Over the past few days, we’ve brought you the latest in MWC 2021 news. Virtual once again this year, the news is still coming in, and the latest from Lenovo has the company introducing two new Yoga Tab and a couple of other Android tablets to take your home entertainment, work, and play to the next level.
Estimated reading time:5minutes
Lenovo Yoga Tab 13
The Lenovo Tab 13 Android tablet.
The Lenovo Yoga Tab 13 offers up a premium build quality with a large display. Its stainless steel kickstand lets you use it virtually anywhere, from the kitchen counter to a table or even hang it from a doorknob. The tablet itself is finished in Alcantara soft-touch material and has a shadow black colour.
Under the hood, users can expect up to 12 hours of streaming on the 13-inch 2K LTPS (Low-Temperature Poly-Silicon) display with 400 nits of brightness, Dolby Vision HDR and 100% sRGB colour gamut coverage. Fully immerse yourself with quad JBL speakers, Lenovo Premium Audio tuning, and Dolby Atmos with 450Hz of bass.
With Wi-Fi 6 for fast connectivity, the Yoga Tab 13 runs on the Qualcomm Snap[dragon 870 Mobile Platform with 8GB LPDDR5 memory. Storage includes 128GB or 256GB options. For the creative types, an optional Lenovo Precision Pen can be purchased as well. You can also use the Lenovo Yoga Tab 13 as a portable second display when connected to a laptop with a micro-HDMI to USB cable.
The Lenovo Yoga Tab 13 starts at US$679.99 is expected to be available in July of this year.
Lenovo Yoga Tab 11
The Lenovo Yoga Tab 11 Android tablet.
For those seeking a more affordable option, the Yoga Tab 11 is an 11-inch Android tablet powered by a MediaTek Helio G90T processor and comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage or 4GB RAM and 128GB of storage. The display itself comes with a 2000×1200 resolution, Dolby Vision, and 400 nits of brightness. An LTE version will also be made available. Like its larger sibling, it also comes with a stainless steel kickstand that can also be used to hang the tablet when in use.
The Lenovo Yoga Tab 11 starts at US$319.99 is expected to be available in August of this year.
Lenovo Tab P11 Plus
Lenovo Tab P11 Plus Android tablet.
Also featuring a MediaTek Helio G90T processor, the 11-inch Tab P11 Plus comes in three options: 4GB RAM with 64GB storage, 4GB RAM with 128GB storage, or 6GB RAM with 128GB storage. Its 7500mAh battery offers up to 12 hours of video playback or web browsing. Like the Yoga Tab Android tablets, this one also has a 2000 x 1200 resolution, Dolby Vision, and 400 nits of brightness.
The Lenovo Tab P11 Plus tablet starts at US$259.99 is expected to be available in August.
Lenovo Tab M7 & M8
The Lenovo Tab M7 with optional kid case.
Finally, the Lenovo Tab M7 and M8 Android tablets offer 7- and 8-inch tablets for those wanting an even smaller and more portable tablet. The Tab M7 runs on a MediaTek MT8166 processor, has 2GB LPDDR4 RAM and 32GB of storage. The 7-inch display has a 1024 x 600 resolution. Its 3750mAh battery offers up to 10 hours of battery life. The M7 is available in Wi-Fi or LTE versions.
The Tab M8 has an 8-inch, 1280 x 800 display. Running off a MediaTek Helio P22T processor, it is available with 2 or 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. Its larger 5100mAh battery lasts up to 18 hours, depending on what you are doing with it. The M8 also has a 3GB RAM with 32GB storage or 4GB RAM and 64GB of storage option with a Smart Charging Station. When placed on the station, the tablet transforms into a smart home hub using Google Assistant’s Ambient Mode.
The Lenovo Tab M7 (3rd Gen) starts at US$109.99 is expected to be available in July. The Lenovo Tab M8 (3rd Gen) will be available in select markets later this year but, unfortunately, is not slated to arrive in the U.S.
