Hybrid work is everywhere, but can you be productive on the go or on location with just your laptop screen? The Lenovo ThinkVision M14t thinks not and is happy to offer you extra digital workspace.
Mobile work on a laptop often works fine, provided that the screen resolution of your device is high enough. Too high is not good either, or your battery consumption will suffer. You can still debate which screen ratio is the most productive, but that’s a personal matter.
What’s not personal is that a laptop screen can never offer as much screen space as a second monitor. At your home office and in the office, you (hopefully) have one. You would almost leave specific work for later to do that part better with a second screen when on the move. With the Lenovo ThinkVision M14t Gen 2 (288 euros excl. VAT), you no longer have to.
More Workspace
After being able to work with Lenovo’s external screen for almost two months for this test, we don’t know how we ever managed without it. In the specific situation of the undersigned, we now feel much more flexible.
Don’t feel like sitting in your home office and want to work casually in the living room? Take the ThinkVision M14t Gen 2 with you and don’t compromise on productivity. Enjoying the winter sun outside? Take the screen with you. Going abroad for a week and regularly working in your hotel room? Definitely take the screen with you.
We even wonder why this isn’t offered as standard for certain user profiles within organizations. The boost in productivity thanks to a second screen is enormous. This applies to users who are often on the road, need to travel a lot, or frequently seek a flex spot in a hospitality establishment.
Smart Design
Our enthusiasm for a portable external screen is admittedly also due to the excellent qualities of the Lenovo ThinkVision M14t Gen 2. The 14-inch screen (2,240 x 1,400 pixels, IPS) is wafer-thin, with a sturdy base. In total, it weighs just under 700 grams. Something like this fits in any laptop bag.
The screen is strong but looks fragile due to its thin profile. Fortunately, there’s a sleeve in the box where you can slide the screen into. Here we suddenly come to one of the biggest drawbacks: there’s no room to put the included USB-C cable in the sleeve. It bothers us more during the test than we’d like.
USB-C is, by the way, the only way to connect this mobile monitor. The Lenovo ThinkVision M14t has no HDMI connection. To use HDMI, you would have to power the monitor via USB-C anyway, but it would have been a nice extra. There’s a USB-C port on each side, so you can conveniently connect with the included USB-C cable (1 meter length) in any setup you want.
USB-C Yes, HDMI No
The Lenovo ThinkVision M14t Gen 2 supports power delivery up to 65 watts. This way, you can plug your laptop charger into one side of the screen and connect the other side to your laptop. So you won’t run out of power.
If you want to use the screen mobile, you need to take into account that the laptop then provides power. On average, you should expect the screen to consume eight watts. An average 14-inch laptop has a 55 Wh battery, which in theory can power the screen for up to seven hours. In practice, you can often subtract half or more from that, because your laptop itself also needs power to work.
In our situation, however, we use the Lenovo ThinkVision M14t Gen 2 very limitedly mobile without a power outlet nearby. It occasionally happens, for example when you want to take a few video calls in another room or to enjoy the sunshine behind the window, but not much more. On the plane, on the train, or other places that don’t offer a power outlet, are almost always too compact to station your screen and your laptop.
Excellent Colors
We are enthusiastic about using a mobile screen, but also about the screen quality of the Lenovo ThinkVision M14t Gen 2. We measure a contrast of 1,421:1 with a color gamut of 105.5 percent sRGB. Professionals who need DCI-P3 should look elsewhere. We only measure a color gamut of 70.8 percent here.
The color quality straight out of the box is exceptionally good. We measure a DeltaE of 2.2 for white balance and the color balance DeltaE records 1.9. A DeltaE of two or less is considered a very accurate screen where you cannot measure the difference in color accuracy with the naked eye. Very good points for the Lenovo ThinkVision M14t Gen 2.
The Achilles’ heel of this monitor is the limited screen brightness of 232 nits. That’s significantly less than the 270 nits that Lenovo advertises. Precisely because this is a mobile screen, there’s a high chance that you sometimes have to work in challenging light conditions. That, combined with a glossy and thus reflection-sensitive finish of the touchscreen, is not the best combo.
Touch-sensitive screen
To make the package complete, Lenovo includes a passive pen in the box to operate the touchscreen. That’s cool, until you know that you can also use an active pen to unlock the 4,096 pressure levels of the screen. This is optional and costs between 35 and 40 euros at Lenovo, depending on the model.
For creative professionals who like to draw or model on the go, this is a nice extra. We never used the pen. Fortunately, space is provided for it in the included case.
Conclusion
The handy stand, the bezel-less design, the excellent screen quality: there are many reasons to fall in love with the Lenovo ThinkVision M14t Gen 2 (288 euros excl. VAT). The 16:10 screen ratio works pleasantly and everything feels solid. It’s just a shame that the case didn’t get an extra compartment for the USB-C cable.
Do you regularly miss workspace on your laptop when there’s no monitor nearby? Then this is an ideal investment you won’t regret, as long as you don’t work in direct sunlight too often.
.pro’s
- Ultra-thin and light
- Case included
- Touchscreen
- Quality panel
.contra’s
- Case doesn’t have space for cables
- Limited screen brightness
- No HDMI connection