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Laptops · Lenovo ThinkPad

Lenovo ThinkPad Z13

8owners with an opinion
60%of verdicts positive
3/2positive/negative since 2024
3 yrslongest happy owner
1happy after 3+ years

Praised for reliability and battery; criticized for support.

What owners wrote

Recommends itOwned 3 yearsStill going
> go back to buying Windows laptops and putting Linux on them. But they just aren't as nice. There are native Linux laptops from several manufacturers such as Slimbook, Star Labs, System76, Tuxedo etc. Or if you prefer mainstream OEMs both Lenovo and Dell sell laptops with Linux preloaded (or have official Linux compatibility listed on the spec sheet). And of course, there's also Framework, if you're in the lucky 10% of the world's population where they ship to. Personally I'm a big fan of ThinkPads - I have the Z13 Gen 1 and it's honestly running Linux on it has been one of the best non-MacBook laptop experiences I've ever had. Just picture this: all day battery life, suspend/resume that works 100% of the time, every bit of firmware upgradable from within Linux (fwupd) and literally *zero* errors in the dmesg/boot logs. I've had this machine for over 3 years now (running Bazzite and CachyOS, both on KDE) and have had no major with either the hardware or software. I've also got an M1 MacBook Air, and the only thing it does better is the battery life, but otherwise I vastly prefer my ThinkPad. Happy to answer any questions.
Recommends itOwned 3 yearsStill going
As a ThinkPad user, I disagree. I've been using Linux (Fedora + Arch) on my Z13 Gen 1 for three years now and it's been a first-class experience. Everything worked out-of-the-box, with literally zero issues. I can't think of a single thing that I'd want to improve, from a laptop user's perspective. For me, this is the definitive Linux laptop experience. I had a similarly good experience with my previous laptop, an HP Elite Dragonfly. Only niggle was that not all bits of firmware was upgradable via fwupd, so I had to ocassionally boot into Windows to do the firmware updates. But other than that, I don't recollect any issues with it either. And I'm sure the laptop experience is equally good on "native" Linux laptops, such as the ones from System76, Slimbook, Tuxedo etc. So to make a blanket statement like "'the modern experience' is dogshit sliding down a wet stick for laptops" , is pretty disingenuous and very disrespectful towards all the developers who've worked so hard on making Linux viable.
Recommends itOwned 3 yearsStill going
As a ThinkPad Z13 user, I've had none of the issues you've described. I've been running Linux (Fedora + Arch) on it for three years now and it's been a first-class experience. Everything worked out-of-the-box, with literally zero issues. I can't think of a single thing that I'd want to improve, from a laptop user's perspective. For me, this is the definitive Linux laptop experience. I had a similarly good experience with my previous laptop, an HP Elite Dragonfly. Only niggle was that not all bits of firmware was upgradable via fwupd, so I had to ocassionally boot into Windows to do the firmware updates. But other than that, I don't recollect any issues with it either, suspend/resume/power management all worked as good as Windows. In fact, battery life was better than Windows when I applied powertop's tweaks. And I'm sure the laptop experience is equally good on "native" Linux laptops, such as the ones from System76, Slimbook, Tuxedo etc. So personally, I wouldn't make a blanket statement like "I wouldn't recommend it for your laptop unless you're an enthusiast" . To be clear, I'm not claiming that the issues you describe don't exist, but at least for laptops known for having official support for Linux, the experience should be good.
Doesn’t like itOwned 1 year
No. I recently had a ThinkPad Z13 for over a year. I tried earnestly using the TrackPoint on multiple occasions. It had inconsistent pressure pickup, bad haptics, and poor button integration. I think I had a different opinion 25+ years ago, but that was an era where the laptop might ONLY have a TrackPoint, and its design was intentional---not an afterthought like the current gen. In fact, one of the main selling points (reducing wrist strain) doesn't apply to the Z13, because the cold, hard, right-angled aluminum edge of the case digs into your wrists the longer you keep them in the same position.
Doesn’t like it
My Thinkpad from the same 2022 timeframe (a Z13 Gen 1) was very awful all around, particularly w.r.t. sleep. Lenovo serviced it multiple times, never fixing it and refusing to complete a return under warranty. (Happy ending: Laptop got stolen. Insurance paid.) I have the hope that Lenovo acquiring Phoenix will fix some of the awfulness. There is a guide on Reddit, "How to enter advanced BIOS options on Gen 1 T15(g/p), P15(v), P17" which also applies to each generation of P16. It's possible a setting in there will finally cure your laptop's insomnia?
