IR) & HD 720p with ThinkShutter
  • Windows Hello face authentication camera (front-facing)
  • 720p HD front-facing video camera
Audio
  • Dolby Atmos™ Speaker System
  • Dolby® Voice®
  • 4 x 360-degree microphones
  • Dual far-field Studio Mics
  • OmniSonic stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio™ Premium

Misc

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9Surface Laptop 3 13.5”
Inking-Supports Surface Pen
4096 levels of pressure
Tilt sensing
Best in class latency
Sensors
  • Windows Hello compliant fingerprint reader on the palm rest
  • Optional IR Camera
  • Ambient light sensor
  • NFC
  • Ambient light 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
  • HW TPM 2.0 chip for enterprise security
  • Enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello face sign-in
In the box
  • ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9
  • 65W AC adapter
  • 57Wh Internal battery
  • Quick Start Guide
  • Surface Laptop 3 13.5”
  • Power supply
  • Quick Start Guide
  • Safety and warranty documents
Warranty1-year Depot or Carry-in
  • One-year limited hardware warranty
  • Commercial: Advanced Exchange warranty service with expedited device replacement
More-Supports Surface Dial
Supports off-screen interaction only

Key Features

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9Surface Laptop 3 13.5”
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 Late
2019
3:2 2.2K
13.5”
1504p 60Hz
Weight
2.79 lb
1.27 kg
Up to
Intel Core i7-1065G7
4C/8T, 1.30 → 3.90 GHz
Geekbench 5
1,088
Single Core
Geekbench 5
3,722
Multi-Core
With integrated
Intel® Iris® Plus Graphics
64 Execution Units, 300 → 1100 MHz
Configurable up to
16GB
3733 MHz LPDDR4X
Surface Laptop 3 13.5” Ports

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