Lenovo ThinkBook 13S assessment: enterprise on a funds

Priced a tier beneath Lenovo’s world-class ThinkPads, the ThinkBook 13S targets small- and medium-sized firms and enterprise customers on the lookout for a much less snazzy machine at a decrease price. But the ThinkBook’s price ticket shouldn’t idiot you — it’s a contender. And I’m impressed by the package deal the ThinkBook gives for its sub-$1,000 worth, which incorporates stable efficiency from Intel’s eleventh Gen processors, a high-resolution 16:10 display screen, and surprisingly good audio. For on a regular basis work use, it greater than will get the job executed.

The 13S technically begins at $1,339, however Lenovo’s MSRPs are all the time inflated, and you may really purchase the bottom mannequin at Walmart proper now for a way more affordable $738.81. That configuration features a Core i5-1135G7, 8GB of RAM (soldered), 256GB of storage, and a non-touch show. The high mannequin is listed at $1,709 (however presently bought out on Lenovo’s web site) and features a Core i7-1165G7, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, and a touchscreen.

The in-between SKU I used to be despatched isn’t really listed on Lenovo’s web site, nevertheless it consists of the Core i5, 16GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and a touchscreen. As of this writing, it’s listed at $829.35 on Amazon. All fashions have a 13.3-inch 2560 x 1600 show, a 720p webcam, and Intel’s Iris Xe built-in graphics.

The fundamental factor to know is: don’t purchase this anticipating a ThinkPad. The ThinkBook seems fairly totally different, with a silvery-gray keyboard deck, a grey ThinkBook emblem, and a dual-tone lid considerably paying homage to Google’s Pixelbook. It additionally lacks most of the ThinkPad’s well-known options just like the discrete mouse clickers, TrackPoint nub, and distinctive keyboard format. That mentioned, it additionally didn’t choose up a ton of fingerprints (a gripe I typically have with ThinkPads), and it’s fairly transportable at 0.59 inches thick and a couple of.78 kilos.

The keyboard additionally isn’t a ThinkPad keyboard — which is unlucky as a result of ThinkPad keyboards are constantly my favorites. The ThinkBook’s continues to be wonderful, nevertheless it doesn’t have devoted Page Up and Page Down keys or inverted-T arrow keys like most trendy ThinkPads do. It’s additionally a bit flat for my style, although it has a pleasant click on. The touchpad is equally practical, however the texture is a bit coarse and took some getting used to.

Two issues do stand out concerning the ThinkBook 13S. It has the likes of the Dell XPS 13 and the MacBook Air beat with its port choice, which incorporates two USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, a Kensington lock slot, one USB 4 Type-C with Thunderbolt 4, one HDMI 2.0, and one mixture audio jack. (The included 65W charger will occupy the USB-C port when the ThinkBook is plugged in, so I do want there have been another.) Second, I used to be stunned by how good the audio was. I may really hear the bass from the 2W stereo audio system, and my music was loud and clear general. There was a tiny quantity of distortion and echo at most quantity, which bumping the sound down a bit eradicated.

Elsewhere, the show is sharp however on the dim facet, maxing out at simply 244 nits in our testing. This is okay for indoor use, nevertheless it wouldn’t be nice for anyplace notably vivid (and particularly not open air). And it’s dimmer than some opponents; the ZenBook 13 will get as much as 368 nits, whereas the XPS 13 can break 400. I do respect that it’s 16:10, supplying you with some additional vertical area in comparison with the 16:9 panels you’ll typically see on 13-inch laptops. It’s additionally 2560 x 1600, and $829 is a superb worth for that decision. The webcam delivers an correct however considerably grainy image and isn’t appropriate with Windows Hello. If you do need to use that service, there’s a fingerprint sensor constructed into the ability button that’s fairly quick and by no means gave me hassle.

That’s just about the outside of the 13S. It’s unexciting however reliable, and it’ll actually get the job executed. That’s true of the insides as effectively. The ThinkBook is a stable performer.

This ThinkBook is Intel Evo licensed, which suggests it meets Intel’s numerous necessities to be a high competitor, together with on the spot wake, quick charging, and responsive efficiency. The Core i5-1135G7 was largely wonderful in my day-to-day duties. I noticed a little bit of a slowdown once I was pushing a extremely demanding workflow — together with a number of downloads operating, information copying, round a dozen Chrome tabs, and a few picture modifying on high — however something lower than that was snappy.

