If your Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 4 has an Intel Evo sticker on the base, this means you can expect at least decent battery life, good responsiveness during work, fast boot times, and fast charging. Interestingly, the machine is thinner than its close sibling - the ThinkPad T14 Gen 4 but it's offered with (almost) the same hardware. That's why we bought a device with the exact same CPU that is in our already reviewed non-S machine - the Core i7-1355U. This will allow us to see if the thin profile affects negatively the cooling capabilities of the T14s laptop or not. The device be configured with Intel Raptor Lake U or P CPUs. This time around there are no dGPU options so you can rely on the iGPU inside of the processor. However, all the configurations come with dual-channel memory which has a positive impact on the performance of the integrated graphics. Even the port selection is almost the same as the T14 laptop and that sounds good to us. There are six 16:10 display options - two of the 1200p panels are touchscreens. There is even an OLED display variant 2880x1800 resolution. This small gadget offers many security features like an optional IR camera that is tied with Human-presence detection and facial recognition, a dTPM module, vPro processors, a manual shutter for the Web camera, etc. Expectedly, most of these goodies will cost you an extra amount of money. You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/lenovo-thinkpad-t14s-gen-4-intel/ Specs, Drivers, What's in the box Drivers All drivers and utilities for this notebook can be found here: https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/en/products/laptops-and-netbooks/thinkpad-t-series-laptops/thinkpad-t14s-gen-4-type-21f6-21f7/21f6/downloads What's in the box? In the box, you'll find some paperwork and a 65W USB Type-C adapter. The not-so-powerful notebooks come with a 45W Type-C charger. Design and construction In terms of design, the Gen 4 machine looks almost identical to last year's device. In short, this is a sleek-looking little laptop with a clean look. The Deep black models have a starting weight of 1.25 kilos and we got 1.48 kg for the Storm grey variants. The profile thickness for both variants is 16.9 mm. Nice! The grey machines are made of aluminum and that's why they are a bit heavier. The black laptops (like ours) have a carbon fiber lid and aluminum base. The keyboard frame of dark-color notebooks is made of 90% recycled magnesium and this is verified by the label on the bottom plate. The sturdiness is better compared to the ThinkPad T14 Gen 4. You can flex the lid just a bit, and we spot some tiny bends around the touchpad and above the F8 key. All in all, the build quality of this machine is very good. The bezels around the display could be thinner. The top one houses a 1080p Web camera with a privacy shutter or an optional 5MP IR unit. You can't open the display with a single hand but the hinge mechanism allows a 180-degree opening angle. The optional fingerprint reader is integrated into the power button that is located on the right of the speaker grille. Curiously, the keyboard feels even better than the one in the non-S laptop which is a real achievement considering the slim profile. The keyboard is spill-resistant, the backlight is a standard feature, and the presence of the Trackpoint can be very important for some users. Again, the touchpad with a Mylar surface feels even smoother compared to the one that can be found in the T14 Gen 4 device. The bottom panel has a small ventilation grille and four rubber feet. The heat is pushed through a vent on the right side of the machine. Ports Most of the ports are on the left – two Thunderbolt 4 (both support data transfer, Power Delivery 3.0, and DisplayPort 2.0 capabilities), an HDMI 2.1 port (for up to 4K 60Hz external displays), a USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) port with Always On function, and an Audio jack. On the right side, we can spot a Kensington Nano security lock slot, one more USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) port, and an optional Smart Card reader. The SIM card tray that is meant for optional 5G or 4G connectivity can be seen on the back of the notebook. Display quality, Health impact (PWM), Sound Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 4 is equipped with a Full HD IPS panel, model number CSOT MNE007JA1-1 (LEN403A). It comes with a 60Hz refresh rate. Its diagonal is 14.0" (35.6 cm), and the resolution - 1920 x 1200p. Additionally, the screen ratio is 16:10, the pixel density – 162 ppi, and their pitch – 0.16 x 0.16 mm. The screen can be considered Retina when viewed from at least 53 cm (from this distance, the average human eye can’t see the individual pixels). Viewing angles are comfortable. We offer images at different angles to evaluate the quality. Also, a video with locked focus and exposure. The maximum measured brightness is 393 nits (cd/m2) in the middle of the screen and 386 nits (cd/m2) average across the surface with a maximum deviation of just 5%. The Correlated Color Temperature on a white screen and at maximum brightness is 6400K (average). 