Announced way back at CES this year, Lenovo’s ThinkPad Z-series is a modern take on a ThinkPad, a brand that’s known for hanging onto legacy components and, frankly, being a little stale. The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 is larger than the ThinkPad Z13, and now that I’ve reviewed them both, I actually think the former is the better product.
This is a great business laptop. It’s got a 16-inch 16:10 display, an excellent 1.35mm keyboard, and solid build quality.
The only real downside is that AMD Ryzen mobile processor performance suffers when it’s not connected to power. But the main reason that I like the ThinkPad Z16 better than the Z13 is that in real-world usage, I didn’t find that to be as problematic.
- The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 is built around AMD's Ryzen 6000 processors, and it's a fully modernized ThinkPad.
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Pros: Cons: |
Navigate this review:
- Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 pricing and availability
- Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 specs
- Design: A modern take on a ThinkPad
- Display: FHD with an option for 4K OLED
- Keyboard: It’s the best on a ThinkPad
- Performance: AMD Ryzen is great… when it’s plugged in
- Who should buy the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16?
Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 pricing and availability
- The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 launched in late 2022, and it currently starts at $1,654.50
While Lenovo actually announced its brand-new ThinkPad Z-series at CES in January 2022, AMD actually didn’t start shipping Ryzen 6000 until later in the year, well after Intel started shipping its mobile 12th-gen chips. Nevertheless, the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 is available now, starting at $1,654.50 on Lenovo.com. Of course, Lenovo’s prices on its website fluctuate.
The model that the company sent me for review costs $2,196.95 from a variety of third-party retailers like B&H and CDW. It includes an AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H, integrated graphics, unlike the units on Lenovo.com, an FHD+ display, 16GB LPDDR5, and a 512GB SSD.
Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 specs
| Processor | AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H Processor (3.20 GHz, up to 4.70 GHz Max Boost, 8 Cores, 16 Threads, 16 MB Cache) |
|---|---|
| Graphics | Integrated AMD Radeon 600M Series |
| Body | 15.8mm x 355mm x 238mm / .63 x 13.95 x 9.35 inches, Starting at 1.95kg / 4.3 pounds |
| Display | 16″ WUXGA (1920 x 1200) IPS, 400 nits, low power, 100% sRGB, low blue-light display |
| Memory | 16GB LPDDR5 (dual channel, soldered) |
| Storage | 512GB PCIe Gen 4 Performance SSD |
| Camera | IR & FHD 1080p discrete, with E-camera shutter |
| Battery | Up to 20.5 hours (MM18), 72Wh Supports Rapid Charge (up to 80% in 60 minutes) with 135W adapter |
| Ports | 2 x USB-C 4 USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 Full-sized SD card slot Headphone / mic combo |
| Input | Backlight Spill-resistant Glass haptic TouchPad with integrated navigation buttons: 120mm / 4.72 inches wide Dual-purpose TrackPoint: navigate like a mouse or double-tap to open Communication Quick Menu |
| Connectivity | WiFi 6E 802.11AX (2 x 2) Bluetooth 5.1 or above |
| Audio | Dolby Atmos Speaker System Dolby Atmos headphone 2 x mics with Dolby Voice 2 x 2W User-facing speakers |
| Security | Chip-level AMD Memory Guard Microsoft Pluton chip-to-cloud technology Discrete Trusted Platform Module (dTPM) Match-on-chip (MoC) fingerprint reader Facial recognition with IR camera Camera e-shutter (kill switch) F9 control key Kensington Nano Security Slot |
| Material | Recycled Aluminum |
| Color | Arctic Grey |
| OS | Windows 11 Pro |
| Price | $2,196.95 |
Design: A modern take on a ThinkPad
- The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 is made out of aluminum, and it comes in Arctic Grey
- It has three USB Type-A ports and a full-size SD card slot
Unlike the smaller ThinkPad Z13, the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 only comes in one color. It’s called Arctic Grey, but you might know it by its street name: silver. Indeed, it’s a pretty standard matte silver lid, but it has polished edges that give it a nice look.
It also has a tab at the top, which we’re seeing in several of Lenovo’s newly-designed ThinkPads. It makes it easier to open the laptop, and it also adds a bit of style. While this device is all-silver with a brushed metal look on that tab, you’ll find that on models like the ThinkPad Z13, it can give it a two-tone look. I like this for the ThinkPad brand, which has a reputation for being dull regarding its design.
