The Lenovo ThinkPad T450s Review: Bridging The Ultrabook

Final Words

So with that look at the Lenovo ThinkPad T450s, we need to make some conclusions. Let’s start with the form factor. ThinkPads have long kept a discreet look about them, and for people who prefer something a bit more flashy, the T450s is likely not for you. But underneath the matte black finish is a very solidly built notebook built on a sturdy frame. The top is reinforced with carbon fibre and although you can flex the display a bit, there is no feeling like you are going to warp the top cover without significant force. Lenovo has beefed up the hinge as well with square pin stainless steel hinges, and they test the hinges 30,000 times.

Lenovo brands this an Ultrabook, and while it is certainly thinner and lighter than the standard T450, it is still a long way from the very thin and light devices we have seen released under that brand. But in the case of the T450s, that is not a bad thing. There is room enough for an actual Ethernet port, and Lenovo has used the extra height to include one of the best keyboards around.

For me, the keyboard alone is almost enough to recommend this notebook. If you are someone that needs to do a lot of typing, the T450s has set the standard compared to any other notebook I have used. ThinkPad keyboards also have a nice dish to the keys which make it easier to type on than some of the flat island style keyboards, and the backlighting offers a couple of levels which should be enough light for anyone. Unlike some other devices with lighter colored keys, the backlighting on the black keys does not cause any contrast issues when it is enabled. The only real issue with the keyboard is another ThinkPad quirk, in that the Fn and Ctrl keys are reversed. Luckily Lenovo lets you swap the two keys in the BIOS.

The TrackPoint is for some people a must-have, and Lenovo’s decision to move back to physical buttons for the TrackPoint will be welcome news for any TrackPoint enthusiasts. It is a great way to navigate and lets you keep your fingers close to the keyboard, but for those that prefer a trackpad, the one on the T450s is very good. It is not quite as nice as some of the glass clickpads, but the material is smooth and it is accurate.

At this point in its lifecycle, the Broadwell processor is pretty well known. Yes, Skylake is here, and Lenovo is going to upgrade the ThinkPad lineup at some point, but what we have here is a capable machine with good performance and more importantly an excellent cooling system which is practically inaudible for most general tasks. When the fans do kick in, they stay in the background and only output a couple of dB more than when the fans are off. It’s an impressive result and once again is likely due to the T450s being a bit thicker than your standard Ultrabook. Lenovo actually shipped this device out a couple of months ago, so my apologies to them for taking so long to review this Broadwell powered device.

Battery life is a bit more mixed. With the standard 46 Wh battery capacity, battery life is not as good as the average Ultrabook. This is partly due to efficiency of the Thinkpad and partly due to being somewhat handicapped on battery capacity. One of the primary reasons for sealed batteries is that you can fit more battery in the same amount of area since you do not have to deal with the battery case and other parts. But with the Power Bridge that Lenovo uses, it can make up for this deficit by allowing you to swap the battery without powering down the notebook. It will always drain from the removable battery first which is the way it should be. But by having a removable battery, Lenovo also enables the use of much larger batteries for those times where it is needed, including the massive 72 Wh rear battery which gives the T450s record breaking battery life in our tests. Coupled with the internal 23 Wh battery, this 95 Wh is almost double the amount of battery available in most Ultrabooks. For the new version of the ThinkPad T series, hopefully Lenovo can work a bit more on overall platform efficiency which would result in some pretty staggering numbers. As it is, the standard battery is just not enough when that is all you have.

Large Battery installed which raises the laptop up at the back

As a ThinkPad T, it also works with Lenovo’s docking stations with a connector on the bottom, and the business features are obvious when you see the VGA port on the side.

Pricing starts at $950, but that is with the not so great 1600x900 display, so really you have to start at just over $1000 for this notebook which is not inexpensive. ThinkPads are the premium business lineup from Lenovo though and carry a price premium due to the better chassis and more rigorous testing. But the base models come with a 500 GB hard drive. Once you add in a SSD, 8 GB of total memory and fingerprint reader (for only $20 you should get this) it quickly climbs to $1250. As tested, the system we received was almost $1500 with just a Core i5, but you could easily swap the touch screen for a Core i7 and come out around the same price. Really, in the end, one of the nicest things about purchasing from the ThinkPad lineup is that you can order almost everything a-la-carte, unlike the consumer focused notebooks which tend to be sold as is with upgrades bundled together into higher priced models.

In the end, the Lenovo ThinkPad T450s is one of the most enjoyable notebooks that I have used. It does not have the flashy styling of some, or the amazingly thin and light lines of others, but the overall package is great and for anyone who is looking at a premium 14-inch notebook, the T450s is one that you have to check out.