Lenovo ThinkBook 14 Gen 9 Arctic Grey 2024

Great ports, solid performance, meh screen. Buy it for business, not for beauty.

The Core 5 210H with 8 cores at 3.6GHz handles office work, spreadsheets, and a dozen browser tabs without breaking a sweat. We were surprised by how capable this thing feels for everyday productivity, especially with 16GB of DDR5-5600 keeping things snappy. The integrated graphics are fine for video calls and light photo editing, but the gaming score of 19.3 out of 100 tells you everything about its 3D ambitions. The 512GB QLC SSD is adequate but not exciting, landing right around average for storage speed.

Against the Apple MacBook Pro M4 Pro, the ThinkBook gets absolutely demolished on display quality, battery life, and raw performance, but it costs a fraction of the price. The HP OMEN Transcend 14 is a gaming machine with a real GPU, so it's a different animal entirely. The Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro has a gorgeous OLED screen but costs significantly more. For pure business value, the ThinkBook holds its own against the MSI Prestige and ASUS ProArt, though both of those offer better displays if you're willing to pay more.

At $819 USD, this is a solid deal for a business laptop with Thunderbolt and a touchscreen. The Canadian price of $1,829 CAD feels steep by comparison, but that's a different market with different taxes and import costs. For US buyers, you're getting strong port selection and decent performance for under a grand. Just don't expect premium display quality at this price.

The Lenovo ThinkBook 14 Gen 9 is a business laptop that knows exactly what it is, and mostly nails it. You're getting a 14-inch touchscreen, 16GB of DDR5, a Core 5 210H, and Windows 11 Pro in a 1.36kg package. The port selection is the real flex here, sitting in the 95th percentile for connectivity, which is rare at this price point. But that 45% NTSC display is a reminder that corners were cut somewhere.

If you care about display quality, battery life, or any kind of gaming, this isn't your laptop. The 45% NTSC screen is a dealbreaker for creatives, and the 48Wh battery won't get you through a long flight. Go grab a Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro for the OLED screen or an HP OMEN Transcend 14 if you need real graphics power.

The ThinkBook 14 Gen 9 is a no-nonsense business laptop that prioritizes ports and portability over flashy specs. If you need a reliable workhorse for office tasks and travel, this is a smart buy at the US price. The display and battery life are the trade-offs, and they're real ones. But for under $900 with Thunderbolt and a touchscreen, it's hard to complain too loudly.