Here comes the 14-inch version of the ThinkBook series from Lenovo. Another well-populated market – that of the semi-affordable business notebooks. With its built-in security enhancements, both software and hardware (TPM chip and a camera shutter), it aims to battle the likes of Dell Vostro 5490 which we found to be a very stable and capable little machine.
Lenovo has bundled this device with the new Comet Lake processors, giving it the full treatment. This means you can buy it with the hexa-core Core i7-10510U. Plus, you can get dedicated graphics. While it is far from a powerhouse, the Radeon 625 will definitely perform better than the integrated UHD Graphics, at least by having its own deal of 2GB of GDDR5 memory.
Now, let’s dig in and see the quality of build, thermals, display and many more.
You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/lenovo-thinkbook-14/
Contents
Specs Sheet
Lenovo ThinkBook 14 - Specs
All Lenovo ThinkBook 14 configurations
See all Lenovo ThinkBook 14 review – a whole load of I/O for a 14-incher configurationsWhat’s in the box?
Inside the box, we find a ThinkBook 14, as well as a 65W port brick and some boring, yet mandatory paper manuals.
Design and construction
So, ladies and gentlemen, here we have a laptop that is built out of aluminum and plastic. Its body is somewhat resistant to bending but we think that the quality of built is appropriate for the price Lenovo asks for it. Now, the thickness of the device is 17.9mm, while the weight starts at 1.50kg. As far as the colors go, there is nothing too much, actually. Only the “Mineral Grey”. The top has an anodized aluminum finish, while the base has a brushed one. However, the base is also glossy, which leads us to think that it is made out of plastic.
Thanks to the aluminum lid, it is decently rigid and prone to bending. Sadly, you won’t be able to open it with a single hand, though, but it has a camera shutter you can slide if you wish to… you know… be by yourself.
Let’s take a quick look at the base, where we can find the power button in the top right. It is fitted with an embedded fingerprint reader, which is working pretty fast. Then, there is the backlit keyboard. Lenovo states that it is spill-resistant, which we are keen to believe. As of the experience of typing. Well, it has a shorter travel, than what we’ve ultimately liked, but what is more annoying is the unevenness of the feedback. Some keys, like the “Escape” key, for example, are super soft to the touch, while others, like “Z” and most of the characters, actually, are clicky. Weird stuff.
Next, there is the touchpad. It has a glass cover, which enhances the gliding properties, but the overall tracking of the device is not great. We should also mention that our unit has Synaptics drivers installed.
On the bottom, there is the ventilation grill, as well as the speaker cutouts. Unsurprisingly, the hot air is exhausted from in between the base and the lid.
Ports
As far as the I/O goes, this laptop is pretty well equipped. On the left side, you will find an RJ-45 connector, followed by an HDMI 1.4b connector that outputs up to 3840×2160 @30Hz, then there are a single USB Type-A 3.1 (Gen. 1) port and two USB Type-C ports – one is 3.1 (Gen. 1), while the other is a 3.1 (Gen. 2) which has power delivery capability, a DisplayPort output, which supports up to 3840×2160, but this time at 60Hz. The last thing on this side is the Audio Jack. Then on the other are located – the Lenovo proprietory Power plug, another USB Type-A 3.1 (Gen. 1) port, an SD card reader and a cover that hides a USB Type-A 2.0 port, which is presumably for Bluetooth transmitters – smart.
Display quality
Lenovo ThinkBook 14 has a Full HD IPS display, model number Chi Mei N140HAC-EAC (CNM14D4). Its diagonal is 14″ (35.56 cm), and the resolution – 1920 х 1080. Additionally, the screen ratio is 16:9, the pixel density – 157 ppi, their pitch – 0.161 x 0.161 mm. The screen can be considered Retina when viewed from at least 56 cm (from this distance, the average human eye can’t see the individual pixels).
Its viewing angles are excellent. We have provided images at 45 degrees to evaluate quality.
The maximum measured brightness is 242 nits (cd/m2) in the middle of the screen and 232 nits (cd/m2) average across the surface with a maximum deviation of 10%. The Correlated Color Temperature on a white screen and at maximum brightness is 6720K (average) – slightly colder than the 6500K optimum for sRGB. The average color temperature through the grey scale before profiling is 6590K.
