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MagyarLenovo ThinkPad T14s G3 Intel laptop review: quiet, efficient and fast
The latest ThinkPad T14s G3 has finally received a 16:10 display and even a much anticipated 3K OLED option as part of Lenovo's redesign. What's more, it now comes with an Intel CPU with a 28W TDP (instead of 15W). All these features are packed into a compact, sturdy chassis that is also lightweight (weight varies with configuration). All in all, the T14s G3 has become more like the ThinkPad X1 Carbon, whilst the revised ThinkPad T14 is similarly compact.
Our review unit features the efficient Core i5-1235U, 16 GB of fast LPDDR5 RAM, a PCIe 4.0 SSD with 512GB of storage, and a low-power FHD+ display. This configuration costs €1,699 (US$1,800) after Lenovo's student discount. In this review, we'll discuss whether these components can turn the T14s G3 into an efficient system on par with an AMD-based laptop.
Excluding other Lenovo devices, the high-end ThinkPad is competing against laptops such as the HP EliteBook 845 G9, Dell Latitude 7420 and Schenker Vision 14. Over the course of the review, you'll find out whether they are viable ThinkPad alternatives.
Comparison with possible competitors
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Best Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 89.1 % | 12/2022 | Lenovo ThinkPad T14s G3 21BR00CDGE i5-1235U, Iris Xe G7 80EUs | 1.3 kg | 16.9 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1200 | |
| 89.4 % | 07/2021 | Lenovo ThinkPad T14s G2 20WM003TGE i7-1165G7, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 1.3 kg | 16.14 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1080 | |
| 88.8 % | 09/2022 | Lenovo ThinkPad T14 G3-21CF004NGE R7 PRO 6850U, Radeon 680M | 1.4 kg | 17.9 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1200 | |
| 90.2 % | 06/2022 | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G10 21CC001RGE i5-1250P, Iris Xe G7 80EUs | 1.2 kg | 15.36 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1200 | |
| 89.4 % | 11/2022 | Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21BN0046GE i5-1235U, Iris Xe G7 80EUs | 1.3 kg | 18.9 mm | 13.30" | 1920x1200 | |
| 88.6 % | 11/2022 | HP EliteBook 845 G9 6F6H9EA R5 PRO 6650U, Radeon 660M | 1.4 kg | 19 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1200 | |
| 90.1 % | 04/2022 | Dell Latitude 7420 JW6MH i5-1145G7, Iris Xe G7 80EUs | 1.3 kg | 17.3 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1080 | |
| 88.8 % | 10/2022 | Schenker Vision 14 2022 RTX 3050 Ti i7-12700H, GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU | 1.3 kg | 16.6 mm | 14.00" | 2880x1800 |
Case: Compact and robust thanks to carbon and metal design
The dark-grey ThinkPad T14s G3 is very sturdy thanks to the use of carbon, magnesium and aluminium. No matter where we tried to twist the ThinkPad or apply other physical forces to it, it didn't deform in any way. The chassis has a smaller form factor (thanks to its 16:10 aspect ratio) and a thinner bezel than its predecessor.
The hinges allow the display to fold back by up to 180 degrees and have been fine-tuned to hold the screen firmly in position. However, the laptop can't be opened with one hand. The fit and finish is impeccable, and the slightly roughened surfaces are pleasant, not slippery and don't attract too many fingerprints.
At 317.5 mm (12.5") wide, the ThinkPad T14s G3 is 10 mm (0.393") narrower and 3 mm (0.12") deeper than its predecessor. Although the T14s G3 starts at 1.21 kg (2.67 lb), our review unit weighs 1.33 kg (2.95 lb), making it heavier than the ThinkPad T14s G2 we reviewed previously. The laptop shares almost the same footprint as the X1 Carbon G10. Like the ThinkPad X13 and MacBook Air, the Schenker Vision 14 is even more compact than the T14s G3 despite having more powerful hardware.
Specifications: Thunderbolt & 1080p webcam, many soldered components
On the left side of the ThinkPad T14s G3 Intel, you'll find two Thunderbolt 4 ports, an HDMI 2.0b port (capable of up to 4K 60Hz) and an audio jack. There is also a USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 on each side of the device. An optional smart card reader and a Kensington slot are located on the right side. The rear of the device has a Nano SIM slot. An SD card reader is missing on the laptop, whilst an Ethernet port is only available on the (non-S) ThinkPad T14.
