X210Ai Info & Review Thread

[astral]

So, I bought the X210Ai way back in February, and today it has arrived! I'll be creating a longer review in the future, once I've been using it for a while, but here's my day 1 thoughts.

First, my specs:
- Core Ultra 7 165H
- 32GB Crucial DDR5-5600 RAM (2x16GB)
- 4TB Samsung 990 Evo Plus PCI Gen 5 SSD
- 13.4-inch 165hz IPS LCD @2560x1600
- New-old-Stock NMB keyboard
- OEM 9-cell extended battery, professionally rebuilt with Panasonic cells.
- Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2021. It will soon be multi-booted with Kubuntu Linux and Windows 11 (in case I ever need it for something)

This thing certainly performs up to spec. It is extremely fast - keeping in mind, I was coming from a T480 and an 8th-gen ASUS gaming laptop. The ASUS still has the edge on graphics performance of course, but the CPU and general performance is much better on the X210Ai. That is, when I'm running on AC power. The current version of the X210Ai's EC has a number of known issues, mostly related to battery power management. It's by no means slow on battery, but it doesn't seem to be able to get above 25% or so utilization before hitting the TDP limit. This should be fixed once the updated EC firmware is out sometime soon. Other EC-related issues include that the browser forward/back keys do not work, the battery meter isn't fully accurate, and it doesn't like going into sleep mode. This again should be sorted out with the updated EC firmware, according to Franck at tpart.net. I can't say much on battery life yet as I haven't done a full rundown, but word is it will be 3-5 hours. I assume this will improve with the updated EC. This will also vary greatly depending on what battery you use, as aftermarket packs can be very inconsistent.

The display quality is excellent - love that high refresh rate, and the bezels are extremely thin with the 13.4-inch panel. I've heard reports that the TrackPoint can leave an imprint on the panel, that's probably unavoidable.

Overall fit and finish is fairly good, keeping in mind that it's built from used parts. All of the original Lenovo parts are in excellent condition with only very minor signs of wear. The keyboard it shipped with looked practically brand new (I just happened to have a NOS one to swap in anyway). It did ship with an NMB keyboard as well, not the Chicony. This will all vary order to order though. My order was placed pretty early on, so it may have gotten better condition parts than the later ones.
The worst wear area on my unit is around the custom port inserts - they actually CNC'd them out of spare display housings, rather than 3D printing, which is really cool. There's some roughness around the edges of them, but it's very minor.

Functionally, everything has been going well (knock on wood). The only problem I had was finding a functional UltraNav driver in order to get gestures and all that working. The winner ended up being the May 2021 Ultranav driver from Lenovo, which I had to force install in device manager. The procedure is the same as on the older X210/X2100: https://www.xyte.ch/support/51nb-x210-x ... e-support/


That's about all I have to say for day 1 - overall I am very very pleased! The team behind the X210Ai has really done a good job. I'll update this thread soon with photos.

[RealBlackStuff]

I've heard reports that the TrackPoint can leave an imprint on the panel, that's probably unavoidable.

Put some small rubber bumpers (2-3mm) along the front-top of the bezel.
(And don't put it in a backpack).

[astral]

The entire top of the bezel is slanted, so there really isn't a good way to do that. I'm going to be carrying it in a dedicated laptop bag, not a backpack, so that shouldn't be a worry

[ZaZ]

I'm not sure if the L14 is similar, but I bought some low profile slim soft rim caps off eBay last year and they do not touch the screen. I believe the seller said the were 3d printed.

[astral]

I don't think the newer low profile caps would work because the newer ThinkPads have the smaller plug style for the TrackPoint caps. I think I should be ok as long as I treat the laptop with good care. I'm probably also going to try out the other two cap types (classic dome and soft rim) on the laptop, to see which I prefer. That's another one of the things I love about this - I can still use the old cap types on a modern computer!

