Lenovo ThinkBook 14 G3 Review : Quiet All-rounder With Lots of Performance | Tech Reviews
Lenovo ThinkBooks have been office all-rounders in our tech reviews. They are robust, have plenty of fast storage, lots of RAM and a good selection of ports. Savings are mostly made in the color space coverage of the displays. The ThinkBook 14 G3 fits this pattern well. It is a high-performance all-rounder that you can enjoy for a long time. As long as you are aware of the weaknesses.
In this case, our test device comes with Ryzen 5000 and looks good on paper. As always, the ThinkBooks are available in different versions . As usual, you can find the exact specs of my test device in the fold-out table.
| Display | 14″, 16:9, IPS, 300 nits, non-reflective |
| Resolution | 1920×1080 Pixel (Full HD) |
| Processor | AMD Ryzen 5 5500U |
| Graphics | AMD Radeon Graphics |
| RAM | 16GB DDR4 3200MHz 8GB soldered upgradable up to 40GB DDR4-3200 |
| Hard Disk | 512 GB NVMe SSD (M.2 2242) free M.2 2280 slot (max. 1 TB) |
| Connectivity | WiFi 6 (802.11ax) Ethernet 1000 Mbit/s Bluetooth 5.1 |
| Ports | 2x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (DisplayPort 1.4, PowerDelivery 3.0) 2x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 1x HDMI 1.4b 1x combo jack 1x RJ45 port (LAN) 1x SD card reader |
| Battery | Battery with 45 Wh up to 7.5 hours runtime 65 watt USB-C charger |
| Input Devices | Backlit keyboard touchpad fingerprint reader |
| Sound | Audio system with two speakers |
| Camera | 720p Webcam |
| OS | Windows 10 Pro |
| Dimensions | 323 x 218 x 17.9 mm |
| Weight | 1.4 kg |
| Price | 889 Euro* (934.5 USD) *at the time of research |
Design
The design is typical for Lenovo. In plain language, this means that it is a simple and reserved design. The notebook is kept in different shades of gray that harmonize well with each other.
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On the right there is a Lenovo lettering on the body and lid. There is also a large ThinkBook logo on the display lid. That was it with the frills. I find it good.
The display edges are made of black plastic and are not the narrowest under the sun. But that doesn’t bother you. The webcam is housed in the upper frame. This delivers the typical webcam images. With perfect light it works, in all other cases you should rather use the shutter and cover it.
Lenovo uses coated aluminum for the material – and that has several advantages. On the one hand, you can paw around on the notebook to your heart’s content without having to organize a fingerprint festival immediately afterwards and without having to do a round of cleaning first. On the other hand, the ThinkBook 14 G3 is robust and can only be pressed in with a lot of force or bent minimally.
There is not much to say about the processing. She is impeccable. Nothing squeaks, creaks or makes any noise. The edges are smooth and the gaps are even. The display hinges are stiff enough to always keep the display in the desired position. Still, it’s easy enough to adjust.
Input Devices
The keyboard of the Lenovo ThinkBook 14 G3 is standard fare. It’s neither great nor bad. It is a completely banal average keyboard. For my personal taste, the resistance could be a bit stronger. But once you get used to it, longer texts can also be typed well on it. There is no number pad here. Except for two arrow keys, however, all keys have a normal size.
The backlight can be switched on via FN + spacebar. Unfortunately, the brightness cannot be adjusted.
The power button with integrated fingerprint reader is located above the keyboard. It works perfectly and recognizes the fingers reliably.
The touchpad is arranged in the middle and sufficiently dimensioned for a 14″ notebook. It responds reasonably and precisely to inputs. However, I would always recommend a mouse. It’s just easier to use.
Ports
Lenovo is one of the manufacturers that give their notebooks a lot of ports. Same here.
On the left you will find two USB-C ports, which are also used for charging. They both support the 3.2 Gen 2 standard, so they transfer data at up to 10 GBit/s. Next to it is the HDMI 1.4b port, one of the USB-A ports (3.2 Gen 1, i.e. a maximum of 5 GBit/s) and the 3.5mm jack connection.
Lenovo places the LAN port, the second USB-A port (also 3.2 Gen 1) and the SD card reader on the right side. I always like to see the latter in particular in notebooks.
The port selection offers you enough options to connect your peripheral devices and should be completely sufficient for the foreseeable future.
Display
The 14″ full HD display meets expectations. It’s a matte IPS panel, so content doesn’t dim when viewed from the side, and reflections are minimal. This makes it easy to use for a series evening with several people.
Lenovo specifies the brightness as a maximum of 300 nits. The display even surpasses this value in the middle with 315 nits. However, the brightness sometimes drops sharply towards the edges. We measured a deviation of up to 17% with our Spyder. With light backgrounds and a closer look, you can see a slight vignette. In most cases, however, it is not visible.
Software
Finally, finally a notebook with a clean Windows installation. Oh no, not at all.