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 66% Brightness (White level = 141 cd/m2, Black level = 0.09 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 – 1640:1. 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 on HDTV and on the web. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used in professional cameras, monitors, etc for printing. Basically, colors inside the black triangle are used by everyone and this is the 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 ThinkPad T14s Gen 4's color gamut coverage. Its display covers 94% of the sRGB/ITU-R BT.709 (web/HDTV standard) in CIE1976 and 75% of DCI-P3. 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 the Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 4 with the default settings (left), and with the “Gaming and Web design” profile (right). The next figure shows how well the display is able to reproduce really 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 = 25.9 ms. After that, we test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “Gray-to-Gray” method from 50% White to 80% White and vice versa between 10% and 90% of the amplitude. Health Impact: 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 ThinkPad T14s Gen 4's display doesn't flicker at any brightness level. This makes the screen pretty comfortable for long periods of use. Health Impact: 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. Health Impact: Gloss-level measurement Glossy-coated displays are sometimes inconvenient in high ambient light conditions. We show the level of reflection on the screen for the respective laptop when the display is turned off and the measurement angle is 60° (in this case, the result is 50.6 GU). Sound Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 4's Dolby Audio speakers produce a sound of very good quality. Its low, mid, and high tones are clear of deviations. Buy our profiles Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 4 configurations with 14.0" CSOT MNE007JA1-1 (LEN403A) (1920 x 1200) IPS. *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. Performance: CPU, GPU, Gaming Tests CPU options These are the CPU options - Intel Core i5-1335U, Core i5-1345U, Core i7-1355U, Core i7-1365U, Core i5-1340P, Core i7-1360P, or Core i7-1370P. GPU options There are no dGPU variants, you will get an iGPU hidden inside of the CPU. Gaming tests CS:GO HD 1080p, Low (Check settings) HD 1080p, Medium (Check settings) HD 1080p, MAX (Check settings) Average FPS 151 fps 129 fps 84 fps DOTA 2 HD 1080p, Low (Check settings) HD 1080p, Normal (Check settings) HD 1080p, High (Check settings) Average FPS 124 fps 82 fps 56 fps [eBook Guide + Tools] How to MAX OUT your Laptop Temperatures and comfort, Battery Life 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 P-core frequency; Average E-core frequency; CPU temp.; Package Power Intel Core i7-1355U (15W TDP) 0:02 - 0:10 sec 0:15 - 0:30 sec 10:00 - 15:00 min Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 4 3.78 GHz @ 2.93 GHz @ 82°C @ 48W 3.45 GHz @ 2.71 GHz @ 90°C @ 41W 2.52 GHz @ 1.87 GHz @ 78°C @ 22W Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 4 3.83 GHz @ 2.89 GHz @ 78°C @ 51W 3.7 GHz @ 2.82 GHz @ 93°C @ 49W 2.38 GHz @ 1.75 GHz @ 64°C @ 21W Acer Aspire 5 (A514-56M) 3.82 GHz @ 2.82 GHz @ 64°C @ 55W 2.18 GHz @ 2.26 GHz @ 65°C @ 37W 1.43 GHz @ 1.98 GHz @ 60°C @ 28W Dell Vostro 15 3530 2.06 GHz @ 2.70 GHz @ 94°C @ 40W 1.56 GHz @ 2.22 GHz @ 96°C @ 26W 2.06 GHz @ 2.25 GHz @ 95°C @ 26W Lenovo Yoga Book 9 (13IRU8) 2.23 GHz @ 2.58 GHz @ 76°C @ 40W 2.13 GHz @ 2.42 GHz @ 85°C @ 35W 1.64 GHz @ 2.03 GHz @ 77°C @ 24W ASUS Zenbook S 13 OLED (UX5304) 3.46 GHz @ 2.47 GHz @ 80°C @ 41W 3.06 GHz @ 2.24 GHz @ 91°C @ 31W 2.36 GHz @ 1.68 GHz @ 75°C @ 21W So, the thinner Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 4 isn't too far away in terms of cooling performance than its close sibling - the ThinkPad T14 Gen 4. The Core i7-1355U can show very high P and E core clocks in short and medium stress. In the long run, the T14s machine it's a bit ahead compared to its bigger "cousin". Comfort during full load The power presets are implemented into the Windows' "Power & Battery" menu which is a smart idea. The noise levels under load are just a tiny bit higher compared to the Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 4. Ergo, the fan is nearly quiet. On the outside, the hotspot is located above the Trackpad but this zone doesn't feel hot, it's just warm. The two palm rest zones remain almost cool even when the CPU is stressed at max. Let's check the fan speed under different loads. In idle, during Web browsing or video playback, the fan is rotating at around 2400 RPM. In 100% CPU stress, the rotation speed is ~4600 RPM. We don't what kind of magic is that, but we've seen other fans at 2000 RPM that are noisier than this one. 