Still going strong on day 3. Here are a couple photos:



full-res:
https://embed.macdat.net/tpf/04.jpg
https://embed.macdat.net/tpf/05.jpg

Don't let the looks fool you, this is Windows 10 LTSC 2021. I've just themed it to look as close as possible to Windows 7

I'd say the biggest problem so far is that it doesn't like to start up again after I shut it down for a while. I'll have to pull the battery out to reset the CMOS and then wait a couple minutes for it to presumably do memory training again before it finally gets up and POSTs. I would assume that this will be taken care of with the updated EC firmware as well. While its running, stability has been fine. It has bluescreened exactly once - the Synaptics drivers decided to crash as I was unplugging an external mouse.

Oh, another thing. I was pleased to see that the tiny trackpad works a lot better under Windows 10 with the 2021 driver than the trackpad on my original X201 works under Windows 7. It's definitely usable. Of course, 90% of the time I use the TrackPoint so this doesn't matter much

[ekruges]

I got one from Jacky recently. What a beast! Thankfully I haven't encountered many issues, but a battery pull out always works like a charm...

[dcfbf]

Don't let the looks fool you, this is Windows 10 LTSC 2021. I've just themed it to look as close as possible to Windows 7

I cannot be fooled! I see discord on the taskbar

Opening up something like Firefox would have broken the illusion as well due to the lack of aero on the titlebar.

[astral]

Don't let the looks fool you, this is Windows 10 LTSC 2021. I've just themed it to look as close as possible to Windows 7

I cannot be fooled! I see discord on the taskbar

Opening up something like Firefox would have broken the illusion as well due to the lack of aero on the titlebar.

Last I checked, the last compatible version of the Discord client for Windows 7 still works, so that alone isn't a tell, but VMware Workstation is. It's been ages since it was compatible with Windows 7

[astral]

Another problem I've noticed - there doesn't seem to be any way to use the internal microphone with headphones connected to the jack. Windows sees it all as one device, so there's nothing to switch between. Tried two different versions of the Realtek drivers but no dice. Will have to see if I can do this under Linux, or if it's just a problem with how the BIOS is presenting the audio hardware to the operating system. Could be worse though, someone on r/thinkpad mentioned the microphone on their X210Ai wasn't working at all.

[astral]

More photos:
















fullres images here: https://macdat.net/images/laptops/x210ai/

[RealBlackStuff]

On such small screens, I wonder why you don't move the taskbar to the side!
It would save you valuable vertical space.

[astral]

You're probably right, but it just feels wrong after so many years of having it on the bottom.

[astral]

A couple additional photos showing the X210Ai next to the original X201:





fullres: https://embed.macdat.net/tpf/2/

The LCD is a staggering difference really. The X201 sits a little lower since it doesn't have a battery installed.

[dcfbf]

Great photos!
I now have the intense desire to own an X210ai of my own. (I might want to sell my X1 Carbon 12)

It's interesting how much of a difference thinner bezels make on the perceived age of the laptop.
Even though the X210ai and X201 share the same chassis, the thinner bezels on the X210ai make it look at least 14 years younger.

Another thing: did the microphones work correctly with headphones while under linux?

[astral]

I've haven't gotten around to testing the microphone in Linux yet - will try to do that soon.

If you want an X210Ai, act now. Last I checked they were selling the very last of the boards. Won't be available for long, if any are still available. Worth noting though that you're not buying a seamless experience, there are the EC issues right now. Worst one is probably that it won't go into sleep mode properly. This should be fixed with the new BIOS update soon, but you can't buy something based on future promises, even if it is likely that they'll come true. Not saying at all not to buy one, I couldn't be happier with my decision to get one, but you've gotta be ready for some quirks

Oh, and an update on battery life. I still haven't drained it flat yet, as my current college schedule doesn't have me away longer than a couple hours, and with the performance being lower right now when on battery (another BIOS issue to be corrected soon), I plug it in when I get home. Though, so far the battery life seems to be quite good. I'll be sure to update here with an exact hour figure once I do finally drain it to zero one of these days. It should make a good "best case scenario" battery life time since I'm using a rebuilt OEM 9-cell battery with known genuine Panasonic cells.

