Review of the Lenovo Thinkbook 13s: ThinkPad's Influences at a Great Price

Lenovo's ThinkPad family has many fans, but not everyone can spend ThinkPad money on a laptop. Designed for small businesses (and the average consumer who wants a more privacy-friendly machine), Lenovo's new Thinkbooks seem to be an experiment aimed at summarizing the essence of a ThinkPad in its most intimate parts. and integrate them into more affordable packaging.

On paper, Lenovo seems to have done just that: the new Thinkbook 13s features a proven aluminum case, a comfortable keyboard, a private webcam shutter, a fingerprint reader, and more. what you will find on a ThinkPad computer. But the Thinkbook's $ 734 attractive starting price makes it stand out as an option for those who want not only an alternative to ThinkPad, but also a relatively affordable Windows machine.

Look and feel

Lenovo Thinkbook 13s

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Lenovo has been trying to give a ThinkPad machine the "modern ultrabook" makeover. The result is the updated Thinkbook. This is not a derogatory statement: the ThinkBook 13 is very attractive, and I imagine it's a laptop with a starting price of $ 734. Its slate-gray color scheme uses a light gray color on its anodized aluminum chassis, a darker gray on its keys and glossy accents on the edges of the trackpad and a few other places. Overall, it looks more like an IdeaPad laptop with some design influences from the ThinkPad X range.

So, you will not get the thin, lightweight design of a carbon fiber ThinkPad X1 Carbon, but that's partly why the X1 Carbon costs $ 1,253 while the ThinkBook starts at 734 $. Nevertheless, the Thinkbook does not weigh heavily at 2.95 pounds and is not too chunky with its 16mm thickness. This laptop is also large enough to accommodate a normal sized HDMI port and two USB-A side ports, as well as a USB-C port, a headphone jack and a power port. The only drawback is that you need to charge the Thinkbook with the supplied power cable, as the only USB-C port only supports audio, video and data transfers.

The tube-shaped hinge allows the display panel to tilt 180 degrees, but it's as far as it can go. The thick caches surrounding its screen, especially the wide chin, also signal its place as a more affordable alternative ThinkPad. The panel options you have are also limited to a single, 13.3-inch 1080P IPS non-touch screen, while you have FHD and 4K, touch and non-touch options, as well as PrivacyGuard options on laptops. ThinkPad X1.

Above the screen is a webcam with its physical shutter. Just move the textured slider to cover the webcam whenever you want more privacy. Lenovo was one of the first manufacturers to offer webcam shutters to most of its high-end and convertible laptops, and we are excited to see them appear in the Thinkbook. Designed primarily for small business customers, the ThinkBook should have additional privacy features that might be lacking in mainstream devices.

A fingerprint reader also provides an extra layer of security. It is integrated with the power button located at the top right of the keyboard area. The button is surrounded by a ring of glowing light that gives it a more sophisticated feel, while allowing you to know exactly where your finger should go when you try to connect with the help of biometrics. The drive-button combination also supports power and connection with the aid of a single touch. Pressing the power button with the correct finger turns on the device and connects you in seconds.

In the end, the Thinkbook is designed for people who are slightly more business-oriented and privacy-conscious than ordinary users and who want a laptop that meets these requirements with the standard features of other computers. consumer notebooks. The shutter of the webcam and the fingerprint reader of the power button are essential, as are the FIDO authentication capabilities and a discrete secure platform module that encrypts the data. The only additional feature I would like is Lenovo's PrivacyGuide screen protector, as I often work in places that are not at home or in a secure office. Unfortunately, customers who want the same thing will have to turn to the ThinkPad family instead.

The assumption is that customers like these also want a laptop that is both attractive and durable, and the ThinkBook 13 meets this requirement. Like the ThinkPads, its specifications do not conform to MIL standards, but its aluminum chassis is robust, relatively light and attractive in a sober and professional manner.

Keyboard and trackpad

The keyboard is one of the best things that Lenovo has transferred from ThinkPad to Thinkbook. This is not exactly the same as on the ThinkPad X1 Carbon – it does not use the same underlying mechanism and the keys have a 1.5mm stroke – but that's when even a good keyboard on which to type. The keys are sufficiently clicked, giving you just enough tactile feedback with little noise. The keys are also backlit and you can turn the backlight on or off at any time by pressing Fn + Spacebar. Small business customers will also appreciate the row of shortcut keys at the top of the keyboard that allow you, among other things, to quickly answer or end Skype calls.

