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MagyarDynabook Tecra A40 in review: A whisper in the office...
Since Toshiba sold its laptop division to Sharp a few years ago, the former Toshiba laptops are once again called "Dynabook", a homage to Toshiba's early laptop brand name. Just like in the 1970s, the current Dynabook devices are supposed to pay special attention to user-friendliness and are primarily aimed at business customers. The Tecra devices are devices with mid-range equipment, which the manufacturer lists under Business Advanced. Our 14-inch test device with the designation A40-J-12E comes with an Intel i5 processor of the 11th generation, 8 GB RAM and a 256 GB SSD. Furthermore, there are current configuration variants with up to 16 GB of working memory, Intel i7 of the 11th generation, 512 GB of hard drive memory and communication options via the 4G network.
Possible competitors in comparison
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Best Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 84.4 % | 10/2021 | Dynabook Tecra A40-J-12E i5-1135G7, Iris Xe G7 80EUs | 1.4 kg | 18.9 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1080 | |
| 86.4 % | 09/2021 | Fujitsu LifeBook U7311 i5 i5-1135G7, Iris Xe G7 80EUs | 1.2 kg | 19 mm | 13.30" | 1920x1080 | |
| 84.9 % | 05/2021 | Honor Magicbook 14 i7-1165G7 i7-1165G7, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 1.4 kg | 15.9 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1080 | |
| 86.1 % | 08/2021 | Lenovo ThinkPad L14 G2 AMD R7 PRO 5850U, Vega 8 | 1.7 kg | 20.4 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1080 |
Case - Stable notebook in a dignified design
The Dynabook Tecra A40 is characterized by a simple design. The anthracite-colored plastic case is quite sturdy and does not show any weaknesses in workmanship. Only the large chrome branding on the lid acts as an eye-catcher on the device. The screen hinges are quite rigid, so it is hardly possible to open the business laptop with one hand, but it stays in place.
Equipment - Twice Thunderbolt 4 ensures good connectivity
Two Thunderbolt 4 USB Type-C ports, which also support PowerDelivery, allow the laptop to be expanded by the required ports. The other connectivity on the device itself is quite normal for current office notebooks. Except for the somewhat slow microSD card reader, all ports are state of the art. The laptop's WLAN connection is fast and the 0.9 MP webcam is average in its low image quality. On a positive note, the webcam has a mechanical shutter that can be used to protect the user from unwelcome glances. The small metal plate adheres magnetically to the casing and can be slid over the lens.
| SD Card Reader | |
| average JPG Copy Test (av. of 3 runs) | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad L14 G2 AMD (AV Pro V60) | |
| Dynabook Tecra A40-J-12E (AV Pro v60) | |
| Average of class Office (8 - 82.7, n=49, last 2 years) | |
| Fujitsu LifeBook U7311 i5 (AV Pro V60) | |
| maximum AS SSD Seq Read Test (1GB) | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad L14 G2 AMD (AV Pro V60) | |
| Dynabook Tecra A40-J-12E (AV Pro v60) | |
| Average of class Office (25 - 90.5, n=43, last 2 years) | |
| Fujitsu LifeBook U7311 i5 (AV Pro V60) | |
Maintenance
The cover of the laptop base can be easily removed with a Phillips screwdriver and suction cup. Underneath, it reveals that the laptop can be expanded by another working memory bar and that the WLAN module and SSD are replaceable.
Security
The Intel Core i5-1135G7 of the Dynabook Tecra A40 provides the device with all the latest security features, such as TPM 2.0 and SecureBoot. Thus, the PC is ready for Windows 11. The update center of the preinstalled Windows 10 already offers the computer a corresponding update. A cable lock port on the right side ensures hardware security.
Input devices - Quiet keyboard with pleasant typing feel
The keyboard of the Dynabook Tecra A40 has a good haptic feedback and keys of a reasonable size of about 15 × 15 mm. The key drop of 1.5 mm is also quite comfortable. Activated via the function key, the virtual Num pad offers a good possibility to enter long rows of numbers. The keyboard's backlight has an eye-friendly brightness and can be adjusted to three levels via the Dynabook settings app. With its 10 × 7 cm (~3.9 x 2.8 cm), the multi-touch capable clickpad turns out a bit small, but it works precisely.
