Surface Go 3 vs. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9: Full specs comparison
We thoroughly analyzed technical specifications for Surface Go 3 and Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 models, including CPU, memory, storage, battery life, display quality, and other features.
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Surface Go 3 Pros
Reasons that Surface Go 3 is better than Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9.
About 52% lighter
Surface Go 3 weighed 1.2 pounds, 52% lighter than the 2.49 pounds Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9.
| Weight | Surface Go 3 | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 |
|---|---|---|
| Pound | 1.2 lbs. | 2.49 lbs. |
| Kilogram | 0.54 kg | 1.13 kg |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 Pros
Reasons that Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 is better than Surface Go 3.
Much faster CPU performance
Intel Core i7-1180G7 inside Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 has a 184% better multi-core CPU performance score than the Intel Core i3-10100Y inside Surface Go 3.
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 Go 3 - Intel Core i3-10100Y
1,570
Surface Go 3 - Intel Pentium Gold 6500Y
1,510
Supports larger memory
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 supports a larger memory capacity than the Surface Go 3. It supports up to 32GB versus 8GB of system memory on the Surface Go 3.
Max system memory size
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9
32 GB
Surface Go 3
8 GB
Supports faster memory
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 supports a faster memory speed than the Surface Go 3. It supports up to 4267MHz versus 1866MHz of system memory on the Surface Go 3.
Memory type and speed
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 - LPDDR4X
4,267 MHz
Surface Go 3 - LPDDR3
1,866 MHz
Upgradable storage
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 comes with a single removable M.2 SSD slot that you can replace and upgrade in the future.
| Slots | Surface Go 3 | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 |
|---|---|---|
| M.2 | Onboard | Yes x1 |
33% larger display
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 has a 14-inch screen size 33% larger than the 10.5-inch Surface Go 3.
Display size
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9
14-inch
Surface Go 3
10.5-inch
Has three more ports and slots
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 has more ports and slots count than the Surface Go 3. It has eight versus five amount of ports and slots on the Surface Go 3.
| Ports | Surface Go 3 | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 |
|---|---|---|
| HDMI | No | Yes |
| headphone jack | Yes | Yes |
| lock slot | No | Yes |
| microSD card slot | Yes | No |
| nanoSIM card slot | No | Yes |
| Surface Connect | Yes | No |
| Surface Go Type Cover Connector | Yes | No |
| Thunderbolt 4 | No | Yes x2 |
| USB-A | No | Yes x2 |
| USB-C | Yes | No |
| Total | 5 | 8 |
Slightly more versatile connectivity
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 has better versatile I/O connectivity than the Surface Go 3. It has four versus three commonly used ports and slots on the Surface Go 3.
| Ports | Surface Go 3 | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 |
|---|---|---|
| headphone jack | Yes | Yes |
| HDMI | No | Yes |
| microSD card slot | Yes | No |
| Thunderbolt 4 | No | Yes |
| USB-A | No | Yes |
| USB-C | Yes | No |
Prices
Here are the latest price updates and offers for both devices.
Availability | Surface Go 3 | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 |
| Released | 2021 | 2021 |
| Release Date |
|
|
| Pricing |
| Starting at $1,429 |
| Generations |
| - |
Exterior | Surface Go 3 | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 |
| Dimensions | 9.65” x 6.9” x 0.33” (245 mm x 175 mm x 8.3 mm) Width: 9.65” (245 mm) Height: 6.9” (175 mm) Thickness: 0.33” (8.3 mm) | 12.38” x 8.72” x 0.59” (314.5 x 221.6 x 14.9 mm) |
| Weight |
| Starting at 2.49 lbs (1.13 kg) |
| Colors | Platinum | Black Optional woven carbon fiber top cover |
| Keyboard and Trackpad |
|
|
Display | Surface Go 3 | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 |
| Size | 10.5 Inches | 14 Inches |
| Info |
|
|
Ports | Surface Go 3 | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 |
 Right (3)
Bottom (1)
Under Kickstand (1)
|  Left (4)
Right (4)
|
Internal Specs | Surface Go 3 | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 |
| Processor |
|
|
| Integrated Graphics |
|
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| Memory | 4GB 8GB 1866 MHz LPDDR3 RAM | 8GB 16GB 32GB 4266 MHz Dual-channel LPDDR4x Memory. |
| Storage |
| 256 GB 512 GB 1 TB 2TB M.2 2280 PCIe Gen 4 SSD (Replaceable). |
Connectivity | Surface Go 3 | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 6: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax compatible. | Intel® 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. |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth Wireless 5.0 technology | Bluetooth 5.1 |
| More | LTE version coming soon. | Optional WWAN: 4x4 MIMO 5G (LTE CAT20) / 4G (LTE CAT12) |
Battery | Surface Go 3 | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 |
| Size |
| 57 Wh |
| Battery Life | Up to 11 hours of typical device usage | Up to 15 hours Based on MobileMark® 2018 battery-life benchmark test |
| Power Supply | 24W proprietary Surface Connect power supply | 65 W USB (Type-C) power adapter Supports Rapid Charge. |
Software | Surface Go 3 | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 |
| OS | Windows 11 Home in S-mode |
|
| Built-in Apps |
| Lenovo Vantage |
Camera & Audio | Surface Go 3 | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 |
| Camera |
|
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| Audio |
|
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Misc | Surface Go 3 | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 |
| Inking | Supports Microsoft Pen Protocol (MPP) 4096 levels of pressure Tilt sensing Best in class latency Paper feel magnetic storage | - |
| Sensors |
|
|
| Security |
|
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| In the box |
|
|
| Warranty |
| 1-year Depot or Carry-in |
| More |
| - |
Key Features | Surface Go 3 | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 |
| At Glance | | |
Comments
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