Lenovo ThinkPad T16 Gen 2 (Intel) review – Great Display, Quiet Workhorse
Lenovo states that the Intel version of the ThinkPad T16 Gen 2 is a “productivity companion everywhere and anywhere”. It seems true since the laptop isn’t heavy for a 16-icher. This is a business device so the performance is important. You can choose among four U-series Raptor Lake CPUs and four 28W P chips. If battery life is what matters the most for you, the 15W models are the way to go while the P-series variants are for the power users. There is one dGPU variant here and that’s the NVIDIA GeForce MX550. All machines with this video card rely on soldered memory while the iGPU-only iterations have a SODIMM slot.
The I/O is good and it includes two Thunderbolt 4 ports. The base level of security seems okay – dTPM 2.0 chip, Kensington Nano Security slot, and a self-healing BIOS. You have to pay more for extras like a vPro CPU, an IR Web camera, a fingerprint reader, an eSIM slot, and NFC. Even the keyboard backlight is optional. On the other hand, the well-known Trackpoint is available for all devices and can be useful for people who like this feature.
This notebook is offered with a wide variety of display options including four 1200p IPS units (two of them are touchscreens) and the top dog is a 3840×2400 OLED unit. One of the touch panels has the ThinkPad Privacy Guard function to reduce screen visibility from side angles. That is useful in situations when someone wants to have a sneak peek at your info on the screen. For connectivity, you get Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3. This laptop has successfully passed more than 200 MIL-STD-810H military quality checks in extreme conditions.
You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/lenovo-thinkpad-t16-gen-2-intel-integrated/
Contents
- Specs, Drivers, What’s in the box
- Design and construction
- Display quality, Health impact (PWM), Sound
- Buy our profiles
- Performance: CPU, GPU, Gaming Tests
- [eBook Guide + Tools] How to MAX OUT your Laptop
- Temperatures and comfort, Battery Life
- Disassembly, Upgrade options, and Maintenance
- Storage performance
- Verdict
Specs, Drivers, What’s in the box
- HDD/SSD
- up to 4000GB SSD
- M.2 Slot
- 1x 2280 PCIe NVMe 4.0 x4 See photo
- RAM
- up to 48GB
- OS
- Windows 11 Pro, Windows 10 Home, Windows 10 Pro, Windows 11 Home
- Battery
- 52.5Wh
- Body material
- Plastic / Polycarbonate, Aluminum, Carbon
- Dimensions
- 361.9 x 255 x 20.5 - 21.1 mm (14.25" x 10.04" x 0.81")
- Weight
- 1.68 kg (3.7 lbs)
- Ports and connectivity
- 1x USB Type-A
- 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps)
- 1x USB Type-A
- 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps), Sleep and Charge
- 2x USB Type-C
- 4.0, Thunderbolt 4, Power Delivery (PD), DisplayPort
- HDMI
- 2.1 (4K@60Hz)
- Card reader
- Ethernet LAN
- 10, 100, 1000 Mbit/s
- Wi-Fi
- 802.11ax
- Bluetooth
- 5.1
- Audio jack
- 3.5mm Combo Jack
- Features
- Fingerprint reader
- optional
- Web camera
- FHD IR, privacy shutter, fixed focus
- Backlit keyboard
- Microphone
- Dual-microphone array, 360° far-field, Dolby Voice
- Speakers
- 2x 2W Stereo Speakers, Dolby Audio
- Optical drive
- Security Lock slot
- Kensington Nano Lock
All Lenovo ThinkPad T16 Gen 2 (Intel, Integrated) configurations
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-t16-gen-2-type-21hh-21hj
What’s in the box?
Inside the package, you’ll find the laptop itself, and some paperwork. Depending on the CPU and GPU options, you get a 45W, 65W, or 135W Type-C charger.
I have similar T16 Gen 2, only with i7-1355U and 1920 x 1200, 300 nits, 45% NTSC display. My display is good for office work but not great for someone who would use laptop for multimedia. Display in reviewed unit must be much better for that. If i could change something i would go for bigger 86 Wh battery because this 52.5 Wh doesn’t go much further than 4 hours for me while browsing and using MS Office when display is near that 300 nits. Speakers are also considerably worse than on my P1 Gen 6.