Lenovo ThinkPad T14 (Gen 5) Review: A Solid Performer That Can Go The Distance

After reviewing hundreds of some of the best laptops over the years, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the premium models with all the shiny bells and whistles. But with the ThinkPad T14, Lenovo gives a hearty nod to the journeyman device. It’s not for people looking for workstation-level performance or heavy-duty content creation. The T14 is very much for mobile professionals or even students who need a reliable system that can pump out reports without draining their bank account. And what it lacks in performance, it makes up for in battery life at nearly 11 hours of power.

The laptop does suffer from a dull display, which is a minor inconvenience at best for most consumers. Overall, the T14 is one of the better ThinkPad laptops in Lenovo’s mid-tier business notebooks.

About this review: Lenovo sent us the ThinkPad T14 (5th Gen) for review. It did not have any input on this article’s contents.

Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 5

A solid performer

$1318 $1499 Save $181

With options for Intel Core Ultra or Ryzen chips, a new 5MP webcam, a built-in NPU for forward-thinking AI features, and Lenovo’s famous reliability and durability, the all-new ThinkPad T14 Gen 5 is shaping up to be an impressive portable computer worth considering.

Pros

• Thin, lightweight durable chassis
• Solid performance
• Great battery life
• Excellent keyboard

Cons

• Dull display
• Not as powerful as competing systems

Pricing and availability

Lenovo sent over the $1,692 model of the Lenovo ThinkPad T14 (Gen 5) for review. It’s decked out with a 1.7-GHz Intel Core Ultra 7 155U processor, with 16GB of DDR5-5600MHz RAM, a 512GB M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 Performance TLC Opal SSD, integrated Intel Graphics, and a 1920 x 1200 non-touch panel. The base model costs around $1,500.00, with the only difference being the Intel Core Ultra 5 125U CPU.

Specs

CPU

Up to Intel Core Ultra 7 165H

GPU

Intel Arc integrated graphics

Display type

60Hz IPS or 120Hz OLED, Anti-Glare, 300 to 500 nits, touch or non-touch

Display (Size, Resolution)

14-inches, FHD+, 2.2K, or 2.8K

RAM

Up to 64GB DDR5-5600

Storage

Up to 2TB M.2 PCIe SSD Gen4

Battery

52.5Whr

Ports

2x Thunderbolt 4, 2x USB-A, HDMI 2.1, 3.5mm audio jack, Ethernet

Operating System

Windows 11 Pro

Cellular connectivity

Optional

Wi-Fi connectivity

Intel WiFi 6E 802.11AX (2 x 2)

Bluetooth

Bluetooth 5.3

Form factor

Clamshell

Dimensions

0.70 x 12.44 x 8.81 inches (17.7 x 315.9 x 223.7 mm)

Weight

2.96lbs

Speakers

2 x 2W speakers with Dolby Audio

Colors

Eclipse Black, Eclipse Grey

Pen compatibility

No

Price

Starts at $1,499

Design and ports

Lightweight, durable, and plenty of ports

Ooh, a ThinkPad of a different color! Yes, I know it’s only gray, or what Lenovo calls Storm Gray, but if you’ve seen or reviewed as many inky black ThinkPads as I have, you get excited by these kinds of things. So, instead of a lid done in a black soft-touch finish, you have a plastic (50% recycled) gray chassis which is frankly refreshing. Despite the plastic frame, the T14 is plenty durable with MIL-STD-810H certification. If you do happen to prefer classic black, that is an option too.

The 14-inch laptop’s lid has the usual chrome Lenovo plate and iconic ThinkPad logo with the glowing red dot for the “i.” And at the top is an ovular metal housing for the webcam and sensors. Flip the notebook over, and you’ll see two tiny gray rubber feet, six screws, and a massive vent for the dual fans. On the laptop deck, you get your traditional ThinkPad trackpad with its three top-mounted buttons and the red nubby Trackpoint in the middle of the spill-proof keyboard. Rounding out the keyboard deck are a pair of speaker grilles, two small hinges, and another ThinkPad emblem stamped on the right corner of the palm rest.

Lenovo decked out the T14 with a collection of ports that will satisfy even the most discerning mobile professional. You’ve got a pair of USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, an HDMI 2.1 port, a collapsible Ethernet port, a Kensington Nano security slot, and a headset jack. Also of note, they left us a clue about how far the ThinkPad can be tricked out, as there is a placeholder for a SmartCard reader as well as a Nano Sim slot.

The T14 (12.4 x 8.8 x 0.7 inches) weighs 2.96 pounds, which is well within the range of what you’d expect for a thin-and-light laptop. The Acer Swift Go 14 (12.3 x 8.6 x 0.59 inches) is only a tad lighter at 2.91 pounds, while the HP Spectre x360 14 (12.4 x 8.7 x 0.67 inches) and Dell XPS 14 (12.6 x 8.5 x 0.71 inches) are on the heavier end of the scale at 3.19 and 3.7 pounds, respectively.

