Surface Book 2 vs. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2: Which is better?

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

Surface Book 2 Pros

Reasons that Surface Book 2 is better than Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2.

About 11% lighter

Surface Book 2 weighed 3.38 pounds, 11% lighter than the 3.76 pounds Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2.

WeightSurface Book 2Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2
Pound
3.38 lbs.
3.76 lbs.
Kilogram
1.53 kg
1.71 kg

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2 Pros

Reasons that Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2 is better than Surface Book 2.

Newer manufacturing

2019 vs. 2017

Much faster CPU performance

Intel Core i9-9880H inside Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2 has a 57% better multi-core CPU performance score than the Intel Core i7-8650U inside Surface Book 2.

Geekbench 5 multi-core score
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2 - Intel Core i9-9880H
6,100
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2 - Intel Core i7-9850H
4,914
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2 - Intel Core i7-9750H
4,880
Surface Book 2 - Intel Core i7-8650U
3,879
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2 - Intel Core i5-9400H
3,690
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2 - Intel Core i5-9300H
3,308
Surface Book 2 - Intel Core i5-8350U
2,982
Surface Book 2 - Intel Core i5-7300U
1,777
Supports larger memory

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2 supports a larger memory capacity than the Surface Book 2. It supports up to 64GB versus 16GB of system memory on the Surface Book 2.

Max system memory size
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2
64 GB
Surface Book 2
16 GB
Supports faster memory

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2 supports a faster memory speed than the Surface Book 2. It supports up to 2666MHz versus 1866MHz of system memory on the Surface Book 2.

Memory type and speed
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2 - DDR4
2,666 MHz
Surface Book 2 - LPDDR3
1,866 MHz
15% larger display

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2 has a 15.6-inch screen size 15% larger than the 13.5-inch Surface Book 2.

Display size
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2
15.6-inch
Surface Book 2
13.5-inch

Prices

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

Surface Book 2 Price
Microsoft Surface Book 2 (Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB) - 13.5in (Renewed)
Microsoft Surface Book 2 (Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB) - 13.5in (Renewed)
By Microsoft
$495.94
$574.95 14% OFF
Microsoft Surface Book 2 15" (Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 512 GB), Silver
Microsoft Surface Book 2 15" (Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 512 GB), Silver
By Microsoft
$799.99
$899.99 11% OFF
Microsoft Surface Book 2 15" (Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 512 GB) (Renewed)
Microsoft Surface Book 2 15" (Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 512 GB) (Renewed)
By Microsoft
$564.69
$719.99 22% OFF
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2 Price
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4 16" 2K QHD (Intel Core i7-11800H, 64GB RAM, 2TB SSD, Geforce RTX 3050 Ti) Business & Mobile Workstation Laptop, Backlit, FP, 3-Yr WRT, IST Cable, Win 11 Pro, Black
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4 16" 2K QHD (Intel Core i7-11800H, 64GB RAM, 2TB SSD, Geforce RTX 3050 Ti) Business & Mobile Workstation Laptop, Backlit, FP, 3-Yr WRT, IST Cable, Win 11 Pro, Black
By Lenovo
$1,799.99
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 10 Business Laptop (14" FHD+ Touchscreen, Intel 12-Core i7-1270P vPro, 32GB LPDDR5 RAM, 1TB SSD), Backlit, Fingerprint, FHD Webcam, Wi-Fi 6E, IST Cable, Win 11 Pro, Balck
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 10 Business Laptop (14" FHD+ Touchscreen, Intel 12-Core i7-1270P vPro, 32GB LPDDR5 RAM, 1TB SSD), Backlit, Fingerprint, FHD Webcam, Wi-Fi 6E, IST Cable, Win 11 Pro, Balck
By Lenovo
$1,599.99
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4 Intel i7-11850H, 16" WQXGA (2560 x 1600) IPS 400nits, 64GB RAM, 2TB SSD, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, Backlit KYB, Fingerprint Reader, Windows Pro
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4 Intel i7-11850H, 16" WQXGA (2560 x 1600) IPS 400nits, 64GB RAM, 2TB SSD, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, Backlit KYB, Fingerprint Reader, Windows Pro
By Lenovo
$1,980.77

Availability

Surface Book 2Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2
Released20172019
Release Date
  • Introduced: October 17, 2017
  • Pre-ordered: November 9, 2017
  • Released: November 16, 2017
-
Pricing
  • Surface Book 2 13.5”: Starting at 1,149$
  • Surface Book 2 15”: Starting at 1,999$
-

