I've been using ThinkPads X1 for 5+ years, company provided, so I have no real attachment to the device, which is something which is hard to account for when doing reviews of items
you buy.
Currently on a X1 Yoga 3rd gen, I could run the laptop for 10 hours for normal usage brand new, unplugged, on _linux_. I'm a programmer, so this involves mostly editors and a few instances of a browser running, compiler building stuff in bursts, generally an mp3 player running in the background too. Brightness is set around 180-200cd (pretty bright, but still around 45-50% of the total brightness).
I can comparatively run a video player like mpv for about 4-4.5 hours in fullscreen (which in this model is 2k). If I'm using blender I can get anywhere between 4 and 6 hours.
I don't run GNOME or KDE though, and this does make a big difference (esp GNOME is far from being lightweight). Comparatively, my colleagues running windows 10 get 1-2 hours less runtime, and I attribute that mostly to the different tools we use, not due to difference in power management (I do not use IDEs, most of my colleagues do).
After one year I can still expect the laptop to last 8 hours unplugged with the same workflow. I generally do not bring a charger with me when going around.
I could be laving the company shortly and I've been thinking about a laptop for personal use and I was seriously considering the X1 Carbon or the Yoga again. They're not perfect laptops, but the 2k screen is a perfect resolution for a 14" to balance battery, there's a good selection of ports (better than several 15" competitors), good keyboard, good battery, extremely well built. I've abused this laptop with very little care and it did withstand much more than what I would have expected. Small drops, pressed along with groceries, pen straight on the dusty screen... it took it all and still looks as new when I wipe it.
If you want some of the negative sides, since I saw batches of these laptops among my colleagues, most of the screens since the first X1 carbon did develop some bright spots in the backlight after 1-2 years. We saw a couple laptops with dead pixels in batches of 15, which got exchanged under warranty, but yeah, QC was lacking for a laptop of this cost. Many of the yoga 1st gen we got had issues with the arrow keys requiring too much force. This got fixed in r2/r3, but the r3 buttons on the trackpad (the phisical ones) are so flimsy that often "click" without performing the electrical contact unless you hit them roughly in the center. A bit weak, and it annoying the hell out of me, since I much prefer these buttons to the trackpad mushy click action.
Putting the laptop in tent mode is nice occasionally, but I admit I did it 2-3 times tops in 2 years. Despite loving the pen for note taking, I'd rather get a dedicated (lighter!) note-taking tablet than folding the laptop. It just doesn't make sense after you try that. Same for writing on the screen in clamshell mode (feels idiotic and unconfortable).
I'd rather get a matte screen and no touch, if I could.
This laptop bumped at 400 nits is still basically unusable outside.
Whenever I see people saying that it's possible, I have to laugh. It's not even acceptable on the superior coating of the macbook, it's definitely not possible with this one :(. Only in the shade.
But despite all that, these laptops are worth their beefy price. Very solid, and we didn't many returns due to components failing. Nothing related to keyboards, screen, hinges, etc.
I'm really thorn, because I know I could depend on the X1, but I'm really attracted by the size/form-factor of the new XPS 15. Almost the same as this 14", but it's 16:10. For coding, that little extra vertical size, combined with superior form factor, has me hooked. I do use ultrasharp dell 4k screens and they're a step up even from this excellent screen mounted on the yoga. Being able to bump up the ram to 32gb is also a big plus.
But will the XPS 15 take the same abuse I've given to the yoga?
I'd like to hear comments from old XPS owners and tell me how much did they abuse their laptops.
I used to keep mine in pristine state as if they were jewels, but having a company-provided laptop has made me change all that. Laptops need to have a certain ruggedness.