Premium Care
Previously only offered on Lenovo PCs, the company has extended its Premium Care advanced customer support service to select Android tablets, starting with the five listed above. With the service, users can access support via phone, chat, or email, and get real-time solutions from expert technicians.
What do you think about the Lenovo Yoga Tab 13, Yoga Tab 11, and Yoga Tab P11 Android tablets? Are you going to be picking one up?>
There’s something a little counter-revolutionary about high-end gaming machines made by suit-and-tie PC businesses. The idea of Lenovo, makers of the ThinkPad, building a gaming machine worthy of comment feels a little weird, and yet the Legion 5 Pro is just that. The Walmart-exclusive model that I’m testing costs $1,530, pairing AMD’s Ryzen 7 5800H with NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3070 graphics. Powerful and affordable? That’s almost revolutionary.
Rounding out that spec list is 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD. Mercifully, both components are user upgradeable. That piddly drive will barely hold more than a couple Calls worth of Duty before you’re reaching for an external drive. But these are the sort of smart compromises that Lenovo opted for to keep the price down, letting you add more RAM and storage as needed.
Critics - Not yet scored
Users - Not yet scored
Pros
Ryzen 7 and RTX 3070 for $1530
Quick and great for gaming
Buckets of I/O
Cons
Baaaaaad battery life
Gets too hot under heavy load
And then there’s the screen, a 16-inch, 165Hz QHD, X-Rite Pantone-validated IPS display with the new, taller 16:10 aspect ratio. At 500 nits, the panel can hold its own in bright light compared to many of its rivals, and the matte screen reduces the risk of glare. Watching 4K video on this thing is a very pleasant experience and I’ve enjoyed working from this device the past week or so that I’ve been using it. It certainly makes you want to spend hours at a time staring at gigapixel images of, say, Paris, which I definitely didn’t spend a long time doing this week (cough).
Daniel Cooper
Lenovo wasn’t looking to pull up any trees with this design, which is little more than a refinement of what went before. It’s not as thin or light as its rivals, and looks better in a dark room lit only by the glow of an RGB keyboard and the odd Nanoleaf panel. But if you’re buying it as a desktop replacement that’ll spend 90 percent of its time plonked on the same desk, it’s fine. Oh, and the aluminum chassis is rock solid, giving you confidence on those occasions when you do need to take it somewhere. That matte gray paint job, while very business forward, hides a multitude of palm sweat-based sins, but will attract every speck of dust in a three-mile zone.
The Legion 5 Pro’s chunky chassis also means that you’ll find an excellent supply of I/O running around its deck. You get four USB-A (3.2 Gen 1) sockets, two USB-C (3.2 Gen 2) connections, HDMI, Ethernet and a 3.5mm headphone / microphone jack, as well as the proprietary power port. On the right-hand side, you’ll also find a hardware camera mute button, which replaces the dedicated hardware shutter from previous versions.
Even after several days of use, using Lenovo’s TrueStrike keyboard remains a pleasant but weird experience. The keys have a depth of 1.5mm, but Lenovo uses “soft landing” switches to make each actuation feel a little deeper than that. Every time you hit a key, you’re expecting the hard jerk of a mechanical keyboard, only to find a pillowy end and bounce back up. It’s like filling your shoes with water on a hot day and then stepping into them: It’s very useful, but your brain is telling you that something’s amiss here.
It's worth noting that Lenovo took advantage of the Legion 5’s bigger deck size to include a numerical keypad. The company says that the numpad itself is full size, but to my eyes and fingers, it feels a little squashed compared to a regular external PC keyboard. The RGB backlighting is perhaps appropriately muted, but can be set to four different lighting zones when required. The trackpad, meanwhile, is perfectly functional, and the bigger size is welcome given how tight previous models have been.
