Dynabook Portégé X40-K Review: This laptop shines like a sapphire

In the world of business laptops, there are some brands that hog all the attention. Lenovo, HP, and Dell are typically the brands an enterprise will issue its workers. What about smaller firms, maybe those without full-time IT departments? That’s where Dynabook is looking to get its foot in the door. The Dynabook Portégé X40 is a premium business machine in a fetching blue metal finish, with Intel’s hottest ultrabook chip, plenty of ports, and a standard three year on-site repair warranty. That’s right–no shipping this machine elsewhere for service for a long time.

If Dynabook doesn’t sound familiar, it might be because the brand hasn’t existed long. Previously, these computers were marketed under the Toshiba name, but in the last few years Dynabook has become its own thing under ownership by Japanese tech giant Sharp. This is a firm that’s been making computers in Japan and worldwide for a long time, so this is far from a no-name PC notebook.

Dynabook Portégé X40-K Specifications

The Dynabook Portégé X40 we sampled came with one of Intel’s latest 12th-Gen i7 chips, which features a whopping 12 cores.

• CPU: Intel Core i7-1260P (12 cores, 16 threads: 4 performance cores, 8 efficiency cores)
• Memory: 16 GB LPDDR4 (1 DIMM slot free, up to 64 GB available)
• Graphics/GPU: Intel Iris Xe Graphics
• Display: 14-inch 1080p IPS LCD
• Storage: 512GB M.2 NVMe PCIe solid state drive
• Webcam: 720p with magnetic privacy shutter
• Connectivity:  2x Thunderbolt 4, 2x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 (1x always-on charging) 1x Gigabit Ethernet, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x 3.5mm combo audio, 1x DC-in barrel plug, 1x microSD reader
• Networking: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2
• Biometrics: Fingerprint reader
• Battery capacity: 53Wh
• Dimensions: 14.29 (W) x 9.36 (D) x 0.70 (H) inches
• Weight: 3.2 pounds, 3.86 pounds with AC adapter
• Price as Reviewed: $1769.99

Design and build

IDG / Brendan Nystedt

The Dynabook looks a little generic the first time you see it, but bring it into the light and it shines with a unique character. Its metal build and striking blue color (called “Tech Blue Metallic”) make it look distinctive. In a world of black ThinkPads and grey Latitudes and Elitebooks, the X40 dares to stand out a little bit. The rear of the screen lid has an attractive brushed finish, giving the silver textured Dynabook insignia contrast and pop.
 
Inside, the screen has a workmanlike black matte plastic bezel, and next to the webcam is a manual lens cover. The keyboard deck is the same deep blue as the outside of the laptop, with a subtle recessed area where the keyboard lives. A color-matched trackpad is where the fingerprint sensor lives, conveniently placing it near where your hand will be anyway. I’d say that if you’re looking at the Dynabook for business purposes, metal build and minimalist design will keep you looking pro in front of colleagues and clients, while the pretty blue color will make you feel more special than if you had a different brand.

Connectivity

IDG / Brendan Nystedt

IDG / Brendan Nystedt

Thankfully, the Dynabook Portégé X40 isn’t just a sharp dresser in a blue suit. Along the sides of this machine are plenty of ports, far more than you might find on some competing business models. Two USB-C/Thunderbolt 4 ports kick off what’s a full suite of useful standard ports.
 
Leave your dongles at home? No problem, since you also have a full-size HDMI, two USB 3.0 Type-A ports, a headset jack, and even an RJ-45 ethernet port. Cap it off with a DC jack (although the review sample I got has a USB-C charger in the box) and a microSD card, and I can’t think of anything else I’d want here.

If wireless connectivity is more your speed, then the Portégé X40 is well-equipped with Intel Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2. Unfortunately, if you require cellular internet, there isn’t an option to add that to the X40. 4G and 5G is common in mainstream business notebooks, from brands like Dell and Lenovo, but Dynabook isn’t quite

Keyboard and trackpad

IDG / Brendan Nystedt

In an era where keyboards are getting slimmer and less nice to use, the Dynabook bucks the trend by giving a fairly good typing experience. Although I’d say that ThinkPads are my preferred laptop keyboards, Dynabook has a backlit unit in the X40 that is far better than the average ultraportable. Keythrows are nicely cushioned yet have a responsive little snap once you’ve depressed each cap enough. Typing on the X40 is not too clicky or noisy, making it great for notetaking while in a meeting.
 
The trackpad is fairly satisfying as well. It has great tracking, excellent palm rejection, and a super satisfying click. The surface feels smooth to the touch. All around, it’s one of the better touchpads I’ve used in recent memory. Unlike other business notebooks, this Dynabook doesn’t have a pointing stick in the keyboard, so it’s a good thing the trackpad is a reliable performer.
 
If I can fault the Dynabook Portégé X40 for anything pertaining to input, I need to ding it for its baffling function buttons. There’s a lot to this keyboard that you might not see on competing models, including a numlock and arrow lock for the in-QWERTY numpad. But there are a ton of baffling functions here, too, including a magnifying/screen resolution change bound to Fn + Spacebar, and a confusing sleep switch that looks like an arrow pointing to a microchip (??). Everyday shortcuts like volume, mute, contextual click, and the keyboard backlight toggle are all over the place.
 
