Lenovo is claiming the ThinkPad T460s is an enterprise ready 14″ Ultrabook and while using this laptop for some time, I can see why Lenovo is using that phrase. It’s thin and lightweight, performance ready to handle what you can throw at it, security for those that use this for business, and an amazing screen quality.
Specifications
- Windows 10
- 14 inch FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS touch screen display
- Intel i5-6300 CPU @ 2.50GHz
- 256GB storage
- 8GB RAM
- Intel HD520 GPU
- 720P webcam
- Fingerprint scanner
- Connectivity: Ethernet, HDMI, mini DisplayPort, headphone/mic, SD card, 3x USB 3.0
- Dolby Home Theater audio
- WiFi 802.11 b/g/n/a/c
- Bluetooth 4.0
What’s In The Box
- Lenovo Thinkpad T460s
- Charging cable
- Manual
Design
If you’ve used ThinkPads in the past, then you’ll already be familiar with what the T460s looks like. Lenovo does a great job with not changing the design of the ThinkPad series other than adding in a few features here and there such as a fingerprint scanner. Lenovo’s logo and ThinkPad brand name are on top of the laptop before opening it up. The red dot above the “i” in ThinkPad lights up red when the laptop is charging and being used. Opening up the T460s, you’ll get a 14 inch display with a webcam dead center above the screen. Lenovo has again added their logo on the left side under the display and T460s on the right side. Moving down to the keyboard, it’s easy to use and the keys don’t need to be forced down for a letter to be typed. To the right of the keyboard is the power button. In the middle of the keyboard is the famous red Trackpoint pad that Lenovo will probably never get rid of if people still use it to this day. I don’t use it, but everyone is different. Below the keyboard is the trackpad with three buttons. Left is for selecting where you want the cursor to be or clicking a link, right is your basic right click option, and the center is for scrolling. Just to the right of the trackpad is a fingerprint scanner.
Looking at the left side of the laptop, you’ll notice a vent for air to get out, a headphone/mic combo jack, charging port, SD card slot, and a USB 3.0 port. On the opposite side are more ports, which include two more USB 3.0 ports, an Ethernet port, an HDMI port, mini display port, and a sim card slot. At the bottom of the laptop are speaker grills and a connector to place the ThinkPad on a dock.
Display
The ThinkPad T460s comes with a 14 inch FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS touch screen display and even though it’s not flaunting 2k resolution like some other laptops out there, the quality of the display is still a great sight. Having the brightness up at max isn’t eye straining at all compared to other laptop screens I’ve seen before. Brightness goes up by increments of 10 and weren’t the best when it came to getting the screen brighter. Once you hit 90 or 100% brightness, that’s when the screen looks nice. Even having the brightness at 50% was too dark for me. With the screen being IPS, colors were pretty accurate other than the color red, which looked a little lighter compared to my current laptop.
Software/Ecosystem
Windows 10 is the OS that comes on the ThinkPad T460s and if you’ve experienced this OS before, then you’ll know exactly how to navigate around. Lenovo did add in their own applications too such as, Lenovo Companion, Lenovo ID, and Lenovo Settings. McAfee anti virus software will also come pre-installed.
Performance
On board is an Intel i5 processor with 8GB of RAM, so this laptop is a powerhouse to a certain extent. It’s not going to win any awards for speed or gaming performance, but it kept up when I had 8 Google Chrome tabs open while editing a few photos. Though most people won’t be using this laptop like I am, it’ll run just fine whether you’re a corporate user looking into getting new business laptops for your employees or enjoy using the ThinkPad series for personal use.
Speakers
Every manufacturer has speaker placements somewhere on their laptop, whether it’s on the side, by the keyboard, bottom, etc. Lenovo put the speakers at the bottom of the ThinkPad, which isn’t a bad thing, but it’s not a good thing either. Placing the T460s on a flat surface such as a table or counter top, the sound bounces off the surface and sounds good, but placed on your lap or couch the sound is muffled.
Camera
The T460s comes with a webcam, but it’s a basic one like most other laptops out these days. Pictures turn out just fine, but aren’t the best. Video is clear, and works well enough for video chatting.
Battery Life
Lenovo states you can get up to 10 hours of battery life with the T460s. Of course all that can vary depending on what you were doing. I was able to get about 5 hours of usage from being fully charged, but that consisted of writing this review, web browsing, and playing music with the screen brightness set to near the maximum. There were other times where I had minimum use on the ThinkPad which ended up in getting just shy of 10 hours, but again, battery life will vary on usage.
Price/Value
Pricing for the ThinkPad 460s starts from $1,089.00(USD) and goes to $2,019.00(USD) depending on which specs you’re looking for. If you’re trying to get through the work day, then getting the base model will be enough instead of shelling out more money for a small difference in specs.
Wrap Up
Well, there you have it. The Lenovo ThinkPad T460s is a pretty neat Ultrabook even if you’re not going to be using it for business purposes. With the specs being able to be customized, it’ll attract people that need more than just the base model. As I’ve mentioned before, if you don’t need high end specs, then getting the lower model will suit you well. Only issue I had was battery life every so often, other than that I really enjoyed this review unit.
[rwp-review id=”0″]