Connectivity
Lenovo has soldered the W-Fi 6E module to motherboard on the ThinkPad T14s. The Intel AX211 is able to deliver high data transfer speeds of about 1.6 to 1.7 Gbit/s, which is on par with the predecessor. By comparison, the Qualcomm Wi-Fi module in the AMD-version of the ThinkPad T14 runs even faster than the Intel card. The T14s G3 supports Bluetooth 5.2, whilst WWAN with 4G/5G and NFC are optional.
| Networking | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad T14s G3 21BR00CDGE | |
| iperf3 receive AXE11000 |
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| iperf3 transmit AXE11000 |
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| Lenovo ThinkPad T14s G2 20WM003TGE | |
| iperf3 transmit AX12 |
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| iperf3 receive AX12 |
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| Lenovo ThinkPad T14 G3-21CF004NGE | |
| iperf3 receive AXE11000 6GHz |
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| iperf3 transmit AXE11000 6GHz |
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| Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21BN0046GE | |
| iperf3 receive AXE11000 |
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| iperf3 transmit AXE11000 |
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| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G10 21CC001RGE | |
| iperf3 receive AXE11000 6GHz |
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| iperf3 transmit AXE11000 6GHz |
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| HP EliteBook 845 G9 6F6H9EA | |
| iperf3 receive AXE11000 |
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| Dell Latitude 7420 JW6MH | |
| iperf3 transmit AX12 |
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| iperf3 receive AX12 |
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| Schenker Vision 14 2022 RTX 3050 Ti | |
| iperf3 receive AXE11000 |
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| iperf3 transmit AXE11000 |
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Webcam
Although the 1080p webcam with dual-array microphones isn't all that great, it produces images that look substantially less noisy and washed out than those from its predecessor.
Security
The ThinkPad T14s Gen 3 offers an optional smart card reader, IR for face recognition and a physical camera shutter. Other security features include a Kensington slot and an optional fingerprint sensor. On the software side, the laptop also supports human presence detection and Mirametrix Glance.
Accessories
This year, the docking port has been dropped from the T-series as well. Instead, you can use a Thunderbolt or USB-C dock made by Lenovo or a third-party company. The laptop comes with a 65W USB-C charger, and 90% of its packaging material is either recycled or sourced from sustainable forestry.
Maintenance
Before opening up the ThinkPad, you should go into the BIOS and deactivate the internal battery first. To remove the bottom cover, you have to undo just five Phillips captive screws and use a plastic spudger or a plastic card to release a few clips.
Once this is done, you'll have access to the M.2 2280 SSD, a free WWAN slot, the screwed-on 57 Wh battery and the cooling system (which you can clean). Too bad the Wi-Fi module and RAM are soldered to the motherboard.
Warranty
In Germany, Lenovo provides a three-year warranty on the device and a one-year warranty on the battery. Our student model comes with 12 months of Premier Support, which includes on-site service. However, you'll only get courier or carry-in service by default. It costs €80 to upgrade to Premier Support for 36 months (€270 for four years and €382 for five years). Terms and conditions of warranty may vary by country. For instance, customers in the US will only receive a one-year standard warranty. Upgrading to three-year Premier Onsite Support costs around US$151 (US$239 for four years and US$367 for five years).
Input devices: Good full-size ThinkPad keyboard
Keyboard
The six-row, spill-resistant keyboard has keys measuring 16 x 16 mm (0.63 x 0.63"). All of them are full-size except for the umlaut keys (only on the German QWERTZ layout). The arrow keys are slightly smaller, and all important buttons are present without needing dual-purpose keys.
Since last year, key travel on a ThinkPad T14s has been shortened to 1.5 mm (0.06"). The keyboard allows users to type faster and more accurately than most other keyboard thanks to its very distinct actuation point and tactile resistance. The keyboard deck also feels sturdy and doesn't flex when you deliberately apply pressure on it.