Display - Tecra with dark Full HD panel
The Full HD IPS display in the Dynabook offers a good contrast ratio of 1114:1 with its matte surface. Although it is an IPS display, it is only a very cheap one because the screen cannot keep up with the comparison devices in terms of color reproduction or brightness. With an average of 215.9 cd/m², the brightness is not particularly high. The small sRGB color space is only covered by 63% and even after calibration (profile is linked in the info box on the right) the color deviations are too high, so the panel is not suitable for editing pictures/videos.
The subjective picture impression is okay and the quality is also sufficient for normal office tasks, especially since the laptop will probably often be used with external monitors in many offices anyway. We could not determine PWM flickering and the response times are average.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 84 %
Center on Battery: 233 cd/m²
Contrast: 1114:1 (Black: 0.21 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 5.6 | 0.5-29.43 Ø5, calibrated: 4.6
ΔE Greyscale 5.1 | 0.57-98 Ø5.3
43.8% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
63% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
42.3% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.24
| Dynabook Tecra A40-J-12E N140HCA-EAC, , 1920x1080, 14.00 | Fujitsu LifeBook U7311 i5 BOE NV133FHM-T03, IPS, 1920x1080, 13.30 | Honor Magicbook 14 i7-1165G7 BOE092E, IPS, 1920x1080, 14.00 | Lenovo ThinkPad L14 G2 AMD B140HAN04.0, IPS LED, 1920x1080, 14.00 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | 54% | 52% | -11% | |
| Display P3 Coverage | 42.3 | 70.1 66% | 64.8 53% | 37.5 -11% |
| sRGB Coverage | 63 | 91.1 45% | 96.3 53% | 56.3 -11% |
| AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 43.8 | 66.6 52% | 66.1 51% | 38.7 -12% |
| Response Times | -14% | 31% | 15% | |
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 41.2 ? | 50.8 ? -23% | 31.2 ? 24% | 36 ? 13% |
| Response Time Black / White * | 31.2 ? | 32.4 ? -4% | 19.2 ? 38% | 26 ? 17% |
| PWM Frequency | 210.1 ? | |||
| Screen | 11% | 37% | -3% | |
| Brightness middle | 234 | 324 38% | 341 46% | 278 19% |
| Brightness | 216 | 301 39% | 313 45% | 255 18% |
| Brightness Distribution | 84 | 87 4% | 87 4% | 86 2% |
| Black Level * | 0.21 | 0.28 -33% | 0.27 -29% | 0.33 -57% |
| Contrast | 1114 | 1157 4% | 1263 13% | 842 -24% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 5.6 | 5.8 -4% | 1.76 69% | 5.9 -5% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 20.3 | 11.4 44% | 4.85 76% | 20.2 -0% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated * | 4.6 | 2.6 43% | 1.01 78% | 4.5 2% |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 5.1 | 6.8 -33% | 3.3 35% | 4.1 20% |
| Gamma | 2.24 98% | 2.14 103% | 2.26 97% | 2.15 102% |
| CCT | 6542 99% | 7210 90% | 7233 90% | 7224 90% |
| Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998) | 66 | |||
| Color Space (Percent of sRGB) | 89 | |||
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | 17% /
17% | 40% /
40% | 0% /
-2% |
* ... smaller is better
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 31.2 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 18 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 13.2 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 82 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (21.5 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 41.2 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 21.2 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 20 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.2 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 62 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (33.7 ms). | ||
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
| Screen flickering / PWM not detected |  | ||
In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 17924 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured. | |||
The bright autumn sun hardly disturbs the readability of the matte display in outdoor use, although a brighter panel would of course be advantageous. The panel in the Tecra A40 also only shows minor weaknesses in its viewing angle stability in the perceived brightness under sharper viewing angles.
Performance - The Intel Core i5 surprises
The Dynabook Tecra A40-J-12E with its 8 GB working memory and the Intel Core i5-1135G7 is well equipped for office applications, such as word processing and spreadsheets. However, the laptop lacks working memory for larger applications in the field of database management. The integrated Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 with 80EUs is sufficient for many 3D applications, but the graphics already reaches its limits in more ambitious CAD projects.
