Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2
Specifications
Price comparison
Average of 9 scores (from 9 reviews)
Reviews for the Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2
The ThinkPad Z13 is back this year sporting AMD Zen 4 Ryzen Pro CPUs wrapped inside the same sleek G1 chassis as before. Is the lone CPU upgrade enough to justify this G2 refresh?
Source: Root Nation
After testing a laptop, I always ask myself: “Would I buy this laptop for myself? Is it worth its price?” After testing the ThinkPad X13 Yoga Gen 4, I immediately wanted this “little guy” to stay on my desk. But today, I don’t have a clear answer. It’s not even about the price or the insufficient number of USB ports for me. The Lenovo newcomer left me with a sense of something missing. It feels like there’s a small detail or something new that could truly make it stand out. But then I realized. The ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 offers high performance, has a solid and attractive design, and features a great keyboard, touchpad, and OLED display.
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 08/10/2024
Rating: Total score: 94% price: 90% performance: 90% display: 100% mobility: 90% workmanship: 100% ergonomy: 100%
Source: Make Use Of
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 is a great-looking compact laptop with more power than its small frame would have you think, but it may be too small for some people, and the price may have you thinking twice. Still, its AMD-powered integrated graphics outpace current Intel offerings.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 05/10/2024
Rating: Total score: 80%
Source: PC World
If you asked for a verdict based on performance, build, and battery life alone, it’d be easy to recommend the Z13 as an instant buy. In those areas, Lenovo has once again delivered everything we’ve come to know and love about a ThinkPad. The nub is there, the keys work (although they’re too shallow), and you have nice extras like a decent battery life, an (optional) touch OLED, and both camera and fingerprint biometric options. For business and travel, that’s the total package. As reviewed, $1,800 is a lot to spend to get a device with just two USB-C ports. That means you’ll surely have to spend more to complete this package. You may need USB-A dongles, an SD card reader, and more. It’s likely you’ll want to settle on an expensive travel hub that will increase your port selection and get you the SD card reader. But that’s more to carry around, more to spend, more weight to deal with.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 04/03/2024
Rating: Total score: 78%
Source: PC Mag
Lenovo ThinkPads are premium machines; as we mentioned, Asus' Zenbook 14X OLED costs $400 less with a discrete GPU (and $900 less for the Q420 model with comparable integrated graphics). That means we hold them to a higher standard. Like the recently reviewed Z16 Gen 2, the Z13 Gen 2 disappoints us with its lack of ports other than USB4—though that's more forgivable in an ultraportable than a desktop replacement—and changes to the classic keyboard and touchpad. It's a high-quality lightweight professional laptop, but it doesn't rise to the heights of the X1 Carbon or Dragonfly G4.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 02/15/2024
Rating: Total score: 80%
Source: CNet
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 is an outlier among ThinkPads. Lenovo introduced the Z13 ultraportable two years ago, and it immediately stood out from the staid ThinkPad pack with its AMD-only offerings inside an incredibly compact chassis that featured a funky webcam module, haptic touchpad and the option for a synthetic leather lid. Gen 2 keeps the same recycled aluminum enclosure and updates the AMD silicon to Ryzen Pro 7000 processors while swapping the leather-like treatment for a woven flax fiber material as an optional lid covering. Our review unit didn't feature the flax fiber lid but did come equipped with the top display option, a spectacular 2.8K OLED touch panel. The ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 is a marvel for its exceptional build quality and trim dimensions. It feels like a tiny tank of a laptop, and I have no doubts about its ability to withstand the bumps and bruises of business travel.
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 02/04/2024
Rating: Total score: 82%
Source: Digital Trends
The ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 provides solid productivity performance, a solid and attractive build, and a keyboard, a touchpad, and a display that are all excellent. None of those stand out, though, with some 13-inch laptops offering the same and others with more modern, AI-aware components. Where the ThinkPad stands out most is in its support for enhanced security and manageability, wixh will appeal to business buyers. I can strongly recommend the laptop for those users, while the typical consumer should look at the incoming slate of laptops for their next machine.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 01/18/2024
Rating: Total score: 70%
Foreign Reviews
Source: CNet France
FR→ENSingle Review, online available, Medium, Date: 07/04/2024
Rating: Total score: 80%
Source: CNews.cz
CZ→ENPositive: Beautiful display; comfortable keyboard; compact size; light weight.
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 03/27/2024
Source: Root Nation CN
zh-CN→ENSingle Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 08/10/2024
Rating: Total score: 94% price: 90% display: 100% mobility: 90% workmanship: 100% ergonomy: 100%
Comment
AMD Radeon 780M: Integrated graphics card in the Ryzen 7040 mobile series APUs based on the RDNA3 architecture with 12 CUs (= 768 shaders) and a clock speed of up to 3 GHz.
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.
R7 PRO 7840U: High-End mobile 8-core processor based on the Zen 4 architecture. The CPU cores clock at up to 5.1 GHz and execute 16 threads simultaneously. Integrates an XDNA Ai-Engine. The TDP is configurable between 35 and 54 Watt. Compared to the consumer Ryzen 7 7840U, the PRO models offer additional security, manageability, and reliability features designed for professional users and workstation environments.» 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.
83.06%: 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.