Touchpad & TrackPoint
The touchpad on the ThinkPad T14s G3 measures 11.5 x 6.1 cm (4.5 x 2.4"), just like on the last-gen model. It features an improved Mylar surface that feels like glass but is even smoother to use. The trackpad has no issues recognising pinch-to-zoom and drag-&-drop gestures. The integrated click buttons have a moderately long travel distance and provides a distinct feedback. However, the touchpad feels a little flimsy at the bottom left and right.
The TrackPoint lets you move the mouse pointer around the screen quickly and accurately whilst keeping your hands on the keyboard. The three buttons for the TrackPoint are completely flat, have short travel and allow for precise actuation.
Low-power display isn't bright enough
The low-power display on our review unit has a resolution of 1,920 x 1,200 (WUXGA/FHD+) and offers enough sharpness for its 14-inch size. The 16:10 aspect ratio has finally made its way to the T series; in constrast, the X13 already got it around last year.
During our testing, the matt display only managed to get as bright as 300 cd/m² instead of the 400 cd/m² claimed by Lenovo. This could pose an issue when you're using the laptop outdoors. We have already tested out the same panel when reviewing the X1 Yoga G7 and found that it also failed to meet the specifications at 360 cd/m². For comparison, the low-power display on the ThinkPad T14 G3 got significantly brighter at 435 cd/m². This is once again another example of the display lottery caused by Lenovo using different parts suppliers.
Lenovo offers six display options for the T14s. However, the 2.2K display didn't make it to the European market:
- FHD+, 300 cd/m², 45% NTSC
- FHD+, 400 cd/m², 800:1, low power, 100% sRGB
- FHD+, 300 cd/m², touchscreen, 45% NTSC
- FHD+, 500 cd/m², Privacy Guard + touchscreen, 100% sRGB,
- 2.2K, 300 cd/m², low blue light, 100% sRGB
- 2.8K, 400 cd/m², OLED, anti-glare, 100% DCI-P3, HDR 500, Eyesafe
The new OLED display replaces the 4K/UHD option on the T14s. The contrast of 1,950:1 and black level of 0.16 cd/m² are excellent for an IPS panel, resulting in rich and deep blacks. At 6,196K, the display's white point misses the optimal level (6,500K) by a little. One drawback of the screen is that it exhibits severe clouding, which you can easily tell on a dark background. On our review unit, we also found a defective pixel but didn't detect any PWM flicker. As we often see in low-power displays, this panel has some heavy ghosting.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 93 %
Center on Battery: 312 cd/m²
Contrast: 1950:1 (Black: 0.16 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 2.2 | 0.55-29.43 Ø5.2, calibrated: 1.3
ΔE Greyscale 2.7 | 0.57-98 Ø5.4
70.1% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
98.6% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
67.8% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.11
| Lenovo ThinkPad T14s G3 21BR00CDGE MNE007JA1-1, IPS LED, 1920x1200, 14.00 | Lenovo ThinkPad T14s G2 20WM003TGE NE140FHM-N61, IPS LED, 1920x1080, 14.00 | Lenovo ThinkPad T14 G3-21CF004NGE LP140WU1-SPB2, IPS, 1920x1200, 14.00 | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga G7 21CE002HGE MNE007JA1-1, IPS, 1920x1200, 14.00 | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G10 21CC001RGE B140UAN02.1, IPS LED, 1920x1200, 14.00 | HP EliteBook 845 G9 6F6H9EA AUOA49A, IPS, 1920x1200, 14.00 | Dell Latitude 7420 JW6MH Chi Mei CMN1416 CHF07 140HCG, IPS, 1920x1080, 14.00 | Schenker Vision 14 2022 RTX 3050 Ti MNE007ZA1-1, IPS, 2880x1800, 14.00 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | -4% | 1% | 2% | 6% | 7% | 0% | 5% | |
| Display P3 Coverage | 67.8 | 68.1 0% | 69.2 2% | 69.3 2% | 74.6 10% | 75.4 11% | 68 0% | 74.1 9% |
| sRGB Coverage | 98.6 | 91.7 -7% | 97.4 -1% | 99.7 1% | 98.6 0% | 100 1% | 99 0% | 97.4 -1% |
| AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 70.1 | 67.1 -4% | 71.5 2% | 71.3 2% | 76.5 9% | 76.6 9% | 70 0% | 75.3 7% |
| Response Times | -45% | 15% | 9% | 1% | -20% | -15% | 36% | |
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 41.4 ? | 68 ? -64% | 41.4 ? -0% | 42 ? -1% | 45.5 ? -10% | 58.8 ? -42% | 55 ? -33% | 31.5 ? 24% |
