Top 5 reasons to Buy or NOT to buy the Lenovo ThinkBook 15 Gen 2
In 2020, Lenovo gave life to a new brand of laptops, whose name sounds very familiar. The ThinkBooks should have just been better-looking ThinkPads, which, themselves, are known for their rigidity and more industrial looks.
That is what we would have wanted: the build quality, performance, and features of the ThinkPad paired with a refreshed exterior that would have made the device quite popular among people with a more stylish personality. What happened instead was a bunch of build quality issues and some missing features. Let’s hope its successor does a better job.
Today we are presenting you with LaptopMedia’s Top 5 picks about the Lenovo ThinkBook 15 Gen 2.
Lenovo ThinkBook 15 Gen 2: Full Specs / In-depth Review
3 reasons to BUY the Lenovo ThinkBook 15 Gen 2
1. The Design
Lenovo said that the ThinkBooks would have an improved visual identity and so far they have delivered. The new aesthetic is quite refreshing, which features a dual-tone grey finish on the lid, with minimal ThinkBook branding that is landscape-oriented, as well as the traditional Lenovo wordmark on the corner of the lid. The base has a similar finish as the lid and the darker keycaps on the keyboard offer a great monochromatic look.
2. The Upgradeability
The laptop is offered with either 4GB or 8GB of soldered memory. Along with that, you get a single SODIMM RAM slot that can store up to 32GB of additional DDR4 memory. Now, the RAM is running in dual-channel, so it would be best if you pair the soldered memory with the appropriate amount of RAM in the SODIMM slot. For the storage, you get two M.2 PCIe x4 drives that are easily accessible. In contrast to that, Lenovo states that the laptop can hold a 2.5-inch SATA drive, but they have provided neither a cable nor a bracket.
If you want to upgrade the RAM or storage on the ThinkPad 15 Gen 2, but it’s your first time and you generally don’t know what to do, feel free to watch our detailed teardown video, which we will leave below. In it, we show a step-by-step way of safely getting access to the SODIMM and M.2 slots.
3. The I/O
Lenovo has gone above and beyond with the I/O here, which has nearly everything. It has two USB Type-C 3.2 (Gen. 2) ports, one of which is used for charging and supports DisplayPort 1.4 output and the other has Thunderbolt 4 support. Along with that, you get two more USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) ports, an HDMI 1.4b, and an RJ-45 connector. You also get a 3.5 mm audio jack and a MicroSD card reader. Some units even get a popout tray for wireless earbuds, which is just sick.
2 reasons NOT to buy the Lenovo ThinkBook 15 Gen 2
1. The Display
The Lenovo ThinkBook 15 Gen 2 comes with a 15.6-inch Full HD IPS panel. It has comfortable viewing angles and a good contrast ratio. Sadly it covers only 51% of the sRGB color gamut and the uniformity of the luminance is uneven across the area of the screen.
The color accuracy wasn’t the best, but we have seen worse. We tested it with the 24 commonly used colors, using both the factory settings (left) and our “Gaming and web design” profile applied (right).
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Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for Lenovo ThinkBook 15 Gen 2 configurations with 15.6″ LG LP156WFC-SPD1 (FHD, 1920 × 1080) IPS.
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Office Work
Office Work should be used mostly by users who spend most of the time looking at pieces of text, tables or just surfing. This profile aims to deliver better distinctness and clarity by keeping a flat gamma curve (2.20), native color temperature and perceptually accurate colors.
Design and Gaming
This profile is aimed at designers who work with colors professionally, and for games and movies as well. Design and Gaming takes display panels to their limits, making them as accurate as possible in the sRGB IEC61966-2-1 standard for Web and HDTV, at white point D65.
Health-Guard
Health-Guard eliminates the harmful Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) and reduces the negative Blue Light which affects our eyes and body. Since it’s custom tailored for every panel, it manages to keep the colors perceptually accurate. Health-Guard simulates paper so the pressure on the eyes is greatly reduced.
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2. The Build quality
While the design looked better than most ThinkPads, we can’t say the same about the build quality. With a body that is completely made out of plastic (and not even high-quality one) and an aluminum lid, the base is just too soft and it bends too easily, failing to secure the hardware inside. The lid doesn’t open with a single hand, as its hinges are too stiff. Fortunately, the bezels’ size is okay for 2021, with the top one housing the HD webcam with the ThinkShutter.