Dynabook Portégé X30-G-11CX
A high-class ultraportable with enough power and battery life to satisfy even demanding remote workers
PRICE £1,319 (£1,583 inc VAT) from uk.dynabook.com
Not all Dynabook Portégé X30 laptops are born the same. Two months ago, we reviewed the 870g X30L ( see issue 312, p84), but the plain X30 employs a larger chassis so it can take advantage of a nominally faster processor. (If you’re confused by Dynabook’s naming strategy, you aren’t alone; the key difference here is that the suffix “L” indicates an even lighter design.)
I say “nominally faster” because there proved to be little difference in these laptops’ PC Pro benchmark scores, with the X30-G one point slower at 95 overall. That’s despite the Core i7-10510 in the X30-G having a higher base frequency of 1.9GHz to the 1.1GHz of the Core i7-10710 – but the latter chip has six cores compared to four in its sibling. The phrase “swings and roundabouts” springs to mind.
In theory, that higher base frequency means the X30-G should be faster in tasks that need 3D acceleration, but in practice there’s barely a sheet of “Onyx Blue” metal alloy between them: a 43.8fps result in Dirt: Showdown at 720p is hardly cause for wild celebration compared to the 43.1fps of the X30L. Neither of these laptops is going to set a gamers’ eyes alight.
There was clear water between the machines in our battery life tests, with the X30-G lasting for an extra hour when playing back a video on loop. At a shade under ten hours, this Portégé should easily last a working day away from the mains, and it isn’t a great hardship to throw the compact power supply into your bag, either.
It uses one of the two Thunderbolt 3 ports on the right to charge and, perhaps surprisingly, Dynabook finds room for an HDMI port and microSD slot too. The left-hand side is lighter on ports, with an old-style USB-A port kept company by a 3.5mm combo mic/ headphone jack. Wireless connectivity within is bang up to date, with Wi-Fi 6 and Blueto oth 5.1.
Dynabook is as vigilant as ever when it comes to security, with a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) and Windows 10 Pro combining to ensure that your data stays encrypted even if someone manages to remove the 512GB NVMe SSD (a fast unit, returning 2,411MB/sec in our sequential read tests and 1,298MB/sec for writes). There’s also an infrared webcam that supports Windows Hello and a fingerprint reader built into the top-left of the trackpad.
We’ve criticised this design before – as we do in the review of the X40-G opposite – and it isn’t a smart move to rob a compact touchpad of usable area, but otherwise this is an excellent example of its type: responsive, slick and with the supplementary option of a trackpoint nestled in the keys above. Aside from the truncated spacebar, I’m a fan of the keyboard too: each key has a solid feel that compensates for a short travel.
Given a choice, I’d always opt for the IGZO panel here compared to the panel inside the X40-G-110. While that uses IPS tech, and produces a cleaner white in Microsoft Word, the X30-G’s IGZO screen delivers punchier contrast, a wider gamut (it can cover 98.3% of sRGB and 72% of DCI-P3) and a higher peak brightness of 453cd/m2. Watching films on the X30 is a more pleasant experience as a
“All of this adds up to yet another compelling, powerful and lightweight laptop to add to the X30 canon of business laptops”
result, even if the speakers lack weight. They produce crisp spoken audio, though, and the 720p webcam records passable video.
Built for life on the move, it’s surprising how flexible the lid is at first – but that can have benefits when absorbing blows. Chunky bezels aside, I’m also a fan of this laptop’s looks, and aside from the lid the X30-G feels robust. That said, consider upgrading the single year of cover: a three-year “Gold” on-site warranty extension costs £85 exc VAT.
All of this adds up to yet another compelling, powerful and lightweight laptop to add to the X30 canon of business laptops. Thanks to its superior screen, more compact dimensions and lighter weight, it’s a clear rung above the X40. It’s more difficult to pick between the X30-G and the X30L, and the final decision will come down to how much 135g of extra weight matters to you – and the price. The figure you see above is the RRP, and I’m confident that your chosen supplier will offer more compelling deals if you’re buying in bulk. Both laptops are excellent machines that pack all the power a mobile worker could ask for into a compact package.