Lenovo ThinkBook 13s Review

While it’s fair to debate whether it was necessary for Lenovo to create another sub-brand catering exclusively to small- and medium-sized businesses, I’m starting to understand the decision. The firm’s thinnest and lightest business-class laptops, in the ThinkPad X1 series, are desirable but far too expensive for most. And so ThinkBook can fill that hole, delivering the best of ThinkPad but without some of the luxuries that put the X1 series, in particular, out of reach.

Lenovo currently sells two ThinkBook models, the 13.3-inch ThinkBook 13s that I’m reviewing, and the 14-inch ThinkBook 14s. Both are lightweight, modern-looking, and affordable, and both offer many of the key features that make ThinkPad so popular. Let’s take a look.

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Design

The ThinkBook 13s comes clad in a Mineral Gray aluminum and magnesium chassis, rather than the black carbon fiber/magnesium treatment we typically see with the X1 series. The result is both attractive and professional-looking, and I strongly prefer its dark gray color to the plain gray of many business-class laptops.

There are some nice touches, too. I particularly like the Lenovo branding on the back of the display lid and on the keyboard deck; this is a hallmark of recent Lenovo laptops. And the black display surround, reminiscent of the MacBook Pro series, helps the panel float in space a bit and make me forget its 16:9 aspect ratio. The zinc-alloy hinges deliver rock-solid reliability and are allegedly rated to 25,000 open-and-close cycles.

Speaking of durability, here’s no talk of military-grade certification tests for ThinkBook, as we get with ThinkPad X1 Carbon and Yoga. Instead, Lenovo notes that the ThinkBook offers protection against spills, extreme temperatures, and vibrations. In use, this laptop exudes a premium build quality that seems both reliable and scratch/dent resistant.

Display

The ThinkBook 13s ships with a serviceable 13.3-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS display with an anti-glare coating and Dolby Vision HDR. It has small 5.3 mm bezels on the left and right, but larger bezels on the top, where the webcam is located, and on the bottom, which is just a large, one-inch tall matte black area. The display is reasonably bright at 300 nits, but you won’t get much use out of it outside on a very sunny day.

I’m no fan of 16:9 display panels, but I recognize the realities of the business and that this is the display type you’re going to see in the ThinkBook’s price range. I can live with it, and I didn’t have any issues in day-to-day use. I like that the display lays flat, as well.

Components

As you should expect of a modern, business-class laptop, the ThinkBook 13s can be had with a variety of 8th-generation Intel Core processors. The review unit shipped with a Core i5-8265U processor and integrated Intel UHD 620 graphics, plus 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of M.2-based PCIe NVMe solid-state storage. That’s exactly what you’re looking for in such a PC. But if you need more, it can be upgraded to 16 GB of RAM and up to 512 GB of storage, plus to a Core i7 processor.

Performance was generally where I wanted it, with only occasional fan noise and a bit of heat towards the top of the keyboard, which I located as part of a little game I play called “find the processor.” The only issue I had likely won’t impact most users, but when connected to a USB dock, I experienced some weird performance slow-downs and the fan ran basically constantly. (And this was without an external display.) Lenovo provides its own USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 docks, and perhaps they would provide better performance.

The webcam is nothing special, it’s a 720p unit with a fixed focal length. But the speakers are surprisingly good, thanks to the Harman-tweaked Dolby Audio capabilities. The only downside is that you have to manually configure Dolby Audio for movies, music, games, or voice.

Connectivity is as expected: The ThinkBook provides 802.11AC (2 x 2) and Bluetooth 5.2 wireless capabilities but no LTE option.

Ports

The ThinkBook 13s offers a nice selection of modern and legacy ports. There’s a full-sized HDMI 1.4b port (for video-out) and a single USB-C port on the left, plus a headphone jack.

And on the right, you’ll find two full-sized USB-A ports. One of them is always-on for charging a phone or other device.

I have two issues with the port selection. First, that USB-C port doesn’t provide Thunderbolt 3 capabilities, as we see on the more expensive ThinkPads. And second, the ThinkBook utilizes a proprietary Lenovo power connection instead of USB-C for some reason.

Keyboard and touchpad

The ThinkBook 13s is blessed with an excellent scalloped Lenovo keyboard that is reminiscent of those found on recent ThinkPads and IdeaPads. There are a couple of weirdisms—like the combined Enter and I and PgUp and PgDn keys—but Lenovo has finally bowed to all that is right in the world and put the Ctrl key to the left of the Fn key. Even the most recent ThinkPad X1s don’t do that.