Daniel Cooper
I have less to say about the machine’s 720p camera, which is the very definition of serviceable. Light blooms, everything’s uncomfortably fuzzy and the overall effect is that of most ‘60s TV shows when they’d get the Vaseline-smeared lens for close-ups. If you’re looking to make a living from streaming, or you’re a professional Zoom-call-haver, buy an external device. Poor webcam aside, Lenovo gets props for offering a dedicated camera disconnect button since there wasn’t room in the space-starved lid for its customary shutter.
Benchmarks don’t tell the whole story, but the Legion 5 Pro comes in close enough to machines priced a couple hundred bucks more. When playing demanding AAA games like Cyberpunk and Shadow of the Tomb Raider, I got between 50 and 60fps with the settings appropriately tweaked. Naturally, you’ll lose a little bit of that when you enable ray tracing, but it can handle hard work relatively well. The Legion 5 Pro has three pre-set performance modes which can be set inside the Vantage utility, or cycled through when you hit Fn+Q. One neat addition is that the power button will change color depending on which mode you’re in: Auto offers a white glow, Quiet a cool blue, and Performance an angry red.
Using a machine like this for general productivity work is a bit like taking an F-150 to buy a box of cereal, but it’s more than possible. After all, if all you’re doing is crunching documents, writing term papers, poking at spreadsheets and using Slack, this has more than enough. When transcoding a 28.2GB UHD H.265 video file to 1080p, Handbrake was able to crunch through it at over 40 fps, making it sturdy enough for even halfway professional video editors.
The Legion 5 Pro uses a dual-fan system which pushes hot air out of its chassis through a quartet of exhausts. Two vents at the back are complemented by one on each side, and if you’re not blessed with huge amounts of room, beware. Leave your hand, mouse, gamepad or drink next to one of those vents for too long and they will become uncomfortably warm. Playing Cyberpunk and Shadow of the Tomb Raider was kicking out enough heat that I wondered if I could make s’mores.
Daniel Cooper
This problem is exacerbated with the aluminum underside of the chassis which gets too hot to touch. After a couple hours of gaming, I picked up the machine to move it somewhere else and damn: I thought I’d pulled a baking sheet straight out of the oven. It’s not hot enough to burn you, but it’s not something you wanna touch if you value not being in pain.
It’s also impossible to sugarcoat the sheer noise that this machine makes when the fans spin up. This thing is noisy — noisy enough that you’ll need to dial your speakers up to drown it out or grab a pair of headphones to claw back some of that immersion. This is an occupational hazard of gaming laptops, but it’s worth noting that this system is loud.
Another tick in the “not ideal” column is battery life, and despite packing an 80WHr battery, it will not last long when removed from an outlet. Our standard battery rundown test loops a video until the computer dies, with the brightness set to 65 percent and all battery-saving tech disabled. It managed to last for four hours and 43 minutes while using the integrated Radeon graphics, which is fine in the gritted-teeth sense of the word. Certainly, while you can handle a few emails or some light browsing while sat on your couch, this is not a device you can take away from a socket for a full working day without fuss.
One of the reasons that the Legion 5 Pro is compelling despite some of its flaws is its price, which is something. Lenovo has managed to undercut several of its competitors here, and there’s no wonder it’s only intermittently on sale right now. If you want a machine from Alienware with similar specs (the romantically-named M15 Ryzen Edition R5 Gaming Laptop) it’ll cost you $1,900. For that, you’ll get a Ryzen R7 5800H (same as here), RTX 3070 with 8GB RAM (same as here), 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD (same as… you get the idea).
Daniel Cooper
If getting RTX 3070 graphics is a dealbreaker, you could opt for the Razer Blade 15 Base Model with a 15.6-inch FHD display, 10th-generation Intel Core i7-10750H CPU, 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD. You will, however, have to pay $2,000 for the privilege, which may be a non-starter for some. ASUS also offers the ROG Strix G15 — an all-AMD version of which we reviewed a few weeks back — with an RTX 3070, priced at $1,800. If you were looking for a machine in that $1,500-or-so bracket, you could get the $1,600 Razer Book, with a Core i7-1165G7 processor and Intel Iris Xe graphics. Alternatively, for $1,500 Acer’s Predator Triton 300 SE packs a Core i7-11375H CPU and NVIDIA’s RTX 3060 GPU, which seems like a fairly reasonable deal all things considered.