Doesn’t like it
Lenovo and Linux support should carry an asterisk. Hopefully their acquisition of Phoenix fixes much of the "too quick to market" problems they seem to keep having. My ThinkPad Z13 (aka AMD Carbon) was a piece of garbage: arrived without Fedora fully installed, crashed at least once per week, had GPU and dock and USB and sleep problems, sent back for repairs multiple times. I tried to return it after the multiple failed repairs and they refused. My greatest joy was that insurance covered it being stolen from my apartment in Dublin. My X1 Carbon Gen 11? Not great. Crashed 7 times in the 9 days I had it. Didn't sleep properly. Ibus and wireplumber would randomly crash. I'd get a glib error if I type an invalid Bash command. I tried Fedora 38 and Kinoite, Ubuntu 22, Debian 12, RHEL 9.2, TUXEDO, Pop, and Tumbleweed. Nobody had the right mix. Red Hat didn't even make it through the installer. Debian overheated rather than suspended when you close the lid. I learned about and trialed all sorts of kernel flags: intel_idle.max_cstate, iommu=pt, Intel_iommu=on, Intel_iommu=pt, usbcore.autosuspend=-1, i915.enable_dc=0, i915.enable_psr=0, acpi.ec_no_wakeup=1, thinkpad_acpi.fan_control=1, acpi_osi, and a few others. Sometimes the 10-second power button shutdown was ignored; you have to use the little reset hole. I can't even fully blame Lenovo. Their Linux lead puts in a ton of effort to do everything right. BIOS seems to be a major weak point. I'll read BIOS release notes for the lapto…
Likes it
Not necessarily true, and not necessarily even a option sometimes. In my case for example, the ThinkPad Z13 was the best laptop for me at the time. My main criteria generally is a top-tier AMD APU, first-class Linux support, machined aluminium body, 12-14" display. Only the ThinkPad Z13 met my criteria at the time, but there wasn't any in stock in my country. So my only option was to import it, and it was pretty expensive with all the import duties. A Framework would've been cheaper, but they didn't ship to my country and they also didn't have an aluminum chassis. It was worth it though, I'm still using the ThinkPad and it's hands-down one of the best laptop+Linux experiences I've ever had. It's now time for an upgrade. Unfortunately, Lenovo killed the Z13 line with no equivalent replacement, and everything else on the market currently has some or the other limitation (for me) - the most common limitation being lack of official Linux support. Thankfully, Framework finally started shipping to my country this year, and their laptops also finally meet all my requirements (the previous models were all lacking the machined aluminum chassis). This also means that I may have found my "final" laptop at last, assuming Framework continues to deliver on their promise. Never again do I have to go hunting around for a Linux-first machined-aluminium top-tier 13" AMD laptop. And the best part is, I can just swap out the mainboard the next time I want to upgrade - which I guarantee will be…
Doesn’t like it
I keep purchasing ThinkPads (Z13, X1 Gen 11, X1 Gen 12, T16) where the USB-C port breaks within a year (respectively: "no dock or external monitor", "no charge and only non-Thunderbolt enumeration" on a single port, "charge only, no USB enumeration at all" on both ports, "fries other devices during reverse PD"), and I'd love to be able to swap out a broken port rather than ship the entire machine to Poland for two weeks and get lectured by the support contact that, "maybe ports only stop working under Linux but we'll still repair the mainboard this time." I am waiting to jump ship to a different manufacturer, but nobody is challenging ThinkPad on keyboard quality/layout and Linux support, the two factors where I'm totally unwilling to compromise. (Tuxedo is close but still not the better alternative.)
Neutral
The old ones had hot-swappable batteries (a second internal battery - of decent size - kept the device going while you replaced the external one). I used to keep a couple of extra 50 Wh batteries in my backpack and therefore had excellent battery life. The power efficiency wasn't great though. I now have a Z13 Gen 1 (AMD 6850U) running Fedora and the battery life is passable. It draws 7-8W at idle from a 51 Wh battery.
Neutral
