Lenovo ThinkPad T14s (AMD) review: A solid 14-inch business laptop with good battery life Review

Lenovo’s notebook portfolio can seem daunting, not the very least due to the fact the types are very constant throughout the variety. Nevertheless, guidance for AMD processors in the 14-inch ThinkPad T14s is somewhat scarce, so while Intel CPUs are also obtainable, I opted for an AMD model to evaluation. 

The AMD-based mostly ThinkPad T14s can accommodate up to 32GB of RAM and 1TB of PCIe SSD storage, and there are touch-display screen variants with Lenovo’s PrivacyGuard, which boundaries display screen viewability. Intel-based mostly ThinkPad T14s styles, by distinction, give up to 2TB of SSD storage and Thunderbolt 3 guidance on their USB-C ports. There is certainly also a 4K display screen alternative, whilst the AMD T14s isn’t going to go previously mentioned FHD.

Structure-sensible, the ThinkPad T14s appears like a regular ThinkPad — black chassis with silver ThinkPad emblem in just one corner, with a red mild-up dot for the ‘i’ in ‘ThinkPad’. 

The magnesium alloy chassis helps make this a durable notebook, which has passed MIL-STD 810G testing. The ThinkPad T14s is also somewhat light-weight for a 14-inch notebook, at one.27kg. It really is slender, far too: sixteen.1mm for the non-touch variation, or sixteen.7mm with a touch-display screen.  

My evaluation device was a non-touch model and so lacked PrivacyGuard, which is only obtainable on the 500-nits touch-display screen variant. From past experience, PrivacyGuard (which can be toggled on and off making use of a Fn crucial), renders the display screen unreadable to any one who just isn’t on the lookout at it head-on. Two other Lenovo privacy options are present in all T14s variants: a ThinkShutter sliding protect for the webcam and a fingerprint scanner to the appropriate of the touchpad. 

The display screen configurations also have a extremely slight influence on the desktop footprint: touch-display screen models evaluate 226.15mm by 328.8mm, whilst non-touch styles appear in at 225.8mm by 329mm. 

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The 14-inch display screen sits in what are by modern requirements alternatively deep bezels. The bottom bezel is the deepest by some length, whilst the upper bezel leaves much more than more than enough space for the webcam. The in general search is workaday alternatively than modern. 

All display screen solutions share the very same FHD (one,920 x one,080) resolution and have a non-reflective end, which is welcome. Brightness stages variety from 250 nits to 500 nits for the touch-display screen/PrivacyGuard alternative. The lessen display screen brightness won’t accommodate everybody, so contemplate your decision cautiously. 

Sound is output by a pair of 1W speakers with tiny grilles on the underside of the chassis. Audio is also pushed up through the keyboard , so there was no audio muffling when functioning with the ThinkPad T14s on my lap. There is certainly loads of quantity, and whilst bass tones are a bit missing there’s no distortion at 100% loudness. 

The keyboard is up to Lenovo’s regular higher requirements. The huge pot-bellied QWERTY keys are effortless to strike at speed, the Enter crucial is double height and broader than the regular keys and the Fn row keys are bigger than you could count on. The Fn row has two devoted keys for producing movie calls as well as just one for turning the microphone on and off, all of which will be helpful as we count so considerably on movie calling alternatively than in-individual meetings these times. As regular for Lenovo, there’s a shortcut to the Home windows snipping instrument on the PrtSc crucial.  

The keys emit a slight simply click when employed, but typing is a somewhat peaceful system. The action is springy and bouncy, with no flex in the keyboard, and touch-typing is no issue. There is certainly a TrackPoint concerning the G, H and B keys, with three buttons previously mentioned the touchpad for use with it. 

The AMD Ryzen seven Pro 4750U processor powering my evaluation sample did a wonderful occupation. It retained several browser windows open, permitted me to stream movie without having pause, and let me to do all of my regular net-based mostly and other productiveness tasks with no waiting around or other challenges. My evaluation model came with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD and a four hundred-nit non-touch display screen. The charge of this configuration is £1,395 (ex. VAT one,674 inc. VAT) in the British isles, or $one,588.80 in the US (with recent low cost applied). 

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Battery daily life is extremely fantastic, far too. Lenovo claims that the 57Wh battery will very last for up to seventeen.four hours and my regular three-hour workload test — which requires creating into net apps, browsing, and streaming new music and movie — drained a complete battery by just 19%. That suggests a full battery daily life of just below sixteen hours, which is impressive.  

Fast charging with the 65W adapter will, Lenovo says, consider the battery from % to 80% in an hour. I examined speedy recharging at a random level during a functioning day, when the battery was at 59%. Following 15 minutes it had attained 73% (+14%), and after 50 percent an hour it had recharged to eighty five% (+26%). 

There are two USB-C ports, just one of which will be occupied when the notebook is charging, and two USB 3.2 ports, furthermore a complete-dimension HDMI port and a Lenovo docking connector that can also offer Ethernet connectivity by using a proprietary cable. There is certainly also a 3.5mm audio jack. A smartcard reader is an optional more, as is 4G LTE mobile broadband.  

Conclusions

An superb keyboard, reliable create and fantastic effectiveness are serious furthermore factors for the AMD-based mostly ThinkPad T14s, whilst PrivacyGuard display screen viewing safety is great if you are geared up to pay back for the 500-nits touch-display screen. Battery daily life is fantastic far too, and there are loads of ports and connectors. But if you want a 4K display screen, Thunderbolt 3 guidance or a 2TB SSD, you are going to have to have to pick an Intel-based mostly model.

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