Lenovo ThinkPad L16 Gen 1 Series

Processor: AMD Rembrandt (Zen 3+) R7 PRO 7735U, Intel Meteor Lake-U Ultra 5 125U
Graphics Adapter: AMD Radeon 680M, Intel Graphics 4-Core
Display: 16.00 inch
Weight: 1.77kg, 1.942kg
Price: 1050, 1250 euro

Average Score: 84.8% - good
Average of 1 scores (from 4 reviews)

performance: 58%, features: 72%, display: 78%, mobility: 75%, workmanship: 83%, ergonomy: 92%, emissions: 88%

Lenovo ThinkPad L16 Gen 1 21L70010GE

Specifications

Notebook: Lenovo ThinkPad L16 Gen 1 21L70010GE
Processor: AMD Rembrandt (Zen 3+) R7 PRO 7735U
Graphics Adapter: AMD Radeon 680M
Display: 16.00 inch, 16:10, 1920 x 1200 pixels
Weight: 1.942kg
Price: 1250 euro
Links: Lenovo homepage

Price comparison

Reviews

84.8% Lenovo ThinkPad L16 Gen 1 AMD laptop review: Powerful hardware in a modest guise | Notebookcheck
It may not be chic, but it is certainly robust with immaculate connectivity options. The business laptop allows users to work at lightning speed while offering ambitious graphics performance. Adding to this are all the usual security functions. Its main compromises are likely ones that pragmatists can stomach.

Lenovo ThinkPad L16 G1, Ultra 5 125U

It is undeniable to say that when it comes to the simple-looking ThinkPad L16 Gen 1, appearance simply plays no role. Well, this turns out true for both, its case as well as its display. As far as its design and build is concerned, this business laptop feels robust, but as it does not feature any aluminium or even magnesium, it misses out on making a high-quality impression. However, it is worth mentioning that the fingerprint marks are not that visible on the slightly roughened surface of the display lid. Even then, its stability suffers. This is quite evident with the display lid, bottom plate and keyboard frame all yielding, even if only a small amount. Furthermore, the base unit and the display can be slightly twisted too. In contrast, the display's hinges are good. While they stay tight at every angle, they also prevent users from being able to open the lid with one hand. This leads to the laptop's maximum opening angle which is 180 degrees. The absence of the usual, contrasting "ThinkPad" lettering catches the eye immediately. Instead, this time there is an indentation in the same shape that will likely attract dirt over time. As for its connectivity, this device carries options which are particularly extensive. This includes a whopping five USB port in which comprises of three USB-A. This simply means that one can connect a variety of external devices without having to rely on a docking station. In addition, there is a fast USB4 port situated at the front on the left-hand side of the device, which may result in users intuitively plugging the charger into the second and slower USB-C port that also supports a charging function.

This model has also been incorporated with a 5-megapixel webcam which comes with all the features one would want to see. Well, right from a mechanical cover and a dual-array microphone to an infrared camera for logging in via facial recognition, everything is on board. Despite that, one should not expect particularly high-quality shots, as the camera has been optimized for video calls. But, it manages to lighten the face enough that the person on the other end of the call always has perfect visibility, no matter how dark the room is. The microphone is also impressive as the voices are recorded clearly and at a consistent volume regardless of the direction of speech and distance. In terms of its keyboard, it is well suited for intensive working, and it leaves a great impression on the users while typing. Furthermore, the keys have an air inlet, which further enhances the precise typing experience and dampens the noise they produce. Similarly, the TrackPoint and touchpad are equally comfortable to be used. As for the processor, there are either Ryzen 5 Pro 7535U or the Ryzen 7 Pro 7735U from the AMD side. From Intel, one can pick between the Core Ultra 5 125U, Ultra 7 155U and the Ultra 7 165U vPro. Apart from that, the ThinkPad L16 Gen 1 relies on DDR5-4800 RAM which includes two full-featured installed memory banks are installed which can be upgraded easily. On purchase, users get to choose between 8, 16 or 32 GB with a maximum of 64 GB. In a nutshell, it is a great device to be explored, depending on the need and preference of the users.