In the illustration below you can see how the display performs from a uniformity perspective. The illustration below shows how matters are for operational brightness levels (approximately 140 nits) – in this particular case at 86% Brightness (White level = 137 cd/m2, Black level = 0.11 cd/m2).
Values of dE2000 over 4.0 should not occur, and this parameter is one of the first you should check if you intend to use the laptop for color-sensitive work (a maximum tolerance of 2.0 ). The contrast ratio is very good – 1260:1 (1160:1).
To make sure we are on the same page, we would like to give you a little introduction to the sRGB color gamut and the Adobe RGB. To start, there’s the CIE 1976 Uniform Chromaticity Diagram that represents the visible specter of colors by the human eye, giving you a better perception of the color gamut coverage and the color accuracy.
Inside the black triangle, you will see the standard color gamut (sRGB) that is being used by millions of people in HDTV and on the web. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used in professional cameras, monitors, etc for printing. Colors inside the black triangle are used by everyone and this is an essential part of the color quality and color accuracy of a mainstream notebook.
Still, we’ve included other color spaces like the famous DCI-P3 standard used by movie studios, as well as the digital UHD Rec.2020 standard. Rec.2020, however, is still a thing of the future and it’s difficult for today’s displays to cover that well. We’ve also included the so-called Michael Pointer gamut, or Pointer’s gamut, which represents the colors that naturally occur around us every day.
The yellow dotted line shows Lenovo ThinkBook 14’s color gamut coverage.
Its display covers just 54% of the sRGB/ITU-R BT.709 (web/HDTV standard) in CIE1976.
Our “Design and Gaming” profile delivers optimal color temperature (6500K) at 140 cd/m2 luminance and sRGB gamma mode.
We tested the accuracy of the display with 24 commonly used colors like light and dark human skin, blue sky, green grass, orange, etc. You can check out the results at factory condition and also, with the “Design and Gaming” profile.
Below you can compare the scores of Lenovo ThinkBook 14 with the default settings (left), and with the “Gaming and Web design” profile (right).
The next figure shows how well the display can reproduce dark parts of an image, which is essential when watching movies or playing games in low ambient light.
The left side of the image represents the display with stock settings, while the right one is with the “Gaming and Web Design” profile activated. On the horizontal axis, you will find the grayscale and on the vertical axis – the luminance of the display. On the two graphs below you can easily check for yourself how your display handles the darkest nuances but keep in mind that this also depends on the settings of your current display, the calibration, the viewing angle, and the surrounding light conditions.
Response time (Gaming capabilities)
We test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “black-to-white” and “white-to-black” method from 10% to 90% and vice versa.
We recorded Fall Time + Rise Time = 25 ms
Health impact – PWM / Blue Light
PWM (Screen flickering)
Pulse-width modulation (PWM) is an easy way to control monitor brightness. When you lower the brightness, the light intensity of the backlight is not lowered, but instead turned off and on by the electronics with a frequency indistinguishable to the human eye. In these light impulses, the light/no-light time ratio varies, while brightness remains unchanged, which is harmful to your eyes. You can read more about that in our dedicated article on PWM.
Lenovo ThinkBook 14’s display is using PWM to adjust the brightness up to 63 nits. After that its flicker-free. Moreover, the PWM it uses has a very high frequency, making the display comfortable for long hours of work and safe for your eyes in this aspect.
Blue light emissions
Installing our Health-Guard profile not only eliminates PWM but also reduces the harmful Blue Light emissions while keeping the colors of the screen perceptually accurate. If you’re not familiar with the Blue light, the TL;DR version is – emissions that negatively affect your eyes, skin and your whole body. You can find more information about that in our dedicated article on Blue Light.
Conclusions
Lenovo ThinkBook 14’s display is fitted with a rather budget-level IPS panel. It has a Full HD resolution, wide viewing angles, good contrast ratio, and a comfortable backlight in terms of PWM. On the downside, it covers only 54% of sRGB.
Buy our profiles
Since our profiles are tailored for each display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for Lenovo ThinkBook 14 configurations with 14.0″ Chi Mei N140HCA-EAC (CMN14D4) (FHD, 1920 × 1080) IPS panel.