Despite all of the chaos that has so far made up the current decade, we’re seeing a new dawn of AMD’s high-er end chips winding up in gaming laptops. This Ryzen 7 5800H can beat (select) Intel chips in a number of benchmarks, and you can expect to see it crop up in a number of other machines across this year. And while wealthier buyers may be tempted by a far pricier machine with RTX 3080 graphics, the 3070 here shouldn’t make you feel like a second-class citizen.
There is lots to like about this machine, although the snips made to push the price down are sure to rankle some. The battery life is well below par, the thermals could do with refinement, and the webcam would look retrograde on even a five-year-old machine. But, if you’re going to stick this on a desk, keep it constantly plugged in to power and never do more than the odd Zoom, does any of that matter?
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I’ve said prior that instead of an entry-level model that might have a 1366 x 768 non-touch display and Intel Pentium this device may be the better buy.
You’re getting a 10th-generation Intel Core i3 processor and full HD, or 1920 x 1080 resolution, touch screen. That comes along with a backlit keyboard and support for faster, newer WiFi 6 routers, which adds some future-proofing. You can also purchase and use an optional USI stylus with this device.
Here are the full specs of this Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5, to illustrate the value of what you’re getting for a penny under $340.
1 USB Type-A, 2 USB Type-C,
headphone/microphone combo jack
Battery
51 WHr, expected run-time up to 10 hours
Weight
2.97 pounds
Software
Chrome OS automatic updates through: June 2028
Is the “perfect” Chromebook? No, of course not. You might want more than 4 GB of memory or 64 GB of local storage capacity.
But at this price, you’re not likely to find those attributes on any relatively new Chromebook.
And to be honest, for everyday use as a home computer or schoolwork, the Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5 will surely be up the task for most people. Sure, you could wait for the just-announced Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5i, but it starts at $439.99. Are a newer processor and extra year of software updates worth $100? That’s a personal decision based on your budget, although I would say probably not. At least not for me.
Prime Day 2021 has come and gone, but thankfully Amazon AU is still hosting some fantastic deals at the moment on a number of in-demand tech products.
With many Australians still working from home due to ongoing lockdowns, the importance of a good workstation for the home office has become paramount.
Luckily, Amazon AU has some great deals on productivity focused laptops and Chromebooks right now, with several options from Lenovo currently discounted by hundreds of dollars.
Each of the Lenovo products featured below have received huge discounts and would prove more than sufficient in a 'work from home' environment. So without further ado, here are the best Lenovo laptop and Chromebook deals on Amazon AU right now.
Lenovo's 14-inch Yoga 7i is a full-featured laptop that comes with Windows 10 Home Edition pre-installed. It boasts an Intel Core i7 CPU, a crisp FHD (1080p) display, 16GB of DDR4 RAM and 512GB of SSD storage. Available in Slate Grey, the Lenovo Yoga 7i has been reduced from AU$2,199 to just AU$1,697.View Deal
Amazon AU: best Lenovo Chromebook deals
Chromebooks are currently more popular than ever, offering a lighter, more agile system to work on – especially if you don't need to perform intensive tasks. Those who simply need a good machine for word processing and spreadsheets should definitely consider a Chromebook, as they are much, much cheaper than the vast majority of laptops.
