Lenovo Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 vs Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Comparison

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Lenovo Thinkbook 13x Gen 4

13.5 inches | January 2024

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Lenovo ThinkPad Z13

13.3 inches | January 2022

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Lenovo Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 vs Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Comparison Overview

Lenovo Thinkbook 13x...

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Lenovo ThinkPad Z13

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Lenovo Thinkbook 13x...

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Lenovo ThinkPad Z13

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In this review, we will be comparing Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 and ThinkPad Z13, two laptops by Lenovo. Lenovo Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 was introduced to market in January 2024 and Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 was launched in January 2022. As you can see, ThinkPad Z13 is 2 years older than Thinkbook 13x Gen 4. Let's see if this age difference between two laptops makes a big difference.

Click for Available Configurations of the Laptops

Here is a brief look at the main features of Lenovo Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 and Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 before getting into our more detailed comparison.

Lenovo Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 Key Specs

Launched in January 2024
13.5" TouchScreen - IPS LCD, 3:2 Aspect Ratio Display
CPU: Intel Core Ultra 9 185H
GPU: Intel Arc iGPU (8-Cores)
16GB Ram
293.5 x 205.3 x 12.9 mm (11.56 x 8.08 x 0.51 inches)
Weight: 1.15 kg (2.54 lbs)

Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Key Specs

Launched in January 2022
13.3" IPS LCD, 16:10 Aspect Ratio Display
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 Pro 6850U
GPU: Radeon 680M
16GB Ram
295 x 200 x 13.99 mm (11.61 x 7.87 x 0.55 inches)
Weight: 1.19 kg (2.62 lbs)

Let's read on the following sections in order to better understand in detail how Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 and ThinkPad Z13 compares and decide which one is better for you.

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Reasons to choose Lenovo Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 over Lenovo ThinkPad Z13

Weight	1.15 kg vs 1.19 kg	0.04 kg lighter
Screen-to-Body Ratio	~90.1% vs ~86.9%	Larger screen area ratio
Side Bezel Thickness	4.1 mm vs 4.3 mm	0.2 mm thinner bezels
Display Size	13.5 inches vs 13.3 inches	Larger Screen Estate
Refresh Rate	120 Hz vs 60 Hz	Smoother media experience
Screen PPI	256 ppi vs 170 ppi	More pixels per inch
Touch Screen	Yes vs No	Interact with your fingers
Screen Resolution	2880 x 1920 pixels vs 1920 x 1200 pixels	Higher pixel count screen
sRGB Color Space	100% vs 96.5%	Wider sRGB Color Space Coverage
Max Brightness	500 nits vs 400 nits	Brighter Screen
GPU Fabrication Process	5 nm vs 7 nm	Newer Generation GPU
GPU FLOPS	5.76-6.02 TFLOPS vs 3.686 TFLOPS	Flexible cable positions
Charging Port Position	Left, Right vs Left	Better Sound capture
Number of Microphones	4 vs 2	Support audio, data, power and video all through one single port
Thunderbolt	v4 vs No

Reasons to choose Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 over Lenovo Thinkbook 13x Gen 4

Screen Type	Matte vs Glossy	potentially less reflections on screen
CPU Fabrication Process	6 nm vs 7 nm	Newer Generation CPU

Common Strengths of Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 and Lenovo Thinkbook 13x Gen 4

Launch Dates	January 2024 vs January 2022	Both laptops are recent models
Fast Charging Support	Yes vs Yes	Charge the battery in a shorter time
USB Power Delivery	Yes vs Yes	Charging via USB port gives flexibility
RAM Type	PCI-E Gen 4.0 (4x) vs PCI-E Gen 4.0 (4x)	Fast RAM type
Upgradable Storage	Yes vs Yes	Option to increase the Storage size
SSD Type	NVMe vs NVMe	Faster Data Transfers
Dolby Atmos Support	Yes vs Yes	3D Surround Sound Support
Wi-Fi Standard	v6E vs v6E	Fast and Reliable Wi-Fi Connections
Bluetooth Standard	v5.2 vs v5.2	Fast and Reliable Bluetooth Connections
Fingerprint Sensor	Yes vs Yes	Easy Login with Fingerprint Sensor
VGA Output	No vs No	Connect to External Displays via VGA cable
Keyboard Backlight	Yes vs Yes	Easily see the keys under low light

Common Weaknesses of Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 and Lenovo Thinkbook 13x Gen 4

Upgradable RAM	No vs No	No Option to increase the RAM size
HDMI Output	No vs No	Need an adapter to connect to HDMI displays

Lenovo Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 vs Lenovo ThinkPad Z13: Physical Specs Comparison

In this section, we will be comparing the physical specifications and body features of the Lenovo Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 and the Lenovo ThinkPad Z13.

