Lenovo V15 15.6" Gen 4 i Business Black 2025

A shockingly fast budget laptop with a screen that feels like a punishment. Buy it for the CPU, but plug in a monitor and keep the charger handy.

What surprised us is how much CPU muscle Lenovo crammed into such an affordable box. The i5-13420H chews through browser tabs, Office docs, and multitasking without breaking a sweat, landing it well above average for productivity. The integrated Intel UHD graphics are exactly what you'd expect, which is to say they're fine for streaming and spreadsheets but will choke on anything beyond light indie games. The 512GB SSD is solid and snappy for boot times, though the 16GB of RAM sits in a mediocre spot for future-proofing.

Stacked against something like the ASUS Zenbook S or Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro, the Lenovo gets absolutely smoked on screen quality and battery life. Those premium ultrabooks have gorgeous OLED panels and all-day stamina. But they also cost two to three times as much. The HP OmniBook X Flip is a closer competitor in spirit, but even that convertible has a much nicer display. The Lenovo's only real argument is raw CPU value for someone who docks to a monitor all day and never unplugs.

Pricing on this thing is all over the map, with a wild spread from $413 to an absurd $10,999 across vendors. The sweet spot is clearly the sub-$500 range where this laptop makes a ton of sense. If you're seeing it anywhere near the low end, it's a steal for a basic productivity machine. Just ignore the crazy high listings, they're noise.

The Lenovo V15 Gen 4 is a straightforward workhorse that punches above its price tag for pure office and school grunt work. The one thing to know is that you're getting a genuinely fast 8-core Core i5 processor and 16GB of RAM in a chassis that makes zero apologies for its budget TN display. It's the definition of function over form.

If you're looking for a laptop with a vibrant screen or all-day battery life, this isn't it. Go grab a used MacBook Air M1 or a newer ASUS Zenbook instead. The Lenovo V15 is strictly for desk jockeys who value raw processing over portability and display quality.

Buy this if you need a cheap, fast desktop replacement for a desk job or dorm room where it'll live plugged in and connected to an external monitor. The processor is the star here, and it's a good one. Just know that the screen and battery are the price you pay for that performance. For anyone who needs to work untethered or actually enjoy looking at their display, this isn't the one.