What makes this a huge annoyance is that there’s no Fn lock, so you’ll always need to use the Fn button while adjusting volume or what have you. The best theory I can put out there is that Japanese users have different needs than Americans, and that these are a holdover from the domestic Dynabook series. But for this westerner, putting critical functions in nonstandard spots, and requiring the use of the Fn to invoke them was a frustration I’ve not experienced on any other modern notebook PC.

Display, speakers, and webcam

While mainstream computers might have insane OLED and high-refresh rate screens, business notebooks usually remain behind the curve. This Dynabook doesn’t mess with a tried-and-true formula, putting in a slim-bezel 14-inch 1080p IPS screen. For my eyes, this panel is dense enough to look good, has satisfyingly wide viewing angles, and pleasingly deep blacks. The 16:9 screen ratio could be improved with a little extra height, but it’s good enough for single windows and just about usable when snapping two apps side-by-side. If I were to levy any major criticism against the Dynabook X40’s screen it’s that it is a little dim for 2022. Peak brightness barely goes past 250 nits, which was good enough a few years ago but if you’re ever gonna work near bright windows in a café, proves itself to be only adequate.
 

IDG / Brendan Nystedt

IDG / Brendan Nystedt

The webcam inside the Dynabook X40 is only a low-res 720p, and a soft 720p at that. While it didn’t have much issue exposing my face, there’s a lack of detail in the images it produces. The internal microphones are nothing to write home about, either, with just a touch of noise cancellation going on. In a pinch, both of these will be good enough for the occasional meeting, but if you want to look and sound your best, you’ll want to get a headset and an external USB camera, or a different laptop entirely. At the very least, you get a standard privacy shutter to block the camera with confidence, no stick-on cover required.
 
The speakers in this notebook are surprisingly weak, despite boasting DTS tuning. In other premium notebooks, we’ve come to expect boombox-like abilities to pump out the jams, and the Dynabook just can’t keep up with its wimpy downfiring stereo speakers located along the front edge. For a YouTube video, these were merely OK, but as this is a buttoned-down notebook intended for business, don’t expect to host karaoke parties with it.

Performance

Looking at it, this unassuming blue ‘book looks like it might pack middle-of-the-road chips inside, just barely suitable for Teams, some Chrome tabs, and a Word doc or two. That’s where you’d be wrong. Dynabook has put the smokin’ 28-watt Intel Core i7-1265U inside the Dynabook X40, and it shows in more ways than one. Not only does this pack a surprising 12 cores inside, but it excelled at every benchmark we threw at it, save for graphically-intensive ones. Unfortunately, on its standard Balanced power mode, this performance comes at a penalty–the X40’s metal chassis gets mighty toasty at full bore, and there’s a warning on the bottom panel to tell you as much.
 

IDG / Brendan Nystedt

This all-round test gives us a great idea how a notebook will fare with the daily grind. Since the Dynabook X40 is aimed at business users, it excelled at this benchmark. While an AMD-based notebook took the lead, the X40’s performance-oriented chip hung in there and acquitted itself very well. Rest assured that for everything from video chats, to Microsoft Office, this blue beauty has guts to spare.

IDG / Brendan Nystedt

We’ve come to expect decent but not amazing performance from Intel’s latest generation of Xe Iris Graphics that come as standard with laptops like this one. As it stands, the Dynabook X40 did alright in the 3D-intensive Sky Diver test, just like its Intel-packing competition. AMD still has a slight edge in this thanks to its more sophisticated integrated GPU designs, but as long as you don’t expect to game on a business notebook, you won’t be disappointed.

IDG / Brendan Nystedt

Our standard Handbrake encoding test turns an HD movie straight off a Blu-ray disc into a small version intended for viewing on a tablet. In this test, the i7-1265U, with its ample cores, clocked in at an admirable 25 minutes. If you’re tackling multi-core tasks on the reg, the Dynabook X40 has plenty of oomph.

Battery Life

IDG / Brendan Nystedt

One area where you’ll feel the performance burn is when it comes to your mobile runtime. The Dynabook x40 comes with a small 53 watt-hour internal battery, and we found that in our standard battery test, it did just fine. Coming in at just under 8 hours, the Dynabook undoubtedly could last longer, as we measured around 8 hours and 20 minutes from the similarly-configured high-performance Dell XPS 13 Plus. There are some differences there–it’s noteworthy that the Dell had a power-sipping OLED screen and a slightly faster Intel i7 inside. Anecdotally, I saw 10% battery drop in about 40 minutes of work on the Dynabook X40.

Conclusion

On the whole, Dynabook’s Portégé X40 is a solid pick for a business PC. However you define work, this blue laptop has plenty of oomph to take care of your business. Its solid build quality, fast i7 chip, plentiful ports, and three year standard on-site repair warranty tip this over the edge, making it a package worth considering. Whether it’s a tax write off for your side hustle or an upgrade for your business, the X40 should stay capable for at least the three years it’s covered by the standard warranty, giving you great peace of mind up front.