Microsoft Surface Pro 9 vs Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Comparison

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Microsoft Surface Pro 9

13 inches | October 2022

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Lenovo ThinkBook 13x

13.3 inches | January 2021

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Microsoft Surface Pro 9 vs Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Comparison Overview

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Lenovo ThinkBook 13x

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Lenovo ThinkBook 13x

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In this review, we will be comparing Surface Pro 9 and ThinkBook 13x, two laptops from Microsoft and Lenovo. Microsoft Surface Pro 9 was introduced to market in October 2022 and Lenovo ThinkBook 13x was launched in January 2021. There is 21 months difference between Surface Pro 9 and ThinkBook 13x so it would still give an advantage to younger Surface Pro 9.

Click for Available Configurations of the Laptops

Here is a brief look at the main features of Microsoft Surface Pro 9 and Lenovo ThinkBook 13x before getting into our more detailed comparison.

Microsoft Surface Pro 9 Key Specs

Launched in October 2022
13.0" TouchScreen - IPS LCD, 3:2 Aspect Ratio Display
CPU: Intel Core i5 1235U
GPU: Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 (80EU)
8GB Ram
287 x 209 x 9.3 mm (11.3 x 8.23 x 0.37 inches)
Weight: 0.87 kg (1.92 lbs)

Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Key Specs

Launched in January 2021
13.3" IPS LCD, 16:10 Aspect Ratio Display
CPU: Intel Core i5 1130G7
GPU: Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 (80EU)
8GB Ram
298 x 209 x 12.9 mm (11.73 x 8.23 x 0.51 inches)
Weight: 1.13 kg (2.49 lbs)

Let's read on the following sections in order to better understand in detail how Surface Pro 9 and ThinkBook 13x 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 Microsoft Surface Pro 9 over Lenovo ThinkBook 13x

Weight	0.87 kg vs 1.13 kg	0.26 kg lighter
Screen-to-Body Ratio	~83.9% vs ~82.3%	Larger screen area ratio
Refresh Rate	120 Hz vs 60 Hz	Smoother media experience
Screen PPI	266 ppi vs 227 ppi	More pixels per inch
Touch Screen	Yes vs No	Interact with your fingers
Screen Resolution	2880 x 1920 pixels vs 2560 x 1600 pixels	Higher pixel count screen
sRGB Color Space	106.1% vs 99.7%	Wider sRGB Color Space Coverage
Adobe RGB Profile	75.1% vs 70.8%	Wider Adobe RGB Coverage
Max Brightness	450 nits vs 400 nits	Brighter Screen
Charging Port Position	Left, Right vs Left	Flexible cable positions
RAM Type	LPDDR5 vs LPDDR4X	Faster RAM Type
Webcam Resolution	1920 x 1080 vs 1280 x 720	Higher Resolution Camera

Reasons to choose Lenovo ThinkBook 13x over Microsoft Surface Pro 9

Side Bezel Thickness	5.8 mm vs 6.2 mm	0.4 mm thinner bezels
Display Size	13.3 inches vs 13 inches	Larger Screen Estate
Number of Microphones	4 vs 2	Better Sound capture
Bluetooth	v5.2 vs v5.1	More advanced Bluetooth connectivity
Fingerprint Sensor	Yes vs No	Easy login with fingerprint

Common Strengths of Lenovo ThinkBook 13x and Microsoft Surface Pro 9

HDR Support	Yes, Dolby Vision vs Yes, Dolby Vision	Watch HDR Clips
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 v6	Fast and Reliable Wi-Fi Connections
Bluetooth Standard	v5.1 vs v5.2	Fast and Reliable Bluetooth Connections
Thunderbolt Port	v4 vs v4	Fast data and power transfer via Thunderbolt Port
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 ThinkBook 13x and Microsoft Surface Pro 9

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

Microsoft Surface Pro 9 vs Lenovo ThinkBook 13x: Physical Specs Comparison

In this section, we will be comparing the physical specifications and body features of the Microsoft Surface Pro 9 and the Lenovo ThinkBook 13x.

Physical Specs
Weight	0.87 kg (1.92 lbs)	1.13 kg (2.49 lbs)
Surface Area	600 cm2 (93 inches2)	623 cm2 (96.5 inches2)
Screen to Surface Ratio	~83.9%	~82.3%
Side Bezel Thickness	~6.2 mm	~5.8 mm
Weight per Inch of Screen	0.07 kg/inch	0.08 kg/inch
	0.154 lbs/inch	0.176 lbs/inch
Colors	Black, Silver, Blue, Green	Gray, Blue

Comparison of the Microsoft Surface Pro 9 and the Lenovo ThinkBook 13x External Dimensions

Weight

Surface Pro 9 weighs 0.87 kg (1.92 lbs), whereas the ThinkBook 13x weighs 1.13 kg (2.49 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

Microsoft Surface Pro 9 0.87 kg

Lenovo ThinkBook 13x 1.13 kg

Min 0.85 kg

Average 1.22 kg

Max 1.64 kg

Thickness Comparison

Displays size 13.0-13.9 inches

Microsoft Surface Pro 9 11.30 mm

Lenovo ThinkBook 13x 12.90 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 Microsoft Surface Pro 9 is 0.07 kg/inch.In comparison, this value for the Lenovo ThinkBook 13x is 0.08 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

Microsoft Surface Pro 9 vs Lenovo ThinkBook 13x: Internals (CPU, GPU, RAM, Battery, SSD, etc.) Comparison

CPU Comparison

CPU Model	Intel Core i5 1235U Intel Core i7 1255U	Intel Core i5 1130G7 Intel Core i7 1160G7
Base Frequency	1.3 GHz	0.8-1.8 GHz
Turbo Frequency	4.4 GHz	4 GHz
Number of Cores	10	4
Number of Threads	12	8
L3 Cache	12 MB	8 MB
Integrated GPU	Intel Iris Xe Graphics (80EU)	Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EU
CPU Fabrication Process	10 nm	10 nm

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 Microsoft Surface Pro 9 and Lenovo ThinkBook 13x.

