Why does my ThinkPad T14 trackpad feel so bad on Linux?

The kernel handles most laptop trackpad support, so switching distributions usually won’t make a major difference. If the hardware is supported, Arch-based systems and other distributions should generally use the same underlying driver. I’d look at the BIOS version and libinput settings rather than expecting a distro-specific driver fix.

I’d verify the replacement trackpad first. If it came from a genuine X1 rather than a cheap compatible listing, it should be more trustworthy, but an incorrect or poorly compatible part could explain inconsistent tracking. It may also be worth checking whether the problem happens across the whole desktop or mainly in browsers and other web-based applications.

Some hardware combinations simply work better than others. For comparison, my Surface 2’s trackpad works without any special setup on Zorin, but that doesn’t necessarily mean Zorin has different drivers—it may just have better defaults for that particular device.

Try updating the laptop firmware and BIOS with fwupdmgr if your model supports it. That improved trackpad behavior somewhat for me, although some of the remaining issues could still be caused by libinput or its available tuning options.