Processor
With the Intel Core i5-1135G7, the Dynabook relies on an energy-saving 4-core with an integrated GPU. The processor operates at a base clock of around 2.4 GHz and can provide up to 4.2 GHz for a short time. In the Cinebench loop, the computing core showed constant performances. Due to the high TDP, the i5 can even compete with many i7 models here. Comparing the benchmarks with the Fujitsu LifeBook with the same processor reveals significant differences. Apparently, Dynabook has thought through the cooling of the processor with a double fan so that the Core i5 can show its performance potential very well
Cinebench R15 Multi Endurance test
Cinebench R20: CPU (Multi Core) | CPU (Single Core)
Cinebench R15: CPU Multi 64Bit | CPU Single 64Bit
Blender: v2.79 BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 | 7z b 4 -mmt1
Geekbench 5.5: Multi-Core | Single-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
| Cinebench R23 / Multi Core | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad L14 G2 AMD | |
| Average of class Office (1056 - 15743, n=122, last 2 years) | |
| Dynabook Tecra A40-J-12E | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (2786 - 6136, n=55) | |
| Fujitsu LifeBook U7311 i5 | |
| Cinebench R23 / Single Core | |
| Average of class Office (529 - 1995, n=121, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad L14 G2 AMD | |
| Dynabook Tecra A40-J-12E | |
| Fujitsu LifeBook U7311 i5 | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (1062 - 1373, n=53) | |
| Cinebench R20 / CPU (Multi Core) | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad L14 G2 AMD | |
| Average of class Office (356 - 5904, n=120, last 2 years) | |
| Honor Magicbook 14 i7-1165G7 | |
| Dynabook Tecra A40-J-12E | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (979 - 2382, n=62) | |
| Fujitsu LifeBook U7311 i5 | |
| Cinebench R20 / CPU (Single Core) | |
| Honor Magicbook 14 i7-1165G7 | |
| Average of class Office (181.3 - 764, n=120, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad L14 G2 AMD | |
| Dynabook Tecra A40-J-12E | |
| Fujitsu LifeBook U7311 i5 | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (375 - 527, n=62) | |
| Cinebench R15 / CPU Multi 64Bit | |
| Average of class Office (160.8 - 2642, n=120, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad L14 G2 AMD | |
| Dynabook Tecra A40-J-12E | |
| Honor Magicbook 14 i7-1165G7 | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (431 - 941, n=65) | |
| Fujitsu LifeBook U7311 i5 | |
| Cinebench R15 / CPU Single 64Bit | |
| Honor Magicbook 14 i7-1165G7 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad L14 G2 AMD | |
| Average of class Office (82.6 - 284, n=118, last 2 years) | |
| Dynabook Tecra A40-J-12E | |
| Fujitsu LifeBook U7311 i5 | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (141.4 - 205, n=61) | |
| Blender / v2.79 BMW27 CPU | |
| Fujitsu LifeBook U7311 i5 | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (499 - 1044, n=60) | |
| Dynabook Tecra A40-J-12E | |
| Average of class Office (214 - 2844, n=121, last 2 years) | |
| Honor Magicbook 14 i7-1165G7 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad L14 G2 AMD | |
| 7-Zip 18.03 / 7z b 4 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad L14 G2 AMD | |
| Average of class Office (4226 - 62349, n=121, last 2 years) | |
| Honor Magicbook 14 i7-1165G7 | |
| Dynabook Tecra A40-J-12E | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (14745 - 24873, n=62) | |
| Fujitsu LifeBook U7311 i5 | |
| 7-Zip 18.03 / 7z b 4 -mmt1 | |
| Honor Magicbook 14 i7-1165G7 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad L14 G2 AMD | |
| Average of class Office (2233 - 6687, n=121, last 2 years) | |
| Dynabook Tecra A40-J-12E | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (3924 - 4921, n=62) | |
| Fujitsu LifeBook U7311 i5 | |
| Geekbench 5.5 / Multi-Core | |
| Average of class Office (1018 - 11980, n=122, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad L14 G2 AMD | |
| Honor Magicbook 14 i7-1165G7 | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (3475 - 5472, n=58) | |
| Fujitsu LifeBook U7311 i5 | |
| Dynabook Tecra A40-J-12E | |
| Geekbench 5.5 / Single-Core | |
| Honor Magicbook 14 i7-1165G7 | |
| Average of class Office (510 - 1974, n=122, last 2 years) | |
| Fujitsu LifeBook U7311 i5 | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (1147 - 1428, n=58) | |
| Dynabook Tecra A40-J-12E | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad L14 G2 AMD | |
| HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2 / 4k Preset | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad L14 G2 AMD | |
| Average of class Office (1.55 - 17.4, n=120, last 2 years) | |
| Honor Magicbook 14 i7-1165G7 | |
| Dynabook Tecra A40-J-12E | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (3.57 - 7.6, n=57) | |
| Fujitsu LifeBook U7311 i5 | |
| LibreOffice / 20 Documents To PDF | |
| Dynabook Tecra A40-J-12E | |
| Average of class Office (31.3 - 117.5, n=120, last 2 years) | |
| Fujitsu LifeBook U7311 i5 | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (44.2 - 62.9, n=60) | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad L14 G2 AMD | |
| Honor Magicbook 14 i7-1165G7 | |
| R Benchmark 2.5 / Overall mean | |
| Fujitsu LifeBook U7311 i5 | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7 (0.619 - 0.727, n=59) | |
| Dynabook Tecra A40-J-12E | |
| Average of class Office (0.4244 - 1.397, n=119, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad L14 G2 AMD | |
| Honor Magicbook 14 i7-1165G7 | |
* ... smaller is better
The electrical power available to the processor drops by about 10 W in battery mode. Thus, the achieved score in the Cinebench R23 test drops to 4258 points; a drop of around 23%.
System performance
The results of the Dynabook Tecra A40 in the PCMark 10 benchmark are not as good as the strong results of the processor benchmarks would suggest. Two factors play a role here. One is the small size of the working memory. The other devices in the comparison all have 16 GB of working memory. This is reflected in the sub-scores Essentials and Productivity. In addition, the performance of the installed SSD is a bit below average.
But benchmark results are not everything. The laptop runs smoothly without annoying dropouts. Applications start quickly throughout, except for memory-intensive games.
| PCMark 10 / Score | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad L14 G2 AMD | |
| Average of class Office (2325 - 7157, n=105, last 2 years) | |
| Honor Magicbook 14 i7-1165G7 | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (4026 - 4952, n=53) | |
| Dynabook Tecra A40-J-12E | |
| Fujitsu LifeBook U7311 i5 | |
| PCMark 10 / Essentials | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad L14 G2 AMD | |
| Honor Magicbook 14 i7-1165G7 | |
| Average of class Office (5095 - 20841, n=105, last 2 years) | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (8149 - 9917, n=53) | |
| Fujitsu LifeBook U7311 i5 | |
| Dynabook Tecra A40-J-12E | |
| PCMark 10 / Productivity | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad L14 G2 AMD | |
| Average of class Office (3041 - 10198, n=105, last 2 years) | |
| Honor Magicbook 14 i7-1165G7 | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (5040 - 6619, n=53) | |
| Fujitsu LifeBook U7311 i5 | |
| Dynabook Tecra A40-J-12E | |
| PCMark 10 / Digital Content Creation | |
| Average of class Office (1912 - 9056, n=105, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad L14 G2 AMD | |
| Honor Magicbook 14 i7-1165G7 | |
| Dynabook Tecra A40-J-12E | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1135G7, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (3548 - 5255, n=53) | |
| Fujitsu LifeBook U7311 i5 | |
| PCMark 10 Score | 4580 points | |
Help | ||
DPC latencies
There are considerable DPC latencies in the Dynabook A40. However, it has to be mentioned here that these problems might be fixed with future software updates. Microsoft's kernel mode driver (Wdf0100.sys) currently continues to cause significant latencies in many devices. Playback of our 4k-60Hz YouTube test video was largely problem-free with only 7 dropped frames.
| DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
| Fujitsu LifeBook U7311 i5 | |
| Dynabook Tecra A40-J-12E | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad L14 G2 AMD | |
| Honor Magicbook 14 i7-1165G7 | |
* ... smaller is better
Mass storage
As already mentioned, the Phison NVMe SSD in the Tecra A40 is a bit slow even for office laptops. The transfer rates collapse especially during many small write processes. Here, too, the Dynabook clearly lags behind the rivals. There seems to be a problem with the SSD's connection, since Phison's hard drive can work faster in other laptops, according to our Benchmark table of SSDs and HDDs. However, CristalDiskInfo reports that the SSD is connected to the system with PCIe 3.0 4x in the best possible way.
