Lenovo ThinkPad X270 review - an inexpensive notebook with many advantages

At first glance, the Lenovo ThinkPad X270 resembles its predecessors. As you can see from the pictures, the device offers its user a similar, austere style. Some like the look of the Lenovo model, while others look at it with distance. Personally, I don't care what style ThinkPads have, because what counts for me is the inner workings of the hardware, and this is at a high level in the X270. Before we go any further, however, I would like to mention that the device weighs 1.4 kg and offers the option of using up to two batteries - one internal and one external

Lenovo ThinkPad X270 - construction

The laptop lid is covered with a rubber material, under which the metal reinforcements are hidden. This ensures that the display is properly protected, which is very important for portable laptops (like this one). When you apply pressure to the screen, nothing appears, and when you let go, everything returns to its original state

The base and the top are connected by two small metal hinges that keep everything very solid and have a strong resistance. The tilt angle is 180 degrees, which in combination with the IPS matrix is a definite plus for this solution. I should add that the Lenovo ThinkPad X270 I tested had a panel with FHD resolution, and I must say that the colors it reproduced were very satisfactory. I am very impressed with the quality of the device

The bottom part of the laptop is rigid and hardly changes position under pressure. There is no sagging or creaking. The fit of all the components is so good and strong that it feels like everything has been joined together into a single, extremely solid, inseparable construction

Fortunately, there are screws underneath. After unscrewing them, we can remove the entire cover and get inside. Here there is a 2.5-inch bay for an SSD/HDD, a slot for a WWAN modem that can be used for a second M.2 hard disk, a bay for an internal battery and a slot for DDR4L RAM - maximum 16 GB in a single bone. There is also a fan under the lid of the X270, which can be cleaned if necessary. What I really like about this design is that you can have two hard disks. This is a great solution and it's a shame that other manufacturers don't learn from Lenovo in this regard

Slots and ports

The Lenovo ThinkPad X270 also offers quite a large number of ports for external peripherals. These include two USB 3.0, one USB 3.1 Type-C, HDMI, a smartcard reader, a memory card reader, a SIM card slot and a LAN port. As if that wasn't enough, there is a connection for a docking station underneath the laptop, which offers even more connections in the form of additional USB or DisplayPort

If you're familiar with the ThinkPad series, you'll feel very comfortable with the X270. For me, it is again in a class of its own and deserves top marks. The keys are quite deep, have a firm touch and a strong response. The contoured shape of the individual keys and the spacing between the keys help you to type quickly. The icing on the cake is the two-stage backlit keyboard

The touchpad measures 8.7x5.7 cm and is smooth and very pleasant to touch. The sensitivity of the trackpad is excellent. The left and right mouse buttons are integrated into the trackpad, but if you don't like this solution, there are classic buttons above the tile for the TrackPoint, which incidentally works as perfectly and precisely as ever

As for the internals, it's worth mentioning that the Lenovo ThinkPad X270 is sold in two versions, with 6th and 7th generation i-series processors. In my case, I received the earlier i5-6300U option for testing, which was supported by 8GB of DDR4 RAM and a 240GB SSD. The whole thing runs smoothly and reliably. Not a single program ever bogged down or slowed down for me. The performance difference between the two devices is only 10%, so it's probably a cosmetic difference

There is no reason to cheat that today the RAM and SSD drive deliver the highest speed. I am very happy that the Lenovo laptop has these resources in abundance. To illustrate this even better, I ran the game Mafia 2 on low details. The game ran smoothly at 43 fps (frames per second). Even at such a high load, the hardware generated a noise level of only 37 dB with the fan switched on. It is practically silent during office work

As for the internals, it's worth noting that the Lenovo ThinkPad X270 is sold in two versions, with 6th and 7th generation i-series processors. In my case, I received the earlier i5-6300U option for testing, which was supported by 8GB of DDR4 RAM and a 240GB SSD hard drive. The whole thing runs smoothly and reliably. Not once did a program hang, nor did it slow down. The performance difference between the two devices is only 10%, so it's probably a cosmetic difference

There is no reason to cheat that today the RAM and SSD deliver the highest speed. I am very happy that the Lenovo laptop has these resources in abundance. To illustrate this even better, I ran the game Mafia 2 on low details. The game ran smoothly at 43 fps (frames per second). Even at such a high load, the hardware generated a noise level of only 37 dB with the fan switched on. It is practically silent during office work

Lenovo X270 - Two batteries

Finally, I would like to add two things that I liked about the X270. The first is the aforementioned two batteries and the Power Bridge technology. I can understand why others praise this solution. This is because the external battery is discharged first, and when it has given up its energy, the second battery comes into play. This way I was able to work comfortably for about 7 hours with Wi-Fi and a movie running in the background. The second point is that if you have an extra battery, you can remove the external battery and insert the second battery without interrupting your work. Great thing

The second point is the speakers, which are decent for such a small design. The sounds are reproduced cleanly and don't distort. Of course, there's a lack of bass, but that's standard for this type of design

The Lenovo ThinkPad X270 is a really nice piece of hardware. It will certainly appeal to people who travel a lot. For traveling, whether in summer or fall, the X270 is a great solution, especially since it has a waterproof and sandproof keyboard in addition to the armored case