Review: Lenovo ThinkPad X9 14 Aura Edition

If you’re an old-school ThinkPad fan, Lenovo has done the unthinkable: The ThinkPad X9 14 doesn’t have the famous red TrackPoint in the center of the keyboard. The nubbin is a hallmark of virtually every ThinkPad, even referenced in the ThinkPad logo stamped across Lenovo’s laptop.

Other ThinkPads still have TrackPoint, but the ThinkPad X9 14 is the first to remove it, leaving us with a big question: Is it still a ThinkPad? This machine still maintains many of the hallmarks of a good laptop, but Lenovo's decision shows that the company knows it needs more than legacy and nostalgia to survive. Unfortunately, some flaws overshadow the missing red dot.

Not Just Another ThinkPad

The X9 14 is far from the first ThinkPad to try to modernize. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon has slowly evolved over the years, and the ThinkPad Z13 was another ...