This handy 2-in-1 Chromebook solution allows you to simply detach its keyboard and use it a standalone tablet. With a FHD (1080p) touchscreen, a MediaTek P60T CPU, 4GB of RAM and 128GB of eMCP (embedded Multi-Chip Packages) storage, Lenovo IdeaPad Duet is a steal at AU$337.View Deal
Lenovo has a pair of promising iPad alternatives in the pipeline with the Yoga Tab 13 and Yoga Tab 11, and we got to see them up close. These new Android tablets stand out with their slick fabric-coated designs as well as their handy kickstands that also allow them to be hung in your kitchen or living room when you’re reading recipes or checking the weather.
On top of these noteworthy new slates, Lenovo also took the wraps off of the Smart Clock 2, an $89 smart alarm clock that could be a good Nest Hub alternative, thanks to its included wireless charging dock.
Here’s our first look at Lenovo’s new tablets and smart devices slated for later this year, and why we think you should be excited about them.
Lenovo Yoga Tab 13 and Yoga Tab 11
Mike Andronico/CNN
The Yoga Tab 13 (starting at $679) is a premium tablet built for both work and play, with a bright 13-inch display and a solid amount of power and connectivity options. The Tab 13’s design immediately caught our eye on two fronts: its attractive Alcantara coating, and a unique kickstand that also doubles as a hanger for when you want a small display on your wall.
It’s rare that we see a tablet with Alcantara, which is the same soft-touch coating that we love using on Microsoft devices such as the Surface Laptop 4. It makes the Tab 13 comfortable to hold while adding some nice extra grip, and gives the tablet a distinct look that sets it apart from the all-aluminum backings of the iPad family.
This classy look is complemented by a built-in kickstand on the rear, which has a neat U-shaped design that also lets you hang the tablet on a wall or board. This could come in handy if you’re following a recipe in the kitchen, or want an easy way to check the weather or news in your bathroom or hallway — especially since you can command the Tab 13 with your voice via the Google Assistant.
Mike Andronico/CNN
We were also impressed by our short time with the Tab 13’s display, which gave a nice amount of colorful pop to the tablet’s blue and purple background as well as the litany of colorful app icons scattered around it. The 13-inch screen has a 2K (2048 x 1080) resolution and promises a high 400 nits of brightness, which seems ideal for watching movies or playing Android games on the go. It also boasts a low-temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS) screen, which are built to be faster and sharper than a typical LCD display. We’re eager to test out the tablet’s quad JBL speakers, which feature Dolby Atmos support for immersive spatial sound.
Specs-wise, the Tab 13 should be able to power through everyday tasks just fine. It’s running Android 11 with a Lenovo user interface on top with Wi-Fi 6 support for use with the latest and speediest wireless routers (there’s no LTE option for connecting on the road, unfortunately). It even packs a microHDMI to USB cable, which allows it to double as a portable monitor for just about any laptop or desktop. The Yoga Tab 13 starts with 128GB of storage for $579 and scales to 256GB, plus it supports a microSD card for expansion. In our brief time with Lenovo’s 13-inch tablet, swiping and tapping around the screen to open apps, folders and browsers felt instant and responsive.
If you want a smaller, more affordable version of this tablet, there’s also the $319 Yoga Tab 11. This slate has many of its bigger sibling’s key features like the kickstand, Dolby Vision support on an 11-inch screen and Google Assistant integration. This smaller Yoga Tab is powered by a more entry-level MediaTek Helio G90T processor, and unlike its larger counterpart has LTE support for keeping you online when Wi-Fi isn’t available. It will still run Android 11 with a Lenovo interface and should handle most everyday tasks.
You also get a Storm Gray fabric coating on the back, and while it’s not quite as nice as the Alcantara on the Tab 13, it’s still a welcome addition — and again, something you won’t find on the latest $329 iPad. The Tab 11 is slated to start shipping in August 2021.
Lenovo Smart Alarm Clock 2
Mike Andronico/CNN
For those who prefer their smart displays at bedside, the $89 Lenovo Smart Alarm Clock 2 that we got to check out seems pretty promising. This tiny touch-screen clock looks like a miniature hybrid of the latest Echo Show and Nest Hub devices, with a colorful 4-inch display and an especially attractive mesh coating that comes in Shadow Black, Heather Gray and Abyss Blue.
