ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 laptop review: Lenovo's answer to the Dell XPS 13

The ThinkPad Z13 G2 is an update to last year's ThinkPad Z13 G1 with newer Zen 4 CPU options. The chassis is otherwise visually identical and with similar display options between them. We recommend checking out our review on the ThinkPad Z13 G1 as most of our comments on the system still apply here for the ThinkPad Z13 G2.
Our review unit is a high-end configuration with the Ryzen 7 Pro 7840U CPU, 1800p 60 Hz OLED touchscreen, and 32 GB of RAM for approximately $1800. Other SKUs with the Ryzen 5 Pro 7540U, 1200p IPS display, 16 GB RAM, and optional WWAN are also available.
The ThinkPad Z13 G2 competes with other business-centric 13-inch subnotebooks like the HP Dragonfly G4, Dell Latitude 13 7340, XPS 13, Toshiba Portege series, or the MSI Summit series.
More Lenovo reviews:
Potential Competitors in Comparison
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Price |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
89.5 % v7 (old) | 01 / 2024 | Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 R7 PRO 7840U, Radeon 780M | 1.2 kg | 13.99 mm | 13.30" | 2880x1800 | |
91.9 % v7 (old) | 07 / 2023 | HP Dragonfly G4 i7-1365U, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 1.1 kg | 16.3 mm | 13.50" | 1920x1280 | |
90.2 % v7 (old) | 10 / 2023 | Dell Latitude 13 7340 i5-1345U i5-1345U, Iris Xe G7 80EUs | 1.1 kg | 18.2 mm | 13.30" | 1920x1200 | |
90.5 % v7 (old) | 08 / 2022 | Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 21D2CTO1WW R5 PRO 6650U, Radeon 660M | 1.2 kg | 13.99 mm | 13.30" | 1920x1200 | |
89.5 % v7 (old) | 08 / 2023 | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 i7-1360P, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 989 g | 14.8 mm | 13.00" | 2160x1350 | |
87.5 % v7 (old) | 10 / 2023 | Framework Laptop 13.5 Ryzen 7 7840U R7 7840U, Radeon 780M | 1.3 kg | 15.85 mm | 13.50" | 2256x1504 |
Case
Communication
Our Gen 2 unit comes with the MediaTek Wi-Fi 6E MT7922 instead of the Qualcomm WCN685x on last year's Gen 1 model. There are otherwise no noticeable differences as the MediaTek module supports both Wi-Fi 6 and 6E connectivity.
Webcam
Though the Lenovo model ships with a 2 MP webcam, the Windows camera app can only select up to 0.5 MP as shown by the screenshot to the right. We encountered a similar issue on the recent HP Pavilion Plus 14 which was also powered by an AMD Zen 4 CPU.

Maintenance
Warranty
The base warranty period can be either 12 months or 36 months depending on the configuration if purchased in the US whereas other high-end business laptops from competing manufacturers like Dell tend to be 36 months as standard.
Display
The Samsung ATNA33AA02-0 1800p OLED touchscreen on our ThinkPad Z13 G2 is identical to the one available on the original ThinkPad Z13 G1. The panel covers DCI-P3 and HDR400 for richer colors than most IPS panels on other subnotebooks, but it's unfortunate that there are no new display options for this year's Z13 G2 model. The 60 Hz refresh rate is beginning to feel outdated when 90 Hz or 120 Hz options are becoming commonplace.
Maximum brightness is standard at 400 nits. HP continues to be one of the only major manufacturers to offer significantly brighter 1000-nit panels on many of its competing subnotebooks like the 14-inch EliteBook 840 series. If outdoor visibility is a concern, then something like the Elite Dragonfly can be a reasonable alternative to the ThinkPad Z13.