| Dynabook Tecra A40-J-12E Phison C-E80T512G4-P3D3B3E13 | Fujitsu LifeBook U7311 i5 Samsung PM991 MZVLQ512HALU | Honor Magicbook 14 i7-1165G7 WDC PC SN730 SDBPNTY-512G | Lenovo ThinkPad L14 G2 AMD WDC PC SN730 SDBQNTY-512GB | Average Phison C-E80T512G4-P3D3B3E13 | Average of class Office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CrystalDiskMark 5.2 / 6 | 0% | 87% | 25% | 66% | ||
| Write 4K | 108.5 | 113.9 5% | 223.7 106% | 168.4 ? 55% | 158.7 ? 46% | |
| Read 4K | 44.51 | 48.34 9% | 51.2 15% | 52.6 ? 18% | 61.7 ? 39% | |
| Write Seq | 1212 | 1100 -9% | 2579 113% | 1554 ? 28% | 2427 ? 100% | |
| Read Seq | 1485 | 1575 6% | 2553 72% | 1529 ? 3% | 2611 ? 76% | |
| Write 4K Q32T1 | 263 | 306.3 16% | 671 155% | 370 ? 41% | 400 ? 52% | |
| Read 4K Q32T1 | 310.1 | 304.2 -2% | 761 145% | 451 ? 45% | 519 ? 67% | |
| Write Seq Q32T1 | 1757 | 1423 -19% | 2721 55% | 1947 ? 11% | 3062 ? 74% | |
| Read Seq Q32T1 | 2457 | 2374 -3% | 3358 37% | 2435 ? -1% | 4260 ? 73% | |
| AS SSD | 48% | 169% | 127% | 47% | 134% | |
| Seq Read | 1937 | 1915 -1% | 3021 56% | 2693 39% | 2036 ? 5% | 3168 ? 64% |
| Seq Write | 947 | 865 -9% | 2341 147% | 1456 54% | 1362 ? 44% | 2085 ? 120% |
| 4K Read | 36.65 | 47.01 28% | 47.9 31% | 41.67 14% | 32.8 ? -11% | 56.3 ? 54% |
| 4K Write | 126.1 | 139.7 11% | 186.7 48% | 138.4 10% | 137 ? 9% | 158.6 ? 26% |
| 4K-64 Read | 432.5 | 766 77% | 1472 240% | 940 117% | 572 ? 32% | 1069 ? 147% |
| 4K-64 Write | 313 | 779 149% | 1829 484% | 1933 518% | 478 ? 53% | 1482 ? 373% |
| Access Time Read * | 0.1 | 0.117 -17% | 0.06 40% | 0.114 -14% | 0.076 ? 24% | 0.08014 ? 20% |
| Access Time Write * | 0.175 | 0.027 85% | 0.021 88% | 0.027 85% | 0.1335 ? 24% | 0.06444 ? 63% |
| Score Read | 663 | 1005 52% | 1822 175% | 1251 89% | 809 ? 22% | 1442 ? 117% |
| Score Write | 534 | 1005 88% | 2249 321% | 2217 315% | 751 ? 41% | 1850 ? 246% |
| Score Total | 1497 | 2483 66% | 4973 232% | 4052 171% | 1946 ? 30% | 3986 ? 166% |
| Copy ISO MB/s | 1218 | 1257 ? 3% | 1677 ? 38% | |||
| Copy Program MB/s | 188.1 | 544 ? 189% | 515 ? 174% | |||
| Copy Game MB/s | 319.2 | 954 ? 199% | 1186 ? 272% | |||
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | 24% /
28% | 128% /
135% | 127% /
127% | 36% /
39% | 100% /
109% |
* ... smaller is better
Continuous power reading: DiskSpd Read Loop, Queue Depth 8
Graphics card
The performance integrated in the i5 SoC, the Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 with 80EUs, is sufficient for an office device. The lack of working memory is once again evident in the 3DMark and 3DMark 11 benchmarks. Thus, the Dynabook Tecra A40 has to admit defeat to the two comparison devices with Intel processors.