Exterior

Surface Book 2Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2
Dimensions
  • Surface Book 2 13.5” (Core i5)
    12.3” x 9.1” x 0.51”-0.90” (312 mm x 232 mm x 13 mm-23 mm).
  • Surface Book 2 13.5” (Core i7)
    12.3” x 9.14” x 0.59”-0.90” (312 mm x 232 mm x 15 mm-23 mm).
  • Surface Book 2 15”
    13.5” x 9.87” x 0.57”-0.90” (343 mm x 251 mm x 15 mm-23 mm).
  • FHD non-touch: 14.24” x 9.67” x .72” / 361.8 x 245.7 x 18.4 (mm)
  • 4K UHD touchscreen: 14.24” x 9.67” x .74” / 361.8 x 245.7 x 18.7 (mm)
Weight
  • Surface Book 2 13.5” (Core i5)
    • Total: 3.38 lbs (1,533 g)
    • Tablet: 1.59 lbs (719 g)
  • Surface Book 2 13.5” (Core i7)
    • Total: 3.62 lbs (1,642 g)
    • Tablet: 1.59 lbs (719 g)
  • Surface Book 2 15”
    • Total: 4.20 lbs (1,905 g)
    • Tablet: 1.80 lbs (817 g)
  • FHD non-touch: 3.76 lbs (1.7 kg)
  • 4K UHD touchscreen: 4.06 lbs (1.8 kg)
Colors
Platinum
Black
Keyboard and Trackpad
  • Keyboard:
    • Full-size mechanical backlit keyset with 1.55mm travel.
    • Mechanical friction attaches the Clipboard to the keyboard.
  • Trackpad:
    • Larger size 105 mm x 70 mm, glass.
    • Supports up to Five-finger multitouch gesture.
  • Spill-resistant, Backlit with white LED lighting keyboard
  • Trackpad + TrackPoint® pointing device
  • Multitouch glass touchpad

Display

Surface Book 2Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2
Size13.5 Inches15.6 Inches
Info
  • Surface Book 2 13.5”
    • Display Resolution: 3000 x 2000 (6M Pixels)
    • Display Density: 267 PPI
  • Surface Book 2 15”
    • Display Resolution: 3240 x 2160 (7M Pixels)
    • Display Density: 260 PPI
  • PixelSense™ Display
  • Aspect ratio: 3:2
  • Contrast ratio: 1600:1
  • Inking: designed together with Surface Pen
  • Touch: 10 points multi-touch
  • 15.6” FHD (1920 x 1080)
    IPS, anti-glare, 300 nits.
  • 15.6” FHD (1920 x 1080)
    IPS, anti-glare with Dolby Vision™ HDR 400, 500 nits.
  • 15.6” 4K UHD (3840 x 2160)
    IPS, anti-glare with Dolby Vision™ HDR 400, 500 nits.
  • 15.6” 4K UHD (3840 x 2160)
    OLED, anti-reflection/anti-smudge, touchscreen with Dolby Vision™ HDR 500, 400 nits.

Ports

Surface Book 2Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2
Surface Book 2 Ports
Image Source: Microsoft
  • 2 x Full-size USB 3.1 Gen 1
  • 1 x USB Type-C 3.1 Gen 1
    Supports Power Delivery and DisplayPort.
  • 2 x Surface Connect™
    1 in tablet, 1 in keyboard base, both supports charging and docking.
  • 1 x Headset jack
  • 1 x Full-size SDXC card reader
    UHS-II Performance
  • 2 x Thunderbolt™ 3
    Supports DisplayPort and data transfer.
  • 2 x USB 3.1 Gen 1
    Full-size USB-A ports (1 port always on).
  • 1 x HDMI 2.0
  • 1 x Headphone / mic combo
  • 1 x 4-in-1 SD card reader
  • 1 x Network extension
  • 1 x AC power in
  • 1 x Kensington slot

