- ThinkPads are well, ThinkPads.
They are a line of business laptops that most people
can spot from a mile away.
So, they're red and black,
they have clickers, and webcam shutters, and keyboard nubs.
And most of the time when you buy a ThinkPad,
you know exactly what you're getting.
But today we're looking at a brand new ThinkPad line
that Lenovo is hoping will make the ThinkPad cool
among a younger Gen Z audience.
This is the ThinkPad Z series.
There's a 13-inch and a 16-inch model
and they're both unlike any ThinkPad we've seen before.
The ThinkPad Z13 starts at 1,549
and the Z16 starts at 2,099.
And both of them will be shipping in May.
So Lenovo has tried a couple of different funky things
in ThinkPads this past year,
we've had haptic touch pads and 16-by-10 screens,
different colors, different materials,
and they've experimented with even more features
throughout this design process.
Not all of which made it to the final form.
This ThinkPad Z series is essentially where Lenovo landed
after seeing which of this year's releases customers liked
and which ones they didn't.
The first thing you'll probably notice about the Z series
is that it doesn't really look like a ThinkPad.
Okay, so there is a big logo on it that says, "ThinkPad".
And don't worry, the little red track point is still here,
but this new device comes in three color options.
So there's a gray, there's a black,
and there's a blackish recycled vegan leather.
And Lenovo's changed a number of the other features
that have been staples of the ThinkPad line for years.
So if you've ever used, say the ThinkPad X1 Carbon,
you'll know that they famously have the control
and the function keys reversed from where they are
on most keyboards, but they're in their normal location
on the Z series.
Most ThinkPads also have half-sized arrow keys,
but they are full sized on this device.
And Lenovo got rid of the discrete mouse clickers,
which are another famous ThinkPad feature.
Now there's also an infrared FHD webcam,
which you won't miss because it lives
in a very visible enclosure like it's literally labeled.
And there's finally, finally a 16-by-10 display
on this device with impressively tiny bezels,
like really, you can barely see them.
Also, and I'm really excited about this,
Lenovo says almost its entire portfolio is going
to be 16-by-10 this year.
There's a fun little tidbit for you.
So, what we have here is a device that looks a lot more
like some of the most popular consumer laptops
on the market than it does like a traditional ThinkPad.
Mainly, it's very thin at just over half-an-inch thick.
You're making some trade offs for that thinness though.
And some of them are a big deal.
(keyboard clacking)
There's a bit less keyboard travel on this
than there is on some larger ThinkPads and it's noticeable.
There's also a haptic touch pad,
which is probably my least favorite part.
The click was really shallow on the unit I tested.
(touchpad clicking)
Lenovo says you'll be able to customize that.
The RAM is also soldered, so you can't upgrade it
on either model.
And finally, the biggest one, ports.
There are two USB-C ports on the Z13 and that's it.
That's not a lot that could end up being a deal breaker
for people who need to connect a lot of things.
But the thing I'm most excited about here
is what's on the inside.
So this entire line is AMD exclusive
and they'll all include AMD's
brand new Ryzen 6000 processors.
And the 16-incher can also include AMD's discrete graphics,
so it's a lot of AMD. (chuckles)
In fact, Lenovo worked with AMD to make
a Lenovo-exclusive Ryzen Pro U-series chip
that you'll only see in this line.
Now, Lenovo says that this processor
will be both more powerful and more efficient
than AMD's other offerings.
Now, I have no idea if that's true,
we generally expect that higher wattage chips
would be less efficient.
So, you know, we'll have to wait
and see how it actually performs.
The long and short of all this is,
Lenovo is trying to expand the ThinkPad line
to a generation of people
that it thinks care more about mobility,
that is a thin chassis and mobile power
than they do about things like a super-comfortable touchpad,
a useful port selection and a keyboard with lots of travel.
As an ostensible member of the audience they're targeting,
I'm not sure if I agree.
Don't get me wrong, I love a thin device
and I love a good AMD system,
but some of these trade-offs are serious considerations.
And these models like some of
the other funkier ThinkPad models this past year
are leaving behind some of the features
that have made ThinkPads so popular in the past.
And they're venturing more towards
the mainstream consumer laptops sphere.
That's a competitive field.
And these ThinkPads rather than being
in a class of their own,
like they are in the business sphere,
are going to be competing with the XPS,
the Galaxy book, the MacBook,
they're going to be competing with devices that are thin,
but also have more ports and are more comfortable.
ThinkPads are really great computers
and I can't wait to try these ones out.
I just really hope they're not falling victims
of the "thin-at-all-costs" mindset
that brought us the butterfly keyboard.
ThinkPad keyboards have always been some
of my favorite keyboards on the market
because they've so much travel and they're so sturdy,
but I'm gonna need a little more time
to fall in love with this one
because it's a little bit flatter.
So what's your favorite laptop keyboard?