Lenovo ThinkBook 16 G7 review: big laptop for big audience

The Lenovo ThinkBook 16 G7 is a no nonsense laptop for those who want a solid and reliable device, including the joys of a large screen and a numeric keypad. Needless to say, it comes with some concessions around portability.

The Lenovo ThinkBook 16 G7 (1,031 euros excluding VAT) is essentially a primal classic laptop. This device is not overly mobile and small, but neither is it awkwardly large. Portability is not the priority, but you don’t need to have a power outlet handy all the time. And you can connect a dock, but the screen is big enough to work on that way and the keyboard has numeric keys. With this ThinkBook, we have a jack-of-all-trades on our laps.

What is blue?

The laptop has a 16-inch screen with a 16:10 aspect ratio that is ideal for productivity. You get 1,920 x 1,200 pixels: not special, but enough. The IPS panel looks bright and sufficient for any office worker. If you want to perform color-sensitive tasks, such as photo editing, we have to warn you: the tuning pulls no punches. Especially the blue tones are disastrous. We measured a deviation of DeltaE 22.2: ten times more than what is acceptable for a graphics professional.

Do DeltaEs mean little to you, and do you mainly want to surf, work on (business) applications, use your office suite and mail? Then don’t worry about it.

Numbers

In that case, build quality is more important. The Lenovo ThinkBook 16 G7 is built like a ThinkBook, and that’s a compliment. The laptop line excels thanks to rugged enclosures, and this one is no exception.

In the chassis, Lenovo incorporates a particularly good keyboard. We repeat it with just about every review of a ThinkBook or ThinkPad: many manufacturers make very good keyboards, but no one does better than Lenovo. The fact that there is room for a numeric keypad makes us completely happy. The spacious touchpad also works well. This device is aimed at more mainstream users, and they can usually appreciate that luxury.

The laptop does weigh something. Even for a 16-inch device, 1.85 kg is a lot. MSI’s Modern 15 is not much smaller (because of its 16:9 screen ratio) but weighs about 400 grams less. On the other hand, we did have complaints about the robustness of MSI’s chassis.

AMD, Intel or ARM?

Usually we test a laptop using a single representative configuration. The MSI ThinkBook 16 G7 is an exception. Lenovo allows you to configure this chassis with internals from Intel, AMD or even Qualcomm. That lends itself to a direct comparison of capabilities, which we couldn’t resist.

The difference in performance and autonomy is significant. For this review, we point out that the ARM-based version is powerful, and long lasting. AMD’s chip offers the best balance between horsepower and autonomy, while the Intel edition does not really appeal to us. For a detailed analysis of the performance of the three configurations , we’d like to refer you to this piece:

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The differences between the variations of the Lenovo ThinkBook 16 G7 are otherwise very small, although there is a slight variation on the ports. All three versions have two USB-A connectors. The devices further invariably feature USB Type C (twice), but only the x86 editions have an RJ-45 connector on board. HDMI, MicroSD and 3.5mm audio do draw presence throughout.

Meeting

It strikes us that Lenovo did not choose its best webcam for this ThinkBook. The sharpness can pass, but the colors are disappointing. During our tests, we look rather unhealthy and gray, and if our colleagues are to be believed, that is indeed due to the camera. Functionally, the webcam can certainly get by, but don’t expect any miracles.

The sound is excellent, though. We are very intelligible, even right next to a speaker where Simon & Garfunkel’ s The Sound of Silence is skillfully but incomprehensibly raped by a metal singer. We have to listen to everything, our interlocutor is spared. Conversely, the speakers on this ThinkBook 16 G7 are also of high quality, and the volume can be sufficiently high.

Relevant to a wide audience

The Lenovo ThinkBook 16 G7 is a very relevant laptop. This is not the most attractive device in the Lenovo stable, but Lenovo ticks all the boxes here to appeal to the mainstream user. The screen is large enough, the keyboard is phenomenal with a numeric keypad, and the performance is more than adequate for average office workloads. Even the battery – with the ARM configuration – lasts a long time.

The color calibration of the screen is unfortunately really underwhelming. For a laptop like this, which is not aimed at graphics specialists, we set the bar low, but Lenovo still dives below it smoothly, with a limited color range and very idiosyncratic interpretations of blue.

That is also immediately the biggest drawback of this laptop, and need not be a turn-off. Those looking for a sturdy, solid and reliable workhorse have come to the right place. Based on our tests, we would personally prefer the ARM version of the Lenovo ThinkBook 16 G7 ((1,031 euros excl. VAT): it offers very strong performance and good autonomy for a competitive price tag. Do check beforehand that you don’t need legacy software that could cause compatibility problems.