Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen4 IRU
Specifications
Primary Camera: 2.1 MPix
Price comparison
Average of 5 scores (from 7 reviews)
Reviews for the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen4 IRU
What if you could have both a convertible laptop and an eReader all in one? The ThinkBook Plus Twist is a dream come true for bookworms as long as you can accept some caveats.
Source: USA Today
We really wanted to like the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus. We have some big E-ink fans on our tiny tech team who believe there is a big enough (niche) market for a 2-in-1 laptop like this one. But the E-ink notetaking tablets already out there set the bar higher than this laptop could reach. Even Lenovo’s own Smart Paper, which is not sold in the US, is a better E-ink device for notetaking and reading because it keeps things simple with a streamlined operating system built specifically for a few simple tasks. Comparatively, the ReMarkable 2 provides the closest likeness we’ve experienced to writing with a real pencil or pen on real paper; the E-ink side of the ThinkBook Plus feels a little less slippery than taking notes on its OLED side, but we couldn’t feel the texture of the E-ink display’s surface while writing with a Lenovo stylus. The handwriting latency isn’t synced with the actual speed of writing, either, which defeats the whole point of handwriting on any digital device.
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 12/23/2023
Source: Make Use Of
Unless you're in desperate need of a 2-in-1 laptop that features both an OLED display and a color e-ink screen, I can't recommend the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 4. The $3,000+ price point is simply too high to justify the myriad of downsides in several important aspects of the laptop. You're better off sacrificing the unsavory e-ink panel and saving some serious dough by opting for another 2-in-1 like the Microsoft Surface Pro 9 or Lenovo's own Yoga 9i. While the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 4 2-in-1 laptop has some redeeming qualities, it ultimately falls short in delivering features to match the $3,000 price point. Enjoy the main OLED display; avoid the e-ink panel at all costs.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 12/11/2023
Rating: Total score: 60%
Source: PC Mag
We really wanted to like the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 4. The mix of OLED and E Ink, pen input, and pivoting 2-in-1 design sounds like a step forward for laptop productivity. But the practice is less captivating than the concept—even awkward and inconvenient. The E Ink screen lurches wildly between eye-friendly reading and laggy ghosting, making it nigh unusable for many tasks, and the basic laptop design and performance are satisfying but trail some rivals in both performance and battery life. Lenovo sells a high-quality OLED-based convertible in the Yoga 9i Gen 8, which gives you the same pen-friendly drawing and note-taking capability without the fancy E Ink lid. It even manages to squeeze another USB-C port and a USB-A connector into its slim chassis. If you want a top-tier 2-in-1 laptop, get the Yoga. If you want a note-friendly E Ink display, get an Amazon Kindle Scribe. Heck, get both, and you'll probably be happier than you would be with the Plus.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 11/07/2023
Rating: Total score: 60%
Source: Tom's Guide
I really wanted to like the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 4. After all, it’s not every day I come across a 2-in-1 with a built-in color E Ink display and twistable hinge. As the best smartphones have proven, having a device that serves multiple functions is advantageous. But while the idea behind this ThinkBook Plus sounds great on paper, the reality doesn’t live up to the promise — especially for a device that costs $3,000. If you’re looking for alternatives, you can’t go wrong with either the $1,049 Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 or $1,899 Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Pro 360. The latter isn’t exactly cheap, but it’s still more affordable than the ThinkBook Plus. If you need an e-reader, you can even purchase a Kindle Paperwhite ($139) or a Kindle Scribe ($339) with the money you save, and still come out having spent less than you would have on a new ThinkBook Plus Gen 4. Though I can’t recommend this remarkable 2-in-1 to most people, it’s still an intriguing product that could pave the way for similar (and less expensive) devices in the future.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 10/26/2023
Rating: Total score: 60%
Source: Laptop Mag
The Lenovo ThinkBook Plus G4 is great in concept, but falters in execution. You’d think that the design would be the problem, but it’s not — it’s the performance. And for $3K, I expect both panels to feel silky smooth when I use them. If you can move to a more normal 2-in-1 laptop, we highly recommend the Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 (7620), which offers double the battery life at half the price. Overall, the ThinkBook Plus G4 is a solid laptop, but between its price and sluggish e-ink display, it’s hard to recommend to people who want to draw professionally on e-ink.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 09/18/2023
Rating: Total score: 70%
Source: Zdnet.com
If you're a creative professional, I highly recommend the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 4. It's a delight to use, even as someone who isn't a professional artist. I thoroughly enjoyed writing on the e-ink side; It saved me from dealing with eye strain, which can be a killer after a long day of typing. The notebook is available in two separate models, and prices differ depending on which hardware you choose. My review unit had a 13th Gen Intel i7-1355U processor, an Intel Iris Xe GPU, 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM, and 512GB of storage, totaling up to a $3,040 price tag. Yes, these are expensive laptops, and I wouldn't fault you for opting for a less expensive but just as capable laptop. But the ThinkBook Plus Gen 4 is one of the most refreshing devices money can buy right now, and it's worth every penny.
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 09/05/2023
Foreign Reviews
Source: Jagat Review
ID→ENPositive: Impressive dual displays; powerful hardware; high performance; modern design.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 09/19/2023
Comment
Intel Iris Xe G7 96EUs: Integrated graphics card in Intel Tiger Lake G4 SoCs based on the new Gen. 12 architecture with 96 EUs (Execution Units / Shader Cluster). The clock rate depends on the processor model. The Tiger Lake chips are produced in the modern 10nm+ process at Intel.
Modern games should be playable with these graphics cards at low settings and resolutions. Casual gamers may be happy with these cards.
» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Graphics Cards and the corresponding Benchmark List.
i7-1355U: Alder Lake based mobile CPU with 2 performance cores and 8 efficient cores. The performance cores offer hyper threading, leading to 12 threads that can be processed. The CPU clocks from 1.2 to 5 GHz. The TDP is specified at 15 Watt.» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.
13.30":
There are hardly any tablets in this display size range anymore. For subnotebooks, on the other hand, it is the standard format.
The advantage of subnotebooks is that the entire laptop can be small and therefore easily portable. The smaller display also has the advantage of requiring less power, which further improves battery life and thus mobility. The disadvantage is that reading texts is more strenuous on the eyes. High resolutions are more likely to be found in standard laptops.
» To find out how fine a display is, see our DPI List.Lenovo: Lenovo ("Le" from English legend, novo (Latin) for new) was founded in 1984 as a Chinese computer trading company. As of 2004, the company was the largest laptop manufacturer in China and, after acquiring IBM's PC division in 2005, the fourth largest in the world. In addition to desktops and notebooks, the company manufactures monitors, projectors, servers, etc, and specializes in developing, manufacturing and marketing consumer electronics, personal computers, software, enterprise solutions and related services.
In 2016, the company ranked first in the world in computer sales. It still held it in 2023 with about 23% global market share. Important product lines are Thinkpad, Legion and Ideapad.
In 2011, it acquired a majority stake in Medion AG, a European computer hardware manufacturer. In 2014, Motorola Mobility was purchased, which gave Lenovo a boost in the smartphone market.
67.48%: This rating is poor. More than three quarters of the models are rated better. That is rather not a purchase recommendation. Even if verbal ratings in this area do not sound that bad ("sufficient" or "satisfactory"), they are usually euphemisms that disguise a classification as a below-average laptop.
» Further information can be found in our Notebook Purchase Guide.