The typing experience is very good, but not quite top-of-class. I’m not sure what the key throw is, but suspect it is a bit north of the 1.3 mm sweet spot. Either way, it’s a bit looser than the best portable keyboards I’ve used. Most people will love it.

The keyboard is backlit, but it only supports one level of brightness. And while this isn’t strictly a complaint, the shape of keys while backlit is decidedly V-shaped from certain angles. (Rather than curved like the keys themselves.)

Like recent HP EliteBooks, the ThinkBook also offers Skype hotkeys in the function row for answering and hanging up calls, a nice touch for those who work remotely much of the time.

The glass touchpad is a perfect size, and since it’s a precision touchpad, it works well and supports the full range of Windows 10 gestures. And it does so without needing superfluous extra drivers or utilities.

Unique hardware features

The ThinkBook 13s offers a feature I’d never seen elsewhere: It can continue playing music while the PC is in Standby mode; and if you need to wake it up to fiddle with the music, that takes less than one second. You can also use Cortana to wake up the PC with your voice, though you will need to enable and configure that first. Aiding matters are the ThinkBook’s dual-array, noise-canceling microphones, which should be able to hear you above the din.

Lenovo also didn’t wimp out in the security department. The ThinkBook includes a ThinkShutter webcam lid, which you can use for peace of mind from spying eyes. And the round, backlit power button doubles as a fingerprint reader. Even better, that power button will pass through your fingerprint-based authentication when you turn on or wake up the PC. You don’t have to press it again later at sign-in.

Portability

The ThinkBook 13s weighs just 2.9 pounds and is very portable. I wish the laptop I normally carried was this light.

Battery life is rated at about 11 hours, though I saw a bit under 8 hours in real-world battery life on average. That’s arguably a day’s worth of juice, but the bundled 65-watt power adapter supports fast charging capabilities; you can charge the PC to 80 percent in an hour. That’s decent.

Software

The ThinkBook 13s ships with Windows 10 Home, which actually does make sense since it shaves some money off the price; those that work in managed environments or need the few unique Windows 10 Pro features can of course upgrade at purchase time (for $60) or later.

Lenovo mostly gets it right from a crapware perspective: The 13s ships with just a handful of mostly-useful Lenovo system utilities, including Lenovo Vantage for driver downloads and support. The only downside is that it comes with a 30-day time-limited version of McAfee antivirus. Which you can and should uninstall immediately, as I did.

Pricing and configurations

This is where ThinkBook really shines. The ThinkBook 13s starts at just $630 at Lenovo’s online store. For that price, you get the same processor and storage as the review unit, but just 4 GB of RAM. Configured like the review unit, with 8 GB of RAM, the price is just $713. Configured as I’d prefer—same processor and storage, but with 16 GB of RAM—the cost jumps to a still-acceptable $1050.

Of course, what I’d really prefer is the ThinkBook 14s, with its larger 14-inch display. That laptop runs only a few dollars more than the 13s—the starting price is just $650—and configured like the 13s review unit, you’d pay about $730. (The ThinkBook 14s has a few other advantages over the 13s, including discrete graphics, but I didn’t test that model.)

Recommendations and conclusions

Thanks to its low pricing, modern design, and high-quality components, the ThinkBook 13s is a tremendous value and is highly recommended. This is exactly the type of PC I would buy with my own money, though I would almost certainly choose the larger ThinkBook 14s, as noted. But either way, Lenovo is making the right trade-offs here for those who can’t afford its even more impressive ThinkPad products. With the ThinkBook 13s, the ThinkBook family of products is off to a great start.