*Should you have problems with downloading the purchased file, try using a different browser to open the link you’ll receive via e-mail. If the download target is a .php file instead of an archive, change the file extension to .zip or contact us at bg.laptopmedia@gmail.com.
Read more about the profiles HERE.
In addition to receiving efficient and health-friendly profiles, by buying LaptopMedia's products you also support the development of our labs, where we test devices in order to produce the most objective reviews possible.
Office Work
Office Work should be used mostly by users who spend most of the time looking at pieces of text, tables or just surfing. This profile aims to deliver better distinctness and clarity by keeping a flat gamma curve (2.20), native color temperature and perceptually accurate colors.
Design and Gaming
This profile is aimed at designers who work with colors professionally, and for games and movies as well. Design and Gaming takes display panels to their limits, making them as accurate as possible in the sRGB IEC61966-2-1 standard for Web and HDTV, at white point D65.
Sound
Lenovo ThinkBook 14’s speakers are quiet even at maximum volume. Anyways, the quality is good thanks to the Dolby Audio. However, there are deviations throughout the entire frequency range.
Drivers
All of the drivers and utilities for this notebook can be downloaded from here: https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/en/products/laptops-and-netbooks/thinkbook-series/thinkbook-14s-iwl
Battery
Now, we conduct the battery tests with Windows Better performance setting turned on, screen brightness adjusted to 120 nits and all other programs turned off except for the one we are testing the notebook with. This notebook has two different battery options – a 45Wh one and a 57Wh one.
Our unit was capable of 11 hours and 20 minutes of Web browsing and 9 hours and a half of video playback.
In order to simulate real-life conditions, we used our own script for automatic web browsing through over 70 websites.
For every test like this, we use the same video in HD.
We use F1 2017’s built-in benchmark on loop in order to simulate real-life gaming.
CPU options
Processor-wise there is a quartet of devices you can choose from. At the bottom end, you will find the dual-core Core i3-10110U. Then there are the quad-core Core i5-10210U and Core i7-10510U and the first hexa-core Intel ULV processor – the Core i7-10710U.
Results are from the Cinebench 15 CPU test (the higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Fritz chess benchmark (the higher the score, the better)
Results are from our Photoshop benchmark test (the lower the score, the better)
GPU options
As of the graphics card, you can pick a model only equipped with the integrated UHD Graphics, or go for the slightly better AMD Radeon 625 with 2GB of GDDR5 memory.
Results are from the 3DMark: Fire Strike (Graphics) benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Unigine Heaven 3.0 benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Unigine Heaven 4.0 benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Unigine Superposition benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Gaming tests
| CS:GO | HD 1080p, Low (Check settings) | HD 1080p, Medium (Check settings) | HD 1080p, MAX (Check settings) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average FPS | 60 fps | 32 fps | – fps |
| DOTA 2 | HD 1080p, Low (Check settings) | HD 1080p, Normal (Check settings) | HD 1080p, High (Check settings) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average FPS | 84 fps | 38 fps | 19 fps |
Temperatures and comfort
Max CPU load
In this test we use 100% on the CPU cores, monitoring their frequencies and chip temperature. The first column shows a computer’s reaction to a short load (2-10 seconds), the second column simulates a serious task (between 15 and 30 seconds), and the third column is a good indicator of how good the laptop is for long loads such as video rendering.
Average core frequency (base frequency + X); CPU temp.
