If business laptops had Max-P versions, the ThinkBook 15p would be one of them. It is far more capable than its genuine ThinkBook 15 brother in terms of getting the job done. This, respectively, is because of an overhaul of the hardware, and the cooling solution.
Lenovo says, that this notebook falls not only in the business category, but it’s also meant to appeal to content creators. In order to satisfy this growing, and ever-demanding target group, they offer 45W processors, maxing out with the Core i7-10870H, while the graphics are handled by the Max-Q versions of the GTX 1650, and GTX 1650 Ti.
So far so good – it is nothing way too powerful, so we think that you won’t get an uncomfortably loud notebook. And it is very important to have sleek looks, instead of the aggressive vibe that the gamer notebooks give. Additionally, there is one more important feature – the display. Actually, Lenovo is very proud of its 4K IPS option, which in their words delivers 100% Adobe RGB coverage, and is X-Rite calibrated along with the Pantone standards. Also, it boasts 600 nits of maximum brightness. And for those of us who can’t afford a yacht, they have the modest but still decent 1080p IPS model, which shines at 300 nits, and supposedly covers 100% of the sRGB gamut.
You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/lenovo-thinkbook-15p
Contents
Specs Sheet
Lenovo ThinkBook 15p - Specs
All Lenovo ThinkBook 15p configurations
What’s in the box?
Inside the box, you will find the mandatory paperwork, as well as a 135W power adapter.
Design and construction
Now, let’s take a look at the design. This device is built out of aluminum, although the base feels like plastic. Without a doubt, we can say that we are huge fans of the appearance. On the lid, you can see a dual-tone gray finish, with chamfered edges. Also, the lid looks pointy at the back, which is also cool. Interestingly, the body is extremely rigid with almost no flex all around. Unfortunately, this cannot be said about the lid, which bends like cheese in the microwave. Also, we observed color-shifting when we twisted it.
How about its portability? Well, the notebook weighs 1.90 kg and has a profile of 19.9mm, which is very good for something with so much horsepower.
Its lid opens with a single hand, and the hinges feel smooth, with just the right resistance. Once you open it, you will see the matte display. Its side bezels are narrow, but it has a quite large forehead and a formidable chin. On the bright side, the top bezel packs the HD camera, as well as a privacy shutter.
Next, let’s move to the base. As we said, we found very little flex in the chassis, and almost no deck flex, which is great. Northeast to the keyboard, you can find the Power button, which doubles as a fingerprint reader. As far as the keyboard, itself, you get a full-sized one with a NumberPad, and a Service Hotkey, which should make support and maintenance extremely hassle-free. This unit is also backlit, and while the feedback is clicky and satisfying, we found that the very short key travel kind of took away from the satisfaction. Another thing we’re not fans of is the way too small “Up” and “Down” Arrow keys.
With a palm rest area so big, Lenovo could have provided a larger touchpad. Instead, they opted for the traditional one, which has a Mylar surface, that provides smooth gliding. And although the tracking feels a bit weird at first, you can get used to it pretty quickly.
Lastly, let’s turn the laptop upside down, and see the two speaker cutouts, which hide the Harman-tuned speakers. Also, there is an air intake grill there, while the heat is exhausted from the right side, and from in between the lid and the base.
Ports
When it comes to the I/O, you get the charging plug, an RJ-45 connector, an HDMI 2.0 connector, a USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) port, a USB Type-C 3.2 (Gen. 1) port with data transfer only, and an Audio jack on the left. On the other side, you get one more USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) port, and an SD card reader.
Disassembly, upgrade options, and maintenance
To get inside this notebook, you need to undo all 10 Phillips-head screws. Then carefully pry your way around the bottom panel, starting from the back.
In terms of cooling, you get two heat pipes that connect to one rather long heat spreader, and a tiny one on the left of the fan. By the way, the cooling solution here is very similar to that of the Ideapad Gaming 3i 15, however, this time you get two fans that are equal in size. Additionally, you can see some metal heat sinks above the VRMs, the graphics memory, as well as the chipset.
