The ThinkBook 15P. Lenovo knows that the letter “P” stands for a machine equipped with a mobile CPU with high performance, and it is no different in this case. The configuration has a set of components, including Core i5 10300H, GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q.
| PROS | CONS |
| Bright and colorful 4K display | No Thunderbolt port |
| Fingerprint reader, camera shutter | |
| Excellent expansion capabilities | |
| High-end performance |
General Info
| Lenovo ThinkBook 15P | |
| $ | CHECK PRICE |
| Released | January 1, 2021 |
| Brand | Lenovo |
| Model | 20V3001XUS |
| Processor | Intel Core i5 10300H |
| Graphics | GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q, 4 GB Intel UHD 630 |
| OS | Windows 10 Pro |
| Weight | 1.9 kg |
| Display | 15.6 inch |
| Colors | Mineral Gray, dual-tone design |
| Material | Aluminum |
| Dimensions | 359 x 250 x 20 mm |
| Type | Laptop |
ThinkBook 15p is a laptop with a 15.6-inch screen, it is certainly not one of the compact laptops in the world, but for an efficient 15 inch, it still looks quite neat. The notebook is 20 mm thick and weighs less than 2 kg; it has almost the exact dimensions as the second-generation ThinkBook 15 based on a low-voltage CPU.
The ThinkBook 15P is another confirmation of this. Generally, gray in its lighter shade rules here. The only exception is the black frame around the screen. Besides – gray over grays and everything gray. Is that a complaint? Not.
Lenovo has succeeded in avoiding boredom. Because here we have a slightly darker keyboard, the manufacturer’s logo on a metal plate glued to the edge. Then, again, a darker strip runs along the flap’s entire length for about 1/3 of its height, slightly contrasting with its remaining surface.
The edge of the lid is decorated a delicate cut, through which a metallic shine emerges into the daylight.
The laptop is made of aluminum, but unfortunately, this is not the case. The laptop’s bottom and lid made of light metal, but the desktop is made of plastic. At first glance, you can get confused, but adding a sense of touch to your eyes dispels all doubts.Â
In terms of durability, the entire structure of the ThinkBook 15p is expected to do well, not standing out qualitatively from the rest of the family. The flap only slightly bends due to the applied force, but all within acceptable and safe limits, without fear of damage.Â
In addition, even greater pressure on the lid does not cause the appearance of artifacts on the active matrix to be well secure.
Display
| Display Type | IPS, matte |
| Display Size | 15.6 inch |
| Touchscreen | No |
| Display Resolution | 1920 x 1080 Pixel |
| Display Feature | 4K, IPS, matte, 600 nits, HDR400, 100% AdobeRGB, Full HD, IPS, matte |
This Lenovo laptop tempts so-called ” creative creators ” who are familiar with 2D and 3D graphics or video. The Chinese have prepared two IPS panels for this model. The first one has a 4K resolution, a brightness of 600 nits, and 100% mapped AdobeRGB color palette. The second, installed in the tested model, is a panel with Full HD resolution (1920 x 1080 pixels) and has the specification of 300 nits of brightness, a contrast of 1200: 1, and 100% sRGB mapping. How do these features appear outside the document?Â
The matrix was close to the value of 300 nits with its brightness, but practically only in its center. The sides are slightly dimmed, but during work and everyday use of the laptop, it was not visible at all. The contrast was better than what Lenovo promised. Instead of 1200: 1, the colorimeter showed 1402: 1, so as you can guess – black also turned out very well; it is excellent for an IPS matrix.Â
In terms of color reproduction, the panel colorimeter showed exactly 97% of the sRGB palette instead of around “streak.”Â
- luminance: 291 cd / m2
- contrast: 1402: 1
- black: 0.21cd / m2
- sRGB palette: 97%
- DCI-P3 palette: 73%
- AdobeRGB palette: 70%
Performance
| Processor | Intel Core i5 10300H 4 cores, 8 threads 2.5 – 4.5 GHz TDP – 45 W cache – 8 MB |
| Graphics | GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q, 4 GB Intel UHD 630 |
| RAM | 16 GB DDR4, 2933 MHz |
| Storage | 512 GB, SSD M.2 PCIe NVMe SAMSUNG MZALQ512HALU-000L2 |
The Intel Core i5 10300H and GeForce GTX 1650 Ti in the Max-Q version did. Except for these two components.Â
It turned out that the Lenovo Vantage application for managing the system, computer, and its hardware resources has an option hidden among the settings called ” Intelligent power settings, “and this one has three modes: Extreme performance, Intelligent cooling, which is the default mode, and battery saving. Only switching to the Extreme Performance mode released the components from the imposed loops, and the performance results began to look as they should.
