Lenovo ThinkPad T495-20NKS01Y00
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Average of 1 scores (from 1 reviews)
Reviews for the Lenovo ThinkPad T495-20NKS01Y00
Lenovo's ThinkPad T495 is finally a full-fledged AMD business notebook with almost no compromises compared to its T490 sibling with Intel CPU. It might even be the better choice for many office users thanks to its lower price.
Source: Laptopkalauz

Positive: Decent hardware; nice performance; good price. Negative: Poor display; no Thunderbolt 3 port.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 07/17/2020
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Model: The Lenovo ThinkPad T495 is a business laptop that allows users to work longer, faster and more efficiently. With the 1.54 kg (3.4 lb) ThinkPad T495 laptop, users can take their work anywhere. And its battery lasts all day and recharges in less time than a standard layover. This is one serious business machine. Like all ThinkPad laptops, the T495 is tested against 12 military-grade requirements and more than 200 quality checks to ensure it runs in extreme conditions. ThinkPad laptops undergo some of the most stringent product testing in the industry, so users get the perfect blend of value and durability. From arctic wilderness to desert dust storms, from zero gravity to spills and drops, users can trust this laptop to handle whatever life throws their way. The Lenovo ThinkPad T495 is Lenovo's first full-fledged AMD laptop within the popular ThinkPad T-series. The new Lenovo offering is powered by an AMD Ryzen 5 Pro 3500U processor with integrated AMD Radeon Vega graphics, paired with 16 GB of LPDDR4 RAM. The storage options go up to 512 GB of PCIe SSD.
The super-slim bezel design adds a sleek look to their laptop at 22-percent thinner than previous models. Less bezel means less distraction from screen. The display is a 14.0" FHD IPS panel with anti-glare and brightness of 250 nits. It has a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels. The discrete Trusted Platform Module (dTPM 2.0) encrypts user data and passwords. The optional IR (infrared) camera and touch fingerprint reader work with Windows Hello for a more secure, biometric login. And ThinkShutter, a physical cover that ensures the camera sees users only when they want it to, is now available on all camera options. The ThinkPad T495 delivers up to 12.2 hours of battery life. And if users are running low, rapid-charging technology provides 80 % capacity in just an hour. So a 60-minute layover is enough time to boost their battery up to almost 10 hours. As for audio, users will get a premium audio experience from its front-facing speakers, while AMD FreeSync eliminates video stuttering and tearing, for optimal frame rates. As for conclusion, the Lenovo ThinkPad T495 is boasting improved battery life and increased performance neatly packaged in slim models. It is also a faster laptop that is unlikely to run out of juice halfway through the day which is highly desirable. Thus, it is catered for working professionals who need a bit of ruggedness on the go.
Hands-on article by Jagadisa Rajarathnam
Series: The Thinkpad T495 is essentially a Thinkpad T490 but with its Intel processor swapped out for an AMD processor. It is a successor to the ThinkPad T485 from last year. The ThinkPad T495 is aimed at students or even professionals who are looking for a cheaper 14 inch ThinkPad. In terms of looks, the T495 looks like most other ThinkPads with its carbon black chassis and a black keyboard and touchpad area with red accents on some buttons. The keyboard still features the famous pointing stick that professional users have grown to get used to. It is highlighted in red color giving the otherwise quite plain laptop a funky look. The laptop features a 14-inch Full HD IPS panel with a very respectable brightness level at 400 nits. It can also be configured to include a Full HD touchscreen display. The ThinkPad 495 is 22 percent thinner than its predecessors and the super slim bezels around the screen also give it a very small size. As for ports and slots, the laptop has two USB 3.1 ports, two USB-C 3.1 ports, a microSD card reader, HDMI 2.0 port, a full sized RJ45 LAN Port and an optional smart card reader. Additionally, the laptop also comes with LTE-A and Bluetooth 5.0 for connectivity. As for the specs, the laptop features up to an AMD Ryzen 7 Pro 3700U processor with either an AMD Radeon Vega 8 or Vega 10 graphics. It can be purchased with up to 1 TB of PCIe SSD and 256 GB of SATA SSD and up to 32 GB of RAM.
According to recent benchmarks, although their constructions are virtually identical, the T495 with Ryzen 5 Pro is slower than the Core i5 i8265 in the ThinkPad 490 but it might not be very significant considering the price difference. Comparing it to the older model on the other hand gives another story. It is at least 15 percent faster than the previous model. The backlit keyboard and touchpad are probably one of the best in the market. In fact, there aren’t any other laptop keyboards that are as perfect as this. The 50 Wh battery supports RapidCharge technology by using a Type-C charger. The webcam is a standard 720 pixels camera with ThinkShutter and the laptop can be configured to include a fingerprint reader or even an IR camera for Windows Hello recognition. Despite its slower performance, the T495 remains to be a good laptop for serious work. Its construction, keyboard and touchpad is still one of the best in the market and better even than the Macbook Pro. Its main competitors in the range are the Dell latitude 7490, HP EliteBook 840 and Fujitsu LifeBook U748, all with Intel Core i processors. It might not fare well in terms of speed but for real life usage, it might do just as good for a lower price.
Hands-on article by Jagadisa Rajarathnam
AMD Vega 8: Integrated graphics card of the Ryzen APUs based on the Vega architecture with 8 CUs (= 512 shaders) and a clock of up to 1100 MHz.
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.
R5 PRO 3500U: Mobile Quad-Core APU using Zen+ cores clocked at 2.1 to 3.7 GHz and a Vega graphics card with 8 CUs clocked at up to 1200 MHz. Professional variant of the Ryzen 5 3500U APU with additional management and security features (e.g., full memory encryption support).» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.
14.00":
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.
88.7%: This is an above-average rating. Nevertheless, it should not be forgotten that about one fifth of all tested models receive a better rating.
» Further information can be found in our Notebook Purchase Guide.