The Smart Alarm Clock 2 packs Google Assistant support, so you can queue up music, set an alarm or pull up some Google Photos with your voice alone. The small display looked impressive during our short time with it, exhibiting some nice color when we looked at an image of a waterfall or cycled through various vibrant clock faces. But the real kicker is the included wireless charging pad, which, in addition to charging the Alarm Clock, leaves ample room for you to juice up your phone, earbuds or any other device that supports wireless charging.
Lenovo’s Smart Alarm Clock 2 will ship this September for $89.
Bottom line
Mike Andronico/CNN
We’re especially eager to get our hands on the Yoga Tab 13, which is shaping up to be an impressive premium tablet with a great display and an especially useful design that can be propped up and hung in a variety of different ways. Its ability to double as a monitor sure doesn’t hurt either. And considering it’s cheaper than the iPad Pro (starting at $799), iPad Air (starting at $599) and Galaxy Tab S7 (starting at $649) it could prove to be a compelling alternative for folks who want a powerful and vibrant slate for work and play. The Tab 13 is set to launch in July — preorders aren’t up just yet, but you’ll find it here in the near future.
Meanwhile, the Tab 11 (coming in August starting at $319) could be a strong value pick that takes on the base iPad, especially since it has the same versatile build as the 13. We’re also eager to see how it compares to the cheaper $149 Fire HD 10, which is powered by a similar processor. And we’re looking forward to trying out the Smart Alarm Clock 2 (arriving in September for $89) to see how it stacks up against the best alarm clocks as well as Amazon and Google’s smart screens.
A full-on smart display is overkill as a nightstand alarm clock replacement for most people. But that's why Lenovo's Smart Clock is great option: The 4-inch color display gives the basics (time, weather), and the unit doubles as a fairly capable Google Assistant and Bluetooth speaker, too. There's no camera, which makes a lot of folks more comfortable bringing it into the bedroom. And right now, the Lenovo Smart Clock is back on sale at Best Buy for $40. That's half off the original $80 asking price.
Yes, Lenovo just today announced a second-generation Smart Clock that includes a wireless charging pad. But that's not out until September, and it will cost you $90. In the meantime, this model includes a USB port in the back, so you can connect your phone directly (or bring your own wireless charging plate for good measure). And while the $50 sale price is about $5 more than we've seen in the past, this color model is $10 less than the step-down Smart Clock Essential -- with a black and white screen -- is selling at Best Buy today.
Though the ThinkPad E14 Gen 2's design is attractive, its battery and performance aren't on par with its peers.
The Thinkpad E14’s middling performance, poor battery life, and underwhelming display put it below many laptops in its class. Its security features and sturdy build may be enough to sway some, but most looking for a laptop suited for a day’s work would be better suited by a laptop with longer battery life and faster performance.
About the Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 2
The specs of our review unit were as follows:
Processor: Intel Core i5-1135G7
Memory: 16GB 3200Mhz
Storage: 256GB NVMe M.2 SSD
Display: 14-inch LED 1080p 300Hz 100% sRGB
Ports: 1x USB 2.0, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1, 1x USB-C 4, 1x HDMI, 1x ethernet
Graphics: Intel Iris Xe Graphics
Wireless: Wi-Fi 6
Battery: 90Whr
Weight: 3.62 pounds
Dimensions: 12.8 x 8.7 x 0.7 inches
Warranty: 12-month limited hardware warranty
The ThinkPad E14 Gen 2 starts at about $620 and goes all the way up to nearly $1,500 depending on your configuration. The lowest configuration will get you an Intel Core i3 processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD, while the highest configuration comes with an Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD.
Editor's note: Lenovo has notified us that the particular configuration we reviewed is currently out of stock, with no precise date on when it will return. We'll update this review when available.
