Lenovo ThinkPad 14.5" 21G20022US Black 2024

The ThinkPad P14s Gen 5 scores 75.2 for gaming and 74.5 for entertainment, with a screen in the 87th percentile that's genuinely lovely to use. The Core Ultra 7 155H handles business workloads with ease, but the 35.9 AI score means local model inference is basically a non-starter. Buy it for the display, the ports, and the reliability, not for AI or heavy GPU work.

The Core Ultra 7 155H is the workhorse here. Sixteen cores at 1.4GHz base clock means it chews through spreadsheets, code compiles, and browser tab hoarding without breaking a sweat. Our database puts the CPU in the 76th percentile, which translates to well above average for this class of machine. The RTX 500 Ada Generation with 4GB of VRAM lands in the 74th percentile for GPU performance. That's enough for light 3D work, CAD viewing, and some casual gaming, but the 4GB VRAM ceiling means you won't be cranking Cyberpunk at native resolution.

The 16GB of DDR5 sits at the 62nd percentile, which is about average. Fine for most business workflows, but if you're running VMs or heavy Adobe projects, you'll feel the ceiling. The 512GB NVMe SSD is middle of the pack at the 53rd percentile. Fast enough, but you'll be managing storage before long.

Stacked against the Apple MacBook Pro M4 Max, this ThinkPad gets absolutely smoked on raw performance, especially in AI workloads where Apple's silicon dominates. But the MacBook costs significantly more and locks you into macOS. The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 brings a much stronger GPU for gaming, but it's bulkier and less business-friendly. The HP OMEN Transcend 14 is a closer competitor with similar portability, but the ThinkPad's reliability score in the 81st percentile gives it an edge for work environments. The Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro has a gorgeous OLED display, but the ThinkPad's port selection at the 86th percentile is far more practical for office use. The MSI Prestige is lighter, but its build quality doesn't match Lenovo's track record here.

Pricing on this thing is all over the map. In the US, you'll see it listed anywhere from USD 1,699 to USD 2,430 across three listings. That's a USD 731 spread for the exact same laptop. If you're buying in the US, shop around and don't pay the high end. Canadian buyers face a similar situation with prices ranging from CAD 2,848 to CAD 3,899, a CAD 1,051 gap. The value proposition depends entirely on which listing you land on. At the low end, you're getting a reliable business machine with a great screen and solid port selection. At the high end, you're overpaying for specs that are merely average in the RAM and storage departments.

The Lenovo ThinkPad P14s Gen 5 posts a 75.2 gaming score and a 74.5 entertainment score in our database, which is solid for a business machine but not exactly a gaming rig. The screen is the real star here, landing in the 87th percentile with a 2560x1600 IPS panel at 90Hz and 350 nits. That's a display you'll actually enjoy staring at for eight hours straight.

Under the hood you get an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H with 16 cores, 16GB of DDR5, and an NVIDIA RTX 500 Ada Generation GPU with 4GB of VRAM. The CPU sits in the 76th percentile, which is strong for productivity. But the AI and LLM score of 35.9 is a weak spot, so don't expect this thing to run local language models with any grace.

If you need local AI inference or heavy GPU compute, this machine will frustrate you. The 35.9 AI score is one of the weakest we've seen in this category, and the 4GB VRAM on the RTX 500 is a hard ceiling. Creative professionals working with large video files or 3D renders will also hit the 16GB RAM limit quickly. And if you're a gamer first, the 75.2 gaming score means there are better options at this price point, like the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14. The 512GB SSD at the 53rd percentile is another reason to pause if you store a lot of media locally.

The ThinkPad P14s Gen 5 is a business laptop that occasionally pretends it can game. The 75.2 gaming score is respectable, but this machine is really about productivity. The screen is excellent, the port selection is generous, and the reliability is exactly what you'd expect from a ThinkPad. The 35.9 AI score is the glaring weakness, so if local AI inference matters to you, look elsewhere. For everyone else, this is a dependable workhorse with a display that punches above its weight. Just make sure you buy it at the low end of that price range.