Lenovo ThinkPad E14 G5 AMD review: Affordable office laptop with better display

Lenovo has given its inexpensive ThinkPad E14 office laptop a comprehensive upgrade for the 5th generation, which now includes 16:10 displays in addition to completely new cases. Furthermore, the manufacturer is now doing away with TN panels and is even offering an optional higher-resolution screen with full sRGB coverage. At the same time, a larger 16-inch model is also available, which we’ll also review shortly.

Our test device is the ThinkPad E14 G5 21JSS05C00 (campus version) without an operating system for EUR 899. This comes with the new 2. 2K display in 16:10 format, an AMD processor Ryzen 7 7730U, 24 GB RAM and a 1 TB PCIe SSD.

The case design has been revised and is now based on the other current ThinkPad series with 16:10 panels and narrower screen edges, which also includes the camera hump above the display. Although this helps when opening the lid, it doesn’t look particularly good. Otherwise, we have a typical black ThinkPad that doesn’t really stand out visually.

Lenovo uses aluminum for the lid and the smooth surface is very susceptible to fingerprints. The base unit is made of plastic and the bottom cover in particular is very rough. Fingerprints are also quickly visible here and so you have to reach for the cleaning cloth quite often.

The stability and workmanship are flawless, and the ThinkPad E14 is a compact and stable 14-inch laptop. The display lid is a bit more flexible than the base unit, but we were unable to elicit any image distortions and it doesn’t pose any issues in everyday use. The two hinges are fundamentally well adjusted and allow a maximum opening angle of 180 degrees, but cannot prevent a slight teetering.

Comparing the sizes, you can clearly see that the 5th generation of the E14 has become much more compact, both in thickness and width. This makes it more compact than the current ThinkPad L14 , which is also a bit thicker. The weight has been reduced by a little more than 100 grams and the compact 65 watt power adapter weighs 321 grams.

Although the case has become more compact, there is an additional USB-C port (unlike the older model), but the standards still have limitations and USB 4. 0 is not available. At least the device can be charged on both USB-C ports and image output via DisplayPort ALT mode is also supported.

Thanks to two regular USB-A ports, no adapters are needed in everyday use. However, the inexpensive office notebook does not have a card- or a SmartCard reader. On top of a Gigabit Ethernet port, the E14 G5 offers a modern WLAN module from RealTek (RZ616) that supports the current Wi-Fi 6E standard for 6 GHz networks in addition to Bluetooth 5.

1. Transfer rates were extremely high and stable in tandem with our Asus reference router, so the inexpensive ThinkPad does not fall behind its more expensive siblings in this respect. A WWAN module is not available for the E14.

The 1080p webcam offers no surprises and takes decent pictures, especially compared to the old 720p models. In addition to a mechanical shutter, the E14 G5 also offers an IR sensor for facial recognition via Windows Hello. The bottom cover is secured with several Phillips screws that can only be loosened, but not completely unscrewed.

The base plate is also held in place by plastic hooks and is very tight. The plate can be removed with the appropriate tools, but you have to be careful not to break any hooks. Inside you’ll find the fan, the RAM slot next to the soldered RAM (under an additional cover) and the replaceable WLAN module.

Last year’s ThinkPad E14 G4 was one of the last models that still used the excellent keyboard with a key travel of 1. 8 mm. The inferior keyboard with a 1.

5 mm travel, which we know from many other ThinkPads, is now used in the new case. The keyboard is by no means bad, but simply not as good as the old model and not so much better than the competition. There is a two-stage white backlight for dark environments.

You can use either the ClickPad or the red TrackPoint for pointer control, which still offers dedicated mouse buttons. However, the completely flat keys are now also used here, which we already know from other ThinkPads and are a step back in terms of feel. On the other hand, the operation still works perfectly.

Because of the dedicated keys, the ClickPad is also smaller than many competitors at 11. 5 x 5. 6 cm.

The pad can be pressed down in the lower area, which is characterized by a rich clicking noise, but the gliding properties are worse than those of glass touchpads and we occasionally had slight problems with input snagging. Lenovo offers three different IPS panels for the new ThinkPad E14, which now come in a 16:10 format. There are two 1080p models (with and without touch) with low color space coverage and a new optional 2.