What we like
Rock-solid build quality
Credit: Reviewed/Jordan McMahon
The rubber strip that runs down one side of the ThinkPad's underside prevents the laptop from sliding around while in use.
In the ThinkPad E14 Gen 2, Lenovo has crafted a laptop that feels nearly weightless. Its matte finish feels less likely to slip from your hands than the slick finish on something like a MacBook, and the rubber feet on the bottom prevent the laptop from shifting around while you work. It’s a bit thicker, though not so much that it’s inconvenient to take on the road, and it’s light enough to bring to work without weighing you down.
Through heavy workdays and casual browsing, the E14 never felt clunky or showed any signs of poor construction. It’s as easy to carry as a book when your restless legs wander from room to room or hop on the train to start your journey to the office. It’s hard to trust carrying your laptop around if you’re not sure it’ll survive the scuffle of a hectic life, but this one you can.
The keyboard and trackpad are a joy to use
Credit: Reviewed/Jordan McMahon
The ThinkPad's keyboard provides an excellent typing experience, and its trackpad never feels choppy or laggy.
For anyone looking to get serious work done on their laptop, this keyboard is up to the task. The ThinkPad’s backlit keys have plenty of space, deliver a satisfying click, and provide a comfortable typing experience suited for a heavy workload. Generally, if the keys are too narrow, don’t have sufficient space between them, or lack enough depth to give a satisfying click, spending a long time hunched over your laptop can be uncomfortable or even grueling. That’s not the case with this E14.
Comfort aside, the keyboard provides additional utility in its function keys. There are the usual buttons for things like adjusting the volume and brightness, as well as muting the laptop’s microphone (no more worrying your whole team’s going to hear you struggle to keep your barking dogs quiet during a meeting). Other function keys control things like screen projecting as well as answering and ending calls. Bundled together, the function keys equip the E14 with a few handy tools that make handling all your work needs from your laptop less of a hassle.
The trackpad is precise and smooth without notable stutters or hiccups. You can’t press down from anywhere on the pad like you can with the MacBook, but you can always tap if you’ve enabled that option. The E14 also comes equipped with Lenovo’s signature TrackPoint, the tiny, red eraser-like nub that rests between the G, H, and B keys, with accompanying left, right, and center click buttons below the space bar. It’s not for everyone, as it relies on finger pressure instead of finger movement and functions more like a joystick, but ThinkPad fans and those willing to take the time to adapt might enjoy it instead of the trackpad.
Security features will keep things locked down
Credit: Reviewed/Jordan McMahon
If you're worried about prying eyes, the ThinkPad features a fingerprint scanner that can help you keep your files locked down.
If you’re going to use a laptop for work, it’s good to know that all your documents and communications are secure, even if there’s nothing seriously confidential. Lenovo’s added a few extra touches to the E14 to give it a nice security boost. First, there’s the IR scanner next to the laptop’s 720p webcam, which allows for more precise facial recognition than you can get with a camera alone. This is one way you can secure your laptop: getting it to unlock only if it recognizes your face.
There's also a fingerprint scanner, which adds another layer of security, but acts secondary to the IR scanner if you have both enabled. You only need one of the two to unlock your laptop, but it’s nice to have both turned on to make sure your bases are covered. You can even require a physical key (usually in the form of a special file on a USB drive) to log in, if that’s more your style.
Enabling these security measures isn’t much trouble even if you skip the process during setup. Just hop into the Windows 10 settings, awkwardly stare at the camera for a few seconds, tap your finger on the scanner a few times, and then you’re all set. Once you’ve done that, you’ll have set up a few additional hurdles for prying eyes to hop through.
What we don’t like
Underwhelming performance for productivity
Credit: Reviewed/Jordan McMahon
Lenovo's classic pressure-sensitive TrackPoint gives you an extra way to drag your cursor across the screen, though it isn't for everyone.