[astral]

I just added the X210Ai to the laptop database on my website. The page on it is available here: https://macdat.net/laptops/jxtech/x210ai.php
The goal here is to make sure information on this machine stays up on the web long past the point where it's on sale.

[dr_st]

The difference in screen size is nothing short of amazing. Does it feel sufficiently protected by the bezel? And where do the antennas go?

[NonesensE]

Oh, and an update on battery life. I still haven't drained it flat yet, as my current college schedule doesn't have me away longer than a couple hours, and with the performance being lower right now when on battery (another BIOS issue to be corrected soon), I plug it in when I get home. Though, so far the battery life seems to be quite good. I'll be sure to update here with an exact hour figure once I do finally drain it to zero one of these days. It should make a good "best case scenario" battery life time since I'm using a rebuilt OEM 9-cell battery with known genuine Panasonic cells.

On Linux, I consistently get about 10W or less with the 3000x2000 panel for office and web browsing workload. So easily 5h+ battery life with an aftermarket 6 cell battery. With your perfect 9-cell battery, you should be able to surpass 10h of battery life for light loads.

[astral]

Oh, and an update on battery life. I still haven't drained it flat yet, as my current college schedule doesn't have me away longer than a couple hours, and with the performance being lower right now when on battery (another BIOS issue to be corrected soon), I plug it in when I get home. Though, so far the battery life seems to be quite good. I'll be sure to update here with an exact hour figure once I do finally drain it to zero one of these days. It should make a good "best case scenario" battery life time since I'm using a rebuilt OEM 9-cell battery with known genuine Panasonic cells.

On Linux, I consistently get about 10W or less with the 3000x2000 panel for office and web browsing workload. So easily 5h+ battery life with an aftermarket 6 cell battery. With your perfect 9-cell battery, you should be able to surpass 10h of battery life for light loads.

I'm definitely not getting close to 10 hours, but I'm getting enough to get me through my day. Battery readout is wonky right now so it's hard to know exactly though - one issue is that it won't charge the battery all the way. It stops at 74% or sometimes something in the 80% range. Pretty sure this is an EC Firmware quirk rather than a battery issue.

[astral]

The difference in screen size is nothing short of amazing. Does it feel sufficiently protected by the bezel? And where do the antennas go?

The bezel is slightly flimsy, although nothing I'm worried about breaking. It's held very securely in place. The metal display shell flexes more than an original X201 does, but is 100% rigid around the sides. I'm not worried about the LCD breaking.

[NonesensE]

On Linux, I consistently get about 10W or less with the 3000x2000 panel for office and web browsing workload. So easily 5h+ battery life with an aftermarket 6 cell battery. With your perfect 9-cell battery, you should be able to surpass 10h of battery life for light loads.

I'm definitely not getting close to 10 hours, but I'm getting enough to get me through my day. Battery readout is wonky right now so it's hard to know exactly though - one issue is that it won't charge the battery all the way. It stops at 74% or sometimes something in the 80% range. Pretty sure this is an EC Firmware quirk rather than a battery issue.

Intresting. My aftermarket battery behaves just fine, but yes, Franck also documented issues. 80% usable energy should give you about 8h then. Otherwise, you may want to have a look into the c-states (for Windows e.g. with throttlestop). If some setting prevents the deepest c-states being used, you'll get reduced battery life, more heat and more fan noise.

[astral]

Ok... so I pulled out my actual X201 and the battery has the same problem
Zero drain issues, but it just won't charge up all the way. Darn. And now it's stuck at 72% instead of 74%, so I can only assume this will continue to get worse. CHANS has a 12-month warranty so I can in theory get them to take care of it, but I'd need another battery for the two weeks or so it would be with them. Plus there's probably new tariffs now that weren't there when I got the battery rebuilt early this year...