Lenovo ThinkPad L14
An unassuming business laptop, yet capable of an amazing turn of speed
SCORE
PRICE £767 (£920 inc VAT) from lenovo.com
The ThinkPad L14 costs about half as much as the X1 Carbon, yet it looks remarkably similar. Open it up and you’ll find the same lovely keyboard, along with, once more, the signature combination of a touchpad and a TrackPoint nub in the middle of the keyboard.
Significant differences quickly emerge, however. For a start, the plastic-encased L14 is nearly 40% heavier than the X1 Carbon, not to mention bigger in every dimension. The display is also different: while thiis 14iin panell hhas tthhe same resolluttiion as the X1’s, it’s nowhere near as vivid, hitting a maximum of 243cd/m 2, with an uninspiring contrast ratio of 1,220:1. Colour performance is poor too, as indicated by this month’s worst average Delta E of 4.8.
Other economies are in evidence too. As with Acer’s TravelMate X3, the basic L14 configuration comes with only 8GB of RAM, and while the Samsung SSD is fast, its 256GB capacity feels cramped. To top it all off, you get only a year’s warranty with the L14, rather than the three years included with the X1.
Don’t dismiss the L14 too hastily, though, as its limitations are offset by some real plus points. The big case means all the important ports can be built right in, including Ethernet and
HDMI. There’s a microSD reader too, plus Wi-Fi 6 as standard and a SIM option for always-on mobile internet.
Even better, the airy design helps the CPU achieve its full performance potential. The Core i5-10210U may be a mid-range processor, but it rocketed the ThinkPad L14 to the top of our benchmark table, while rivals built on supposedly superior chips were held back by the thermal constraints of their ultraportable designs. Gaming performance was less distinguished, but that’s unlikely to be a dealbreaker for the target audience.
The L14 exceeded expectations when it came to battery life too. The 45Wh cell is hardly huge, but it chuntered on for a creditable 9hrs 22mins – again, outclassing much pricier systems, including the X1.
It’s hard to entirely overlook the ThinkPad L14’s bulk or its mediocre screen. But the payoff is a real chunk of multitasking power, along with solid battery life, for a price that even the most parsimonious CFO should be able to stomach. If you’re looking for a no-frills, get-it-done laptop, the ThinkPad L14 is just the ticket.