Best Lenovo ThinkPad in 2024

The best ThinkPads are not just spreadsheet workhorses. 

They're your all-day hustle and after-dark chill companions. Sure, they conquer the corporate jungle with ironclad security and remote management that makes your IT department sing. But their magic goes way beyond boardrooms.

Think stunning keyboards that make typing a symphony. Sleek silhouettes that turn heads without overheating. And then there's the screen — a gorgeous portal to binge-worthy shows and cinematic escapes. Battery life that goes the distance means you can work like a boss and unwind like a king, all powered by the same trusty ThinkPad.

So, forget laptops that quit when the clock strikes five. These ThinkPads are built for a life lived beyond the cubicle walls. They're your hustle and your haven, your workhorse and your playground, all rolled into one.

ThinkPads are often considered the best laptops around. However, they can be quite pricey, with dozens to choose from. If you go to Lenovo's website, you'll quickly get overwhelmed with the sequences of codenames the company has for its products. But we know which are the best, whether you're looking for a budget laptop or a monster ready for chunky video-editing projects.

It's hard to beat a ThinkPad, so let's jump into which ThinkPad is right for you.

CURATED BY

CURATED BY

Momo Tabari

Momo Tabari graduated with a bachelor's degree in Journalism & Media Studies at Brooklyn College and has been covering tech for four years. She has written around fifty reviews and has plenty of experience testing and critiquing laptops.

The Quick List

The best Lenovo ThinkPad in 2024

Best overall ThinkPad

Image 1 of 3

Lenovo beefed up the best business laptop with 13th-generation Intel CPUs, but you still get the ThinkPad X1 Carbon's attractive, slim, and durable chassis. Business users who travel frequently will appreciate the 13+ hours of battery life offered by the 1200p version. 

What surprised us about the Carbon Gen 11 is that, despite its thickness, it’s much lighter than expected, with dimensions of 12.4 x 8.8 x 0.6 inches and a weight of 2.5 pounds. And beyond that, it continues to prove that ThinkPads are superior in their phenomenal longevity, lasting 13 hours and 45 minutes on the Laptop Mag battery test, which consists of surfing the web over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness. 

Its Intel Core i7-1355U processor also provides impressive performance metrics. On the Geekbench 5.5 test, its multi-core score of 8,628 easily surpasses the premium laptop average of 7,768. We were also impressed by its SSD's 1,704 megabytes per second transfer rate, which will let you move files from one place to another fast and easily.

Overall, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 11) is easily among the best ThinkPads thanks to its outstanding balance of performance, lightweight design, and long-lasting battery life. You can do better in these three categories with other laptops on this list, but this is the one that finds the best balance between them.

It's not without flaws, though. ThinkPads are famous for their epic keyboards, but the one in the X1 Carbon didn't click. It's not bad, but our reviewer found it a little mushy for her tastes. Unless you're a big company with a budget, the X1 Carbon might be out of reach financially. If you can afford it, it's a gem to behold.

See our full Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 11) review.

Back to the top

Best budget ThinkPad

Image 1 of 3

Want a sleek new ThinkPad without breaking the bank? We have the perfect laptop for you -- introducing the Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 5. Packed with an Intel Core i7-1355U CPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD, it costs just $932 during testing. That's a great deal for all that tech in a premium-esque machine. And you're likely to find it even cheaper now.

Its low price comes with a few sacrifices, though. While its 366 nits of brightness are apt for an affordable 1920 x 1200-pixel panel, its 46.3% coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut will disappoint those obsessed with vibrancy. If you could not care less about having an overly colorful display, you'll fall in love with it.

Its performance is solid for a budget laptop, and if you're okay with knowing you're getting less power for its affordability, its Intel Core i7-1355U still gets the job done. On the Geekbench 6 overall performance test, it scored 8,000, which is still higher than our mainstream laptop average of 7,812.

It also comes with MIL-STD-810H certification, meaning it went through tests potentially involving shock, altitude, temperature, and more to see if it's sturdy enough. You obviously shouldn't toss it around carelessly, but if something terrible does happen, it's better suited than many other laptops to make it through. It also has security features like a TPM 2.0, a FHD hybrid IR camera, a Kensington lock, and a fingerprint reader on the power button.

The only issue we have found is that its battery runs a little short, lasting only 7 hours and 48 minutes. If you don't mind having a charger close by at the end of the work day, then this ThinkPad is definitely right for you. 

See our full Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 5 review.

Back to the top

Best ThinkPad for students

Image 1 of 3

Portability is a vital aspect of any laptop designed for work, and if you want something ultralight and compact, look no further than the Lenovo ThinkPad Z13. It's perfect for anyone who wants to forget there's even a laptop in their bag, coming in at 11.59 x 7.86 x 0.55 inches and 2.8 pounds. It's so shockingly light in our hands that it might as well have been a paperweight. Throwing this in your backpack makes less of a difference than throwing some books in there.

