5 ms·

I have a Lenovo X13 Gen 2 with a 16 thread Ryzen 5850U and 32GB of RAM. It’s about the most powerful you can get while still having a power efficient CPU under

I have a Lenovo X13 Gen 2 with a 16 thread Ryzen 5850U and 32GB of RAM. It’s about the most powerful you can get while still having a power efficient CPU under load. I spend all day compiling with all cores and battery is still around 8-9 hours with a 90% charging cap set in the bios to preserve battery longevity. Linux works great on the AMD chipset but I had to replace the Wi-Fi card with an Intel AX220. After buying the aftermarket Wi-Fi card and 2TB SSD, I spent about $1200. Build quality and dimensions are comparable but a little worse than the Carbon imo.

mcpherrinm 5y ago
I also have the same X13 gen2. The shipped Realtek wifi chipset works for me, but I needed to have a newer kernel. Fedora 34 was good enough.
ho_schi 5y ago
Using still a ThinkPad X220 with Linux and will switch likely this year to a X13 AMD Gen3. I personally prefer the X13 because it is solid, powerful and provide many connectors. I hope the next MediaTek WiFi-Chips are better this time, if not Intel-WiFi. The X1 is slimmer, lightweight but scarifies a lot and is expensive. The X13 ARM is passively cooled which a major benefit, similar to the MacBook Air but due to ARMs and Qualcomm bad support of Linux not even an option. A passively cooled AMD variant would be more interesting.
- anderspitman 5y ago
  I'm convinced laptops peaked with the X220. I have one sitting next to me now. It's not powerful enough for a daily driver anymore but I'm in the process of repurposing it for some self-hosting.
- jpetso 5y ago
  The T14s Gen 3 is apparently using Qualcomm wifi chips instead of MediaTek or Intel this time around, it seems likely that we'll see the same for the X13 Gen 3 as well.
  - ho_schi 5y ago
    Interesting! If Qualcomm means actually WiFI chips from Atheros this could mean good WiFi and good Linux drivers. Atheros has a good reputation, it is just Qualcomms ARM and GPUs drivers which are problem.
Darvon 5y ago
x13 amd is just about perfect. linux or ltsc both work.
mrek0 5y ago
Do you also experience significant battery drain during sleep? Asking since this is an issue with the T14 gen 1 with AMD.
kellogs_aran 5y ago
Hi. OP here. Thanks for the thorough review > Linux works great on the AMD chipset but I had to replace the Wi-Fi card with an Intel AX220. Curious to know why you switched out the Wi-Fi card? How easy was it to do?

mcpherrinm 5y ago

I also have the same X13 gen2. The shipped Realtek wifi chipset works for me, but I needed to have a newer kernel. Fedora 34 was good enough.

ho_schi 5y ago

Using still a ThinkPad X220 with Linux and will switch likely this year to a X13 AMD Gen3. I personally prefer the X13 because it is solid, powerful and provide many connectors. I hope the next MediaTek WiFi-Chips are better this time, if not Intel-WiFi. The X1 is slimmer, lightweight but scarifies a lot and is expensive. The X13 ARM is passively cooled which a major benefit, similar to the MacBook Air but due to ARMs and Qualcomm bad support of Linux not even an option. A passively cooled AMD variant would be more interesting.

anderspitman 5y ago
I'm convinced laptops peaked with the X220. I have one sitting next to me now. It's not powerful enough for a daily driver anymore but I'm in the process of repurposing it for some self-hosting.
jpetso 5y ago
The T14s Gen 3 is apparently using Qualcomm wifi chips instead of MediaTek or Intel this time around, it seems likely that we'll see the same for the X13 Gen 3 as well.
- ho_schi 5y ago
  Interesting! If Qualcomm means actually WiFI chips from Atheros this could mean good WiFi and good Linux drivers. Atheros has a good reputation, it is just Qualcomms ARM and GPUs drivers which are problem.

Darvon 5y ago

x13 amd is just about perfect. linux or ltsc both work.

mrek0 5y ago

Do you also experience significant battery drain during sleep? Asking since this is an issue with the T14 gen 1 with AMD.

kellogs_aran 5y ago

Hi. OP here. Thanks for the thorough review > Linux works great on the AMD chipset but I had to replace the Wi-Fi card with an Intel AX220. Curious to know why you switched out the Wi-Fi card? How easy was it to do?