Lenovo ThinkBook 14 2-in-1 Gen 4 Review: Affordable, Upgradeable Business Convertible

If you happen to learn my assessment earlier this 12 months of Lenovo’s flagship ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12 and agreed with my conclusion that it is too costly except your group is making quantity purchases, then the ThinkBook line is perhaps of curiosity. Geared towards smaller retailers and particular person consumers in search of a strong and safe two-in-one laptop computer, the ThinkBook 14 2-in-1 Gen 4 affords a low-cost various to pricier ThinkPads for enterprise consumers. 

Not solely is it extra inexpensive than a ThinkPad, however additionally it is extra upgradeable. Most fashionable laptops and two-in-ones, together with Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12 and ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 8 in addition to its consumer-oriented Yoga 9i 14 Gen 9 and Yoga 7 14 Gen 9, characteristic RAM that’s soldered to the motherboard and can’t be upgraded after buy (the case with most laptops now). The ThinkBook 14 2-in-1 Gen 4’s upgradeability can enhance your ROI by letting you (or your IT division) add extra RAM and a second SSD as an alternative of needing to buy a brand new machine on the first indicators of it slowing down. The remainder of the bundle is pretty primary — from the plain general look to the dim show — however the ThinkBook 14 2-in-1 Gen 4’s strong construct high quality and expandability might lend it a protracted and helpful life for budget-conscious enterprise consumers.

This fourth technology of Lenovo’s ThinkBook 14 2-in-1 relies on Intel Core Extremely processors. The baseline mannequin has been persistently discounted to $939 at Lenovo and contains a Core Extremely 5 125U, 8GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD and a 14-inch IPS contact show with a 1,920×1,200-pixel decision. 

Lenovo affords a number of customization choices for the CPU (to a Core Extremely 7 155H), RAM (as much as 32GB) and SSD (as much as 1TB). Our check system price $1,046 and included 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD in addition to the improve from Home windows 11 Residence to Professional.

The ThinkBook 14 2-in-1 Gen 4 begins at £708 in the UK and AU$1,683 in Australia. 

Lenovo ThinkBook 14 2-in-1 Gen 4 efficiency

There are fewer variations than you would possibly assume between the Core Extremely 5 125H CPU in our check system and the step-up Core Extremely 7 155H that Lenovo affords for an additional $209. The Core Extremely 7 155H runs at barely greater CPU and GPU frequencies than the Core Extremely 5 125H, however each chips characteristic a complete of 12 processing cores — two efficiency cores, eight environment friendly cores and two low-power environment friendly cores.

Given the 2 processors have the identical variety of cores and the variations in frequencies are slight, I used to be stunned to see the ThinkBook 14 2-in-1 Gen 4 path a pair of Core Extremely 7 155H-based techniques within the HP Spectre x360 14 and Lenovo Yoga 9i 14 Gen 9 on the Geekbench 6 single- and multi-core assessments by such huge margins. It even completed behind the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 8 with a previous-gen Core i7 U-series CPU and a pair of AMD Ryzen 7 8860H-based fashions within the Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 7445 and Lenovo Yoga 7 14 Gen 9. 

The ThinkBook managed to prime the ThinkPad X1 Yoga on PCMark 10 however trailed the opposite Intel and AMD fashions on this benchmark, which measures general software efficiency throughout blended workloads.

It additionally produced a lackluster consequence on 3DMark Time Spy. It completed forward of the previous-gen ThinkPad X1 Yoga and narrowly edged the Microsoft Surface Pro 11, however the Arm-based Floor Professional 11 had to make use of emulation to run the check, which holds again efficiency. Neither of those 3DMark Time Spy victories should be celebrated.

After a collection of disappointments in lab testing, the ThinkBook 14 2-in-1 Gen 4 flipped the script with battery testing and produced a superb runtime of roughly 13.5 hours. That is the perfect amongst this group of laptops and two-in-ones and greater than sufficient to get you thru most workdays on a single cost. 

Plain appears to be like, strong construct

The ThinkBook 14 2-in-1 Gen 4 is designed to not flip heads however to place your head down and work. It contains a sturdy, all-aluminum enclosure in a boring grey colour with a boring grey keyboard to match. The one trace of a design flourish is the 2 tones of grey on the lid, with the usual boring offset by a barely lighter however nonetheless boring grey on the underside third.