Physical Specs
Weight	1.15 kg (2.54 lbs)	1.19 kg (2.62 lbs)
Surface Area	603 cm2 (93.4 inches2)	590 cm2 (91.4 inches2)
Screen to Surface Ratio	~90.1%	~86.9%
Side Bezel Thickness	~4.1 mm	~4.3 mm
Weight per Inch of Screen	0.09 kg/inch	0.09 kg/inch
	0.198 lbs/inch	0.198 lbs/inch
Colors	Gray	Black, Gray

Comparison of the Lenovo Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 and the Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 External Dimensions

Weight

Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 weighs 1.15 kg (2.54 lbs), whereas the ThinkPad Z13 weighs 1.19 kg (2.62 lbs). There is a notable difference in weight between these two laptops. However, it's important to consider that comparing their weights directly may not provide a complete picture since they also have different display sizes.

Weight Comparison

Displays size 13.0-13.9 inches

Lenovo Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 1.15 kg

Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 1.19 kg

Min 0.85 kg

Average 1.22 kg

Max 1.64 kg

Thickness Comparison

Displays size 13.0-13.9 inches

Lenovo Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 12.90 mm

Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 14.00 mm

Min 7.90 mm

Average 15.38 mm

Max 19.30 mm

Another value that we use for comparing the weights of the laptops is the Weight per Inch of Screen, which is calculated by dividing the total weight of the model with its usable diagonal screen size. This value for the Lenovo Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 is 0.09 kg/inch.In comparison, this value for the Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 is 0.09 kg/inch.Here are some of the best performing laptops in this area:

Microsoft Surface Go 4: 0.05 kg/inch
LG Gram SuperSlim 15.6 2023: 0.06 kg/inch
Asus ProArt PZ13 HT5306: 0.06 kg/inch
Asus Zenbook A14 UX3407: 0.06 kg/inch
Dell Latitude 7330: 0.07 kg/inch
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 2: 0.07 kg/inch
LG Gram 14 2022: 0.07 kg/inch
LG Gram 14 2-in-1 2022: 0.07 kg/inch

Lenovo Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 vs Lenovo ThinkPad Z13: Internals (CPU, GPU, RAM, Battery, SSD, etc.) Comparison

CPU Comparison

CPU Model	Intel Core Ultra 9 185H	AMD Ryzen 7 Pro 6850U
Base Frequency	3.9 GHz	2.7 GHz
Turbo Frequency	5.1 GHz	4.7 GHz
Number of Cores	Arc Graphics (8-	8
Number of Threads	22	16
L3 Cache	24 MB	16 MB
Integrated GPU	Arc Graphics (8-Cores)	AMD Radeon 680M
CPU Fabrication Process	7 nm	6 nm
Cinebench 23 (Single)	2055	1501
Cinebench 23 (Multi)	18640	10077

Above you can see the CPU options and the CineBench and GeekBench test scores for both laptops, which gives an idea about what kind of performance difference you may experience between the Lenovo Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 and Lenovo ThinkPad Z13.

You may also read reviews of latest laptops with the same CPUs and compare them:

Laptops with: Intel Core Ultra 9 185H

Laptops with: AMD Ryzen 7 Pro 6850U

GPU Comparison

GPU Model	Intel Arc iGPU (8-Cores)	Radeon 680M
TGP (Total Graphics Power)	W	50 W
Type	Integrated	Integrated
FLOPS	5.76-6.02 TFLOPS	3.379 TFLOPS
Memory Size	System Shared	System Shared
Memory Type	LPDDR5X	System Shared
Memory Speed	8.4 Gbps	System Shared
Shading Units Cores	128	768
TMUs	8	48
ROPs	4	32

GPU is as critical as the CPU for graphic heavy applications and the table above gives a picture of how the two GPU compares. FLOPS is a measure of a GPU's performance based on the number of floating-point arithmetic calculations that the processor can perform within a second. Lenovo Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 has a FLOPS value of 5.76-6.02 TFLOPS whereas the Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 ' has a FLOPS value of 3.686 TFLOPS. If graphical performance of the laptop is important for your use type, the Lenovo Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 may be the better choice between these two setups.