The ThinkBook additionally proved competent in content-creation workflows, although not a standout. It received a 265 on the Puget Systems benchmark for Premiere Pro, which exams each reside playback and export efficiency at 4K and 8K. That really beats the XPS 13 with a extra highly effective Core i7-1165G7 on that benchmark. It additionally beats the ZenBook 13 OLED with an AMD Ryzen 7 5800U, although it doesn’t come near touching the M1 MacBook Air. In brief, this machine did a lot better on heavy graphics work than I’d anticipate from a machine at this worth vary. (I wasn’t capable of run our real-world media export on this machine as a result of Premiere saved crashing in the course of it — that might be Lenovo’s or Adobe’s fault.)

This machine wouldn’t be your best option for video professionals, in fact, however these outcomes underscore how good of a deal this machine is. Despite costing just a few hundred bucks lower than the XPSes and ZenBooks on the market with related specs, it’s holding its personal on the benchmarks.

This laptop computer additionally isn’t meant for frequent gaming (few laptops this dimension are), however it could possibly actually run extra informal and browser-based fare. It averaged 35fps on Rocket League’s most settings at native decision and 52fps at 1080p. Neither of these hit the magic 60 mark (the ZenBook 13 OLED and the XPS 13 each did), however I completely would have performed the sport at each settings — it was easy and regarded nice. The ThinkBook additionally averaged 168fps on League of Legends at native and 179fps at 1080p, which additionally loses to the ZenBook in addition to the XPS.

That mentioned, the distinction on lighter video games doesn’t matter because the ThinkBook’s 60Hz display screen will solely present you 60fps. And the ThinkBook really did higher, comparatively on heavier titles. It averaged 57fps on Overwatch’s Ultra settings at 1080p (to the XPS’s 48 and the ZenBook’s 54). And whereas it chugged via Shadow of the Tomb Raider (lowest settings, native) at simply 22fps, it achieved a extra spectacular 34fps at 1080p, which is nearer to the MacBook Air (38fps) than it’s to the XPS (22fps), and it additionally beats the ZenBook (30fps). Overall, these outcomes are combined, however the ThinkBook is actually holding its personal amongst costlier and higher-specced Windows opponents.

On battery life, although, not a lot. I received seven hours and 12 minutes utilizing the ThinkBook 13S as my main work driver with the display screen round 200 nits of brightness. That’s not a catastrophe and means you would get near a full workday out of this machine while not having to plug it in. But that is an space the place we anticipate extra from premium opponents. The XPS and the Air each averaged over eight hours in our testing, and the AMD-powered ZenBook 13 (which is powering an OLED display screen) broke 11 hours with my workload.

Things additionally received toasty. The middle of the keyboard was so scorching throughout my gaming runs that it was barely uncomfortable to the touch, and the underside of the chassis was additionally blistering sufficient underneath heavy workloads that I couldn’t use the ThinkBook on my lap. The followers received fairly loud throughout a few of these intervals — to the purpose the place I ended up restarting the pc just a few occasions to get them to settle down. (They have been quiet more often than not if I used to be simply working in just a few tabs.) The CPU did keep pretty cool. I noticed one spike as much as 94 levels (Celsius) throughout my Tomb Raider run, however issues in any other case stayed beneath the mid-70s.

Overall, although, one of the best factor concerning the ThinkBook 13S is that it’s a great deal. Business patrons on the lookout for ThinkPad-level efficiency and software program with out ThinkPad pricing will most likely discover the ThinkBook a stable choice. While nothing about it’s actually spectacular, it’s actually uncommon to see the ThinkBook’s display screen decision at a sub-$1,000 worth, and its efficiency will probably be greater than sufficient for many workplace duties. The beneficiant port choice, 16:10 facet ratio, bodily webcam shutter, and clear audio are actually icing on the cake.

There are areas the place the cracks present, in fact. Battery life is underwhelming for the class, and the display screen’s brightness is disappointing. You do benefit, notably in the case of look and construct high quality, from ultraportables which might be $200–$300 extra. But there are actually prospects — particularly within the enterprise sphere, I think about — who care extra about having a conveyable, inexpensive machine with respectable connectivity than they do about having one which’s stunning. For these folks, this ought to be a wonderful selection.

Photography by Monica Chin / The Verge