Early Verdict
Lenovo announced a $2,499 monitor that can get up to 1000 nits of brightness. Meet the ThinkVision Creator Extreme.
Pros
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Bright 4K screen
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Ton of ports
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Sleek design
Cons
- -
Expensive
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No speakers
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For CES 2020, Lenovo revealed a whole new ThinkVision monitor lineup, and the most interesting, and priciest, among them are the ThinkVision Creator Extreme and the ThinkVision T34w-20. We got some hands on time with the ThinkVision Creator Extreme, and boy, is it beautiful.
The ThinkVision Creator Extreme is slated to launch in April 2020 for a whopping $2,499, while the ThinkVision T34w-20 is coming March 2020 for a significantly cheaper $799.
Lenovo ThinkVision Creator Extreme design
The best way to describe the ThinkVision Creator Extreme's machine-like design is if a ThinkPad X1 Yoga went full Transformers and morphed into a 27-inch monitor.
The ThinkVision Creator Extreme boasts a sleek gray design, and comes in at 9.65 x 18.21 x 31.84 inches. Its stand can lift, tilt, swivel and pivot, allowing for all sorts of range of motion.
The bezels on the display are incredibly slim, the stand is thin and the base has a relatively small footprint. There's a red-accented cutout at the base meant specifically for placing your phone on.
The slot held my Pixel 3 perfectly in the horizontal position, but it wasn't possible vertically because my phone would touch the monitor since the cutout is a little too close to the screen. However, extending that space would only make the base bigger, which no one wants, so I understand why they didn't go all out with the phone holder.
Lenovo ThinkVision Creator Extreme ports
For $2,499, you'd imagine that this thing is going to pack a ton of ports, and it does. With the ThinkVision Creator Extreme, you'll get one DisplayPort 1.4, two HDMI 2.0 ports, one USB Type-C DisplayPort, four USB 3.1 ports and a headphone jack.
Keep that headphone jack close, because the ThinkVision Creator Extreme doesn't come with any speakers whatsoever, which is kind of ridiculous considering the price.
Lenovo ThinkVision Creator Extreme display
The ThinkVision Creator Extreme features a 27-inch display with 16:9 ratio at a 3840 x 2160 resolution, which is pretty standard. But what's impressive is its 1000 nits of brightness combined with HDR1000 and 1,152 zones for mini LED backlighting.
Lenovo rated the monitor for 99% DCI-P3, 100% sRGB and 100% BT.709 color ranges, which basically means that it'll be colorful. The monitor also has a 14 millisecond response time and offers a 178-degree viewing angle.
The ThinkVision Creator Extreme was absolutely stunning in person. The bright red lava flowing on the screen was so bold and vivid that I could just feel the heat. The blacks were impressively deep, as they should be for a super expensive monitor. It was also so bright that I struggled to look at it, so I'm tempted to believe the 1000 nits of brightness claim.
Lenovo ThinkVision T34w-20
The ThinkVision T34w-20 is a 34-inch curved monitor with a 3440 x 1440, 21:9 panel rated for 99% of the sRGB color gamut and 350 nits of brightness. It's almost as colorful as the Creator Extreme, but not nearly as bright.
At 9.65 x 23.52 x 31.84 inches, the ThinkVision T34w-20 looks like a super-wide version of the Creator Extreme, as it boasts the same gray color and similar design. It even has a cutout at the base for your smartphone. As with the Creator Extreme, you can lift, tilt and swivel the monitor, but you cannot pivot it, which makes sense because it's curved.
It also has the same ports as the Creator Extreme as well.
Bottom line
I can't wait to watch and play so many things on the ThinkVision Creator Extreme. This monitor is expensive, yes, but it's so damn gorgeous. How could I deny it? I'm still waiting to get some hands on time with the ThinkVision T34w-20, so stay tuned for that. Otherwise, check back for our full review of the ThinkVision Creator Extreme and the ThinkVision T34w-20 when they launch later this year. For more news on laptops, tablets and more, check out our CES 2020 hub page.