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

Laptops with: Intel Core i5 1235U

Laptops with: Intel Core i5 1130G7

GPU Comparison

GPU Model	Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 (80EU)	Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 (80EU)
Base Clock Frequency	300 MHz	300 MHz
Boost CLock Frequency	1100 MHz	1100 MHz
TGP (Total Graphics Power)	15 W	15 W
Type	Integrated	Integrated
FLOPS	1,408 GFLOPS	1,408 GFLOPS
Memory Size	System Shared	System Shared
Memory Type	System Shared	System Shared
Memory Bus	System Shared	System Shared
Memory Speed	System Shared	System Shared
Shading Units Cores	640	640
TMUs	40	40
ROPs	20	20

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. Microsoft Surface Pro 9 has a FLOPS value of 1.41 TFLOPS whereas the Lenovo ThinkBook 13x ' has a FLOPS value of 1.41 TFLOPS.

RAM Comparison

RAM	8GB 16GB 32GB	8GB 16GB
Memory Bus	2x4 GB	2x4 GB
RAM Clock	5200 MHz	4266 MHz
RAM Type	LPDDR5	LPDDR4X
Upgradable	No	No
Memory Bus	PCI-E Gen 4.0 (4x)	PCI-E Gen 4.0 (4x)

Both laptops, the Surface Pro 9 and the ThinkBook 13x, come with similar RAM capacities of 8 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	Microsoft Surface Pro 9	Lenovo ThinkBook 13x
Small Models(1-3B):Examples: Phi-2, Qwen-1.8B	✔ Run smoothly.	✔ Run smoothly.
Medium Models(7-8B):Examples: Mistral-7B, Qwen-7B	✖ Not supported.	✖ Not supported.
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	47.7 Wh	53 Wh
Battery Type	Li-Ion	Li-Po
Replaceable	No	No
Fast Charging	No	No
USB Power Delivery	Yes	Yes
Charging Port Position	Left, Right	Left
Charge Power	39 W	65 W
Full Charging Time	1:30 hr	1:30 hr

On the other hand, the ThinkBook 13x features a higher battery capacity of 53 Wh, delivering longer usage time compared to the Surface Pro 9's 48 Wh.

Battery Comparison

Displays size 13.0-13.9 inches

Microsoft Surface Pro 9 48 Wh

Lenovo ThinkBook 13x 53 Wh

Min 38.00 Wh

Average 53.1 Wh

Max 80.00 Wh

STORAGE
Both laptops, the Surface Pro 9 and the ThinkBook 13x have similar max. storage capacities of 1 TB, allowing for ample space to store files and applications.

Storage Options	128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB	256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB
Upgradable	Yes	Yes
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.

Microsoft Surface Pro 9 vs Lenovo ThinkBook 13x: Display Comparison

The display is an essential aspect to consider when comparing the Microsoft Surface Pro 9 and Lenovo ThinkBook 13x 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. Surface Pro 9 has a display size of 13.0".On the other hand, ThinkBook 13x has a larger13.3" display.The total usable screen area of the Surface Pro 9 is 503cm² / 78inch² whereas the ThinkBook 13x's total usable screen area is 513cm² / 80inch².

PPI (Pixels per Inch)
Additionally, the Surface Pro 9 features a higher pixel density with 266 pixels per inch (PPI), ensuring sharper image details.

Screen PPI (Pixels Per Inch) Comparison

Displays size 13.0-13.9 inches

Microsoft Surface Pro 9 266 ppi

Lenovo ThinkBook 13x 227 ppi

Min 118 PPI

Average 186 PPI

Max 338.00 PPI

Refresh Rate
The Surface Pro 9 offers a higher refresh rate of 120 Hz, resulting in smoother motion and improved visual experience.

Brightness
The Surface Pro 9 offers a higher maximum brightness of 450 nits, delivering a brighter screen.

Brightness Comparison

Displays size 13.0-13.9 inches

Microsoft Surface Pro 9 450 nits

Lenovo ThinkBook 13x 400 nits

Min

30 nits

Average 438 nits

Max 1000.00 nits

Microsoft Surface Pro 9 vs Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Connectivity Comparison

In terms of connectivity,

Wifi
Surface Pro 9 features a more advanced Wi-Fi standard v6E, providing faster and more reliable wireless connections compared to ThinkBook 13x (v6).

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 Surface Pro 9 nor ThinkBook 13x has USB-A ports.
Both Surface Pro 9 and ThinkBook 13x 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
Both Surface Pro 9 and ThinkBook 13x are equipped with Thunderbolt 4 ports.

HDMI
Neither Surface Pro 9 nor ThinkBook 13x has an HDMI port for connecting to external monitors. Neither Surface Pro 9 nor ThinkBook 13x 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 Surface Pro 9 nor ThinkBook 13x has an SD Card Reader.

Audio Jack
ThinkBook 13x is equipped with a 3.5mm Audio Jack, allowing seamless connection to headphones and speakers. Surface Pro 9 does not have a 3.5mm Audio Jack.

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	v6
Bluetooth (latest: v5.4)	v5.1	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	Thunderbolt 4
HDMI (latest: 2.1)	No	No
Display Port (latest: v2.0)	No	No
VGA	No	No
Fingerprint Sensor	No	Yes
Optical Drive	No	No
Audio Jack 3.5mm	No	Yes
Ethernet RJ45	No	No
SD CardReader	No	No
Proprietary Charging Port	Yes	No