The Lenovo ThinkVision M14t review

If you use multiple monitors in the office or at home but struggle with just having one while traveling, the Lenovo ThinkVision M14t might be the solution. I, for one, can’t function with just one monitor; I like my hundreds of tabs spread out over multiple screens to focus on one while pulling information from the others. For heavy multitasking business travelers, the Lenovo ThinkVision M14t is a dream come true.

The ThinkVision M14t arrives with a colorful, bright 14-inch capacitive touchscreen and an active pen. I like that the stylus allowed me to draw on and sign documents and added a different level of functionality I didn’t realize I needed. It’s why I advocate for every laptop built with a touchscreen to come with some sort of stylus, but that’s a rant for another day. 

Lenovo ThinkVision M14t pricing and configuration

 Currently available for $388, the FHD ThinkVision M14t is sleek and lightweight. It comes with a sturdy built-in kickstand, an Active Stylus you can use to manipulate documents, and a neat grey carrying case. Its sibling, the ThinkVision M14, is $241 and is similar but lacks the capacitive touchscreen and stylus.

Lenovo ThinkVision M14t design

The Lenovo ThinkVIsion M14t is thin and travels well, with its measurements at 14.8 x 10.5 x 2.7 inches and weight at just 1.5 pounds. It feels durable enough to toss into your backpack. The ThinkVision M14t also comes with a grey cloth sleeve with a useful stylus holder for extra protection against the elements. 

The M14t has a gorgeous matte-black finish and its rectangular styling that will remind you of Lenovo’s ThinkPad line of notebooks such as the ThinkPad X1 Nano or the ThinkPad X1 Yoga. But it looks good next to just about any laptop with its clean, aesthetically pleasing lines. 

My favorite design aspect of the ThinkVision M14t is the fold-out kickstand. It has firm resistance when opening and maintains its sturdiness when you set it up.

Lenovo ThinkVision M14t ports

The ports and buttons live on the built-in kickstand, with one USB-C port on either side, combined with a power button and Kensington lock slot on the right

and brightness and OSD menu buttons on the left side.

Lenovo ThinkVision M14t display quality

The ThinkVision M14t’s 1920 x 1080-pixel screen produced stunningly vibrant colors and super sharp images. I was shocked it wasn’t a 4K panel. I watched the Snake Eyes trailer, and the gold Cobra hologram floating in front of the cast was rich and bright.

 The skin tones were also excellently reproduced and color accurate. Details of ruggedly handsome actor Henry Golding were nice and crisp, giving me a front-row view of his furrowed brow and concerned eyes.

I then moved on to Disney Plus and watched the Jack Kirby-inspired Thor Ragnorok, with its lushes rainbow of colorful backdrops and character designs. During my favorite scene when Thor is awaiting his opponent on the massive indoor battlefield, Chris Hemsworth's red war paint popped as he awaited his opponent.

 When the Hulk comes out, his muscled green skin, wet from sweat, looked realistic, and the blue color on his armor is nicely rendered.

Due to the glossy finish on the M14t’s screen, I encountered severe reflections in rooms with bright light, especially when watching from a 45-degree angle. I found viewing at angles of 90 degrees to be best depending on the lighting.

The ThinkVision M14t is pretty bright for a portable monitor, measuring 250 nits at its highest setting, which surpasses the MSI Optix MAG161V (117 nits) and the Asus ZenScreen MB16AC (168 nits).

Lenovo ThinkVision M14t touchscreen and stylus

The Lenovo ThinkVision M14t comes with a 10-point capacitive touchscreen and an active stylus with 4,096 levels of pressure. I’m not big on typing on a screen but the M14t was very accurate, responsive, and handled my enormous hands quite well. 

I used the Windows 10 handwriting recognition with Slack, responding to my fellow scribes by writing my response while the software accurately turned it into text. I was impressed by its accuracy since my penmanship is ghastly. But you try writing beautiful flowing cursive with these Kong-sized mitts.

The ThinkVision M14t comes with a 5.5 x 0.3-inch active stylus, and it looks and feels like a high-end pen. The tip has a good bounce, with realistic drag when writing or drawing. I tried messing around in Fresh Paint for a bit and learned that the tip and its 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity allowed me to really accentuate the fine details. Depending on the pressure I applied, the paint would be darker or lighter, which is realistic.

Lenovo ThinkVision M14t Software

The Lenovo ThinkVision M14t doesn’t ship with any software. You can download drivers as needed, but it worked with the three different laptops I tested it on without incident.

There’s an OSD menu to adjust the touch sensitivity levels and change your brightness or contrast settings. The menu lets you turn on the low-blue-light mode or choose different sRGB preferences. There’s also OverDrive for Extreme, Normal, or Off, which I never used because I didn’t experience any latency issues or noticed any ghosting. 

The Lenovo ThinkVision M14t also auto-rotates if you’re using it as a tablet, allowing the user to go into portrait mode if they choose to use it as a notepad or drawing pad.

Bottom Line

The Lenovo ThinkVision M14t offers excellent image quality, it’s wonderfully light, and has a sturdy kickstand. The touchscreen works exceptionally well and can be helpful under the right circumstances. Some may find the near $400 price steep for something that’s just a portable screen with only two USB-C ports, but it’s the secret weapon for workaholic travelers. 

You could choose its twin, the $244 ThinkVision M14, but you lose out on the non-capacitive touchscreen. Deciding between those depends on your needs. But if you need a portable second display with a touchscreen and stylus, the Lenovo ThinkVision M14t is the way to go.