I like my Z13. Despite the non-thinkpad look, they finally did a bit of engineering together with AMD to get the cooling working again (copying from the Mac as well). It the least Thinkpad I ever had (no hardware track point buttons), but I am still quite happy (the x395 was a cooling catastrophy IMHO). However, i agree wrt repairs. I had my mainboard, my screen and my keyboard replaced, due to broken cables and switches, which ridiculous. My case is fully intact opposite to all my other think pads. The worst thing however is the firmware of the USB/charging controller with this laptop. It often does not really pre-boot with USB connecte, it often needs to be hard reset to get charging to work again,... Lenovo firmware/BIOS is a huge mess because IMHO they simply have too many models. They should offer one X and one T and make those good ones again. (Or just sell the ThinkPad brand to someone producing good keyboards for framework laptops and as external keyboars: i actually spend nights on eBay trying get an external ThinkPad Keyboard with German layout, because they seemed to have stopped production. Prices are skyrocketing: used ThinkPads are cheaper that used keyboard: tells you a lot)
Neutral
I'm on mainline Fedora on a Thinkpad Z13 (Gen 1). Sleep works unless I connect or disconnect a thunderbolt device while the machine is sleeping (which hard crashes the system); I would say it's noticeably more reliable than Windows. Power consumption is still poor in all states - usable, but generally worse than under Windows and pathetic compared to a Macbook.
Doesn’t like it
Kind of a weirdly written article. Only one model removed the nub, and it's from one of its "we're trying to be MacBook" lines (the X line, like the Z line, are more about form than function). And all that tech shipped in its other lines for a while, afaik. I recently sold a Z13 because it had so many quirks (low battery life due to OLED, trackpad and trackpoint were crap, bluetooth barely worked through the dense metal chassis, display didn't fold down 180 degrees, felt heavy af). I got a T14s instead. Holy crap, it is so much better. Feels lighter, the touchpad and trackpoint are great, 500nits low-energy display is "ok" but battery can last all day. I use the trackpoint all the time (partly due to the touchpad drifting for some reason, and partly just to have a more precise pointer for fine work). The only downside is the lack of more USB-C ports. A random upside if you order it with Ubuntu: it comes with Secure Boot set up correctly. But then a downside: Linux kernel prevents hibernate from working if Secure Boot is enabled, unless you set up an encrypted swap and jump through hoops to set up the bootloader right (and of course it's not set up on Ubuntu). I can't believe it's still such a pain to get otherwise-standard laptop functionality with Linux.
Neutral
I have a Z13 with virtualized button on the Touchpad. At least the simulated haptics are decent. But I agree that 3 physical buttons should be standard. I however also have external ThinkPad/Trackpoint keyboards which I use most of the time. I am waiting for a track point keyboard for the framework. However the framework market place, that was supposed to serve niche needs, is rather an illusion.
Doesn’t like it
The last ThinkPad I was really happy with was the X61 I had though. I, however, got used to the track point, so I stocked. The Z13 is only half a ThinkPad but at least Lenovo did considerable engineering to solve the thermal issues of new processors fitted into the old ThinkPad design for 13 in. Now I only have tons of BIOS/firmware/driver issues. Often doesn't hibernate and spin loops until battery is empty and my whole bag is heated to 80°C. I think they are not able to manage all those absurd variants they created. Would try a framework if the marketplace had ThinkPad keyboards.
Neutral
I have a T14s (AMD) which works very nicely, battery lasts for long 7-8 hours and things generally work. Before that, I had a P14s Gen1 for work. No matter what, that system runs a bit hot and battery times are awful. I haven't dedicated days to searching for fixes, but that's my point, it used to _just work_, and in this case, it works poorly. It used to be the case that outside of certain specific setups (like a dual-GPU machine), Lenovo Thinkpads would just work, Ubuntu certified or not. But that P14s G1 really soured my experience. I would advise you to check the return policy, maybe double-check if anyone has blogged about their device. FWIW I have had many thinkpads over the years, they _mostly_ work well. But there have been more misses as of late. I will add that I also own a Z13 Gen 1 and that it works well. Albeit the battery drains much faster because of the high-res oled screen. And I do think the palm-rest is a bit uncomfortable, the edges are too sharp, but that's not a Linux issue :D
Likes itHasn’t owned it
The saddest part of this is the lack of availability: at this point there's 2 standard laptops using this chip, the Z13 being the only high perf one. There's the Framework lines as well, but they aren't available in many countries, and it's a very specific public. And that's after half a year after the first machines to come to the market. I love the Z13, but it's clearly a niche machine, so I'm assuming they are having a really hard time manufacturing the chips ? All the capacity is getting eaten by Apple ?