The affordable ThinkPad that’s happiest as a desktop replacement

What is the key advantage of a laptop over a traditional desktop computer? They are mobile and can be used anywhere, thanks to the integrated screen, keyboard and battery, as well as their compact size. Thus, on the surface, mobility should be the most important consideration when designing a laptop.

Of course, this is just theory. In practice, there are many, many use cases with differing priorities, for some of which mobility is just not important. If you want a bigger screen, mobility will suffer, same for more performance, or often also a lower price, as more budget devices often tend to be heavier. Some users may not need their laptop to be mobile too often, and some may only use it on their home desk - as a sort of All in One (AiO PC) in laptop form.

Especially in the business world, many of the users will use their laptops as a sort of portable desktop - take it to work, plug it into the dock on their office desk, which is connected to an external screen and keyboard, and take it back home at the end of the day. This is a large part of the market, and also the part of the market that the Lenovo ThinkPad L16 Gen 2 AMD that we recently tested is aimed at.

In our review, the L series ThinkPad, which targets the entry level of the business laptop market, had two main weaknesses: the screen quality and the battery life. Both are not good, but both of these things do not matter when you use your laptop in the way many business users do.

The L16 Gen 2 (available on Amazon) is a laptop that is best when it is acting as a desktop replacement: It is repairable, upgradeable, as well as quiet and cool, even under load, and the performance is good enough for all everyday tasks. And, as a business laptop, it has all the advantages of the ThinkPad brand, like long replacement part and firmware update support.