# Lenovo ThinkPad X13s

11 Hacker News commenters recommended Lenovo ThinkPad X13s and 5 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Well-liked ARM Linux laptop with mainline kernel support and good daily use, but many users report quirks, rough edges and little help from Lenovo.

## Why people recommend it

- Good mainline Linux support (4 comments): "Snapdragon support is decent to great these days, and importantly it's all in the mainline kernel tree." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46378644)) "It is my favorite ARM Linux laptop I've ever used. It has great support in Debian 13 (trixie)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46567576)) "passively cooled, with great battery life, and great Linux support available at the moment" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46584454))
- Works well day to day (4 comments): "The SOC is still pretty usable and it's functionality on Linux is also pretty complete." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46289204)) "The Lenovo x13s works pretty nicely these days, EL2 support aside." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46072762)) "I really really like the device, best laptop I've owned so far" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49828657))
- Favorite laptop for some users (2 comments): "It is my favorite ARM Linux laptop I've ever used. It has great support in Debian 13 (trixie)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46567576)) "I really really like the device, best laptop I've owned so far" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49828657))

## What people warn about

- Frustrating quirks, needs housekeeping (4 comments): "it seems to be a real crap-shoot with the x13s" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46113770)) "far from "without pain" due to endless number of small but annoying quirks" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48731007)) "it's incredibly frustrating to use in practice" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47920698))
- Speakers and hibernate broken on Linux (2 comments): "the speakers might as well not exist in the current state on Linux" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48733914)) "hibernate doesn't work on Linux, and audio is glitchy" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49831135))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Apple MacBook Pro](https://hackerapproved.com/p/macbook-pro.md): 928 recommend
- [Apple MacBook Neo](https://hackerapproved.com/p/macbook-neo.md): 707 recommend
- [MacBook Air](https://hackerapproved.com/p/macbook-air.md): 633 recommend
- [Apple MacBook](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-macbook.md): 499 recommend
- [Framework Laptop 12](https://hackerapproved.com/p/framework-laptop-12.md): 83 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Lenovo+ThinkPad+X13s+Gen+1+Qualcomm+8cx&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Official site](https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpadx13s/22tp2x13sg1)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Lenovo ThinkPad X13s", https://hackerapproved.com/p/lenovo-thinkpad-x13s/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).