However, this tiny laptop isn't just tiny — it's strong. Powered with an AMD Ryzen 7 Pro 6850U CPU, it showcased some solid performance on the Geekbench 5.4 overall performance test with a multi-core score of 8,768. While this won't reach the highs of a modern processor or a workstation, it's surprisingly competitive for a laptop this compact. 

Yet, above all else, what pushes it above and beyond is that on the Laptop Mag battery test, which involves continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits, it came in with a battery life of 13 hours and 58 minutes. We generally recommend laptops that can survive anywhere between 9 and 10 hours, so for this to go that far and beyond, effectively laughing in the face of our recommended longevity, is absolutely wild. 

We also cannot forget that ThinkPad laptops are famous for their keyboards, and this one is no exception. It creates a joyous typing experience with cushioned, tactile impact that lets you go on for hours without fatigue. We found its touchpad a bit smaller than we'd like, and rather than featuring the classic physical buttons at the bottom, you'll have to resort to pressing on a mushy surface.

See our full Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 review.

Back to the top

Best gaming ThinkPad

Image 1 of 3

I fell in love with the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro, and it's not just because it's a phenomenal laptop that balances many of the things I'd love to see in the best gaming laptops but because it does it all for less than $1,500. Yes, you can get exceptional performance, a solid display with decent color and brightness, a sturdy chassis, and a perfect keyboard for a relatively low price. 

Our model was built with an AMD Ryzen 7745HX processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of SSD storage. It also has a 16-inch, 2560 x 1600-pixel IPS display at a 165Hz refresh rate. 

On paper, that already sounds great. But the best part is that the Legion 5 Pro consistently surpassed other laptops with an RTX 4070 in the same tests. Its frames per second in Borderlands 3 (Badass 1080p, 110 fps), Far Cry 6 (Ultra 1080p, 97 fps), Red Dead Redemption (Medium 1080p, 78 fps), and Metro Exodus (Extreme 1080p, 53 fps) is great. This is better than the Razer Blade 14 (98 fps, 85 fps, 73 fps, 48 fps), Origin EON16-S (106 fps, 99 fps, 75 fps, 50 fps), MSI Katana 15 (99 fps, 94 fps, 72 fps, 48 fps) prove the Legion 5 Pro is almost always on top.

While its display is not transcendent by any definition, it does more than well enough for a laptop of this price. Its DCI-P3 color coverage of 82.4% is pretty good, considering that some gaming laptops can get below 50%, even when they're expensive. Its 319 nits of brightness means you shouldn't be playing in overly bright places, but it'll be more than satisfactory in darker spaces.

Beyond that, its AMD Ryzen 7 7745HX processor managed a Geekbench 6 performance score of 13,063, which is — plain and simple — amazing. This is unsurprisingly far and beyond the category average of 7,602. Overall, we'd highly recommend the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro to anyone needing a ThinkPad for gaming.

See our full Lenovo Legion 5 Pro review here.

Back to the top

Best battery life in a ThinkPad

Image 1 of 3

Longevity is vital when taking laptops on the go, and considering ThinkPad is generally designed for business professionals, you want something that can last marathons when away from an outlet. And you won't find a ThinkPad more concerned about battery life than the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16. 

This baby survived 14 hours and 38 minutes on the Laptop Mag battery test, miles above the 10-hour and 26-minute premium laptop average. It's an absolute champion, nearly rivaling the MacBook Air 13-inch M3's 15 hours and 13 minutes. Best of all, its long-lasting battery isn't the only great thing about it.

The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 flaunts the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 6650H processor and AMD Radeon RX 6500M GPU that rocked the competition in performance. It managed a Geekbench 5.4 multi-core score of 9,018, which is impressive considering how long it lasts before needing a charge. You can also expect solid SSD transfer rates at 1,423 megabytes per second, and this is great as laptops of this kind can often be trapped in triple digits.

It also passed the MIL-STD-810H certification tests, which means it was put under various extreme conditions potentially involving shock, altitude, temperature, and more before receiving the stamp of approval.

While you won't be graced with a 4K display, its 1200p panel is sufficiently bright and colorful to get the most creative work done. Its only critical flaw, which hurts doubly for a ThinkPad, is its mushy keyboard. We found it rather challenging to get over the fact that a ThinkPad didn't feature the star keyboard we know and love. But that didn't stop the ThinkPad Z16 from surpassing our expectations and landing a 4.5-star review.

See our full Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 review.

Back to the top

Best foldable ThinkPad

Image 1 of 3

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold is a rarity among laptops, and while its unique foldable design might become commonplace with time, it's unlikely you'll find a better one on the market right now. "What is a foldable laptop," you ask? It acts as a standard laptop in its base mode, but you can detach the magnetic keyboard, unfold the display, and pop out the stand to create an easy-to-use, on-the-go desktop (or a massive tablet)

If you're thinking, "I don't need that," then a different ThinkPad on this list will be better suited for your tastes. If the idea of a foldable laptop excites you, we highly recommend considering the X1 Fold. The model we reviewed comes built with an Intel Core i7-1260U, 32GB of RAM, 1TB of SSD storage, and a 16.3-inch OLED display at 2560 x 2024-pixel resolution. It's shockingly thin and light, coming in at just 2.9 pounds in tablet mode and 4.3 pounds with the keyboard and stand attached.