The Precision trackpad is solid. This is an average size for a trackpad on a 13-inch laptop; It's not nearly as big as MacBook, but not everyone needs this space. The trackpad itself even clicks if it does not have right click buttons and left click. Unfortunately, there is no TrackBall on the Thinkbook. Certainly, TrackBall support is now a luxury rather than a standard feature, and those who want it will have to use a ThinkPad machine again.

Performance

Our Thinkbook 13s Core i5 test model has the same processor, graphics processor, RAM, and storage as our 7th generation ThinkPad X1 Carbon Test Drive (keep an eye out for this upcoming review). Both machines produced scores in the same range during our benchmark tests, though the X1 Carbon proved to be slightly more efficient than the Thinkbook 13. You can get the ThinkBook 13 with a Core i7 processor, but we wanted to test a more affordable model to see how much energy you get in a machine under $ 1,000 – and the answer to that question is "enough".

We have tested a few other notebooks for the same types of users as the Thinkbook 13, namely the HP Envy 13 and the Dell Inspiron 13 7000 Black Edition. However, all of these review units had Core i7 processors, so, unsurprisingly, the ThinkBook 13 did not perform as well as the others in most of our benchmark tests. Nevertheless, the Thinkbook 13s was an excellent laptop to use as my daily machine during the few days that I spent testing it.

Still, we did not test the Thinkbook 13 base model, which has the same processor and graphics processor as our evaluation unit, with only 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB of SSD. These lower specifications would certainly have affected the Thinkbook 13's benchmark scores, not the right way. We do not recommend a Windows machine with only 4 GB of RAM. Today, it is only suitable for Chromebooks. Even in this case, I would recommend using a device with 6 or 8 GB of RAM if it is available and if you can afford it.

The 128GB of storage is not so worrying, especially if most of your business is live online or in the cloud, but you can fill your SSD very quickly on a Windows computer if you download many applications, programs and games. Chromebooks, on the other hand, are not designed to store many files and programs in local storage. That's why they can get away with just 32 or 64 GB of eMMC storage.

Drums

The battery life of the Thinkbook resists competition. It lasted an average of 752 minutes, or about 12.5 hours, on our default battery test and an average of 579 minutes, or just over 9.5 hours, on our WebGL test. These two scores are better than those of the HP Envy 13 and the Dell Inspiron 13 7000 Black Edition. You should not have too much to worry about the death of the Thinkbook 13 before the end of a long day of work.

Affordability, without power constraints

Solid and affordable do not usually go hand in hand with Windows laptops. Although there are many Windows machines under $ 500, most of them make sacrifices in terms of power and features that make them suitable for certain users only. For example, most of them rely on Intel Pentium, Celeron or Core i3 processors to carry out their work, which will simply not be beneficial for business users or small business owners.

And while builders are eager to create the next flagship Windows device, which costs at least $ 1,000, this uncomfortable space between $ 500 and $ 1,000 is often overlooked. The Thinkbook is a great addition to this price range. Not only does it translate many ThinkPad features for a different client, but it also has the power needed for those who can not afford to be very inexpensive when choosing a new laptop.

It is also useful that the ThinkBook has a solid but professional design reminiscent of modern flagship devices. The ThinkBook looks more like a Dell XPS or HP Envy device than ThinkPad X1 Carbon, which will certainly appeal to some users. I appreciate that Lenovo has not skimped on the small details either: the Thinkbook has no sub-par trackpad or strangely placed keys, its default display screen is correct, and it has privacy features, including a shutter webcam a fingerprint sensor that other manufacturers would only offer on high-end devices.

The biggest competitor of the Thinkbook 13 is HP's Envy 13 notebook. Both are excellent machines, but you can currently get the Envy 13 with a Core i7 processor, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD drive for $ 749. If you like larger notebooks, the Envy 13 is what you need, but the ThinkBook 13 is a solid alternative for those who prefer professional features, utility design features, and privacy.

Good

• Modern and professional design
• Physical shutter of the webcam
• Fingerprint on the power button
• FIDO standard and TPM authentication
• Excellent keyboard
• Solid performance

The bad

• No IR camera
• Only one display panel option (and no touch screen option)

The ugly one