Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Full Review (Testing & Comparison)

The Lenovo ThinkPad E14 looks so good at first glance that you probably won’t notice its flaws at first. But if you look closer, you’ll get a few things that aren’t quite right. Of course, no laptop is perfect, but if you’re looking at a premium portable (like most business laptops), you should expect it to be closer to perfect than cheaper options.

Not that the Lenovo ThinkPad E14 isn’t good in other ways. It feels solid, like Lenovo IdeaPad. The keyboard is a dream, and the 1080p screen is bright. It also works well, has a long battery life, and has many security features that business users will appreciate.

The best thing about it is that it’s a cheaper alternative to all those very expensive business laptops. But there are also several ways this could be better, which, for the price, should make it less, not more. Does it make sense to buy the Lenovo ThinkPad E14? We don’t know what to do.

Lenovo ThinkPad E14

Design

The Lenovo ThinkPad E14 is a business laptop with many business-oriented features. It has a military-grade construction that enables it to withstand practically anything, including spills, drops, bad weather, and even zero gravity. It includes several security features, including a Kensington Lock and the Trusted Platform Module (dTPM), which encrypts sensitive and significant data.

You can update and have one installed with a fingerprint sensor or an IR camera for secure Windows Hello login. The F9 through F11 keys have been delegated sub-functions so they can be used as shortcuts for conference calls.

Its keyboard features the recognizable red ThinkPad button tucked away between the letters G, H, and B. For those who have never used a ThinkPad keyboard before, this is the TrackPoint, which can be used to conveniently scroll between documents and Web pages and enlarge certain elements on the screen.

But mastering this feature requires a lot of time and a high learning curve. Certain compromises are made because this laptop is at the lower end of the business laptop spectrum. At 3.5 pounds and 17.9mm thick, it’s heavier and thicker than what we’re looking for in a powerful laptop that we’d need to bring to business meetings and work travels.

For example, there’s only one Thunderbolt 4 port and two USB Type-A connections. Another little-annoying device is the trackpad. It isn’t very comfortable and isn’t as responsive as it should be.

Fortunately, the keyboard and display make up for some of those drawbacks. That 1080p IPS display is sufficiently sharp, has a 100% sRGB color gamut, is bright enough at 300 nits (lower models are just 250 nits), and is bright enough. It’s just as pleasurable to use this screen for leisure as for work.

Its spill-resistant keyboard, which is much more enjoyable to use, is a plus. It has the appearance of a chiclet keyboard mixed with a butterfly keyboard. Or, at the very least, it bounces and provides tactile feedback more satisfyingly than most chiclet keyboards we’ve used.

Performance

But if performance matters to you and you don’t care about style or frills, you’ll be glad to know that this laptop’s performance is one of its best qualities. Even while our model only has a mid-range i5 chip, it hasn’t displayed any severe slowdowns when performing demanding tasks like running 25 separate browser tabs at once, three of which are playing videos from three different streaming services, Microsoft Outlook, and two-word processing software.

Although we wouldn’t use it to edit 5-minute 4K videos because it just has integrated graphics inside, its performance remains brisk throughout, and it outperforms expectations when used for its intended purpose.

Additionally, the Lenovo ThinkPad E14 is a cool child. That is, under strain, it largely maintains its cool. Whatever cooling technology Lenovo is using, hasn’t been disclosed. It works rather well when you’re balancing work and entertainment simultaneously.

Camera

We anticipated that the Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 2’s HD webcam would not provide an image as clear and detailed as a dedicated 1080p or 4K one because it only has a 720p resolution.

The amount of dark shadows certainly doesn’t make for a nice image when you’re video chatting with coworkers. Therefore, making a ring light purchase could also be a good idea. But that’s not all; the image is also over-processed, resulting in a highly noticeable smoothing effect in still photographs and films. You might enjoy it if that’s the type of editing you’re into these days.

On the other hand, if you’re more intelligent and prefer photos that look more realistic, you might want to consider spending money on a special webcam with greater quality.

If you’re a little camera-shy or just not camera-ready yet and you have a work video conference you need to attend, at least there is a privacy shutter.

Product Testing

Fortunately, the Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 2 test machine has a fingerprint sensor, which we can use in place of the facial recognition login. It’s a wonderful addition that we’re confident many corporate users will value because it simply speeds up the login process and offers an additional layer of protection.

The battery life of the Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 2 is, on the other hand, passable but unremarkable. When running TechRadar’s video playback test and the PC Mark 10 Battery Life test, it only lasted 8 hours and 9 minutes during our tests.

Fair enough, it’s not too far from Lenovo’s rating of up to 11.9 hours. Nevertheless, we would have preferred to see something close to that mark during our testing. After all, two hours in the real world can make a significant difference, especially if you have a big and hefty laptop and would prefer to have the option of leaving the charger at home.

Product Comparison

Even yet, there are a few other omissions, particularly when compared to the 2020 13-Inch MacBook Pro webcam, which has the same resolution. When both the ThinkPad E14 Gen 2 and MacBook are utilized in the same lighting environment, the camera on the ThinkPad E14 Gen 2 loses a lot more detail and dynamic range, resulting in darker photographs being captured.

Unfortunately, it isn’t as trustworthy as the fingerprint reader on our 2019 MacBook Pro 13-inch; it typically requires a few attempts before it can scan our fingerprint accurately enough to log us in.

Final Verdict

Business customers will love the Lenovo ThinkPad E14 with plenty of features, which range from military-grade construction and security measures to conference call control keys and the TrackPoint. Business laptops are significantly more expensive than some of the top prosumer options.

This laptop significantly lowers the price of that class of portables. It’s still a little more expensive than typical laptops but far less expensive than its main competitors. Even with just the 11th-gen i5, it maintains a comfortable interior temperature while performing admirably quickly under stress. You have found the perfect multi-tasking machine right here.

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