3 days ago my Thinkpad Z16 arrived way earlier than expected. I live in EU, but I'm used to US keyboard layout, so most of my private laptops are bought off amazon or ebay. This particular unit is from eBay, and is from Canada.
Specs:
AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H (8 cores)
GPU: AMD 6500M (4GB)
4K Oled 3840*2400, 16:10 screen
32GB LPDDR5 RAM
2TB PCIE storage
Reason I wanted this device is all AMD setup. From many reviews with AMD CPU, it performs way cooler and silent than Intel counterparts. And since this unit comes with AMD GPU as well, it's great for any linux distro. And indeed it is.
What surprised me the most is build quality. This is not a typical Thinkpad. Most people will love the all aluminum build quality. And it is simply great. On MBP level, if not even better. Me personally, I love mora magnesium + carbon that Thinkpad X series use. But this one is also so well made that I can't complain. At all. Especially for the price that I've paid for a new unit, less than 1600$. 2 months ago, this unit was more than 3000$. Even with high shipping costs for my country, and import duties, price is almost twice lower than if I would have purchased this unit in my own country.
Now trackpad is different than on other thinkpads. It's like a mac trackpad, no physical clicks, but a vibration motor that simulates click. And works like on a mac, without any issues. I love it!
Now AMD CPU is the main thing. If I connect my X1E to just one external display, fans will ramp up. Unit will become warmer and noisy. Z16 connected to a 2x 4K monitors makes no sound. At all. Doing just regular stuff, like email, office and surfing, I haven't heard fans once in 2-3 days. When I push Z16 with Unity Game Engine or Godot, they will come on. But nothing noisy, I can still barely hear them. This has got to be the best PC laptop in thermals I have ever used. No throttling so far, low noise, doesn't get hot. Is it cool as MBP M1/2? Nope. But close enough for me.
Where it doesn't get close to MBP is battery life. I can get 4-5 hours working on it under PopOS. Under Windows it's probably 2 hours more from my experience. But don't know, haven't tested it out. Just wiped Windows and installed PopOS from the get go. But reviews say that battery life is great if one skips Oled screen. Since I don't need great battery life, and I basically use this as a desktop replacement, I went with Oled.
And I didn't make a mistake with my choice. Screen is absolutely fantastic! Contrast on this screen is brilliant, it's bright, colors do pop, and I love it. Thin bezels and it's glossy. Now I love glossy screens, this one isn't as glossy as MBP screen, way less than that. And for my needs, it's ideal.
Even eGPU works, so when I need more GPU power, it's readily available.
I will post a few pictures in a day or two, and if anyone has any questions, fire away
EDIT:
GPU info corrected.
Specs:
AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H (8 cores)
GPU: AMD 6500M (4GB)
4K Oled 3840*2400, 16:10 screen
32GB LPDDR5 RAM
2TB PCIE storage
Reason I wanted this device is all AMD setup. From many reviews with AMD CPU, it performs way cooler and silent than Intel counterparts. And since this unit comes with AMD GPU as well, it's great for any linux distro. And indeed it is.
What surprised me the most is build quality. This is not a typical Thinkpad. Most people will love the all aluminum build quality. And it is simply great. On MBP level, if not even better. Me personally, I love mora magnesium + carbon that Thinkpad X series use. But this one is also so well made that I can't complain. At all. Especially for the price that I've paid for a new unit, less than 1600$. 2 months ago, this unit was more than 3000$. Even with high shipping costs for my country, and import duties, price is almost twice lower than if I would have purchased this unit in my own country.
Now trackpad is different than on other thinkpads. It's like a mac trackpad, no physical clicks, but a vibration motor that simulates click. And works like on a mac, without any issues. I love it!
Now AMD CPU is the main thing. If I connect my X1E to just one external display, fans will ramp up. Unit will become warmer and noisy. Z16 connected to a 2x 4K monitors makes no sound. At all. Doing just regular stuff, like email, office and surfing, I haven't heard fans once in 2-3 days. When I push Z16 with Unity Game Engine or Godot, they will come on. But nothing noisy, I can still barely hear them. This has got to be the best PC laptop in thermals I have ever used. No throttling so far, low noise, doesn't get hot. Is it cool as MBP M1/2? Nope. But close enough for me.
Where it doesn't get close to MBP is battery life. I can get 4-5 hours working on it under PopOS. Under Windows it's probably 2 hours more from my experience. But don't know, haven't tested it out. Just wiped Windows and installed PopOS from the get go. But reviews say that battery life is great if one skips Oled screen. Since I don't need great battery life, and I basically use this as a desktop replacement, I went with Oled.
And I didn't make a mistake with my choice. Screen is absolutely fantastic! Contrast on this screen is brilliant, it's bright, colors do pop, and I love it. Thin bezels and it's glossy. Now I love glossy screens, this one isn't as glossy as MBP screen, way less than that. And for my needs, it's ideal.
Even eGPU works, so when I need more GPU power, it's readily available.
I will post a few pictures in a day or two, and if anyone has any questions, fire away
EDIT:
GPU info corrected.
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