There aren’t many ports on this laptop, which is a bit surprising for a 16-inch laptop. Of course, one of this product’s key principles involves making the ThinkPad more modern, and being modern means no USB Type-A.
USB 4 means AMD laptops don't need Thunderbolt.
In fact, all three USB ports are USB Type-C. Two of them are USB 4, and another one is USB 3.2 Gen 2. Unfortunately, none of those ports are actually labeled, so if you buy this laptop and you really need the extra bandwidth provided by USB 4, you just have to guess which ones have what you need. The good news is that there’s a two-thirds chance you’ll get it right.
AMD laptops don’t come with Thunderbolt since that’s a proprietary Intel thing that would cost money to include, but USB 4 is here. We don’t have to look at the lack of Thunderbolt as a disadvantage for AMD anymore. USB 4 is similar to Thunderbolt 3 in that it can support 20Gbps or 40Gbps speeds, so you’re not missing out.
There’s also a full-size SD card slot, which is a rarity in today’s day and age and is much appreciated. It’s a simple thing to point out, and if this paragraph sounds dumb to you, that’s fine. You probably don’t need an SD card slot, but people who use digital cameras do. It makes the ThinkPad Z16 that much better of a machine for creators.
Ultimately, I love the design. Like the ThinkPad Z13, it’s a modern take on a ThinkPad, designed from the ground up to use AMD’s new Ryzen processors. Being the 16-inch version, it’s simply not as mainstream as the 13-inch one, so the ThinkPad Z16 only comes in one color —the most mainstream one. I always find silver laptops a bit dull, but it’s still the most popular laptop color on the market, kind of like a black smartphone.
Display: FHD with an option for 4K OLED
- The 16-inch display comes in either 1920 x 1200 or 3840 x 2400
- The webcam is 1080p
As you’d expect, there’s a 16-inch 16:10 display, and while Lenovo sent me the 1920 x 1200 one, it’s actually quite nice. This one is matte, and it’s good at blocking glare from direct sunlight. The one I’m reviewing is non-touch, but there’s a touch FHD+ option as well.
However, if you want the prettiest screen, there’s a 4K OLED option. As I said above, the SD card slot means that this is a great laptop for creators that edit photos and videos. If that sounds like you, it’s worth looking at 4K OLED. Frankly, I don’t feel like 1920 x 1200 is a high enough resolution for a screen of this size.
Other than some pixelation, the screen is pretty solid. Being 16:10, that also means that it’s about 11% taller than older 16:9 displays, so you actually get a much bigger screen than 15.6-inch 16:9 laptops that were common a couple of years ago.
According to my testing, this display supports 100% sRGB, 73% NTSC, 78% Adobe RGB, and 78% P3. Those scores are decidedly average, but as I said, if you want the best, you go OLED.
Brightness came in at 350.3 nits, which is lower than promised, but I had no problem using it in direct sunlight. The contrast ratio was good at 1,590:1.
The webcam is FHD, as it should be. In the age of working from home, a quality webcam is critical, so it’s nice to see Lenovo focusing on that. There’s also a built-in privacy guard, which can be accessed through the keyboard.
When you hit the button to block the camera, there’s an icon that displays on the screen that indicates that the camera won’t work. There’s no physical indicator on the camera itself, but if you try to use it, you’ll get a warning that it’s blocked.
Keyboard: It’s the best on a ThinkPad
- The Ctrl key is in the right place!
- The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 has a 1.35mm keyboard
Being a large laptop, the keyboard deck is nice and spacious. It’s all black, like you’d expect from a ThinkPad, and it gives the laptop itself a nice two-tone design with its silver exterior. Also, the keys have 1.35mm depth, which is the proper depth for ThinkPad keys. You’ll only find it on ThinkPads that were designed in recent years, such as the ThinkPad X1 Nano, ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga, ThinkPad X13s, and ThinkPad Z13, and it’s just great. Other ThinkPads are 1.5mm or even deeper. In other words, the keyboard is nice and comfortable to use.
The 1.35mm keyboard is the sweet spot for ThinkPads.
It’s accurate too. There’s no double typing here. Of course, it has a TrackPoint in the middle of the keyboard, and that’s the one thing about the ThinkPad Z16 that’s not modernized. But look, the Ctrl button is even in the right place. Most ThinkPads put the Fn key all the way to the left, unlike every other laptop on the market, forcing new customers to build new muscle memory.
The keyboard is flanked by 2W speakers, which sound fairly powerful. With the speaker and microphone quality, the ThinkPad Z16 is great for meetings, but as we’ll talk more about in the performance section, you do have to be connected to power.