However, while we love its all-in-one use case, it's important to remember that Lenovo made a few sacrifices in its design, likely to accommodate the novelty of a foldable foundation. Its Intel Core i7-1260U processor is a couple of generations old now, and we wouldn't recommend it over other products on any other laptop. 

But it still performed decently on the Geekbench 6 overall performance test, with its multi-core score of 7,953 offering enough juice to perform moderate workloads. If you view this as more of a tablet that can double as a laptop, that's outstanding performance. It's still worth remembering that other laptops are faster, though. 

Its battery life is less than we'd like, coming in at 8 hours and 44 minutes in laptop mode and 7 hours and 22 minutes in tablet mode. If you can look past these flaws, it's an excellent foldable laptop and perhaps the best today.

See our full Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 Gen 1 review.

Back to the top

How to choose the best ThinkPad laptop

Lenovo's ThinkPad line is designed for business, and while they've evolved past that in some cases over the years, you're likely looking for a solid station to get work done.

Budget: What you get for your money

You'd be hard-pressed to find ThinkPad laptops available under $500, and since these are often reserved for business professionals, you'll spend up to $1,000 or more. If you have no issue with that and are already committed to the ThinkPad brand, you can save some money with our best budget pick. If you'd like to go above and beyond, you can spend anywhere from $2,000 to $4,000 on some of our other picks.

Design: 2-in-1 or Clamshell?

More and more of today's laptops are 2-in-1s with screens that either bend back 360 degrees or detach so you can use them as tablets. If you like using your laptop in slate mode for drawing, media consumption, or just using it standing up, a 2-in-1 could be for you. We even have a foldable laptop on the list for those who want to get particularly fancy. However, you can often get better features or a lower price by going with a traditional clamshell-style laptop.

Battery Life: 9+ Hours for Portability

Battery life matters unless you plan to use your laptop only on your desk. Even in the home or office, having plenty of juice enables you to work on the couch or at the conference table without being chained to the nearest outlet. For the best portability, we recommend getting a laptop that lasts more than 9 hours on the Laptop Mag Battery Test. The longest-lasting laptops endure anywhere between 10 and 15 hours.

How we test the best ThinkPads

In order to make our best ThinkPads list, the system needs to score at least 4 out of 5 stars on our reviews and deliver on the things shoppers care about most. In our evaluations, we focus on design and comfort, display quality, the keyboard and touchpad, performance, battery life, and especially value.

Our expert reviewers also test each product to see how it looks, feels, and performs in everyday situations. Because we see so many different notebooks, we can compare each to its direct competitors and give you an idea of how it compares to the average laptop in its price band.

When we bring a laptop into our laboratory, our goal is to see how it would work if you brought it into your home or office. While we use a number of industry-standard benchmarks, such as Geekbench and 3DMark, we focus heavily on real-world tests that we have developed in-house.

To test endurance, the Laptop Mag Battery test surfs the web at 150 nits of brightness until the system runs out of juice. To judge pure processing power, we use a giant spreadsheet macro that matches 65,000 names with their addresses, a video transcoder that converts a 4K video to 1080p, and the Geekbench 5 synthetic test. We measure graphics prowess with both 3DMark Ice Storm / Fire Strike and a series of games, including Assassin's Creed: Valhalla, Metro: Exodus, Grand Theft Auto V, and Red Dead Redemption, just to name a few. 

We use a colorimeter to measure screen brightness and color gamut, while other instruments help us determine a laptop's key travel and ambient heat. See this page on how we test laptops for more details on our benchmarking procedures.

Why Trust Laptop Mag

Laptop Mag reviews over one hundred different laptops every year, from paperweight ultralights to everyday workhorses to lumbering gaming notebooks that scorch the frame rates of even the hottest AAA games. We're not just experts in the laptop field, as we go one step further by meticulously testing smartphones, tablets, headphones, PC accessories, software, and even the latest in gaming. 

We are 100% independent and have decades of experience to help you buy with confidence. In fact, Laptop Mag has been testing and reviewing products for three decades and continues to deliver trustworthy reviews you can rely on. 

Our experienced team of writers and editors scour the available information about the laptop and put it through its paces to determine which is best for you. But before they start, the testing team subjects each system to a rigorous regimen of synthetic and real-world tests to see how a system handles the type of work and games you’re most likely to throw at it. 

One of the world's largest technology publishers, Future Publishing, enforces our editorial trustworthiness. As a company, we have unrivaled experience across every tech sector — and we're the group's specialist for all things mobile tech.