Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 2 evaluation: A customary industry laptop

Mediate Lenovo’s ThinkPad E14 Gen 2 because the industry laptop for the foul and file.

While the C-suite might perchance presumably salvage off with one thing sleeker, care for the $1,850 ThinkPad X1 Nano, the E14 hews nearer to the $1,000 differ and makes no strive and conceal its economy-class trappings, relative to fancier ThinkPads. Weighing 3.5 kilos and measuring 0.7 inches thick, it’s indubitably one of Lenovo’s heftier industry laptops, and its aspects—which embody an ethernet jack and anti-glare show disguise—are decidedly utilitarian.

Trend aspects apart, the ThinkPad might perchance presumably presumably be a solid laptop if now no longer for its substandard trackpad and beneath-moderate battery existence. As it stands, it’s a laptop that workers can tolerate, versus one which they’ll truly care for.

ThinkPad E14 Gen 2 tech specs

Our ThinkPad E14 Gen 2 sells for $1,048 on TigerDirect and has the following specs:

• CPU: Intel Core i5-1135G7 with Iris Xe graphics
• Display disguise: 14-rush, 1920×1080 IPS matte-finish
• Memory: 16GB DDR4 RAM
• Storage: 256GB SSD
• Biometrics: Fingerprint reader
• Webcam: 720p with privateness shutter and Home windows Hi there face recognition
• Left facet: USB-C Thunderbolt 4 port, USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 (continuously on), HDMI 1.4, 3.5mm headphone jack
• Factual facet: USB-A 2.0 Gen 1, gigabit ethernet, Kensington lock
• Working system: Home windows 10 Pro
• Weight: 3.51 kilos (4.19 kilos with vitality brick)
• Dimensions: 0.70 x 12.75 x 8.66 inches

Jared Newman / IDG

Lenovo sells many various variants, including those with Core i3, Core i7, and AMD Ryzen 5 processors, though the firm’s web site makes pricing sophisticated to gauge. (The baseline Core-i3 model, to illustrate, has a listing label of $1,249, which is $200 bigger than what TigerDirect costs for our evaluation unit, nonetheless it’s all the top diagram down to $600 in a Memorial Day sale.) Depend on to exhaust within the neighborhood of $1,000 for all nonetheless essentially the most customary configuration.

Despite the total lot, the scarcity of discrete GPU and H-Series CPU alternate concepts places the ThinkPad E14 squarely within the realm of web site of enterprise-drone productivity laptops—a level that’s emphasized by the rare sighting of an ethernet port on its lawful facet. Lenovo does lisp that it affords an possibility for Nvidia GeForce MX450 graphics, nonetheless currently it’s now no longer accessible on the firm’s web site.

Invent and show disguise

Aesthetically speaking, the E14 is moderately much the quintessential ThinkPad, lawful all the top diagram down to the trackpoint nub, trio of trackpad buttons, dismal chassis, and crimson accents. Its hefty plastic case has no discernible flex, and it meets an array of ruggedness requirements underneath the MIL-STD 810H long-established.

Jared Newman / IDG

The non-touch show disguise folds all the top diagram down to a 180-stage angle. While its 300-nit brightness stage is on the dismal facet for a wiser-finish laptop, the matte finish does merit counteract glare in case you’re computing exterior. At maximum brightness, the show disguise used to be perfectly legible even with the solar at my aid.

Trackpad and keyboard

Because that is a ThinkPad, you might perchance presumably presumably ask rotund keys with so much of tactile feedback. And my suspicion with the ThinkPad E14 is that the laptop’s thickness permits the backlit keyboard to be even chunkier.

These are compliments. While some of us might perchance presumably favor a more mild-weight truly feel, I care for the disappear back and forth on ThinkPad keyboards, and the E14 affords more of it than some various items. The aforementioned X1 Nano, to illustrate, has less depth, and its keys topple down with a clack, versus more of a tender tactile bump on the E14.

Jared Newman / IDG

If handiest the trackpad might perchance presumably presumably protect up. For a 14-rush laptop, the E14 trackpad is on the shrimp facet, especially with its dedicated mouse button row on top. The bigger enlighten has to originate with friction. The E14 trackpad staunch isn’t as tender because the items on most various laptops within the $1,000-and-up label differ, so your finger might perchance presumably salvage caught because it’s sliding during the show disguise.

