Lenovo ThinkPad X220 review

The last few Lenovo business laptops we’ve seen have used a fairly unique keyboard layout, and the X220 is no exception. The QWERTY and punctuation keys are all where you would expect, but the six keys usually found above the cursor keys have been bumped above the function keys, along with the escape key. This didn’t affect us much when typing, but correcting the occasional mistake took a little longer than usual until we had adjusted to the layout.

We weren’t impressed with the tiny touchpad at all, particularly as applying only a little bit too much force registered a mouse click. It was responsive enough to navigate the desktop smoothly, but as the touchpad itself has no dedicated buttons it was awkward to drag and drop files. Unsurprisingly for a ThinkPad, the X220 also has a secondary touch stick and with its own mouse buttons – the distance between the stick and the buttons makes it impractical to use with one hand, but some may prefer the extra precision it offers over a touchpad.

If you’re looking for a portable business laptop that can handle almost anything you throw at it, without running out of battery when on the move, the X220 is an excellent choice. It’s expensive, though. If you don’t need the ExpressCard slot or docking port and can make do with slightly shorter battery life, you’re better off with either the Samsung Series 5 13in or Samsung Series 5 14in, which are around £300 less.