|
Brightness Distribution: 99 %
Center on Battery: 372 cd/m²
Contrast: ∞:1 (Black: 0 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 0.88 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.89
ΔE Greyscale 1.2 | 0.5-98 Ø5.1
97.3% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
100% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
99.7% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.18
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 ATNA33AA02-0, OLED, 2880x1800, 13.3" | HP Dragonfly G4 Chi Mei CMN13C0, IPS, 1920x1280, 13.5" | Dell Latitude 13 7340 i5-1345U Chi Mei 133JCG, IPS, 1920x1200, 13.3" | Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 21D2CTO1WW NV133WUM-N63, IPS LED, 1920x1200, 13.3" | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 MND007ZA1-3, IPS, 2160x1350, 13" | Framework Laptop 13.5 Ryzen 7 7840U BOE CQ NE135FBM-N41, IPS, 2256x1504, 13.5" | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Display | -20% | -22% | -21% | -20% | -20% | |
Display P3 Coverage | 99.7 | 68.4 -31% | 65.9 -34% | 67.7 -32% | 68.5 -31% | 69 -31% |
sRGB Coverage | 100 | 98.3 -2% | 96.8 -3% | 96.5 -3% | 99.5 0% | 99.1 -1% |
AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 97.3 | 70.4 -28% | 67.8 -30% | 69.7 -28% | 69.7 -28% | 71.1 -27% |
Response Times | -1774% | -1775% | -1589% | -1437% | -1816% | |
Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 2.1 ? | 48.8 ? -2224% | 51 ? -2329% | 49 ? -2233% | 39.9 ? -1800% | 50.4 ? -2300% |
Response Time Black / White * | 2.2 ? | 31.3 ? -1323% | 29.04 ? -1220% | 23 ? -945% | 25.8 ? -1073% | 31.5 ? -1332% |
PWM Frequency | 60.1 ? | |||||
Screen | -39% | -107% | -32% | -22% | -46% | |
Brightness middle | 372 | 408.8 10% | 471 27% | 418 12% | 461.2 24% | 436 17% |
Brightness | 375 | 399 6% | 437 17% | 379 1% | 428 14% | 416 11% |
Brightness Distribution | 99 | 90 -9% | 87 -12% | 81 -18% | 86 -13% | 89 -10% |
Black Level * | 0.32 | 0.2033 | 0.33 | 0.29 | 0.36 | |
Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 0.88 | 2.02 -130% | 3.24 -268% | 1.7 -93% | 1.79 -103% | 1.81 -106% |
Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 3.22 | 3.84 -19% | 7.19 -123% | 3.3 -2% | 3.3 -2% | 4.73 -47% |
Greyscale dE 2000 * | 1.2 | 2.3 -92% | 4.6 -283% | 2.3 -92% | 1.8 -50% | 2.9 -142% |
Gamma | 2.18 101% | 2.2 100% | 2.14 103% | 2.24 98% | 2.27 97% | |
CCT | 6326 103% | 6203 105% | 6520 100% | 6499 100% | 6588 99% | 6784 96% |
Contrast | 1278 | 2317 | 1267 | 1590 | 1211 | |
Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated * | 0.61 | 1.08 | 1.1 | 0.47 | 0.45 | |
Total Average (Program / Settings) | -611% /
-349% | -635% /
-387% | -547% /
-312% | -493% /
-278% | -627% /
-361% |
* ... smaller is better
Display Response Times
↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
---|---|---|
2.2 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 1 ms rise | |
↘ 1.2 ms fall | ||
The screen shows very fast response rates in our tests and should be very well suited for fast-paced gaming. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 9 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (20.9 ms). | ||
↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
2.1 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 1.1 ms rise | |
↘ 1 ms fall | ||
The screen shows very fast response rates in our tests and should be very well suited for fast-paced gaming. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.165 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 8 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (32.7 ms). |
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
Screen flickering / PWM detected | 60.1 Hz | ≤ 100 % brightness setting | |
The display backlight flickers at 60.1 Hz (worst case, e.g., utilizing PWM) Flickering detected at a brightness setting of 100 % and below. There should be no flickering or PWM above this brightness setting. The frequency of 60.1 Hz is very low, so the flickering may cause eyestrain and headaches after extended use. In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 8619 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 343500) Hz was measured. |
Pulse-width modulation or flickering is present on all brightness levels as with most other OLED panels. The frequency is stable at 238.6 Hz from 0 to 52 percent brightness before changing to 60 Hz from 53 to 100 percent brightness.
Performance
Testing Conditions
We set Windows to Performance mode prior to running the benchmarks below. The pre-installed Lenovo Commercial Vantage software includes no separate power profile options in order to streamline the number of settings.
Processor
Mobile Zen 4 CPUs have been very impressive thus far and the octa-core Ryzen 7 Pro 7840U is no exception. The AMD CPU is as fast or faster than any competing Intel 13th gen Core-U or Core-P processor including even the Core i7-1370P. It also outperforms the rare Ryzen 7 Pro 6860Z in last year's ThinkPad Z13 G1 by about 15 to 20 percent in both single- and multi-threaded loads.
Performance sustainability is excellent as well despite the small 13-inch form factor. When running CineBench R15 xT in a loop, scores would remain consistent from beginning to end to suggest stable clock rates when running demanding loads.
Downgrading to the hexa-core Ryzen 5 Pro 7540U configuration is expected to impact processor performance about 20 to 30 percent.
