Lenovo ThinkPad P14s 14.5" Gen 5 Black 2024

The display is the real winner here, landing in the 87th percentile with a sharp 2560x1600 resolution. The professional RTX 500 Ada GPU and excellent port selection make it a solid choice for ISV workflows, but the 16GB of RAM and mediocre AI score of 35.9 hold it back. Shop carefully, because the price ranges from a fair $1,699 to an absurd $17,979.

The Core Ultra 7 155H is a capable 16-core chip that lands in the 76th percentile for CPU performance. In practice, that means it handles heavy multitasking and demanding productivity apps without breaking a sweat, but it's not going to top any benchmark charts. The RTX 500 Ada Generation GPU is the more interesting part of the story. It's a professional-grade chip with 4GB of VRAM that sits in the 74th percentile. It's built for ISV-certified workflows, not gaming, and it shows. You'll get a real boost in apps like SolidWorks or for AI-accelerated photo editing, but don't expect to crank up Cyberpunk settings. The 16GB of DDR5 RAM is a bit of a letdown, landing in the 62nd percentile. It's enough for most users today, but for a 'workstation' that supports up to 96GB, this base config feels a little stingy.

The 512GB SSD is perfectly middle-of-the-pack, in the 53rd percentile. It's fast enough for quick boot times and app loading, but you'll probably want an external drive if you're working with large video projects. The real star of the show is that 14.5-inch 2560x1600 IPS panel. At 90Hz with 350 nits of brightness, it's sharp, smooth, and color-accurate, putting it well above average for a business laptop. It makes long work sessions much easier on the eyes.

Stacked against the competition, the P14s Gen 5 is a specialist. The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 will absolutely smoke it in gaming and raw GPU performance, while the Apple MacBook Pro M4 Max is in a different universe for CPU and GPU muscle, especially for creative workflows. The HP OMEN Transcend 14 offers a better balance for a gaming-leaning user. Where the ThinkPad fights back is with its professional GPU, which is certified for applications those gaming laptops aren't, and its port selection, which embarrasses most of them. It's also lighter than most of the direct competitors. You're trading peak performance for reliability, a better keyboard, and ISV certifications. For the right engineer or designer, that's a fair trade.

Value is the trickiest part of the P14s Gen 5 story. We saw prices ranging from a reasonable $1,699 all the way up to a laughable $17,979. At the low end, you're getting a well-built, portable workstation with a fantastic screen and a pro-grade GPU for a fair price. At the high end, you're being robbed. The base 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD config we tested doesn't justify anything close to a five-figure price tag. If you're buying, your only job is to find it at the lower end of that spectrum. Newegg seems to be the place to look for a sane deal based on the listings we scraped.

The Lenovo ThinkPad P14s Gen 5 lands in a bit of a weird spot. Its 2560x1600 display is a standout, sitting in the 87th percentile for this category, and the port selection is excellent. But the performance story is more complicated. The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H and RTX 500 Ada GPU put it in the 'strong' to 'above average' range for most tasks, which is fine, but it's not the mobile workstation monster the spec sheet might imply at first glance. Our gaming score came in at 75.1, and business tasks at 73, which tells you this is a capable machine that prioritizes reliability and build quality over raw speed.

At 1.61kg, it's respectably portable, and the 75Wh battery is a good size for a 14.5-inch laptop. The real head-scratcher is the price. We're seeing it listed everywhere from $1,699 to an absolutely bonkers $17,979 across different vendors. For the spec we tested, with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, anything near the high end of that range is a non-starter. You're paying a ThinkPad tax for that legendary build quality and keyboard, but you need to shop smart to not get completely ripped off.

Gamers and AI enthusiasts should look elsewhere. The RTX 500 Ada is a professional GPU that struggles with modern gaming, and our AI/LLM benchmark score of 35.9 is one of the worst we've seen in this category. If you're looking to run local AI models or play the latest titles at high settings, a laptop with a consumer GeForce RTX GPU, like the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14, will serve you much better for the same or less money.

The Lenovo ThinkPad P14s Gen 5 is a purpose-built tool that makes a lot of sense for a very specific person. If you're an engineer or designer who needs ISV certifications, a fantastic keyboard, and a color-accurate screen in a portable package, this is a strong choice, provided you find it for under two grand. For everyone else, it's a tougher sell. The base RAM and storage are just okay, the gaming performance is nothing special, and the AI performance is frankly poor. This is a work laptop, through and through, and it's best when treated as one.