Ranking: Best workstation laptops tested by Notebookcheck

If you are looking for Lenovo's most expensive ThinkPads, you will quickly come across the ThinkPad P1. This series represents the premium end of Lenovo's workstation lineup, and the Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 8 is an excellent example. It is relatively thin and light, yet still delivers very good performance. The chassis is exceptionally well built, and connectivity is strong, with two Thunderbolt 5 ports. One drawback is the 64 GB RAM limit: while this is a substantial amount, it remains a limitation compared with other workstation models.

Lenovo has thoroughly redesigned its large workstation with the ThinkPad P16 G3. The new design is more portable than before and now includes Thunderbolt 5 and an optional tandem OLED display. It remains highly upgradeable and also brings back the RJ45 Ethernet port. Performance, however, takes a hit: the small power adapter severely limits GPU performance for a mobile workstation of this caliber.

Dell has retired the Precision name for its 2025 workstation lineup in favor of Dell Pro Max. The largest and heaviest model in the series is the Dell Pro Max 18 Plus, which has an 18-inch display. Equipped with Intel's most powerful mobile CPUs from the Arrow Lake HX family and professional Nvidia RTX Pro GPUs, it delivers extremely high performance, aided by a cooling system with three fans. One drawback is the display resolution, which tops out at WQXGA (2,560 x 1,600). Otherwise, the Dell Pro Max 18 Plus is an excellent workstation—provided portability is not a priority.

The Dell Pro Max Plus is available in 18-inch and 16-inch versions. The smaller Pro Max 16 Plus trades some of its larger sibling's performance for greater portability. The design and input devices remain the same, but the smaller model also offers a high-resolution 4K OLED display option. Overall, the Dell Pro Max 16 Plus trails the 18-inch model in only a few areas and earns its place among the best workstation laptops.

HP's ZBook Power laptops are now called ZBook X, but their positioning remains largely unchanged. The HP ZBook X G1i 16 occupies the same place in the lineup as its predecessor, the ZBook Power 16, while introducing updated internals: an Arrow Lake H processor and an Nvidia RTX Pro 2000 Blackwell GPU. These are worthwhile upgrades. As a mid-range model in the ZBook lineup, it lacks some features, such as an OLED display option, but delivers excellent battery life and continues to offer great upgradeability.

With the ThinkPad T16g Gen 3, Lenovo has introduced a new series that combines the design of the ThinkPad P16 Gen 3 with GeForce GPUs. This is a traditional, relatively bulky workstation designed for high performance. It offers extensive upgrade options, good input devices, and Thunderbolt 5. In our testing, however, it only partly delivered on its performance potential because of its relatively small USB-C power adapter. This limitation lowered its rating, although it remains a good mobile workstation.

Workstations are rarely inexpensive, but more affordable models do exist. The Lenovo ThinkPad P16v Gen 3 is one example: it offers fewer features but still delivers good performance at a slightly lower starting price than models such as the ThinkPad P1 or P16. It is a practical option with only a few notable weaknesses, though it does not particularly stand out.

HP'sZBook 8 G2a 14, an entry-level model in HP's ZBook workstation lineup, comes without a dedicated GPU. Instead, it uses an all-AMD platform with a powerful Ryzen 9 HX processor, a less powerful integrated Radeon GPU, and 64 GB of RAM. In our testing, it stood out for its excellent battery life and very good IPS LCD with a 2.5K/WQXGA (2,560 x 1,600) resolution and a 120-Hz refresh rate. Overall, it is a good entry-level option, but the lack of a dedicated GPU limits it to lighter workloads.