Cinebench R15 Multi Loop
Cinebench R23: Multi Core | Single Core
Cinebench R20: CPU (Multi Core) | CPU (Single Core)
Cinebench R15: CPU Multi 64Bit | CPU Single 64Bit
Blender: v2.79 BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 | 7z b 4 -mmt1
Geekbench 6.3: Multi-Core | Single-Core
Geekbench 5.5: Multi-Core | Single-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
Geekbench 6.3 / Multi-Core | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 | |
Asus ROG Flow X13 GV302XV | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 Ryzen 7 7840U | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U (7596 - 12069, n=5) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad L13 Yoga G4 i7-1355U | |
HP EliteBook x360 830 G10 7L7U1ET |
Geekbench 6.3 / Single-Core | |
Asus ROG Flow X13 GV302XV | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 Ryzen 7 7840U | |
Lenovo ThinkPad L13 Yoga G4 i7-1355U | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U (1896 - 2508, n=5) | |
HP EliteBook x360 830 G10 7L7U1ET |
Cinebench R23: Multi Core | Single Core
Cinebench R20: CPU (Multi Core) | CPU (Single Core)
Cinebench R15: CPU Multi 64Bit | CPU Single 64Bit
Blender: v2.79 BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 | 7z b 4 -mmt1
Geekbench 6.3: Multi-Core | Single-Core
Geekbench 5.5: Multi-Core | Single-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
* ... smaller is better
AIDA64: FP32 Ray-Trace | FPU Julia | CPU SHA3 | CPU Queen | FPU SinJulia | FPU Mandel | CPU AES | CPU ZLib | FP64 Ray-Trace | CPU PhotoWorxx
Performance Rating | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 Ryzen 7 7840U | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 21D2CTO1WW | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Dell Latitude 13 7340 i5-1345U |
AIDA64 / FP32 Ray-Trace | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 Ryzen 7 7840U | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U (17604 - 23889, n=5) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 21D2CTO1WW | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Dell Latitude 13 7340 i5-1345U |
AIDA64 / FPU Julia | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 Ryzen 7 7840U | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U (77578 - 100087, n=5) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 21D2CTO1WW | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Dell Latitude 13 7340 i5-1345U |
AIDA64 / CPU SHA3 | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 Ryzen 7 7840U | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U (3611 - 4394, n=5) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 21D2CTO1WW | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Dell Latitude 13 7340 i5-1345U |
AIDA64 / CPU Queen | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 Ryzen 7 7840U | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U (95020 - 110151, n=5) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 21D2CTO1WW | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Dell Latitude 13 7340 i5-1345U |
AIDA64 / FPU SinJulia | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 Ryzen 7 7840U | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U (12250 - 14151, n=5) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 21D2CTO1WW | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Dell Latitude 13 7340 i5-1345U |
AIDA64 / FPU Mandel | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 Ryzen 7 7840U | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U (41143 - 53280, n=5) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 21D2CTO1WW | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Dell Latitude 13 7340 i5-1345U |
AIDA64 / CPU AES | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 Ryzen 7 7840U | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U (66300 - 142329, n=5) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 21D2CTO1WW | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Dell Latitude 13 7340 i5-1345U |
AIDA64 / CPU ZLib | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 Ryzen 7 7840U | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U (777 - 1004, n=5) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 21D2CTO1WW | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Dell Latitude 13 7340 i5-1345U |
AIDA64 / FP64 Ray-Trace | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 Ryzen 7 7840U | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U (9494 - 12540, n=5) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 21D2CTO1WW | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Dell Latitude 13 7340 i5-1345U |
AIDA64 / CPU PhotoWorxx | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U (33564 - 38442, n=5) | |
Dell Latitude 13 7340 i5-1345U | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 Ryzen 7 7840U | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 21D2CTO1WW |
System Performance
CrossMark: Overall | Productivity | Creativity | Responsiveness
WebXPRT 3: Overall
WebXPRT 4: Overall
Mozilla Kraken 1.1: Total
PCMark 10 / Score | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 Ryzen 7 7840U | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U, AMD Radeon 780M (6541 - 7012, n=5) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 21D2CTO1WW | |
Dell Latitude 13 7340 i5-1345U |
PCMark 10 / Essentials | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 Ryzen 7 7840U | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U, AMD Radeon 780M (10055 - 10934, n=5) | |
Dell Latitude 13 7340 i5-1345U | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 21D2CTO1WW |
PCMark 10 / Productivity | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 Ryzen 7 7840U | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U, AMD Radeon 780M (8921 - 9933, n=5) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 21D2CTO1WW | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Dell Latitude 13 7340 i5-1345U |