Let’s start with the CPU. The Core i5 10300H is a reasonably efficient processor and, paradoxically, the weakest unit with which you can buy a ThinkBook 15p. An alternative to it is the higher-positioned Core i7 10750H and Core i7 10820H.
The unit from the Comet Lake-H family has a TDP of 45 W, clocked in the fork from 2.5 GHz to a maximum of 4.5 GHz in Turbo Boost mode (100 and 400 MHz more than in the Core i5 9300H, respectively) with a load of one core. Of these, the CPU has four physical and eight logical thanks to the support for Hyper-Threading. To the total, 8 MB of cache should be added.
During the tests, the processor positively surprised me in terms of the results obtained. It’s enough to mention that for an hour-long stability test, the clock fluctuations were only 100 MHz, and the temperature fluctuated around 82-85 ° C. Out of curiosity, I also checked how the processor would behave in the Intelligent Cooling mode. There were no major surprises – the clock rigidly stuck to the base value, and the CPU temperature reached a maximum of 51 ° C.
The Core i5 10300H let the benchmarks squeeze out sweat and found that the unit did not overestimate its capabilities. The results obtained from the Cinebench R15 and R20 benchmarks look surprisingly well. Converting the 15-minute movie from 4K / 60 frames per second to Full HD / 30 frames per second took 17 and 36 seconds, which is only about 1.5 minutes longer than the Core i7 10750H from the Acer ConceptD 3 Ezel. This is quite a good result. The chip also did not bring shame to Intel and Lenovo in the remaining tests, as evidenced by the graphs below.
The laptop uses both available graphics cards. Intel UHD 630. It is responsible for the image when we do not need the power of an independent GPU to work. However, when a game or other application is launched that eagerly uses the power of dGPU, the action will come, all in green, the GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q from NVIDIA.
GTX 1650 Ti in the version with reduced energy appetite, hence, heat emission, is a graphic from the middle shelf of efficiency. It can be found in cheaper gaming laptops and notebooks with a more specialized pedigree. It is perfect for working with modeling and various 3D graphics, assisted by NVIDIA Studio drivers. The card is based on the TU117 core and has 4 GB of GDDR6 vRAM based on a 128-bit bus. Since it is GTX and not RTX, we will not find ray tracing or DLSS technology here.
The ThinkBook 15p is a very versatile laptop, so I checked the GPU performance in terms of gaming performance and much more professional applications. GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q allows you to play even the latest titles comfortably, but only if you choose Full HD resolution and medium details. This set of settings is the closest to the desired 60 frames per second. If someone does not need this value for happiness, he can freely increase the quality of the graphics or the resolution, and we will continue to talk about a smooth (but not so much) image.
Multimedia
| Webcam | 720p with ThinkShutter |
| Audio | 2x 2W, Dolby Audio |
| Audio Jack | 3.5mm Combo Jack |
| Network | LAN – Realtek RTL8168 / 8111 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Adapter Wi-Fi 6 AX201 160MHz |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 5.1 |
| Ports | 2x USB 3.2 gen 1 1x USB 3.2 gen 1 type C (data only) 1x HDMI 2.0 1x LAN audio in / out |
| Keyboard Numpad | Yes |
| Keyboard Type | Backlit keyboard |
The laptop also looks pretty good in terms of the connectors offered. Most of them went to the left side, which may not be particularly appealing to left-handed people. These are exposed that the plugs may protrude from the USB 3.2 gen 1 type C sockets (unfortunately –Â supporting only data transfer, without Power Delivery or DisplayPort), USB type A (3.2 gen 1), HDMI, and headphone/speaker sockets.