Internal Specs

Surface Book 2Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2
Processor
  1. 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7300U
    2 cores, 4 threads, 2.60 → 3.50 GHz, 3MB SmartCache, 15W
  2. 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-8350U
    4 cores, 8 threads, 1.70 → 3.60 GHz, 6MB SmartCache, 15W
  3. 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-8650U
    4 cores, 8 threads, 1.90 → 4.20 GHz, 8MB SmartCache, 15W
  1. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-9300H
    4 cores, 8 threads, 2.40 → 4.10 GHz, 8MB SmartCache, 45W
  2. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-9400H
    4 cores, 8 threads, 2.50 → 4.30 GHz, 8MB SmartCache, 45W
  3. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9750H
    6 cores, 12 threads, 2.60 → 4.50 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 45W
  4. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9850H
    6 cores, 12 threads, 2.60 → 4.60 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 45W
  5. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9880H
    8 cores, 16 threads, 2.30 → 4.80 GHz, 16MB SmartCache, 45W
Integrated Graphics
  1. 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7300U
    Intel® HD Graphics 620
    24 Execution Units, 300 → 1100 MHz
  2. 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-8350U
    Intel® UHD Graphics 620
    24 Execution Units, 300 → 1100 MHz
  3. 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-8650U
    Intel® UHD Graphics 620
    24 Execution Units, 300 → 1150 MHz
  1. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-9300H
    Intel® UHD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1050 MHz
  2. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-9400H
    Intel® UHD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1100 MHz
  3. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9750H
    Intel® UHD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1150 MHz
  4. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9850H
    Intel® UHD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1150 MHz
  5. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9880H
    Intel® UHD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1200 MHz
Memory
8GB 16GB
1866 MHz LPDDR3 RAM
  • 8GB 16GB 32GB 64GB
    2666 MHz Dual-channel DDR4 RAM.
Discrete Graphics
  • Surface Book 2 13.5”
    • NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050
      Pascal Architecture, 2GB GDDR5 128-bit, 1354 → 1493 MHz, 640 CUDA Cores.
  • Surface Book 2 15”
    • NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060
      Pascal Architecture, 6GB GDDR5 192-bit, 1404 → 1670 MHz, 1280 CUDA Cores.
  • NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1650 with Max-Q (Optional)
    Turning Architecture, 4GB GDDR5 128-bit, 1395 → 1560 MHz, 1024 CUDA Cores.
Storage
128 GB 256 GB 512 GB 1 TB
PCIe SSD
  • 256 GB 512 GB 1 TB
    M.2 2280 PCIe NVMe (Replaceable).
  • Up to 2 SSDs (2 x M.2 2280 PCIe TLC & SATA) up to 2TB max

Connectivity

Surface Book 2Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2
Wi-Fi
  • Wi-Fi 5: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac compatible.
  • Intel® AX200 Wi-Fi 6 802.11AX (2 x 2)
    Up to 2400 Mbps, Dual band 2.4 GHz/5 GHz, 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax.
Bluetooth
  • Bluetooth Wireless 4.1 technology
  • Bluetooth 5.0
More
  • Surface Book 2 15” Only: Xbox Wireless built-in
-

Battery

Surface Book 2Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2
Size
  • Surface Book 2 13.5” (Core i5)
    Total: 69Wh
    Clipboard: 18Wh
    Base: 51Wh
  • Surface Book 2 13.5” (Core i7)
    Total: 75.3Wh
    Clipboard: 18Wh
    Base: 57.3Wh
  • Surface Book 2 15”
    Total: 90Wh
    Clipboard: 23Wh
    Base: 67Wh
  • 4-cell smart lithium-ion
  • Battery Capacity: 80 Wh
Battery Life
  • Up to 17 hours of video playback
  • Up to 5 hours in tablet mode
  • Up to 14 hours
* Tested with MobileMark 2014
Power Supply
  • Surface Book 2 13.5” (Core i5)
    44W power supply with USB-A (5W) charging port.
  • Surface Book 2 13.5” (Core i7)
    100W power supply with USB-A (5W) charging port.
  • Surface Book 2 15”
    102W power supply with USB-A 7.5W) charging port.
  • 135 W USB (Type-C) power adapter
    Supports Rapid Charge.