Webcam, security, audio and extras

The ThinkPad E14’s meat-and-potatoes potential extends to its webcam and speakers. The extinct is a 720p determination digicam reminiscent of those on most various Home windows laptops, whereas the latter make audio that’s moderately loud nonetheless lacking in high-finish crispness. With a pair of 2-watt speakers mounted on the laptop’s undercarriage, their Harman Kardon branding and custom Dolby tuning can handiest originate so much.

Lenovo does maintain its security bases covered, though. A fingerprint reader is built into the vitality button along the ThinkPad E14’s lawful facet, and the digicam helps Home windows Hi there so you might perchance presumably presumably signal up with staunch your face. Admire various larger-finish Lenovo laptops, the E14 also has a physical digicam privateness shutter that reveals a crimson dot when it’s holding the lens.

Jared Newman / IDG

Also worth noting: Lenovo’s Vantage tool has some precious customization aspects. Potentialities are you’ll presumably swap the Operate and Ctrl keys with out a outing to BIOS, tweak the digicam’s brightness and distinction ranges, and blueprint a maximum fee threshold (to forestall battery wear if it’s plugged in additional assuredly than now no longer). Lenovo even permits you to customize the F12 key to initiate remark apps, web sites, or keyboard commands.

Efficiency

As a industry laptop with an Intel Core i5-1135G7 processor, the Lenovo ThinkPad E14 delivers pretty much what you’d ask on the efficiency entrance, via its battery existence and graphics are both letdowns.

Let’s launch with PCMark 10, nonetheless employ into chronicle the chart beneath is a shrimp deceiving. We don’t assuredly salvage Core i5 laptops from vendors, so a pair of of the laptops in our comparison race Core i7 chips as an different. We’d ask those more highly efficient chips to fare better in PCMark, nonetheless the ThinkPad E14 didn’t topple too bar at the aid of with a rating of 4,578. In contrast to the Core i5 chips in HP’s Envy 14 and Microsoft’s Surface Pro 7+, Lenovo’s laptop fell someplace in between.

Jared Newman / IDG

Perchance more surprisingly, the ThinkPad E14 came in nearer to the terminate in our HandBrake take a look at, which entails encoding a wide video file. Because this take a look at places laptops underneath sustained, heavy loads, it’s an correct measure of persistence. The E14’s fleshy enclosure seemingly affords it more room to dissipate warmth when in contrast to a pair slicker and slimmer Core i7-powered laptops.

Jared Newman / IDG

The ThinkPad E14 also turned in a solid efficiency in Cinebench, which is HandBrake’s reverse—a transient take a look at of both single- and multi-threaded efficiency. 

Jared Newman / IDG

Sadly, the same wasn’t appropriate in our battery rundown take a look at, the place the ThinkPad E14 lasted via 10 hours and 48 minutes of looping video playback. While the ThinkPad E14 doesn’t maintain any obvious battery-draining aspects, the battery itself is on the shrimp facet, with a corpulent fee skill of 45,730 Whr. We assuredly realizing laptops within the 50,000- to 60,000-Whr differ, and they predictably salvage much better battery existence. The E14 might perchance presumably presumably topple instant of a corpulent work day. The true news is that it is miles going to fee aid to 80-p.c skill in about an hour.

Jared Newman / IDG

The ThinkPad E14 isn’t a wide possibility for gaming, now no longer surprisingly. Even in case you might perchance presumably presumably convince your IT manager to enable you to set up Steam on this laptop, its Time Ogle rating of 1,082 falls properly beneath that of various laptops with Iris Xe graphics.

Jared Newman / IDG

A laptop without a surprises

With the ThinkPad E14 Gen 2, you realize precisely what you’re going to salvage. It’s a customary industry laptop with a solid different of ports, first charge productivity efficiency, and a customary anti-glare show disguise. Its most exemplary characteristic is its keyboard, nonetheless that’s counterweighted by a disappointing trackpad and middling battery existence. The foul and file might perchance presumably presumably originate worse, nonetheless they might perchance presumably presumably furthermore potentially originate a shrimp better as properly.

• Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 2

  Lenovo’s budget ThinkPad E14 Gen 2 has a luscious keyboard and work-pleasant frills, nonetheless the trackpad feels subpar for the worth.

  Pros

  • Keyboard feels wide to kind on
  • Anti-glare show disguise works properly in daylight
  • Ethernet and HDMI ports in-built

  Cons

  • Trackpad will be smoother and greater
  • Mediocre battery existence
  • Thick and heavy kind