The LAN socket is at the rear edge, so it is unlikely to be in the mouse field. An additional USB connector in its most popular form and a 4 in 1 memory card reader (SD, SDHC, SDXC, and MMC) on the right side.
Lenovo offers the most usual standard in the world. At least for universal 15-inch laptops with high performance. There is a LAN socket here, and it is supported by the Realtek RTL8168 / 8111-gigabit network adapter. The Intel card that can help the Wi-Fi 6 standard is responsible for wireless connectivity.
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Keyboard
Since it is a ThinkBook and not a ThinkPad, we will not experience the famous and beloved Precision keyboard here. However, this is not a huge loss because the ThinkBook defends itself quite well. The keys may not have as pleasantly springy click as those from ThinkPads, but in my ranking, laptop keyboards are still at the top.
The keyboard from the ThinkBook 15p has very similar characteristics to the recently tested Yoga C940 14. The stroke is relatively flat, and at first, a bit hard, but the bounce of the plate pressed in is appropriately dynamic, springy, and thus well felt. The “tiles” are pleasing to the touch, the buttons are properly contoured, and the entire area is free from tightness and clutter. Even the slightly smaller number panel did not spoil the ergonomics of the whole thing.
The entire keyboard is illuminated with white LEDs, and accidental spilling of liquid on it should not damage the computer because it is splash-proof.
A plastic plate plays the role of the touchpad finished with an impeccably smooth surface. Working without a mouse is also expected to be convenient due to the sufficiently large surface of the trackpad – Lenovo appropriately used a lot of space on the wrist rest. The touchpad buttons are integrated into the board. They have a bit hard and loud click, but you can not complain about their clarity and springiness. They are used well and fulfill their role to the full.
Lenovo smiled again at Harman for support in equipping their laptops with good audio. All indications are that Harman did not ignore these advances because not only is the casing bearing the logo of this recognized manufacturer of audio equipment, but can hear the speakers themselves that they offer a slightly higher quality than average. The ThinkBook 15P has 2-watt diaphragms, so some incredible sound complexity is not expected here. The sopranos dominate, but they are correctly balanced and tame. It is only at a maximum volume that you can sporadically hear some itchy ears, but apart from that, the audio fares well.Â
The equipment is supported by  Dolby Audio software, which allows you to select a scenario appropriate to the activity (Music, Voice, Movies, Games), and also allows you to personalize the settings yourself with the 10-band equalizer.
Battery
| Battery Type | Lithium-ion |
| Battery Capacity | 57 Wh |
| Battery life | Up-to 8 hours |
| AC Adapter | 135W |
The battery with a capacity of 57 Wh for such a configuration is unlikely to work for too long. And yet, the ThinkBook 15p surprised me quite a lot in this respect. The laptop in office mode could work on its power supply for over 6 hours, i.e., almost two hours longer than the Yoga C940 recently. Except we had a 60 Wh battery and a low voltage processor there. However, if we only use the browser, the battery will last for up to 11 hours, which is a phenomenal result with this configuration.
Conclusion!
Without a doubt – Lenovo cares about ThinkBooks, and you can see that the new family is a kind of apple of the Chinese brand’s eye. In my opinion, the Lenovo ThinkBook 15p turned out to be a very successful laptop, and it works great as a universal machine for work and entertainment. There are many arguments to confirm this opinion.
The laptop is nice, well-made, and durable. You can complain a bit that Lenovo has put on a plastic desktop, not aluminum, rather than the cover protecting the screen.
In terms of performance, the combination of Core i5 10300H and GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q makes a lot of sense and is universal.
The work culture is just as good, the battery life phenomenal. The screen is bright and colorful, with excellent speakers and other equipment. All this combined into one efficient device called ThinkBook 15P.