In regards to the upgradeability, there are two RAM SODIMM slots, that support up to 32GB of DDR4 memory in dual-channel mode. Storage-wise, you get two M.2 PCIe x4 slots.
As for the battery, this device is equipped with a 57Wh package, which can be charged from 0-80% for just one hour.
Display quality
Coming soon!
Drivers
All of the drivers and utilities for this notebook can be found here: https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/en/products/laptops-and-netbooks/thinkbook-series/thinkbook-15p-imh/downloads/automatic-driver-update
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. Here, we have a 57Wh battery, which lasts for 8 hours and 37 minutes of Web browsing, and 6 hours and 13 minutes of video playback.
In order to simulate real-life conditions, we used our own script for automatic web browsing through over 70 websites.
For every test like this, we use the same video in HD.
We use F1 2017’s built-in benchmark on loop in order to simulate real-life gaming.
CPU options
Lenovo is offering this notebook with one of three processors – the Core i5-10300H, Core i7-10750H, and the Core i7-10870H – four, six, and eight-core CPUs respectively.
Results are from the Cinebench 20 CPU test (the higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Fritz chess benchmark (the higher the score, the better)
Results are from our Photoshop benchmark test (the lower the score, the better)
Lenovo ThinkBook 15p CPU variants
Here you can see an approximate comparison between the CPUs that can be found in the Lenovo ThinkBook 15p models on the market. This way you can decide for yourself which Lenovo ThinkBook 15p model is the best bang for your buck.
Note: The chart shows the cheapest different CPU configurations so you should check what the other specifications of these laptops are by clicking on the laptop’s name / CPU.
Results are from the Cinebench 20 CPU test (the higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Fritz chess benchmark (the higher the score, the better)
Results are from our Photoshop benchmark test (the lower the score, the better)
GPU options
In terms of the graphics card, you can pick from the GTX 1650 Max-Q and the GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q, both equipped with 4GB of GDDR6 memory.
Results are from the 3DMark: Fire Strike (Graphics) benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Unigine Heaven 3.0 benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Unigine Heaven 4.0 benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Unigine Superposition benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Lenovo ThinkBook 15p GPU variants
Here you can see an approximate comparison between the GPUs that can be found in the Lenovo ThinkBook 15p models on the market. This way you can decide for yourself which Lenovo ThinkBook 15p model is the best bang for your buck.
Note: The chart shows the cheapest different GPU configurations so you should check what the other specifications of these laptops are by clicking on the laptop’s name / GPU.
Results are from the 3DMark: Fire Strike (Graphics) benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Unigine Heaven 3.0 benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Unigine Heaven 4.0 benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Unigine Superposition benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Gaming tests
| Far Cry 5 | Full HD, Normal (Check settings) | Full HD, High (Check settings) | Full HD, Ultra (Check settings) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average fps | 69 fps | 64 fps | 60 fps |
| Rise of the Tomb Raider (2016) | Full HD, Lowest (Check settings) | Full HD, Medium (Check settings) | Full HD, Very High (Check settings) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average fps | 102 fps | 81 fps | 41 fps |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2018) | Full HD, Lowest (Check settings) | Full HD, Medium (Check settings) | Full HD, High (Check settings) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average fps | 87 fps | 58 fps | 53 fps |
| Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands | Full HD, Medium (Check settings) | Full HD, High (Check settings) | Full HD, Very High (Check settings) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average fps | 63 fps | 58 fps | 50 fps |
Temperatures and comfort
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 core frequency (base frequency + X); CPU temp.