PCMark 10 / Digital Content Creation | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 Ryzen 7 7840U | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U, AMD Radeon 780M (7806 - 8874, n=5) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 21D2CTO1WW | |
Dell Latitude 13 7340 i5-1345U |
CrossMark / Overall | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 Ryzen 7 7840U | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U, AMD Radeon 780M (1533 - 1669, n=5) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 | |
Dell Latitude 13 7340 i5-1345U | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 21D2CTO1WW |
CrossMark / Productivity | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 Ryzen 7 7840U | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U, AMD Radeon 780M (1461 - 1624, n=5) | |
Dell Latitude 13 7340 i5-1345U | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 21D2CTO1WW |
CrossMark / Creativity | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 Ryzen 7 7840U | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U, AMD Radeon 780M (1697 - 1824, n=5) | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Dell Latitude 13 7340 i5-1345U | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 21D2CTO1WW |
CrossMark / Responsiveness | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 Ryzen 7 7840U | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U, AMD Radeon 780M (1049 - 1499, n=5) | |
Dell Latitude 13 7340 i5-1345U | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 21D2CTO1WW | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 |
WebXPRT 3 / Overall | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 Ryzen 7 7840U | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U, AMD Radeon 780M (259 - 317, n=5) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 21D2CTO1WW |
WebXPRT 4 / Overall | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 Ryzen 7 7840U | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U, AMD Radeon 780M (234 - 245, n=2) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 21D2CTO1WW |
Mozilla Kraken 1.1 / Total | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 21D2CTO1WW | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U, AMD Radeon 780M (523 - 571, n=5) | |
Dell Latitude 13 7340 i5-1345U | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 Ryzen 7 7840U | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 | |
HP Dragonfly G4 |
* ... smaller is better
PCMark 10 Score | 7012 points | |
Help |
AIDA64 / Memory Copy | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U (66487 - 67856, n=5) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 Ryzen 7 7840U | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Dell Latitude 13 7340 i5-1345U | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 21D2CTO1WW |
AIDA64 / Memory Read | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 Ryzen 7 7840U | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U (47725 - 50543, n=5) | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Dell Latitude 13 7340 i5-1345U | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 21D2CTO1WW |
AIDA64 / Memory Write | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U (89477 - 94965, n=5) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 Ryzen 7 7840U | |
Dell Latitude 13 7340 i5-1345U | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 21D2CTO1WW |
AIDA64 / Memory Latency | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U (128.6 - 138.9, n=5) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 21D2CTO1WW | |
Dell Latitude 13 7340 i5-1345U | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 Ryzen 7 7840U |
* ... smaller is better
DPC Latency
LatencyMon reveals both DPC issues and dropped frames when playing 4K video content at 60 FPS. The latter is particularly disappointing as the dropped frames would occur in regular intervals to suggest an underlying driver issue. Most Intel-based laptops would return zero dropped frames in comparison when running this same test.
DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 | |
Dell Latitude 13 7340 i5-1345U | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 Ryzen 7 7840U | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 21D2CTO1WW |
* ... smaller is better
Storage Devices
Our unit ships with a midrange SK Hynix HFS001TEJ4X164N PCIe4 x4 NVMe SSD. Maximum transfer rates are steady at about 4600 MB/s compared to >7000 MB/s on the larger Samsung PM9A1 series. The drive exhibits no throttling behavior even when stressed for several minutes.
Drive Performance Rating - Percent | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 Ryzen 7 7840U -11! | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 21D2CTO1WW | |
Dell Latitude 13 7340 i5-1345U |
* ... smaller is better
Disk Throttling: DiskSpd Read Loop, Queue Depth 8
GPU Performance
The Radeon 780M is a significant leap forward by about 60 to 70 percent when compared to the lesser Radeon 660M or 740M option. It might not be the fastest iGPU solution anymore, but it still trounces any alternative up to late 2023. Popular or demanding titles like Baldur's Gate 3 or Tiny Tina's Wonderlands play well at 1080p with most settings on Low.
Note that there are bigger-than-expected performance differences between Balanced mode and Performance mode as shown by our 3DMark 11 results table below. You'll want to double-check that you're on Performance mode when running demanding tasks to fully exploit the CPU.
Power Profile | Physics Score | Graphics Score | Combined Score |
Performance Mode | 18262 | 12223 | 7186 |
Balanced Mode | 13081 (-28%) | 8298 (-32%) | 5422 (-25%) |
Battery Power | 17161 (6-%) | 11257 (-8%) | 5254 (-27%) |
3DMark | |
1920x1080 Fire Strike Graphics | |
Average AMD Radeon 780M (4550 - 8904, n=61) | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 Ryzen 7 7840U | |
Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 2 | |