[Video Review] Lenovo ThinkPad L15 Gen 3 – Not as good as its competition



Lenovo ThinkPad L15 Gen 3 (Intel) in-depth review

Sitting uncomfortably away from the affordable pricing, the ThinkPad L15 Gen 3 sets the expectations bar really high. In fact, our latest review (as of the time of writing this one), covered the Fujitsu LifeBook U7512. A significantly less popular notebook, that is super exciting in terms of features.So, In order to compete, the Thinkpad L15 Gen 3 must comply with some requirements. First and foremost - it needs to have excellent security. Then, it has to be able to give its users the performance they need on demand while lasting for an entire day on a single battery charge.Before we [...]

Pros

  • Quiet under extreme load
  • 2x SODIMM + 1x M.2 PCIe slot
  • PWM-free display (Innolux N156HCA-E5B (LEN40BA))
  • IR face recognition + Fingerprint reader + TPM
  • Great spill-resistant keyboard
  • Thunderbolt 4 + MicroSD card slot + optional LTE support

Cons

  • No 5G support
  • Plastic body
  • Covers only 54% of the sRGB color gamut (Innolux N156HCA-E5B (LEN40BA))

Lenovo ThinkPad L15 Gen 3 (Intel) - Specs

  • Innolux N156HCA-E5B (LEN40BA)
  • Color accuracy  6.0  3.4
  • HDD/SSD
  • up to 1000GB SSD
  • RAM
  • up to 64GB
  • OS
  • Windows 11 Pro, Windows 10 Pro, Windows 11 Home
  • Battery
  • 42Wh, 42Wh , 42Wh, 3-cell, 57Wh
  • Body material
  • Plastic / Polycarbonate
  • Dimensions
  • 360.2 x 237 x 19.93 mm (14.18" x 9.33" x 0.78")
  • Weight
  • 1.76 kg (3.9 lbs)
  • Ports and connectivity
  • 1x USB Type-A
  • 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps)
  • 1x USB Type-A
  • 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps), Sleep and Charge
  • 1x USB Type-C
  • 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps), Power Delivery (PD), DisplayPort
  • 1x USB Type-C
  • 4.0, Thunderbolt 4, Power Delivery (PD), DisplayPort
  • HDMI
  • 2.0
  • Card reader
  • MicroSD
  • Ethernet LAN
  • 10, 100, 1000 Mbit/s
  • Wi-Fi
  • 802.11ax
  • Bluetooth
  • 5.2
  • Audio jack
  • 3.5mm Combo Jack
  • Features
  • Fingerprint reader
  • optional
  • Web camera
  • HD / FHD
  • Backlit keyboard
  • optional
  • Microphone
  • Dual Array Microphone, far-field, Dolby Voice
  • Speakers
  • 2x 2W Stereo Speakers, Dolby Audio
  • Optical drive
  • Security Lock slot
  • Kensington Nano Lock

All Lenovo ThinkPad L15 Gen 3 (Intel) configurations

#CommissionsEarned

[Intro]

A lot of manufacturers have released pretty competitive business machines, a market that’s usually pretty well covered by Lenovo. Let’s see if that’s still the case, as we check what Lenovo has to offer in terms of a challenge with its ThinkPad L15 Gen 3.

[Design]

The laptop doesn’t have the metal chassis of the LifeBook, instead relying on a plastic build, but it really surprised us with its durability. The lid and base are incredibly sturdy, showing next to no flex. As for looks, it’s a classic ThinkPad with a black finish and Lenovo branding. In terms of dimensions, it weighs 1.76 kg and has a profile of 19.9 mm, which is similar to the HP EliteBook 650 G9 that we were smitten by a few months back.

[Input devices]

The lid also can’t be opened with one hand, which doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence in a laptop as expensive as this one. The display is surrounded by thin bezels, except for the top one, which houses the webcam, with an HD option as a base variant and an optional Full HD shooter, a manual privacy shutter, and an optional IR scanner for facial recognition.

On the base, there’s a speaker grill above the keyboard, next to the power button that doubles as a fingerprint reader. The keyboard itself is nothing short of phenomenal, with long key travel, clicky feedback, a backlight, and spill resistance. You can see the Red TrackPoint in the middle, which works well with the dedicated buttons that sit above the touchpad. The pad itself has a clickable surface and a Mylar cover, however, it’s not the most responsive unit that we’ve seen.

[Ports]

The I/O covers a lot of ground, enough to justify covering the left, right, and back sides. On the left, there’s a LAN port, one USB Type-C 3.2 (Gen. 1) port, a Thunderbolt 4 port, an HDMI 2.0 port, one USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) port, an audio jack, and an optional SmartCard reader, which can be used as another security measure.

The right side keeps a MicroSD card reader and one more USB Type-A port, while the back houses the optional SIM card tray.

[Display]

The Full HD IPS display needs to be good, as you’ll be looking at it non-stop. It’s got good viewing angles but doesn’t get as bright as we’d want, reaching only 256 nits at its peak. From the looks of it, it’s not a panel made for Creators, due to its subpar color coverage of only 54% of the sRGB gamut, as well as dwindling accuracy. With our Design and Gaming profile, the laptop goes as low as 3.4, which still isn’t considered accurate enough.

However, for regular office work, it’s good enough, thanks to its 0 PWM usage and good contrast ratio which comes in at 1480:1. If you want a better office experience with the laptop, you should check out our Office work profile, which makes texts and tables more legible so it’s easier to read. We’ll have it linked in the video description.

[Sound]

The sound setup on the laptop is one of its redeeming qualities, as it delivers good audio with no deviations across the entire frequency range.

[Battery]

Business laptops need to offer good battery life, so with 8 hours and 47 minutes of Web browsing, or 8 hours and 13 minutes of video playback, we feel like the ThinkPad should get you through a whole workday’s worth of mixed-use. The 57Wh unit is larger than the Gen 2 product, however, the EliteBook once again displays similar results with a lower 42.5Wh unit, while offering a larger 51.4Wh version as well.

[Performance]

The Lenovo laptop has a decent advantage when it comes to raw performance, as it squeezes out a higher Cinebench score than the LifeBook, despite carrying the same Core i5-1235U.

[Cooling]

The laptop is cooled by two heat pipes and one fan, allowing the Core i5 to reach 44W in the first few seconds of our stress test. In the next 30 seconds, the wattage drops to 41W, which is still very good. However, in really long loads, like video rendering, the CPU lowers down to 20W. With that said, we don’t think going for a P-series chip inside the L15 would be a good idea unless Lenovo offers a different cooling solution.

One positive about the cooling is that it leaves a quiet and cool laptop even at a peak load. The base has a hotspot of 39.6°C, which is still quite comfortable.

[Teardown and upgradeability]

The upgradeability of the laptop is good, with two SODIMM slots for DDR4 memory, as well as one M.2 slot for Gen 4 SSDs. Keep in mind that the slot is smaller and fits only 42 mm drives.

Our teardown video shows how to upgrade the device, so if you want to check it out, we’ll leave a link in the description.

[Verdict]

Compared to the competition that the business market has, the Lenovo ThinkPad L15 Gen 3 doesn’t represent enough of a challenge. It’s heavy, with battery life that might have you running for a charger depending on the usage, and a display that leaves a lot to be desired. However, the laptop will probably enjoy a lot of attention, simply due to the sheer popularity of the ThinkPad brand.

For an even more detailed look at the Lenovo ThinkPad L15 Gen 3, check out the written review on our website.

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