RAM Comparison

RAM	16GB 32GB	16GB 32GB
Memory Bus	2x8 GB	2x8 GB
RAM Clock	8400 MHz	5200 MHz
RAM Type	LPDDR5X	LPDDR5
Upgradable	No	No
Memory Bus	PCI-E Gen 4.0 (4x)	PCI-E Gen 4.0 (4x)

Both laptops, the Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 and the ThinkPad Z13, come with similar RAM capacities of 16 GB, providing comparable performance in memory-intensive tasks.

LOCAL LLM Compatibility Evaluation

This quick guide shows what types of large language models (LLMs) each of these laptops could support, based on their respective hardware specifications. It's meant to help you compare their suitability for running AI models locally.

LLM Category	Lenovo Thinkbook 13x Gen 4	Lenovo ThinkPad Z13
Small Models(1-3B):Examples: Phi-2, Qwen-1.8B	✔ Run smoothly.	✔ Run smoothly.
Medium Models(7-8B):Examples: Mistral-7B, Qwen-7B	✔ Good performance.	✔ Good performance.
Large Models(13-30B):Examples: Mixtral, Qwen-14B	✖ Not supported.	✖ Not supported.
Extra-Large Models(65B+):Examples: LLaMA2-70B, Qwen1.5-72B	✖ Not supported on most systems. Requires high-end GPU or advanced setup.	✖ Not supported on most systems. Requires high-end GPU or advanced setup.

Note: Optimized (e.g., 4-bit) models may run on limited hardware. Performance depends on runtime and setup.

📌 MoE Models: Some models like Mixtral 8x7B and Qwen3-30B-A3B use a Mixture of Experts (MoE) design, activating only part of the model during inference. This means they can often run efficiently on laptops with 12–16 GB of VRAM when quantized.

BATTERY

BATTERY	74 Wh	51.5 Wh
Battery Type	Li-Po	Li-Po
Replaceable	No
Fast Charging	No	No
USB Power Delivery	Yes	Yes
Charging Port Position	Left, Right	Left
Charge Power	65 W	65 W

Moreover, the Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 boasts a larger battery capacity of 74 Wh, offering extended usage time compared to the ThinkPad Z13's52 Wh.

Battery Comparison

Displays size 13.0-13.9 inches

Lenovo Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 74 Wh

Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 52 Wh

Min 38.00 Wh

Average 53.1 Wh

Max 80.00 Wh

STORAGE
Both laptops, the Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 and the ThinkPad Z13 have similar max. storage capacities of 1 TB, allowing for ample space to store files and applications.

Storage Options	512 GB, 1 TB	256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB
Upgradable	Yes	Yes
Total Slots	1	1
Storage type	SSD (M2)	SSD (M2)
NVMe	Yes	Yes

If your budget allows, we recommend opting for the largest possible disk size, considering the potential increase in storage capacity needs in the future. However, please keep in mind the question 'What will the laptop be used for?' when making this decision. Of course, you can later upgrade the hard disk capacity by getting a larger disk. However, if your laptop has only one disk slot, it may not be as straightforward as a RAM upgrade, where you simply add or replace a module, as moving or cloning files to a new disk may be necessary.

Lenovo Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 vs Lenovo ThinkPad Z13: Display Comparison

The display is an essential aspect to consider when comparing the Lenovo Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 and Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 since its is the component that you interact the most and significantly impact the experience.

Screen Area and Dimensions

Now let's look at the comparison of the actual display areas of both laptops below, keeping the bezels around the screens out of the equation. Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 has a display size of 13.5".On the other hand, ThinkPad Z13 has a smaller 13.3" display.The total usable screen area of the Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 is 543cm² / 84inch² whereas the ThinkPad Z13's total usable screen area is 513cm² / 80inch².

PPI (Pixels per Inch)
Additionally, the Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 features a higher pixel density with 256 pixels per inch (PPI), ensuring sharper image details.

Screen PPI (Pixels Per Inch) Comparison

Displays size 13.0-13.9 inches

Lenovo Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 256 ppi

Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 170 ppi

Min 118 PPI

Average 186 PPI

Max 338.00 PPI

Refresh Rate
The Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 offers a higher refresh rate of 120 Hz, resulting in smoother motion and improved visual experience.

Brightness
The Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 offers a higher maximum brightness of 500 nits, delivering a brighter screen.

Brightness Comparison

Displays size 13.0-13.9 inches

Lenovo Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 500 nits

Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 400 nits

Min

30 nits

Average 438 nits

Max 1000.00 nits

Lenovo Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 vs Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Connectivity Comparison

In terms of connectivity,

Wifi
Both laptops offer the same Wi-Fi standard (v6E), ensuring fast and reliable wireless connections.

Below, you'll find a Wi-Fi Versions Table, along with their release dates and speeds, to provide a brief overview of its development.