The touchpad is all-new for the ThinkPad Z-series, and it’s a big part of modernizing what makes a ThinkPad a ThinkPad. Thanks to the haptic touchpad, there’s no need for buttons above it. Previously, those buttons needed to be there for use with the TrackPoint. But now, that space can be used as buttons or as an extension of the touchpad. It’s the best of both worlds, and it’s an innovative solution to balance the onboarding of new customers with ThinkPad loyalists that use legacy functionality like the TrackPoint.
Performance: AMD Ryzen is great… when it’s plugged in
- The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 uses AMD Ryzen 6000 PRO H-series processors
- There’s an option for dedicated graphics
- AMD’s laptop processors still struggle when not connected to power
The ThinkPad Z-series is designed around AMD Ryzen 6000 processors, so unlike many AMD laptops, there’s no Intel flavor. While the Z13 uses 15W U-series processors, the ThinkPad Z16 uses 45W H-series processors. This machine is available with dedicated graphics, but Lenovo sent one with integrated graphics, which work pretty well.
You’ll see below that benchmarks between the ThinkPad Z13 and Z16 are almost identical, but I experienced some big differences. The Z16 definitely feels more powerful, and it doesn’t seem to slow down as quickly. Some OEMs have also been pushing out laptops with Intel’s 45W H-series processors and integrated graphics, and I’m here to say that the ThinkPad Z16 is better than those.
| Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Ryzen 7 PRO 6850U |
Dell XPS 13 Plus Core i7-1280P |
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|---|---|---|---|
| PCMark 10 | 6,328 | 6,281 | 5,481 |
| 3DMark: Time Spy | 2,601 | 2,357 | 1,992 |
| Geekbench 5 (single / multi) | 1,530 / 9,205 | 1,507 / 8,697 | 1,700 / 10,293 |
| Cinebnech R23 (single / multi) | 1,511 / 12,611 | 1,504 / 10,092 | 1,629 / 10,121 |
As you can see, the scores aren’t all that different between the 45W processor in the ThinkPad Z16 and the 15W processor in the Z13. Ryzen 6000 is quite good, but like all Ryzen mobile chips, it has one major flaw: Performance is significantly throttled if it’s running on battery life. Using PCMark 10, the ThinkPad Z16 with its 45W processor scored 6,328, while the ThinkPad Z13 with its 15W processor scored 6,281. When not connected to power, that score dropped to 5,254 and 5,340, respectively. However, with the Z13, I really felt that difference in performance. That thing was hard to use on battery life, and I don’t feel that way about the ThinkPad Z16.
And yes, I’m keeping the power slider at best performance. It’s a must when using a Ryzen machine on battery life. The default is actually best power efficiency, something you will absolutely have to turn off.
The scores do smoke Intel’s 12th-gen processors in most categories. Intel still wins in single-core, which is super-important, and of course, Intel wins when not connected to power.
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 comes with all-day battery life, and that's saying a lot.
Battery life is pretty great, so I guess there’s a win here with AMD shutting off so much stuff when not connected to power. As I said, with AMD Ryzen, I have to keep the power slider on best performance. I usually use ‘balanced’ on Intel machines, but ultimately, I aim to keep performance and display brightness at a comfortable level while I work regularly.
The best battery life I got was exactly 500 minutes, and I actually hit that mark twice. That’s eight hours and 20 minutes of real work, not running some battery benchmark or streaming video on a loop. On average, I’d get around six and a half hours. The lowest I got, which was obviously a fluke, was three hours and six minutes.
In other words, battery life is excellent. If you’re getting between 6.5 and 8.5 hours on a machine like this, that’s great, especially given the powerful CPU.
Who should buy the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16?
You should buy the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 if:
- You edit photos and videos
- You’re on the go a lot
- You want a business laptop with a big screen
You should NOT buy the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 if:
- You need the best performance if you’re not connected to power
- You need enough power for 4K 60 FPS video editing
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 can definitely handle video editing, but even with the dedicated graphics option, you’ll want something beefier for 4K 60 FPS video editing or gaming. Also, if you need power when you’re not connected to power, you need to go Intel. But for creators, you get that SD card slot, an optional OLED display, and optional Radeon dedicated graphics.
- he Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 is built around AMD's Ryzen 6000 processors, and it's a fully modernized ThinkPad.
The post Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 review: Big Ryzen energy appeared first on XDA.
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