2K IPS display with full sRGB coverage. The brightness for all three models is specified at 300 cd/m². The classification of the E series is well reflected in the selection of panels because, theoretically, Lenovo could have used the well-known low-power 1080p panels of the T series , and even the L14 series is now available with this display (albeit in the old 16:9 format).

Our test device features the new 2. 2K display with a resolution of 2,240 x 1,400, which offers very good subjective image quality. Despite the matte surface, bright areas don’t appear grainy and all content is displayed sharply.

We measured an average brightness of around 350 cd/m², which is also sufficient for bright rooms. At the same time, the black value of 0. 18 cd/m² is very low and results in an excellent maximum contrast ratio of around 2000:1.

PWM is not used and the response times are inconspicuous, but you can see slight halos at the edges in high brightness and dark content. We analyzed the display using professional CalMAN software (X-Rite i1 Pro 2); the display is already very good in its factory state because there is no color cast and the color deviations are already very minimal. We were able to further improve this via our own calibration (profile is available for free download above) and all color deviations are below the important limit of 3.

Thanks to complete sRGB coverage, you can thus edit pictures/videos with the ThinkPad without hesitation. However, calibration is not necessary for normal office use. All in all, a very solid panel for an inexpensive office laptop.

Of course, the matte screen helps outdoors, but you still should look for a shady spot. On sunny days, the panel is simply not bright enough for viewing screen content comfortably. Otherwise, the viewing angle stability of the IPS panel is decent.

Lenovo offers the ThinkPad E14 G5 with Ryzen 7000 processors from AMD (Ryzen 3, 5 & 7), but these are actually rebranded Ryzen CPUs from the 5000 series. Each E14 ships with 8GB of DDR4-3200 RAM soldered, but there’s also an additional slot. Therefore, the RAM can be increased up to a maximum of 40 GB.

The Lenovo Commercial Vantage app power profiles are linked to the Windows power profiles. We performed the following benchmarks and measurements in Best Performance , where the processor consumes a constant 30 watts. You can also use a weaker profile ( Best Energy Saving : 10 watts, Balanced : 25/20 watts) for simple tasks and lower fan activity.

The nomenclature of AMD’s mobile processors is confusing because the Ryzen 7 7730U is actually an old Ryzen 7 5825U with Zen3 cores. There are 8 of them, which is why the processor can process a maximum of 16 threads simultaneously. The processor is allowed to consume a stable 30 watts, which is why performance remains constant in all situations.

The multi-core performance is also very good, but there is no performance advantage over the old ThinkPad E14 G4, which was equipped with the Ryzen 7 5825U. Rivals with the Intel U-series CPUs are clearly at a disadvantage in the multi-core tests, but offer greater single-core performance (which in turn comes at the price of high consumption). The processor consumes a maximum of 25/20 watts in battery mode, which is why multi-core performance turns out to be about 15% lower when not plugged in.

More CPU benchmarks are available here. The subjective performance impression is very good, whereby the fast PCIe SSD naturally also plays a big role here. Inputs are implemented without lag and no issues occurred during testing.

In our standardized latency test (web browsing, 4K YouTube playback, CPU load), the test device shows slight limitations in the use of real-time audio applications under the present BIOS version. The ThinkPad E14 G5 offers two slots for M. 2 SSDs, each connected via PCIe 3.

0x4. The regular M. 2 2280 slot is occupied ex-factory and the shorter M.

2 2242 slot is available for expansion. Our test deviec even has a PCIe 4. 0 drive, the WD SN740, but the maximum transfer rates are limited by the connection.

In practice, this does not matter much and the SSD is still fast enough and does not throttle performance during prolonged loads. Our test device, preinstalled with Windows 11 Home, had 913 GB of free hard drive space after the first startup. More SSD benchmarks are listed here .

The Ryzen 7 7730U uses the old Radeon RX Vega 8 iGPU, which was also used in the predecessor. Unsurprisingly, the results in the GPU benchmarks are identical. Performance is completely sufficient for normal everyday office use and the Vega 8 can still keep up well with the Iris Xe Graphics G7 , which is also unchanged alongside the latest Raptor Lake CPUs from Intel.