| Response Time Black / White * | 27.2 ? | 34 ? -25% | 19.2 ? 29% | 22.4 ? 18% | 24 ? 12% | 26.7 ? 2% | 26 ? 4% | 14.5 ? 47% |
| PWM Frequency | 22730 ? | 53050 ? | ||||||
| Screen | -46% | 7% | 17% | -15% | 4% | 15% | -21% | |
| Brightness middle | 312 | 422.9 36% | 451 45% | 371 19% | 372 19% | 408 31% | 408 31% | 421 35% |
| Brightness | 301 | 397 32% | 435 45% | 363 21% | 362 20% | 402 34% | 378 26% | 416 38% |
| Brightness Distribution | 93 | 91 -2% | 94 1% | 92 -1% | 94 1% | 92 -1% | 86 -8% | 89 -4% |
| Black Level * | 0.16 | 0.32 -100% | 0.21 -31% | 0.21 -31% | 0.18 -13% | 0.24 -50% | 0.22 -38% | 0.28 -75% |
| Contrast | 1950 | 1322 -32% | 2148 10% | 1767 -9% | 2067 6% | 1700 -13% | 1855 -5% | 1504 -23% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 2.2 | 4.8 -118% | 2.4 -9% | 1.3 41% | 3.4 -55% | 2.09 5% | 1.54 30% | 3.2 -45% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 5.6 | 8.7 -55% | 4.1 27% | 2.6 54% | 6.7 -20% | 5.09 9% | 2.72 51% | 5.5 2% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated * | 1.3 | 1.9 -46% | 1.3 -0% | 0.8 38% | 1.8 -38% | 1.56 -20% | 1.08 17% | 2 -54% |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 2.7 | 6.1 -126% | 3.3 -22% | 2.1 22% | 4.3 -59% | 1.7 37% | 1.95 28% | 4.4 -63% |
| Gamma | 2.11 104% | 2.23 99% | 2.13 103% | 2.15 102% | 2.13 103% | 2.138 103% | 2.33 94% | 2.22 99% |
| CCT | 6196 105% | 7635 85% | 6848 95% | 6759 96% | 6158 106% | 6628 98% | 6806 96% | 6384 102% |
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | -32% /
-37% | 8% /
7% | 9% /
13% | -3% /
-8% | -3% /
1% | 0% /
7% | 7% /
-7% |
* ... smaller is better
The display has 99% sRGB coverage, meaning it is suitable for professional photo editing. You can click here to download our colour profile.
Out of the box, the panel had a slight red tint, which went away after we had calibrated the screen. Delta E levels mostly remained below the threshold of noticeability of 2.5. Cyan was the only exception, but this too was remedied by our calibration process. In turn, the colour difference for blue increased to 3.1. Shades of grey deviated substantially from the reference colours at first, but we were likewise able to reduce the delta E to an excellent value of less than 1.5 through calibration.
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 27.2 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 14 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 13.2 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows relatively slow response rates in our tests and may be too slow for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.4 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 62 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (22.5 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 41.4 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 18.8 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 22.6 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.25 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 59 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (35.5 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 19232 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured. | |||
Because the display is matt and has just enough brightness (300 cd/m²), you will still be able to read contents on the screen outdoors – as long as it is cloudy outside or you find a shady spot. But you should avoid using the laptop in direct sunlight.
Performance: Alder Lake-U unfold its potential in the ThinkPad T14s
Our ThinkPad T14s comes with 16 GB of soldered LPDDR5 4800 RAM (configurable up to 32 GB) and a PCIe 4.0 SSD with a capacity of 512 GB. It is powered by an Intel Core i5-1235U with an Xe G7 iGPU. You can configure the ThinkPad T14s G3 with up to a powerful Core i7-1280P. The laptop is mainly intended for office and business applications rather than video editing and gaming. At best, the AMD-based variant with a Ryzen 7 PRO 6850U and an integrated Radeon 680M can only provide an acceptable overall performance for such use cases.
