Ranking: Best workstation laptops tested by Notebookcheck

After a major overhaul comes a minor refresh - while Lenovo has completely relaunched its classic workstation line with the ThinkPad P16 G1, the newer model comes with few changes. The Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2 updates the processor to the Raptor Lake or Raptor Lake Refresh generation, and the GPUs get a slight update as well. The upper RAM limit has been increased from the previous maximum of 128 GB to 192 GB.

However, the manufacturer has not fixed an important point of criticism: The ThinkPad P16 still has no RJ45 Ethernet port. In addition, having just two M.2 2280 slots isn't great for such a massive workstation.

The HP ZBook Fury 16 achieved a top position in our workstation list last year. The new HP ZBook Fury 16 G11 made our new list, which is based on the stricter v8 rating.

HP hasn't changed much with the new model. It is an update of a very good mobile workstation, which now comes with Raptor Lake Refresh CPUs. Strengths such as the extremely good upgradeability, a bright and fast display and high performance remain the same - although performance could've been more stable. This little problem aside, you can't go wrong with the ZBook Fury even in 2024.

For those looking for a workstation on a relatively tight budget, the HP ZBook Power 16 G11a might just be the best purchase of the year. The ZBook Power series is the more affordable version of HP's productivity monsters that still offers high enough performance and is a high enough quality laptop despite its lower price. This is the case with the latest model, which comes with AMD Ryzen 8040HS CPUs.

The advantage that the efficient CPUs bring is that the ZBook remains quiet under low and medium loads, unlike most workstation laptops. A disadvantage of this cheaper model is that HP does not offer higher-quality display options. In addition, SSD performance throttling under continuous load is to be criticized.

Lenovo's ThinkPad P1 series is designed to combine performance with mobility. At the same time, together with the ThinkPad X1, these laptops are the top of the crop among ThinkPads. The ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 definitely ups the ante in terms of overall quality, as its haptic touchpad and aluminum lid make it more premium than its predecessor. Although the new ThinkPad P1 does not come with the fastest GPUs on the market, unlike its predecessors, the overall performance level is still very high. Together with the 120 Hz display and the improved battery life, this results in a very good user experience, which is only slightly dampened by the high price.

Lenovo's smallest and lightest mobile workstations are normally built around ThinkPad T series laptops' cases (that's the series for office users). With the new ThinkPad P14s Gen 5 Intel, Lenovo is breaking new ground, as the model has a brand-new design that's not used by any other Lenovo laptop. Its performance is rather good, as Lenovo has implemented a cooling solution with two fans. Not only that, the 14.5-inch display is also larger and better than the T-series - the resolution is 3K, the refresh rate is 120 Hz and the color space coverage is almost 100 percent of the DCI-P3 color space. The lack of a suitable color profile for the sRGB color space is to be criticized, as is the fact the P14s Gen 5 Intel does not come equipped with 4G LTE or 5G modems.

The HP ZBook Firefly 14 G11 is in a similar position to that of the P14s G5 from Lenovo. Unlike the ThinkPad, the slim workstation offers cellular modems, however, and the ZBook is also somewhat lighter. Unfortunately, the slimmer appearance comes at the expense of performance, as the HP workstation still only has a single fan. In addition, HP still relies on the now outdated Nvidia RTX A500 instead of the RTX 500 Ada Generation - so in terms of performance, the more mobile ZBook can't quite keep up with the competition.

The Dell Precision 5490 is the latest version of Dell's 14-inch workstation. It's not all that different from the direct predecessor, but now uses Core Ultra Series 1 or Meteor Lake CPUs instead of the 13th generation of Core i CPUs or Raptor Lake. Otherwise, there are few changes. The compact mobile workstation is still a good choice in 2024, even if the low-resolution webcam is worthy of criticism.

The Lenovo ThinkPad P16s G2 is one of the lighter, thinner workstations available, which is why this model relies on the AMD Ryzen U series. The high efficiency of the Ryzen chip ensures that the CPU performance still remains high. However, there are also disadvantages: RAM is soldered here, there is only one SSD slot and no dGPU. The integrated AMD graphics is not bad, but is a far cry from any half-decent dGPU.

If Dell does indeed have a competitor for Lenovo's ThinkPad P1 and HP's ZBook Studion 16, it's probably the Dell Precision 5690. This comparatively portable 16-inch workstation is designed to make the traveling engineer happy, with this year's model upgraded to Core Ultra chips. It is very fast and also delivers good battery life, although prospective customers will have to put up with a rather loud fan and soldered RAM.