AMD or Intel, which is better for this affordable office laptop: Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 7 comparison

AMD or Intel? This fateful question is asked every day by PC purchasers, as AMD and Intel CPUs are the most commonly available processor manufacturers for PCs and laptops. Sometimes, you can even find the same exact laptop in both flavors. One example of that is Lenovo's ThinkPad E14 Gen 7, which can be bought in both AMD and Intel varieties. We reviewed the Intel model earlier this summer and recently also published our comprehensive review of the Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 7 AMD model, which means: It's time for a comparison!

The competition in this case consists of the AMD Ryzen 7 250, a processor with eight Zen 4 cores, as well as the Intel Core Ultra 7 255H, a CPU with 16 cores (6x Lion Cove P cores, 8x Skymont E cores, 2x Skymont LPE cores). The Intel version of the ThinkPad laptop uses a higher quality 2.8K (2,880 x 1,800) IPS screen with 120 Hz refresh rate, while the AMD model contains a simple WUXGA (1,920 x 1,200) IPS 60 Hz panel. All other relevant specs, like the battery size and cooling system, are identical. The AMD model is set to a power limit of 35 W, while the Intel model stays at 28 W.

AMD vs Intel in a ThinkPad laptop: The comparison

In turns out that the Intel model has the upper hand overall. Of course, the screen quality is much superior on the Intel variant, which is a given - why Lenovo does not offer the same panel in the AMD ThinkPad is a mystery to us. However, the Arrow Lake H CPU also outperforms the AMD CPU in most processor benchmarks - the AMD Ryzen 7 is better under sustained load, but pales when it comes to singlecore performance, where the Intel Core Ultra ThinkPad is around 25 percent faster.

This leaves aspects like heat, noise and battery life. The Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 7 AMD stays slightly cooler on average than the Intel variant (available on lenovo.com) under load, and it runs a bit less noisy, too. But in battery life, the ThinkPad E14 Gen 7 Intel shows itself to be more efficient: Despite the much more power-hungry display panel, the ThinkPad E14 G7 Intel almost equalizes the score in our Wi-Fi web surfing test - with the same screen, we have no doubt that the Intel model would handily beat the AMD variant.

In the end, while AMD often took the win in the past few years, Intel is simply the better option here. A much better screen with a more efficient, powerful processor makes for a better user experience, even if the AMD model is slightly cooler and less loud.