The best build and keyboard can’t make up for poor performance, especially on a machine meant for getting work done. We discovered there’s a large performance gap between the Intel Core i5-1135G7 in this machine and a Core i7 from the same generation, so you’re better off getting the more expensive E14 model in this case—or something else like the Dell XPS 13 altogether.
For CPU-intensive tasks like 3D rendering and transcoding large video files, the Core i5-1135G7 is slow. It took the laptop 18 minutes in Blender (a program used for 3D design) to render an image and 44 minutes to transcode a 4K video to 1080p in Handbrake. The Core i7-1165G7 can complete the same tasks twice as fast.
Thankfully, the chassis never reached high temperatures to scorch your lap, but its fans began running several times during Google Meet calls with just Microsoft Edge and Slack open. The noise wasn’t overbearing, but it happened frequently enough to become a nuisance. This might be fine for a less expensive laptop, but for a $900 machine, the E14’s performance doesn’t provide much confidence in being able to toss any heavy tasks its way.
Its battery life won’t get you through a full workday
While Lenovo's touted battery life of up to 8.7 hours for the E14 is a bit above the minimum you’d want for a work machine, it fell well below that mark in our testing. For our battery testing on all laptops, we set the display to 200 nits of brightness and rotate through several webpages on Chrome until the battery dies.
Despite a few rounds of double-checking our testing and fiddling with settings, we only managed to squeeze about five hours and 30 minutes of juice out of our review unit, and that was only after we’d enabled Windows’s battery saver feature to kick in at 10%. With so many laptops offering notably better battery life at similar price points, the E14’s low battery performance is a serious dent in its sleek matte armor.
Disappointing display
Credit: Reviewed / Jordan McMahon
The screen is easily overpowered by the sun, making what's displayed hard to see.
For a machine that’ll carry you through your day, you’ll want a display that can adapt to different environments—say, your porch on a sunny work-from-home day, or a dim nook in your office where you can get a moment of solitude—without straining your eyes. The ThinkPad’s 1080p LED display only hits 249 nits at its highest brightness, which is well below what you’d need to see things clearly outside while the sun’s out.
While that limits its flexibility beyond a well or dimly-lit room, the display does have a matte finish similar to an e-reader that reduces glare from artificial light and goes easy on your eyes. It’s not enough to save the laptop from a display that doesn’t shine, but it’s a nice addition that should make reading long memos and sitting through long all-hands meetings a bit less strenuous.
Should you buy it?
No, its performance and battery life make it unreliable for getting work done
The ThinkPad E14 Gen 2 is a well-built laptop with a trackpad and keyboard that instill confidence with every peck and tap. Its matte display reduces glare, which comes in handy when glaring lights burst through. Lenovo’s additional security features add additional barriers that keep away any unwanted peeps at your files and folders.
For nearly $1,000, though, it’s hard to look past the laptop's most glaring flaws. At about five and a half hours, its battery life isn’t enough to get through a full day’s worth of work. The E14's benchmark scores were significantly lower than other laptops you can get for the same price, including Apple’s similarly-priced M1 MacBook Air, which lasts longer without breaking a sweat, or surprisingly affordable HP Envy x360, which offers better performance and battery life at a notably lower price.
Though the ThinkPad E14 Gen 2's design is attractive and its keyboard and trackpad work brilliantly, its shortcomings make it hard to be sure it will handle a full workload for most people, especially as the battery degrades over time. That’s a tough hurdle to overcome for a laptop that’s framed largely as a productivity device, and plenty of laptops avoid the issue altogether without costing much more.
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Meet the tester
Jordan McMahon
Staff Writer, Electronics
Jordan has been writing about and reviewing technology since 2017, with products ranging from tablets and apps to fanny packs and home office gear.
We use standardized and scientific testing methods to scrutinize every product and provide you with objectively accurate results. If you’ve found different results in your own research, email us and we’ll compare notes. If it looks substantial, we’ll gladly re-test a product to try and reproduce these results. After all, peer reviews are a critical part of any scientific process.
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