Test conditions
Lenovo doesn't put its own performance profiles on ThinkPads but rather integrates them into Window's power settings. When running performance-related benchmarks, we selected the "Best Performance" profile and disabled auto mode in Intelligent Cooling (by pressing Fn+T).
- In this mode, we measured power limits of 52 W (Turbo) and ~33 W (sustained).
- On battery power, the "Better Performance" mode limits PL1 to 27.5 W.
- In "More Power Efficiency" mode, power usage is reduced by two thirds to 11 W.
Processor
The Intel Core i5-1235U has only two P-cores and a TDP of 15 W, which Lenovo raised to over 30 W. Running Cinebench R15 in a loop revealed that the CPU's sustained performance is just a bit lower than that of the Core i7-1270P in the ThinkPad X1 Yoga G7 (PL1 of 28 W). It even performed around 10% better than the Core i7 in CB R20/R23.
Despite having twice the number of P-cores, the Core i5-1240P in the ThinkPad T16 (PL1 of 20 W) performed 25% worse in CB R15 and 40% worse in CB R23. Even though they have the same power dissipation, the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850U in the ThinkPad T14 has a 33% lead over the processor in the T14s G3. The Ryzen 5 PRO 6650U in the EliteBook 845 G9 and ThinkPad Z13 almost have the same level of performance as the Core i5 in our review unit.
The Turbo Boost technology is able to unfold its potential better in the U-series CPU than in the Core i5-1250P inside the ThinkPad X1 Carbon G10, whilst the T14s G2 with a Tiger Lake-U CPU trails behind the T14s G3 by a massive 50% – an excellent performance gain over one GPU generation. The Schenker Vision 14 with a Core i7-12700H is the winner of this comparison. This CPU combines six P-cores with a PL1 of 40 W, which translates to roughly 60% more performance. A Core i7-1280P is similarly fast, as you can see in the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9 (PL1 of 35 W). You can also configure the ThinkPad T14s with this CPU, but it is not available in the EMEA region.
Cinebench R15 Multi Sustained Load
* ... smaller is better
AIDA64: FP32 Ray-Trace | FPU Julia | CPU SHA3 | CPU Queen | FPU SinJulia | FPU Mandel | CPU AES | CPU ZLib | FP64 Ray-Trace | CPU PhotoWorxx
System performance
Thanks to the powerful turbo and high single-core performance, the system feels very responsive, especially during web browsing. It doesn't become any less snappy even when a 4K YouTube video is playing at the same time. In PCMark 10, the ThinkPad T14 G3 AMD has a 20% lead over the T14s, and the Schenker Vision 14 is ahead by a clear margin.
CrossMark: Overall | Productivity | Creativity | Responsiveness
Sunspider: 1.0 Total Score
Mozilla Kraken 1.1: Total Score
Speedometer 2.0: Result
Octane V2: Total Score
Jetstream 2: Total Score
WebXPRT 3: ---
WebXPRT 4: Overall Score
| Sunspider / 1.0 Total Score | |
| Average of class Office (97.3 - 361, n=16, last 2 years) | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad T16 G1 21BWS00200 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad T14s G3 21BR00CDGE | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1235U, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry | |
| Speedometer 2.0 / Result | |
| Apple MacBook Air M2 Entry | |
| Schenker Vision 14 2022 RTX 3050 Ti | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad T14s G3 21BR00CDGE | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1235U, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (235 - 269, n=3) | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad T16 G1 21BWS00200 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad T14 G3-21CF004NGE | |
| Average of class Office (39.7 - 284, n=35, last 2 years) | |
| Octane V2 / Total Score | |
| Schenker Vision 14 2022 RTX 3050 Ti | |
| Average Intel Core i5-1235U, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (79131 - 83104, n=3) | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad T14s G3 21BR00CDGE | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad T16 G1 21BWS00200 | |
| Apple MacBook Air M2 Entry | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad T14 G3-21CF004NGE | |
| Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 M1 Pro Entry | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad T14s G2 20WM003TGE | |
| Average of class Office (20009 - 83701, n=45, last 2 years) | |
* ... smaller is better
| PCMark 10 Score | 5069 points | |
Help | ||
| AIDA64 / Memory Copy | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21BN0046GE | |