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. The 57Wh battery lasts for 11 hours and 7 minutes of Web browsing, or 8 hours and 20 minutes of video playback. Disassembly, Upgrade options, and Maintenance The opening process is easy. You have to undo only 5 captive Phillips-head screws and then you can begin to pry the bottom panel with a plastic tool starting from one of the top two corners. This is how the bottom plate looks on the inside. The battery is a 57Wh model. Unplug the connector before taking it out. The next step is to undo the 4 Phillips-head screws that are fixing the unit to the chassis. The modest capacity is enough for 11 hours and 7 minutes of Web browsing, or 8 hours and 20 minutes of video playback. A good result! The memory is soldered and you can find this laptop with either 16 or 32GB of LPDDR5x-4800MHz RAM. The WWAN and the M.2 slots are placed next to each other. The single SSD slot is compatible with 2280 Gen 4 NVMes. The preinstalled NVMe is well-cooled because it's protected by a metal plate that has a cooling pad on the inside. There is another thermal pad on the mainboard right below the SSD. The cooling seems rather basic - one fan, a single heat pipe, one heat sink, and a heat spreader. Storage performance Our notebook has a 1TB SKHynix HFS001TEJ9X162N Gen 4 SSD. Below you can see some benchmarks of this NVMe. It stays cool under heavy stress - 46°C is the maximum reached temperature during our testing. Lenovo Vantage The Lenovo Vantage app is very important if you want to have more control on your device. You can tune things like keyboard backlight intensity, user-defined key, Always on USB mode, audio presets, etc. Verdict The Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 4 is such a positive surprise. This little fella with a 16.9 mm profile offers almost exactly the same performance as the bigger ThinkPad T14 Gen 4. In general, the performance of the T14s sibling is great. Web browsing or watching videos while benchmarking with Cinebench R23 isn't a problem for this device - we already tried this and we observed no system lags. In addition to that, the CPU can sustain high processor P and E clocks under any load. During longer stress, the frequencies are a bit higher than the ones of the ThinkPad T14 Gen 4. The single fan is almost quiet when the processor has to do the heavy lifting and it's hard to hear some noise in idle or during video playback. The thermals on the outside are low enough for comfortable usage. The input devices are also very good. The keyboard is comfortable for typing, it's spill-resistant, and it has a backlight. The touchpad is smooth and responsive. The 1200p IPS 16:10 display (CSOT MNE007JA1-1 (LEN403A)) almost reaches 400 nits peak brightness and it has a 94% sRGB coverage. Our "Design and Gaming" profile enhances the color accuracy of the panel from 2.1 to an average dE value of 1.3 which is a nice achievement. The display is PWM-free so long hours of work shouldn't be a problem at all if you take 5-minute breaks from time to time. The chassis feels very rigid. Sure, we saw a small amount of flexes but overall, this small device is almost built like a tank. We got the black version which comes with a carbon fiber lid and aluminum base - the laptop feels premium and the only exception is that you can't open the lid with a single hand. The memory is soldered but this applies to almost any other notebook with similar thickness. The maximum amount of RAM is 32GB of LPDDR5x-4800MHz - it should be plenty for most users. On the other hand, there is just one M.2 slot for Gen 4 SSDs. Close to it is the WWAN slot for optional 4G or 5G connectivity. The 57Wh battery has enough juice for 11 hours and 7 minutes of Web browsing, or 8 hours and 20 minutes of video playback. This reminds us that connectivity here is on point - Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.1, and nice I/O that offers two Thunderbolt 4 ports as well as an optional Smart card reader. The extra layer of security features is presented by a Discrete TPM 2.0 chip, Kensington Nano Security Slot, optional fingerprint reader, and an optional IR camera with Human-presence detection. This reminds us that the end price of this machine is on the high side. If you want to get the maxed-out version of this laptop with all optional security features and ports, get ready to pay a lot more. The Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 4 is a thin machine that has a premium build quality, unexpectedly good performance, comfortable input devices, and long battery life. You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/lenovo-thinkpad-t14s-gen-4-intel/