At-a-glance

Pros

  • Low prices
  • Attractive modern design
  • Good performance and specs
  • Decent expandability
  • Mostly crapware-free
  • Decent battery life and portability

Cons

  • 16:9 display
  • No Thunderbolt 3
  • Entry-level unit has just 4 GB of RAM

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Conversation 12 comments

  • Thom77

    09 October, 2019 - 3:44 pm

    <p>Thank you for providing the power adaptor wattage. I wish more people would do that. Its useful to know that if you carry a portable AC power bank like i do that can only push out 60 watts.</p>

  • remc86007

    09 October, 2019 - 5:40 pm

    <p>Nice review. I'd like it if you would include a picture of laptops from the angle one would use it. </p>

  • djross95

    Premium Member
    09 October, 2019 - 5:41 pm

    <p>This is a very attractive laptop for the price. But after using a 3×2 aspect ratio screen, I can't go back. The Surface Laptop 3 has this beat in that area and overall screen quality. </p>

  • wright_is

    Premium Member
    10 October, 2019 - 4:00 am

    <p>Thunderbolt 3 and power delivery are probably not included for a couple of reasons, the first being cost – the additional TB3 licensing costs money and the extra hardware costs money, that would probably push the price of the ThinkBook outside of the pricing zone for such a device.</p><p>Secondly, it is probably held as an initiative for people who are looking at TB3 and a single connection dock solution to buy the more professional and upmarket ThinkPad T/P/X series. They do the same with the ThinkPad L series, it only has USB-C and no Thunderbolt, that is reserved for the more premium ranges.</p>

  • IanYates82

    Premium Member
    10 October, 2019 - 7:09 am

    <p>Sounds like good value. Great review.</p><p><br></p><p>However, as someone looking for a new laptop soon, I'd love some photos at the end of the article that are less "arty" and just "here's the front", "here's the back", "here's the entire keyboard". Sure they don't look as professional but they would be *very* helpful. </p><p><br></p><p>For example, you mentioned the weird enter key but I couldn't really see it in a photo to judge how weird it really is. It's also really helpful, as a developer, to understand what's been done with keys like Insert, Delete, Page Up/Dpwn, Home/End, and the function keys. How they're handled on some keyboards can be a massive dealbreaker for me and many who edit text for a living.</p><p><br></p><p>That's not meant as harsh criticism – hard to not write it that way sorry. I really do appreciate the review and the detail you gave. I just crave a bit more :)</p>

    • IanYates82

      Premium Member
      10 October, 2019 - 7:10 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#479470">In reply to IanYates82:</a></em></blockquote><p>(and I see the photo with the display &amp; keyboard – appreciated… I opened in a new tab but couldn't quite make things out clearly after zooming to try to read the keys at the far end of the photo)</p>

      • wright_is

        Premium Member
        10 October, 2019 - 9:17 am

        <blockquote><em><a href="#479471">In reply to IanYates82:</a></em></blockquote><p>Many countries have a double-height enter key. The US layout generally uses a single height enter key with the back slash above it. </p><p>For the chicklet type keyboards, where there is a base lattice between the keys, some manufacturers have taken to making one base lattice to cover most eventualities and to save having to make another lattice for the US keyboard, the just split the enter key into "two" and have the bottom part as the enter key and the "top" part as the backslash – so 2 separate keys in one hole.</p>

        • jimchamplin

          Premium Member
          10 October, 2019 - 10:30 am

          <blockquote><em><a href="#479502">In reply to wright_is:</a></em></blockquote><p>It looks weird at first to us North Americans, but when you’re touch typing, you don’t notice it. </p>

  • solomonrex

    10 October, 2019 - 3:10 pm

    <p>Why do they keep trying gray? It's good to shake things up, but not that. Thinkpads are defined by their black color and it still looks better than all the competition. And Gray in particular is so done to death.</p>

  • youwerewarned

    10 October, 2019 - 9:36 pm

    <p>A quick check of Lenovo's site on 10/10/19 (13s): i7+16GB+512GB is $989.40</p><p><br></p><p>Pretty sweet, Paul</p>

  • JanesJr1

    11 October, 2019 - 1:44 pm

    <p>I switched and now I have switched back: Although I like 3:2 display ratio for a small convertible, for my mainline PC, I now again prefer 16:9 for the simple reason that I find myself using side-by-side snap-screen windows all the time, especially on hi-res displays. Plus it works better for video streaming.</p><p><br></p><p>While I don't think it is just a workplace consideration, the side-by-side windows work especially well at work, and after all, ThinkBook is targeted at small businesses.</p><p><br></p><p>Lenovo made the right call.</p>

  • bls

    Premium Member
    11 October, 2019 - 7:48 pm

    <p>"<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Lenovo has finally bowed to all that is right in the world and put the Ctrl key to the left of the Fn key." Great. Now I need to go and retrain my fingers after 20 years of the other way around. Sigh!</span></p>

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