Wi-Fi Versions and Speeds

Standard	Speed	Release Date	Network	Frequency Bands (GHz)
Wi-Fi 7	up to 40 Gbps (5 GB/s)	2023	802.11be	2.4, 5, 6
Wi-Fi 6E	up to 9.6 Gbps (1.2 GB/s)	2020	802.11ax	2.4, 5, 6
Wi-Fi 6	up to 9.6 Gbps (1.2 GB/s)	2019	802.11ax	2.4, 5
Wi-Fi 5	up to 6.93 Gbps (866.25 MB/s)	2014	802.11ac	2.4, 5
Wi-Fi 4	up to 600 Mbps (75 MB/s)	2009	802.11n	2.4, 5

* Please note that the provided transfer rates are maximum theoretical values, and real-life performance may vary based on environmental factors.

USB
Neither Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 nor ThinkPad Z13 has USB-A ports.
Both Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 and ThinkPad Z13 feature 2x USB 4.0 USB Type-C ports.

Below, you'll find a table of USB ports, along with their release dates and speeds.
To mitigate the confusion caused by generation names, the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) suggests using marketing names like USB 5Gbps, USB 10Gbps, and so forth, based on their respective transfer rates.

USB Type and Speeds

USB Type	Version	Speed	Date	Other Features/Explanations
USB4	Gen 4 (2.0)	80 Gbps	2022	Also known as USB 80Gbps
USB4	Gen 3×2	40 Gbps	2019	Also known as USB 40Gbps
USB 3.2	3.2 Gen 2x2	20 Gbps	2019	Double the data transfer rates of Gen 2
USB 3.2	3.2 Gen 2	10 Gbps	2017	Previously known as USB 3.1
USB 3.2	3.2 Gen 1	5 Gbps	2017	Previously known as USB 3.0
USB 3.1	3.1 Gen 2	10 Gbps	2013	Faster data transfer rates
USB 3.0	3.1 Gen 1	5 Gbps	2010	SuperSpeed USB, improved data transfer rates
USB 2.0	2.0	480 Mbps	2000	High-speed data transfer
USB 1.0	1.0	1.5 Mbps	1996	Original USB standard

Thunderbolt
Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 is equipped with Thunderbolt 4 port. ThinkPad Z13 does not have Thunderbolt port.

HDMI
Neither Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 nor ThinkPad Z13 has an HDMI port for connecting to external monitors. Neither Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 nor ThinkPad Z13 has an HDMI port for connecting to external monitors.

Below, you'll find a comparison table detailing different HDMI versions, including their bandwidth, color depth, maximum resolution, and release dates. This information can be helpful in understanding the capabilities of each HDMI version and choosing the most suitable one for your needs.

HDMI Comparison Table

HDMI Version	Maximum Resolution	Bandwidth (Gbps)	Color Depth (bits)	Release Date
HDMI 2.1-2.1b	7680 x 4320 *(8K)* @ 60p 3840 x 2160 *(4K)* @ 120p	48.0	48	2017
HDMI 2.0-2.0b	3840 x 2160 *(4K)* @ 60p	18.0	48	2013
HDMI 1.4-1.4b	3840 x 2160 *(4K)* @ 30p	10.2	48	2009
HDMI 1.3-1.3a	2560 x 1440 @ 60p	10.2	48	2006
HDMI 1.0-1.2a	1920 x 1200 @ 60p	4.95	24	2002

* Please note that the provided resolution values represent the maximum supported resolution, and actual display quality may depend on other factors such as source content and connected devices.

SD Card Reader
Neither Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 nor ThinkPad Z13 has an SD Card Reader.

Audio Jack
Both Thinkbook 13x Gen 4 and ThinkPad Z13 are equipped with a 3.5mm Audio Jack, providing seamless connection to headphones and speakers.

To summarize the connectivity and ports details, please refer to the table below to see them listed.

Connectivity and Ports
WiFi Standard (latest: v7)	v6E	v6E
Bluetooth (latest: v5.4)	v5.2	v5.2
USB-A (latest: 3.2)	No	No
USB Type-C (latest: USB4 2.0)	2x USB 4.0	2x USB 4.0
Thunderbolt (latest: 4)	Thunderbolt 4	No
HDMI (latest: 2.1)	No	No
Display Port (latest: v2.0)	No	No
VGA	No	No
Fingerprint Sensor	Yes	Yes
Optical Drive	No	No
Audio Jack 3.5mm	Yes	Yes
Ethernet RJ45	No	No
SD CardReader	No	No
Proprietary Charging Port	No	No