Head-to-head · Best Thin and Light Laptops

Dell XPS 14 (9440) vs Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13

Which is the better buy? Side-by-side on rating, price, strengths, and watch-outs — with the published ratings we averaged to get there.

The short answer

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 comes out ahead by a narrow margin (4.4 vs 4.6). The gap is mostly about Business travelers and professionals who want the lightest possible 14-inch Windows ultraportable with the best keyboard, port selection and enterprise security. — read the strengths below before deciding.

Ranked #3 in Best Thin and Light Laptops

Dell XPS 14 (9440)

4.4

$2,049as of Jun 7

The Dell XPS 14 (9440) is the most powerful and feature-rich pick here, offering an optional OLED panel, RTX graphics and a striking aluminum design. TechRadar called it a stunning real MacBook competitor and Windows Central praised its display and quad speakers (Ausdroid 88%, 91mobiles 85%). Battery life and weight are the trade-offs for that extra power.

Strengths

— Stunning optional OLED display with excellent quad speakers
— Discrete NVIDIA RTX graphics option for light gaming and content creation
— Premium minimalist machined-aluminum design

Watch-outs

— Battery life is the weakest of this group at around 6-9 hours
— Heavier at about 3.7 lbs than the ThinkPad and MacBook Air
— Polarizing capacitive function row and seamless haptic touchpad

$2,049 · Check Price on Amazon Full review →

Higher ratedRanked #2 in Best Thin and Light Laptops

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13

4.6

$2,299.99as of Jun 7

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition is the best premium thin-and-light for business users, shaving weight to about 2.16 lbs while keeping the legendary keyboard, port selection and build. Notebookcheck scored it 90% and PCMag handed it a five-star Editors' Choice. The main trade-offs are a steep price and Lunar Lake performance that trails some cheaper machines.

Strengths

— Extraordinarily light at roughly 2.16 lbs, the lightest X1 Carbon ever
— Gorgeous 14-inch 2.8K (2880x1800) OLED at 120Hz with 400 nits
— Class-leading ThinkPad keyboard, TrackPoint and haptic touchpad

Watch-outs

— Premium price, often more than a comparable MacBook
— Lunar Lake multi-core performance trails some cheaper rivals
— Real-world battery (9-11 hours) is good but not class-leading for the chip

$2,299.99 · Check Price on Amazon Full review →

How they stack up

Dell XPS 14 (9440)

The performance and creator pick: it offers discrete RTX graphics the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13, MacBook Air M4 and ASUS Zenbook S14 lack, but it's the heaviest here and its battery life trails all three.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13

The premium business pick: lighter than the Dell XPS 14 and matching the OLED panel of the ASUS Zenbook S14, but pricier than both; unlike the MacBook Air M4 it runs Windows with full ThinkShield security and a far better keyboard and port array.

Specs side-by-side

Spec	Dell XPS 14 (9440)	Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13
CPU	Intel Core Ultra 7 155H	Intel Core Ultra 7 258V (Lunar Lake)
RAM	16-32GB LPDDR5X	Up to 32GB LPDDR5X
Storage	512GB-1TB SSD	Up to 1TB PCIe Gen 5 SSD
Display	14.5-inch FHD+ or 3.2K OLED	14-inch 2.8K OLED, 120Hz
Weight	3.7 lbs (1.68 kg)	2.16 lbs (982g)
Battery	6-9 hours real-world	9-11 hours real-world
Graphics	Intel Arc or NVIDIA RTX option	—
Ports	3x Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C)	2x Thunderbolt 4, 2x USB-A, HDMI 2.1
Wireless	—	Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4

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