Related

Display, webcam, and audio

Muted color with sharp details

Although the colors don’t pop as much as they would on a glossy panel, I appreciate Lenovo’s decision to go with a matte 14-inch display for the T14. It all but eliminates the possibility of fingerprint smudges. Well, that and this is a non-touch screen, but still, I like it. Now, what I don’t like is the panel’s color reproduction abilities. When I measured with my colorimeter, I saw the screen only managed 62% on the sRGB gamut, 47% on AdobeRGB, 46% on DCI-P3, and 45% NTSC. However, the brightness report was better at 500 nits, matching Lenovo’s estimate.

Still, singer/actor Brandy Norville’s skin looked to be absolutely glowing during “The Front Room” trailer on the 1920 x 1200 panel, although her teal blouse looked a bit darker than normal. And while the colors were somewhat off, the detail was not, as I could see the fine lines in the faded floral wallpaper in the background.

The 5-megapixel webcam captures images in 1440p, which means you can see a few blemishes on my skin, which means I need to step up my skincare regimen. But my skin tone and multicolored hair looked good, which is surprising, because on some webcams, my orange locs look more red. Like a lot of laptops these days, the webcam has a physical shutter to keep cyber-voyeurs at bay.

Imagine that speakers that aren’t hidden on the laptop’s undercarriage. Instead, the ThinkPad T14’s pair of 2W speakers give good volume and detail, although some of the mids can be hollow and the bass can be a little sparse, as I learned by listening to Hiatus Kaiyote’s “Love Heart Cheat Code.” Although I could hear both the electric and bass guitars’ twang, their overall sound wasn’t as full as the flutes or the vocals.

Related

Keyboard and touchpad

A world-class typing experience

Smile-shaped keys? Check. Bouncy feedback? Check. Gentle click when typing? Check again. It’s all to be expected from Lenovo’s ThinkPad keyboards, which are known as some of the best among business laptops and notebooks overall. I definitely enjoyed my time typing out this review on the T14’s keyboard. I tried my hand at the 10fastfingers.com typing test and got 80 words per minute, which is better than my usual 70 wpm.

The trackpad is large and responsive, performing pinch-zoom, three-finger flick, two-finger scroll, and the three-finger press was quick and near instantaneous. The trio of mouse buttons are slightly mushy compared to the bottom corners of the trackpad. Either way, you have five ways to select or interact with whatever’s on the screen. I’m not accustomed to using the Trackpoint, but using it to move the cursor was really easy.

Performance

It gets the job done

The ThinkPad T14 has an Intel Core Ultra 7 155U processor with 16GB of RAM. The U designation means that you’re not going to get the best performance. However, it will be enough to handle most productivity tasks within reason. The notebook managed 55 open Google Chrome tabs, which is a bit less than my usual collection, but it’s still a heavy mix of G-Suite apps, social media apps, YouTube, and Twitch streams.

The notebook put up respectable results during our synthetic tests, allowing the T14 to keep pace with some more powerful systems. When we ran the PCMark 10 AC benchmark, the Lenovo found itself just behind its competitors with a wider gap happening on the AC version of the test. There was a similar result on Geekbench 6 with the T14 having better performance on the single-thread test compared to the multi-thread benchmark.

If you’re looking for a lightweight gaming system, the ThinkPad T14 is not the way to go. While its integrated graphics can play some older titles on lower settings, modern games are out of the equation. The T14 was no match for its competitors with their more powerful discrete graphics.

What the T14 lacks in performance, it makes up for in battery life. The notebook lasted 10 hours and 48 minutes on the PCMark 10 battery test with the screen at approximately 200 nits.

Related

Should you buy the Lenovo ThinkPad T14?

You should buy the Lenovo ThinkPad T14 if:

• You want a lightweight, durable design
• You want a laptop with a great battery life
• You want a laptop with decent performance

You shouldn’t buy the Lenovo ThinkPad T14 if:

• You want a more powerful laptop
• You want a laptop with a more vivid display

The Lenovo ThinkPad T14 is a serviceable business laptop that brings the durability and security you’d expect from the company’s business-centric line. You also get its best-in-class keyboard, a punchy audio system and a bright anti-glare screen, all in a compact, lightweight chassis. And while its U-series processor isn’t the most powerful on the block, that won’t stop the T14 from tackling most productivity and some light content creation tasks with ease.

Consumers looking for a laptop with a bit more gas in the tank performance-wise and a more vivid display should check out the Dell XPS 14. But be warned, it’s a much more expensive gambit. But if you’re looking for a business laptop that gives solid performance with great battery life at a reasonable price, the Lenovo ThinkPad T14 is a top contender.

Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 5

A solid performaner

$1318 $1499 Save $181

Pros

• Thin, lightweight durable chassis
• Solid performance
• Great battery life
• Excellent keyboard

Cons

• Dull display
• Not as powerful as competing systems