The laptop's graphics performance also drops in battery mode; the 3DMark 11 results drop by approximately 1,300 points.
| 3DMark 11 Performance | 4807 points | |
| 3DMark Cloud Gate Standard Score | 14217 points | |
| 3DMark Fire Strike Score | 2364 points | |
| 3DMark Time Spy Score | 1103 points | |
Help | ||
Gaming performance
The internal graphics chip of the Core i5 is only suitable for 3D applications to a limited extent. The lowest quality and resolution settings have to be set for a smooth gaming experience in newer games. In some cases, higher graphics settings could not even be started in games from the F1 series. However, the business laptop's performance is sufficient for undemanding gaming breaks. In the comparison field, the Dynabook notebook is not stand out from the other laptops for the office.
Witcher 3 FPS-Diagram
| F1 2021 - 1280x720 Ultra Low Preset | |
| Average of class Office (18.2 - 197.8, n=27, last 2 years) | |
| Average Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (15.6 - 102, n=18) | |
| Dynabook Tecra A40-J-12E | |
| GTA V | |
| 1024x768 Lowest Settings possible | |
| Average of class Office (6.57 - 176.4, n=106, last 2 years) | |
| Average Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (36.5 - 144.6, n=77) | |
| Fujitsu LifeBook U7311 i5 | |
| Dynabook Tecra A40-J-12E | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad L14 G2 AMD | |
| 1366x768 Normal/Off AF:4x | |
| Average of class Office (7.47 - 171.4, n=102, last 2 years) | |
| Average Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (28.9 - 133.8, n=80) | |
| Fujitsu LifeBook U7311 i5 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad L14 G2 AMD | |
| Dynabook Tecra A40-J-12E | |
| 1920x1080 High/On (Advanced Graphics Off) AA:2xMSAA + FX AF:8x | |
| Average of class Office (8.21 - 99.1, n=101, last 2 years) | |
| Average Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (7.81 - 32, n=79) | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad L14 G2 AMD | |
| Fujitsu LifeBook U7311 i5 | |
| Dynabook Tecra A40-J-12E | |
| 1920x1080 Highest Settings possible AA:4xMSAA + FX AF:16x | |
| Average of class Office (3.35 - 47.8, n=90, last 2 years) | |
| Average Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (3.07 - 11.6, n=66) | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad L14 G2 AMD | |
| Fujitsu LifeBook U7311 i5 | |
| Dynabook Tecra A40-J-12E | |
| low | med. | high | ultra | |
| GTA V (2015) | 55.5 | 43.8 | 12.3 | 4.88 |
| The Witcher 3 (2015) | 52.6 | 32.1 | 11.8 | 8.41 |
| Dota 2 Reborn (2015) | 99 | 61.3 | 35.1 | 32.7 |
| Final Fantasy XV Benchmark (2018) | 25.1 | 13.6 | 13.6 | |
| X-Plane 11.11 (2018) | 21.4 | 30.8 | 29.2 | |
| Far Cry 5 (2018) | 29 | 14 | 13 | 13 |
| Strange Brigade (2018) | 51 | 19.5 | 16.8 | |
| F1 2020 (2020) | 55.6 | 28.4 | ||
| F1 2021 (2021) | 48.1 |
Emissions & Energy - The Dynabook stays cool and quiet
Noise emissions
The Dynabook Tecra A40 is a very quiet laptop with its two fans. Even under full load, the clamshell computer is almost inaudible. In normal use, the noise from the two fans is barely audible even in very quiet surroundings. In the test, you find yourself putting your ears to the office laptop to determine the function of the fans. The laptop does not make any other noises.
Noise Level
| Idle |
| 25 / 25 / 25 dB(A) |
| Load |
| 30 / 30 dB(A) |
 | ||
30 dB silent 40 dB(A) audible 50 dB(A) loud |
||
min:  , med:  , max:  Earthworks M23R, Arta (15 cm distance) environment noise: 25 dB(A) | ||
Temperature
Apart from a slightly delayed fan start, the Dynabook Tecra A40 cannot be accused of any weaknesses in terms of cooling. The business laptop consistently keeps its temperature at an average of 61 °C (141.8 °F) and thermal throttling does not occur. The surface temperatures on the palm rests stay at a very comfortable level of around 25 °C (77 °F). Only the keyboard and the bottom of the laptop get a bit warm at around 45 °C (113 °F), but they are far from uncomfortable.