| Intel Core i7-10750H (45W TDP) | 0:02 – 0:10 sec | 0:15 – 0:30 sec | 10:00 – 15:00 min |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lenovo ThinkBook 15p | 3.48 GHz (B+34%) @ 89°C | 3.13 GHz (B+20%) @ 85°C | 2.83 GHz (B+9%) @ 75°C |
| MSI GF63 10SCXR | 3.31 GHz (B+27%) @ 83°C | 3.20 GHz (B+23%) @ 86°C | 2.80 GHz (B+8%) @ 87°C |
| Acer Nitro 5 (AN515-55) | 3.02 GHz (B+16%) @ 82°C | 3.04 GHz (B+17%) @ 92°C | 2.67 GHz (B+3%) @ 92°C |
| Lenovo Legion 7 (15) | 3.78 GHz (B+45%) @ 80°C | 3.69 GHz (B+42%) @ 83°C | 3.51 GHz (B+35%) @ 83°C |
| MSI GP65 Leopard 10Sx | 3.65 GHz (B+40%) @ 95°C | 3.41 GHz (B+31%) @ 95°C | 3.30 GHz (B+27%) @ 95°C |
The cooling looks and works very well on this laptop. Lenovo was also a bit lenient on the power delivery, which additionally aids the cooling setup
Real-life gaming
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q | GPU frequency/ Core temp (after 2 min) | GPU frequency/ Core temp (after 30 min) |
|---|---|---|
| Lenovo ThinkBook 15p | 1594 MHz @ 64°C @ 50W | 1581 MHz @ 68°C @ 50W |
Interestingly, despite the Max-Q branding, the ThinkBook 15p manages to run its GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q at 50W, which delivers a performance very similar to the non-Max-Q model. And it does so at a quite low temperature.
Comfort during combined load
And the low temperature on the inside results in a low temperature on the outside, where we measured a maximum of just below 40°C.
Verdict
There are a couple of things we want to get out of the way. First – the I/O. It is generally good with quite an amount of ports and even a full-sized SD card reader. However, the USB Type-C port has a speed of only 5Gbps, and it can be used only for data transfer – no fancy Thunderbolt, nor DisplayPort capabilities.
Then, the battery life… Although we got a bit over 8 hours and a half of Web browsing, the video playback times were not ideal – just over 6 hours. This is mainly because of the 4K IPS panel we had in use, but to be honest, Lenovo could have equipped this laptop with a larger battery. There is a good amount of unused (or poorly used) space inside, so for the next generation, we really hope to see something bigger.
Other than that, the build quality feels good. Even though the lid bends like crazy, the base remains solid, and the aluminum all around makes the laptop feel very premium (as its price tag suggests). We were not really impressed by the keyboard, but it is good to have a backlight, and the fingerprint reader in the Power button seems fast and accurate.
As for the performance – it is there. These H-series processors will deliver on what you expect from them, but content creators and people with more intensive work should go for one of the Core i7 options. Not only that, but you can play some AAA titles thanks to the GTX 1650/1650 Ti Max-Q at reasonably high settings. Well, this is if you play at 1080p because, at 4K, you’ll need something a lot beefier than that.
Not in the last place, there is the comfort of use. Ultimately, the fans don’t kick in, unless you put some load on the device, so for the most time, you will enjoy a quiet experience. And the speakers? Well, Harman has done a good job, tuning them, as they sound loud and rich for the most part. Well, they are not Dell XPS or MacBook quality, but still – they’re decent.
Keep in mind that the ThinkBook 15p sits in an area of the market, that’s between the business and the content creator segments. So, if you’re in for both of them, it’s not a bad choice. However, if you need more performance, MSI’s Creator 15 A10Sx packs a lot of power, but you need to have deeper pockets.
Pros
- Takes up to 32GB of DDR4 memory and has two M.2 slots
- 4K IPS panel option
- Capable hardware within a sleek, portable chassis
- Fingerprint reader + Wi-Fi 6 support
- Features an SD card reader
- Packs good security features
Cons
- Doesn’t have a Thunderbolt connection, and the USB Type-C port can only be used for data transfer
- Bendy lid
You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/lenovo-thinkbook-15p/