Lenovo ThinkBook 16p Gen 3 Review

Lenovo released the latest laptop of its ThinkBook line, the ThinkBook 16p Gen 3, on September 1^st, 2022. Starting from around $2300, the company’s latest release is definitely not what many would call affordable. However, Lenovo justified the price tag by advertising the laptop as a high-end business machine specially designed with SMBs (Small and Medium-sized Businesses) in mind. The company guarantees peak flagship performance in the ThinkBook 16p that would satisfy the demands of power users and content creators.

The ThinkBook 16p comes in a variety of configurations that differ in terms of processing power and price. The most high-end version is the one that the company sent over to us and it goes up to $3000+. Looking at its insanely expensive price, we had extremely high expectations from it. It’s safe to say that it definitely didn’t leave us wanting. However, we have to admit that we couldn’t completely justify its price. To put it simply, the ThinkBook 16p is an excellent machine but way too expensive for what it offers.

Premium Body

The ThinkBook 16p hosts a solid body. Weighing 4.38lbs, the laptop is considerably heavy. But that’s the price you have to pay for a gorgeous all-metal body that feels as good as it looks. The metal is incredibly sturdy and exudes a premium feel. Looks-wise, the machine surely looks expensive. I appreciate that Lenovo hasn’t overdone the exterior. Aimed at SMBs, the body is sophisticated but sober.

The laptop features the standard ThinkBook lid with nothing but just ‘ThinkBook’ emblazoned on the top-left and the brand name stamped on a metal plate on the bottom-right. The lid isn’t light but is easily openable with one finger. I immediately gave the company a point for that. I also like how the lid leaves a gap of a little less than an inch from the back of the laptop. It’s a unique way of making the machine stand out from the others in terms of aesthetics.

Generous With Ports

If you wish to find out which group of consumers the ThinkBook 16p is targeted at, you can take a look at its ports. The ThinkBook 16p comes fully equipped with all the essentials content creators and business professionals look for in a machine. There’s one USB Type-C, one USB4, two USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, and one HDMI 2.1 port along with a 3.5mm audio jack and an SD card reader. Thankfully, Lenovo didn’t skimp on connectivity which is fairly common among modern laptops.

I’m also happy about the fact that they opted for providing onboard ports for various functionalities instead of providing adapters or connectors in the package. The ports ensure that they cover most tasks creators engage in. I particularly like that some of these ports are found on the back of the laptop. This isn’t only a unique design feature that enhances the look of the laptop but it also assists the user by reducing the hassle caused by cables. With some of your cables being plugged into the back, your desk will look considerably less messy.

Impressive Keyboard and Touchpad

The ThinkBook 16p has plenty of space on its fairly large body to host a full-sized keyboard with a numpad and no trimmed keys. Let alone the punctuation keys, even the arrow keys aren’t trimmed on this laptop. Hence, users with large hands don’t need to worry about the keyboard not suiting them. It also offers backlighting, great travel and a quick response time. The touchpad is excellent as well. It offers a sturdy feel and, thankfully, the click doesn’t feel hollow. It is appropriately sized and responds quite fast. Though, I wish the ThinkBook 16p featured touch input.

A Display for Gamers

The display on the ThinkBook 16p is not bad, but it’s not exceptional as well. It sports fairly impressive saturation, vivid colors, sharp images and pretty clear graphics. The colors aren’t as rich as you’d like them to be, though. The response rate is impressive which makes the laptop ideal for gaming. I enjoyed stutter-free gaming on the ThinkBook 16p which was facilitated by the graphics and the processor, but the display obviously also had a huge role to play in that.

Brilliant Performance

Performance-wise, the ThinkBook 16p is truly a laptop for creators and businesses. The configuration that I received sported 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, AMD Ryzen 9, and an Nvidia RTX 3060 GPU. How could it not be amazing? I enjoyed a lag-free, fast, and smooth experience. The laptop is excellent at managing a dozen tabs simultaneously, but I’m aware that that might be because of the RAM configuration I got. The ultimate test of a laptop, for me, is how well it runs Adobe’s programs for creators. Those ran immensely smoothly as well and gave me zero delays.

The 71Whr battery on the ThinkBook 16p is not bad at all for a machine that features components as heavy as it does. The laptop ran for a total of around 7.5 hours during my testing. Sporting 32GB RAM, an AMD Ryzen 9 chip and RTX 3060 graphics, this score is pretty impressive. I used the ThinkBook 16p to play memory-intensive games, run Adobe’s Creative Suite and watch a lot of YouTube. And for multiple hours on end, I maxed out on both graphics (1080p) and volume. Considering all of this, 7.5 hours is brilliant.

Camera, Speakers, Security

The camera on the ThinkBook 16p isn’t anything special. It’s not terrible, but there’s nothing $2000+ about it. It is most probably going to be enough for your video conferencing needs but don’t expect it to deliver super sharp images. While it features pretty good saturation and colors, it lacks sharpness.

The sound on the ThinkBook 16p is treble-heavy. If you like your highs clear and sharp, you’ll be impressed by the speakers on this. The mids are pretty balanced too but the bass is a little underwhelming. For security purposes, the ThinkBook 16p hosts a fingerprint reader embedded in the power button, a camera privacy shutter and a Kensington lock slot.

Verdict

All in all, I believe that the ThinkBook 16p is an excellent machine. It sports very impressive speeds, sharp graphics and a responsive display that are both ideal for gaming and a thoughtfully designed, full-sized keyboard. It features a sturdy touchpad, all the ports you need and a premium-looking body. Lastly, and very importantly, its battery is brilliant considering all that it offers. However, having said all of that, I believe it’s still a little too expensive. If you’re not on a budget, though, I don’t see any reason why you shouldn’t invest in this powerhouse of a machine.