The overall gaming performance is very low. Even in older titles you are often limited to medium/high details if you want a playable 1080p experience. At least graphics performance remains stable during long gaming sessions and also in battery mode.

More GPU benchmarks are available here . The cooling template remains unchanged, consisting of a fan with two heat pipes, but the fan fires up more often in Best Performance mode and is also louder than the old model. We measured a maximum of 41.

2 dB(A) in the stress test, which is quite a lot considering the performance level. Users who don’t need full performance are advised to use one of the other two modes because the fan remains much quieter ( Balanced : 38 dB(A), Best Energy Saving : 28. 8 dB(A)).

The fan also kicks occasionally during normal use, but remains restrained at a maximum of ~29 dB(A). No other electronic noises were emitted from our test device. On top of the loud fan noise when maxed out, we also observed higher maximum temperatures in the new ThinkPad E14 G5.

We measured more than 50 °C on the underside in the stress test and during gaming, so direct skin contact should be avoided here. The keyboard area stays much cooler at around 40 °C and you can continue typing without issue. Normal, everyday office use does not throw up any restrictions.

In stress testing, the processor consumes a constant 30 watts in the first 18 minutes and then starts to fluctuate a little in the 25-30 watt range. The two stereo speakers have improved overall and are quite solid with their clear reproduction of voices. Overall, the sound quality is still quite thin and external speakers should be used for music or movies.

You should definitely activate the preinstalled Dolby app, otherwise the result will be even thinner and quieter. There are no surprises in the consumption measurements and the idle consumption has increased only slightly despite the brighter and slightly larger display. Under load, however, it is noticeable that there are no absurdly high power limits and consumption remains stable at 55-58 watts.

In this case, the included 65-watt power supply has very little reserve capacity for charging the battery at the same time, but this doesn’t play a major role in everyday office use. The battery capacity remains unchanged at 57 Wh and the runtimes are comparable to the old G4 model . At an adjusted brightness of 150 cd/m² (corresponding to 72% of the maximum brightness), we extracted 10:45 hours out of the video test and just under 10 hours out of the WLAN test.

The WLAN test still runs for a good 8 hours at full display brightness. All in all, these are decent results. Lenovo has modernized 14-inch office notebooks with the new ThinkPad E14 G5 and is now making use of 16:10 displays.

Furthermore, TN panels are now a thing of the past and the optional 2. 2K display made a good impression for an office laptop in our review. However, the familiar 1080p low-power, 400 cd/m² displays of the T series are still not an option.

The case, for its part, is now more compact and a bit lighter overall. The change of keyboard is a step backwards because the old ThinkPad E14 was one of the last models with a 1. 8 mm key travel.

The ThinkPad E14 G5 gets the well-known version with a 1. 5 mm travel, which we already know from other ThinkPads. We have been criticizing this for years because the former advantage of better ThinkPad keyboards no longer exists.

The inexpensive office laptop is decently equipped with a 1080p webcam and Wi-Fi 6E, and the maintenance options with an additional RAM slot and two slots for SSDs are good. However, performance remains the same overall. This is because the Ryzen 7 7730U is a rebranded Ryzen 7 5825U, which was also installed in the predecessor.

The single fan also really kicks in when full performance is demanded and gets quite loud. But this can be mitigated with a more efficient performance profile in everyday use. The ThinkPad E14 G5 offers customers a more modern case together with a good 2.

2K 16:10 display, but also a worse keyboard with 1. 5 mm key travel. The performance of the AMD processor is identical to the old G4 model, even if the spec sheet says Ryzen 7000.

Our test configuration is a campus model with a decent price-performance ratio, but regular customers will land in the four-digit range with this configuration ( Translators note : this does not appear to be the case in the US where prices are significantly cheaper – see “Price and Availability” below for more details ). This is problematic because the performance is actually not good enough and there are much more interesting alternatives, such as the smallest configuration of the HP EliteBook 845 G10. This offers more in virtually every area, starting with the better case, a Zen4 processor, better keyboard and also a brighter low-power display.

On Lenovo’s US webstore, the ThinkPad E14 G5 AMD is currently available in various configurations at discounts of up to 40% . The base version starts at US$705. Prices are as of 19.

08. 2023 and are subject to change. .