Software

Surface Book 2Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2
OSWindows 10 Pro (Creators Update)
Free upgrade to Windows 11
  • Windows 10 Home 64-bit
  • Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
Built-in AppsMicrosoft Office 365 30-days trial-

Camera & Audio

Surface Book 2Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2
Camera
  • Windows Hello face authentication camera (front-facing)
  • 5.0MP front-facing camera with 1080p HD video
  • 8.0MP rear-facing autofocus camera with 1080p HD video
  • Front-facing camera
    720p HD with ThinkShutter privacy cover.
Audio
  • Dual microphones
  • Front-facing stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio™ Premium
  • Support for Windows Sonic for Headphones
  • Support for Dolby® Atmos for Headphones
  • Dolby Atmos® speaker system
  • Dual 360° far-field microphones

Misc

Surface Book 2Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2
InkingSupports Surface Pen
4096 levels of pressure
Tilt sensing
Best in class latency
Paper feel
0.1mm precision
-
Sensors
  • Ambient light sensor
  • Proximity sensor
  • Accelerometer
  • Gyroscope
  • Magnetometer
  • Ambient light sensor
  • Fingerprint Reader
  • Infrared (IR) Camera (optional; required for use with Windows Hello & doesn’t include ThinkShutter)
Security
  • HW TPM 2.0 chip for enterprise security
  • Enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello face sign-in
  • Fast Online Identity (FIDO) authentication capabilities
  • dTPM 2.0
  • Match-on-Chip Touch fingerprint reader
  • Windows Hello with facial recognition software (requires optional IR Camera)
  • ThinkShutter
  • Kensington® lock slot
In the box
  • Surface Book 2
  • Power supply
  • Quick Start Guide
  • Safety and warranty documents
-
WarrantyOne-year limited hardware warranty-
MoreSupports Surface Dial
Supports both on-screen and off-screen interaction.
-

Key Features

Surface Book 2Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2
At Glance
Released in
2017
3:2 3.2K
13.5”
2160p 60Hz
Weight
3.38 lb
1.53 kg
Up to
Intel Core i7-8650U
4C/8T, 1.90 → 4.20 GHz
Geekbench 5
1,106
Single Core
Geekbench 5
3,879
Multi-Core
With integrated
Intel® UHD Graphics 620
24 Execution Units, 300 → 1150 MHz
Configurable up to
16GB
1866 MHz LPDDR3
Surface Book 2 Ports
Nvidia GeForce
GTX 1060
6GB GDDR5
Released in
2019
16:9 4K UHD
15.6”
2160p 60Hz
Weight
3.76 lb
1.71 kg
Up to
Intel Core i9-9880H
8C/16T, 2.30 → 4.80 GHz
Geekbench 5
1,066
Single Core
Geekbench 5
6,100
Multi-Core
With integrated
Intel® UHD Graphics 630
24 Execution Units, 350 → 1200 MHz
Up to
64GB
2666 MHz DDR4
NVIDIA GeForce
GTX 1650
4GB GDDR5 with Max-Q

Comparison Summary

Surface Book 2 vs. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2

Microsoft has released the Surface Book 2, a 13.5-inch machine, in 2017. It is powered by up to a quad-core Intel Core i7-8650U with a boost clock speed up to 4.20 GHz. The laptop has a dedicated GPU option up to Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 with 6GB GDDR5.

On the other hand, we have the 15.6-inch ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2 was introduced by Lenovo about two years later in 2019. It comes with up to an octa-core Intel Core i9-9880H with a boost clock speed up to 4.80 GHz. It has a dedicated GPU option up to NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 with 4GB GDDR5 with Max-Q.

Geekbench 5 Single Core

Surface Book 21
7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7300U81573.69%
2
8th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-8350U86277.94%
3
8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-8650U1,106100.00%
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 21
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-9300H94885.71%
2
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-9400H98488.97%
3
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9750H1,04494.39%
4
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9850H1,08097.65%
5
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9880H1,06696.38%
01,106

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Surface Book 21
7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7300U1,77729.13%
2
8th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-8350U2,98248.89%
3
8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-8650U3,87963.59%
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 21
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-9300H3,30854.23%
2
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-9400H3,69060.49%
3
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9750H4,88080.00%
4
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9850H4,91480.56%
5
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9880H6,100100.00%
06,100

The Surface Book 2 has a 13.5-inch display which is considerably smaller than the 15.6-inch Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2. In addition, The Surface Book 2 weighs 3.38 lbs. about 11% lighter than the 3.76 lbs. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2. Moreover, measured at 12.3” x 9.14” x 0.9”, the Surface Book 2 is slightly bulkier than the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2 at 14.24” x 9.67” x 0.72”.

Surface Book 2Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2

Moving over to upgradability, Microsoft claims that the Surface Book 2 supports up to 16GB 1866 MHz LPDDR3 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 Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2, it supports up to 64GB 2666 MHz DDR4 memory. It also has two M.2 slots that users can easily swap or add an extra SSD to get extra space when needed.

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