In addition to the Windows 10 Pro operating system, you can expect Disney+, Spotify, Xing and the seemingly inevitable McAfee on the SSD. If you don’t need any of the programs: They can all be uninstalled. As a replacement for McAfee, which tries to persuade you to buy a full version with big and menacing-looking banners, you can consider the free Windows Defender. It’s pretty good now too.
Not only was bloatware preinstalled, but also a useful program called Lenovo Vantage. This offers the possibility to keep the system up to date or to contact support in a clear interface.
In the delivery state, 434 GB are still free on the SSD.
Perfomance
With its six cores, the AMD Ryzen 5500U offers plenty of performance for everyday use. There is also 16 GB of faster RAM with 3200 MHz and a fixed 512 GB SSD.
Office or multimedia tasks won’t disturb the system. Creative tasks are also handled at a good pace. This allows the notebook to be used without any problems when rendering a 4K file. The limits are reached where a graphics accelerator is required. This is the case with video effects or games, for example.
The integrated Radeon graphics at least allows easy gaming. In games like Fortnite, around 50 fps are possible with medium graphics settings. This allows you to gamble one or the other round.
In general, and this is also shown by the synthetic benchmarks, it is still the case that you are currently better served with a Ryzen CPU from AMD than with an Intel CPU for tasks that require multiple cores. For single-core applications such as games, it’s the other way around.
The SSD is fast and ensures that your data is loaded quickly in everyday life. During the test period, I had no problems opening large files very quickly.
Battery
According to Lenovo, you can get by with the ThinkBook 14 G3 for 7.5 hours without a power outlet. As with all manufacturer information, this value can only be achieved under special conditions that usually have little to do with realistic scenarios.
For this reason I used the device for my normal working day. “Balanced” was selected as the energy profile and the brightness was set to around 200 nits. This corresponds to 75% brightness. And then it started: many browser tabs, Photoshop, Lightroom, Premiere Pro, Word, Excel – the full program.
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When I wasn’t using Adobe’s creative programs, the battery lost an average of 15-18% charge per hour. This results in a total runtime of six to six and a half hours before the notebook has to be plugged in again. With Adobe programs, the charge loss amounted to 25% or more per hour.
If the brightness is turned down further, then of course a longer battery life is possible. But no matter how you look at it: A full working day of eight hours cannot be achieved with the ThinkBook 14 G3. Battery life is average overall.
Emissions
Quietly. That would be perfectly adequate as a description of the emissions.
You won’t hear the ThinkBook 14 G3 most of the time, or only very quietly. The fans start up every now and then and emit a quiet murmur. They stayed calm in the stress test and were only audible quietly.
The Lenovo notebook has the temperature well under control. In the stress test with AIDA 64, the CPU reached a maximum temperature of 88°C. The average temperature was 61°. These are good values that are also noticeable or not noticeable on the outside. The ThinkBook only gets lukewarm at best.
Gear up
There is clear praise for Lenovo here. Because you can easily access the inner workings of the ThinkBook 14 G3. All you have to do is loosen ten Phillips screws and you can remove the base plate with a gentle push.
In addition to the built-in 2242 SSD with 512 GB, there is a free slot for a 2280 SSD. It can be a maximum of 1 TB. Since the 2242 SSD is limited to 512 GB, you can expand the ThinkBook to a total of 1.5 TB. That should be enough for most users.
The accessible RAM bar is in the middle under a cover. A module with 8 GB is installed there in the state of delivery. You can exchange it for one with up to 32 GB. So with the permanently soldered RAM bar, the maximum is 40 GB that the ThinkBook can get. However, the RAM bars then no longer run in dual-channel mode. It’s a pity that the second RAM stick can’t also be replaced.
The battery can also be easily replaced if necessary, as it is only screwed and not glued.
Overall, Lenovo is exemplary with this notebook in terms of access to the inner workings and the exchangeable components.
Sound
The ThinkBook 14 has two speakers. Before you get too excited: They only have two watts each.
They are sufficient for video calls and films. With music, you have to do without the lows almost completely and sometimes also the mids. Therefore, it is better to buy decent speakers if you often want to listen to music on the notebook.
At half volume, the sound is bearable for a while. Not at full volume. The mids also go completely flutes and only the highs remain.
Conclusion: Lenovo ThinkBook 14 G3 – really well suited for most cases
Lenovo does a lot of things right with the ThinkBook 14 G3. You get massive performance that you will not push to its limits in most everyday cases. If necessary, the notebook can also be easily expanded. The connection selection is generous and allows you to build a setup of your choice.
The aluminum housing is robust and resistant to fingerprints. There is also a pleasantly understated design that blends easily into most environments.
With the display, you only have to make compromises in terms of color space coverage. It’s bright enough to work in most environments and sufficient for everyday use. Color-critical work should be done on a different display. But that was to be expected at the asking price of less than 900 euros.
The battery life could be a bit better, but should still meet the needs of most users. The only real minus point that I noticed in the test is the sound. He’s just weak. But since I haven’t found out when I last used the built-in speakers in a notebook, even after thinking about it for a long time, that’s a point I can overlook.
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