Whereas it could be missing within the appears to be like division, the ThinkBook 14 2-in-1 Gen 4 boasts a rock-solid construct high quality. This laptop computer is a workhorse that may be capable to stand as much as every day abuse. The steel chassis has little to not one of the flex felt in flimsier enclosures, and the show hinges really feel agency and maintain the show rooted in place with little to no wobble in its many modes, from laptop computer to pill with tent and presentation modes in between. The ThinkBook 14 2-in-1 Gen 4 has handed MIL-STD 810H assessments to show its means to resist drops, vibration, shock, mud, excessive temperatures and extra.

Unsurprisingly, the tank-like laptop computer is heavier than the typical 14-inch two-in-one. It weighs 3.6 kilos, which isn’t too heavy for every day journey and the identical weight because the Lenovo Yoga 7 14 Gen 9. The two.9-pound Lenovo Yoga 9i 14 Gen 9, 3.1-pound Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 8 and three.2-pound HP Spectre x360 14 are higher choices if you happen to’re seeking to journey lighter.

The keyboard is spill-resistant to guard the internals from espresso, Eating regimen Coke or no matter beverage helps you get by the workday. It feels roomy, however the keys themselves lean towards mushy and lack the snap you get with a ThinkPad keyboard. I do like getting 4 practically full-size arrow keys as an alternative of the half-height buttons normally on provide.

I additionally just like the ThinkBook 14 2-in-1 Gen 4 upgradeability. We’re in an period the place most laptops characteristic RAM that is soldered to the motherboard and never upgradeable after buy. So, it is refreshing to see a laptop computer with an precise RAM module that may be eliminated or changed. Higher but, there is a second RAM slot so that you — or the IT division managing a small fleet of ThinkBook 14 — can simply add extra reminiscence as wanted. 

There’s additionally an open M.2 slot so as to add a second SSD for storage. And getting contained in the laptop computer is simple so long as you may have a Torx screwdriver; 9 Torx screws maintain the underside panel in place.

Like the general design, the ThinkBook 14 2-in-1 Gen 4’s show is unremarkable. It is a typical 1,920×1,200-pixel IPS contact panel rated for a ho-hum 300 nits of brightness. The decision suffices for the show’s dimension — textual content and pictures look sharp sufficient — however I want it was brighter. 

In testing with a Spyder X Elite colorimeter, it didn’t hit its meager ranking and measured a peak brightness of simply 285 nits. It is a show wherein you may have the brightness dialed all the best way up always. And you may want you might push it greater if you find yourself sitting in a sunny room or underneath brilliant synthetic lights. Coloration efficiency was higher than anticipated, although. The show lined 100% of the sRGB gamut and a good proportion of the bigger colour areas — 78% for AdobeRGB and 80% for P3. 

Lenovo consists of the Slim Pen 4.0, an energetic pen that may be charged through USB-C and connected magnetically to the laptop computer’s proper aspect. Its flat form is not probably the most ergonomic for writing, however it’s huge sufficient that I grew comfy utilizing it.

The 1080p webcam produces a fuzzy, poorly balanced picture that appears extra like the standard you’d get with an older 720p cam. It isn’t nice, however it does characteristic a bodily privateness shutter. Lenovo affords an IR cam improve, however the improve would not embrace a bump in decision. With out the webcam improve, you should use the fingerprint reader that is built-in into the facility button on the system’s proper aspect for safe biometric logins.

The exterior port choice is superb with Thunderbolt 4 on board together with a pair of USB-A ports, HMDI and even a microSD card slot. With simply Wi-Fi 6 as an alternative of Wi-Fi 6E to say nothing of the present Wi-Fi 7 commonplace, nevertheless, the ThinkBook 14 2-in-1 Gen 4’s wi-fi networking is behind the occasions. 

Is the ThinkBook 14 2-in-1 Gen 4 an excellent laptop computer?

Provided that it prices a whole lot lower than equally configured ThinkPads, the ThinkBook 14 2-in-1 Gen 4 affords good worth regardless of its shortcomings. And its worth will solely enhance if you happen to plan to make the most of its upgradeability so as to add extra RAM or a second SSD to increase its lifespan. Plus, with its rugged construct, the ThinkBook 14 2-in-1 Gen 4 ought to carry up for years and years.