| Intel Core i5-10210U (15W TDP) | 0:02 – 0:10 sec | 0:15 – 0:30 sec | 10:00 – 15:00 min |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lenovo ThinkBook 14-IML | 2.99 GHz (B+87%) @ 93°C | 2.80 GHz (B+75%) @ 96°C | 2.45 GHz (B+53%) @ 93°C |
| Lenovo ThinkBook 15-IML | 3.08 GHz (B+93%) @ 73°C | 3.00 GHz (B+88%) @ 82°C | 2.55 GHz (B+59%) @ 80°C |
| Lenovo ThinkPad L13 | 3.04 GHz (B+90%) @ 97°C | 2.10 GHz (B+31%) @ 97°C | 2.12 GHz (B+33%) @ 79°C |
| Dell Inspiron 14 5491 2-in-1 | 3.45 GHz (B+116%) @ 94°C | 2.33 GHz (B+46%) @ 86°C | 2.00 GHz (B+25%) @ 74°C |
| ASUS ZenBook Duo UX481 | 3.26 GHz (B+104%) @ 94°C | 2.77 GHz (B+73%) @ 98°C | 2.06 GHz (B+29%) @ 71°C |
| Lenovo Yoga C640 (13) | 2.87 GHz (B+79%) @ 73°C | 2.89 GHz (B+81%) @ 85°C | 2.23 GHz (B+39%) @ 87°C |
| Dell Vostro 5590 | 3.50 GHz (B+119%) @ 94°C | 2.68 GHz (B+68%) @ 97°C | 2.36 GHz (B+48%) @ 79°C |
| Lenovo Yoga C740 (14) | 3.09 GHz (B+93%) @ 96°C | 2.66 GHz (B+66%) @ 97°C | 1.96 GHz (B+23%) @ 71°C |
So, the ThinkBook 14 shares the same power limits as its 15-inch brother. However, its cooling is far less capable in dealing with the higher heat output, as you can clearly see from the chart above.
Comfort during full load
While the laptop’s fan wasn’t really loud, we found the hottest spot of the keyboard to be a little warmer than optimal – 47.5C.
Verdict
We spend the day with a really solid laptop. It never crashed and worked flawlessly for pretty decent business experience. Of course, stuff like stability, security, and multitasking are the key areas, you should look for when looking to buy a notebook for work.
One of the good deals here is the battery. We were able to get more than 11 hours of Web browsing and 9 hours and a half of video playback. Also, you have the option of upgrading the memory to up to 24GB of DDR4 memory. Not only that but, the ThinkBook 14 has a 2.5″ SATA drive bay, and an M.2 PCIe x4 drive slot.
All of that is good, but what is better are the connectivity features. There are two USB Type-C ports, one of which can output video, an SD card slot and an RJ-45 connector for Gigabit Ethernet connection. Some devices also support WiFi 6 out of the box.
Lenovo ThinkBook 14’s display is fitted with a rather budget-level IPS panel (N140HAC-EAC (CNM14D4)). It has a Full HD resolution, wide viewing angles, good contrast ratio, and a comfortable backlight in terms of PWM. On the downside, it covers only 54% of sRGB.
Another disadvantage is the relatively poor touchpad experience and the unevenness in the keyboard feedback. Thankfully, though, the laptop has a fingerprint reader, embedded in the Power On/Off switch. Interestingly enough, the ThinkBook 14 has a 25W L1 Power Limit, which provides quite the headroom for a high frequency, during long time periods. However, the cooling is not really able to cope with it, which results in very high temperatures during full load.
So, at the end of the day, if you need more graphics power, the Dell Vostro 5490 may be the better choice for you. However, we feel the ThinkBook 14 has a little bit more class to it.
Pros
- Very good battery life
- Upgradable memory and storage that supports PCIe x4 SSDs
- Very fast fingerprint reader
- Has two USB Type-C ports and an SD card reader
- Its display has comfortable viewing angles and good contrast ratio (N140HAC-EAC (CNM14D4))
- Doesn’t use harmful PWM to adjust its brightness levels (N140HAC-EAC (CNM14D4))
Cons
- Its cooling can’t cope with the higher power limit
- Covers only 54% of sRGB (N140HAC-EAC (CNM14D4))
- Quite an uncomfortable touchpad
You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/lenovo-thinkbook-14/
There are definitely some compromises made in order to keep the price down. However, they are massively outweighed by all of the features and perks this unit has. Ultimately, we run all of our tests with the Extreme Performance preset, which is activated by the “Fn+Q” key combination. Nevertheless, it extracted everything out of the GTX 1650 Ti, which is a budget-conscious, but very capable GPU.
Apparently, one of the best things about this device is its design and build quality. It is covered by the MIL-STD-810H certification, but most importantly, the results can be seen in real life. The laptop is thin and light, and we were surprised to see that it is also pretty powerful as well.