Hands-on article by Jagadisa Rajarathnam

Specifications

Notebook: Lenovo ThinkPad L16 G1, Ultra 5 125U
Processor: Intel Meteor Lake-U Ultra 5 125U
Graphics Adapter: Intel Graphics 4-Core
Display: 16.00 inch, 16:10, 1920 x 1200 pixels
Weight: 1.77kg
Price: 1050 euro
Links: Lenovo homepage

Price comparison

Reviews

How to open Lenovo ThinkPad L16 Gen 1 (Intel) - disassembly and upgrade options
Source: Laptop Media English

Support, online available, Short, Date: 09/11/2024

▶ load Youtube video

Lenovo ThinkPad L16 Gen 1 (Intel) review – A Quiet Workhorse Perfect for the Office
Source: Laptop Media English

The Lenovo ThinkPad L16 Gen 1 is a typical office workhorse. Luckily, its plastic chassis is surprisingly solid and light at the same time. The input devices are comfortable for work and the fan isn’t noisy at all even when the processor is pushed to its limits. The machine feels response for normal work which is due to the ~3.50 GHz / 3.00 GHz P and E-core clock in short and medium loads. The two SODIMM slots make this laptop future-proof and the port selection is nice as well with its pair of Type-Cs and three Type-As. Unfortunately, there is just one M.2 slot so the only way to upgrade the storage is to change the SSD with a bigger NVMe drive.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 09/11/2024

Foreign Reviews

联想 ThinkPad L16 Gen 1（英特尔）评测–最适合办公室使用的安静工作主力军
Source: Laptopmedia CN

zh-CN→EN
Positive: Tough device; decent performance; silent system; nice display; good speakers; comfortable keyboard; smooth touchpad; NFC module. Negative: Plastic case; only one M.2 slot.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 09/11/2024

Comment

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.

Modern games should be playable with these graphics cards at low settings and resolutions. Casual gamers may be happy with these cards.

AMD Radeon 680M: Integrated graphics card in the Ryzen 6000 mobile series APUs based on the RDNA2 architecture with 12 CUs (= 768 shaders) and a clock speed of up to 2.4 GHz.

Intel Graphics 4-Core: Integrated graphics card based on the Xe LPG architecture (similar to the dedicated Arc GPUs, but with a focus on efficiency). Provides 4 Xe cores (64 Xe vector engines) and 4 ray tracing units.

» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Graphics Cards and the corresponding Benchmark List.

AMD Rembrandt (Zen 3+):

R7 PRO 7735U: Mobile Octa-Core APU using Zen 3+ cores clocked at 2.7 to 4.75 GHz and a RDNA2 graphics adapter with 12 CUs clocked at up to 2,200 MHz. The TDP is specified at 15 - 28 Watts.

Intel Meteor Lake-U:

Ultra 5 125U: A lower mid-range Meteor Lake chip that debuted in December 2023. This 1st Gen Core Ultra processor has come to replace 13th generation Core processors; it has 12 cores (2 + 8 + 2) and 14 threads at its disposal. Its Performance cores, of which there are 2, run at up to 4.3 GHz while its Efficient cores, of which there are 10 (8 main cores plus 2 extra ones found in the Low Power Island) run at up to 3.6 GHz. The 4-core Intel Arc Graphics, just out of the oven, serves as the integrated graphics adapter - this runs at up to 1.85 GHz - and there is a bevy of other brand-new technologies on offer as well including the integrated AI Boost NPU with two Gen 3 engines for hardware AI workload acceleration. This laptop processor's Base power consumption is 15 W, with 57 W being its maximum Intel-recommended Turbo power consumption.

» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.

16.00:

This range for display formats was and is a rarity. It is larger than the general standard of 15 inches, but not yet in the range of large workstations. One usually has higher screen resolutions available, but portability suffers from that.

» To find out how fine a display is, see our DPI List.

No weight comment found (one expected)!

84.8%: This rating is slightly above average, there are somewhat more devices with worse ratings. However, clear purchase recommendations look different.

» Further information can be found in our Notebook Purchase Guide.