For a balance of performance and portability, the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 is a strong contender. It offers a touchscreen and excellent battery life, making it ideal for general use and business tasks on the move. Its compact size and lightweight design enhance its portability, while still providing ample power for everyday tasks with its AMD Ryzen 7 processor and Radeon graphics. However, if your needs lean towards intensive tasks like gaming, 3D rendering, or machine learning, the Lenovo Legion 5 16 boasts a more powerful Intel i9 processor and dedicated Nvidia RTX 4060 graphics, albeit with a compromise on battery life and portability due to its larger and heavier build. The Legion 5's higher refresh rate and absence of a touchscreen cater to a more stationary, performance-driven user experience. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024)
Excellent for engineering and design
Very good for gaming and AI
Very good overall display quality
Advantages of the Lenovo ThinkPad X13
Very good overall build quality
Very good portability
Good battery life
Excellent keyboard
Key differences
Gaming and AI
8.5/10
6.7/10
8.5/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
4.0/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1200
240Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
No
Yes
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
6.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.5/10
The Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) is very good for gaming and AI, while the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 is only fair.
PerfectRec’s Gaming and AI Score strongly emphasizes graphics processing capability, while also taking into account other factors that impact suitability for gaming and AI work.
Engineering and Design
9.0/10
8.0/10
9.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.8/10
8.5/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
4.0/10
32.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
The Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) is excellent for engineering and design, while the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 is very good.
PerfectRec’s Engineering and Design Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for graphic design and 3D rendering work.
Screen Quality
8.7/10
6.9/10
16.0in
SIZE
13.3in
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1200
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
240Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
500.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
321.0 nits
The Lenovo Legion 5 16 has a better screen than the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 for general use, gaming and AI, and engineering and design.
PerfectRec’s screen quality scores take into account various important factors that are relevant for different use cases.
Battery
3.5 Hours
8.5 Hours
The Lenovo Legion 5 16 has 3.5 hours of battery life. The Lenovo ThinkPad X13 has 8.5 hours of battery life.
Battery life estimate is based on a mix of common use patterns. More portable and higher performing laptops tend to have less battery life.
Portability
Fair
Very Good
16.0in
SIZE
13.3in
5.6 lbs
WEIGHT
2.8 lbs
0.9in
THICKNESS
0.6in
The Lenovo ThinkPad X13 has very good portability, while the Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
7.4/10
8.5/10
The Lenovo ThinkPad X13 has very good build quality, while the Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,600
$1,241
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
The Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) has a price of $1,600 and the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 costs $1,241.
The Lenovo ThinkPad X13 and Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) are both very good for general use.
PerfectRec’s General Use Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for general productivity, web browsing, streaming, video calls, and running a wide variety of apps and programs.
Content Creation
8.2/10
8.2/10
9.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.8/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1200
32.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) and Lenovo ThinkPad X13 are both very good for content creation.
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, video editing and other content creation tasks.
Software Development
8.0/10
8.1/10
9.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.8/10
32.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1200
8.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
The Lenovo ThinkPad X13 and Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) are both very good for software development.
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software developers.
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How the Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) and the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 compare to other laptops
"The Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G4 has very good input devices, a wide array of security features and ports as well as 5G in the tested configuration. It is more compact and lightweight compared with its predecessor, and it has improved speakers and a slightly better webcam. On the other hand, the fan is more annoying and the performance is barely improved. The battery is worse as well, but this is primarily attributable to the OLED screen - if this aspect is important, buyers should choose the IPS Low Power LCD."
Get a great deal on the Lenovo Legion 5 16 (2024) or the Lenovo ThinkPad X13
About Lenovo
Lenovo is a Chinese technology company, and one of the largest personal computer vendor. They are well known for a variety of technology products, including laptops. Their consumer series include their entry level IdeaPad and LOQ series and mid-to-high-end Yoga and Legion series. On the business-oriented side, their series include their entry-level ThinkBook series and mid-to-high-end ThinkPad series. Lenovo laptops offer strong performance for reasonable prices, and are often on sale.
This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec laptops team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest laptop information and makes it digestible for you.
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Joe Golden, Ph.D
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Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
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Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Chandradeep is a staff expert and software engineer and expert in televisions and monitors. He’s been making monitor recommendations for ten years.
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Laptops Expert
Craig is a UK-based laptops expert. Craig works in IT, where he recommends and supports laptops and PCs for clients and has been recommending laptops on Reddit for five years.