(±) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 41.1 °C / 106 F, compared to the average of 34.2 °C / 94 F, ranging from 21.2 to 62.5 °C for the class Office.
(-) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 45.3 °C / 114 F, compared to the average of 36.7 °C / 98 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 24.9 °C / 77 F, compared to the device average of 29.5 °C / 85 F.
(+) Playing The Witcher 3, the average temperature for the upper side is 31.6 °C / 89 F, compared to the device average of 29.5 °C / 85 F.
(+) The palmrests and touchpad are cooler than skin temperature with a maximum of 25.4 °C / 77.7 F and are therefore cool to the touch.
(+) The average temperature of the palmrest area of similar devices was 27.7 °C / 81.9 F (+2.3 °C / 4.2 F).
Speaker
The speakers of the Tecra A40 are adequate for an office laptop. You can understand the other party well through the laptop's speakers in voice calls. However, the lack of bass is clearly noticed when playing music or movies. External speakers can be connected via Bluetooth or a 3.5 mm jack.
Dynabook Tecra A40-J-12E audio analysis
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (82.6 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 28.6% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (9.9% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(±) | reduced mids - on average 6.4% lower than median
(±) | linearity of mids is average (7.2% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 4.6% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (3.9% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (22.1% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 53% of all tested devices in this class were better, 10% similar, 38% worse
» The best had a delta of 7%, average was 22%, worst was 53%
Compared to all devices tested
» 59% of all tested devices were better, 7% similar, 34% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%
Apple MacBook 12 (Early 2016) 1.1 GHz audio analysis
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (83.6 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(±) | reduced bass - on average 11.3% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (14.2% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 2.4% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (5.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 2% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (4.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(+) | overall sound is linear (10.2% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 5% of all tested devices in this class were better, 2% similar, 93% worse
» The best had a delta of 5%, average was 19%, worst was 53%
Compared to all devices tested
» 3% of all tested devices were better, 1% similar, 96% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%
Energy consumption
The Dynabook A40 is quite energy efficient and ranks between the comparison devices in terms of power consumption. The included power adapter supplies the notebook with a maximum of 65 watts and is sufficiently sized. Only in the stress test does the laptop briefly scratch at this power limit, but then quickly settles at a bit more than 40 watts.
| Off / Standby | 0.21 / 0.43 Watt |
| Idle | 3.3 / 5.1 / 6 Watt |
| Load |
26.4 / 65.3 Watt |
   
| |
Energy absorption Witcher 3 / Stress test
Battery life
The target of an 8-hour workday on battery power (WLAN test) is also achieved by the laptop on full brightness. The 53 Wh strong battery in the Dynabook puts the office device at the top of the comparison field.
Pros
Cons
Verdict - A good workhorse with minor quirks
The mid-range business laptop Tecra A40 from Dynabook unfortunately looks unfinished in the end. You do not have to make any concessions in terms of processor and battery performance, but the IPS display is simply too dark and the device is also not suitable for editing pictures due to the high color deviations. However, those who primarily work in the office and perhaps on an external display should take a look at the device.
The Dynabook Tecra A40 hardly offers any unique selling points that would facilitate a decision for the notebook. Although the system performance is adequate for an office computer, the dark IPS display in particular clouds the otherwise decent overall impression.
Only in terms of system expansion options does the Dynabook Tecra A40 stand out from the crowd. A free SO-DIMM slot, two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports and the option to also replace the SSD give buyers a bit more freedom than in many competitors, such as Honor's MagicBook 14. Those who need even more CPU performance should take a look at the ThinkPad L14 G2 with the Ryzen Pro processor. The LifeBook U7311 offers even more ports than the Tecra and is much more compact with its 13-inch display.
Price and availability
The Dynabook Tecra A40-J-12E is available from various retailers and is priced at around €1,000 (~$1,164). At Amazon (DE) the notebook's retail price fluctuates strongly. Via the manufacturer's website you can find many retailers for the Dynabook.
Dynabook Tecra A40-J-12E
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10/16/2021 v7
Marc Herter
Pricecompare
