The budget Lenovo ThinkPad L14 G3 AMD not only offers significantly longer battery life and a slimmer design, but also has some advantages over the more expensive T-series. While the ThinkPad T14 G3 AMD comes with soldered RAM and Wi-Fi module, the L14 has not one but two RAM slots and a replaceable (not to mention fast) Wi-Fi 6 module.
Lenovo has finally fixed one of the main drawbacks of the L series by giving the third-gen ThinkPad L14 a larger battery (up to 63 Wh). Our review unit is equipped with a 57 Wh battery and managed to last more than 13 hours in our Wi-Fi test. The Ryzen 5 PRO 5675U from AMD’s Barcelo-U line-up delivers great performance. Even so, the business laptop runs very quietly most of the time, not least due to the effective cooling solution with two copper heat pipes. By contrast, the T14 G3 AMD gets much warmer despite having a similar cooling system.
| Lenovo ThinkPad L14 G3 21C50030GE R5 PRO 5675U, Vega 7, 57 Wh |
Lenovo ThinkPad L14 G2 AMD R7 PRO 5850U, Vega 8, 45 Wh |
Lenovo ThinkPad T14 G3-21CF004NGE R7 PRO 6850U, Radeon 680M, 52.5 Wh |
Lenovo ThinkPad E14 G3-20Y7003SGE R5 5500U, Vega 7, 57 Wh |
HP ProBook 445 G8-3Z6Q8ES R5 5600U, Vega 7, 45 Wh |
Dell Inspiron 14 5425 6VPKR R5 5625U, Vega 7, 54 Wh |
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| H.264 |
759 |
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| WiFi v1.3 |
795 |
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| Load |
101 |
The L14 G3 AMD also has a wide range of ports, including a gigabit Ethernet port, HDMI 2.0, 4x USB 3.2 (two of which are USB-C ports that support PD 3.0 and DisplayPort 1.4), a 3.5 mm audio jack and a microSD card reader, which is missing on the T series. Our review model is WWAN-ready to boot. We didn’t encounter any Bluetooth connectivity issues such as those frequently reported about ThinkPads with the latest AMD CPUs.
Our review unit comes with the mid-range display option. The panel has an average peak brightness of 282 nits and only covers 61% of the sRGB color space. However, its contrast and black level are pretty decent. All the screen options available have a matt finish. In our opinion, given the choice, you should go for the low-power panel option with a specified peak brightness of 400 nits and 100% sRGB coverage. Unfortunately, you’ll always be getting a 16:9 display no matter which option you choose, whilst the smaller ThinkPad L13 G3 already has a 16:10 screen.
Another disadvantage is that Lenovo decided not to give the chassis a magnesium frame. As a result, the base section can be more easily bent and twisted and the keyboard flexes noticeably at certain spots when pushed down deliberately. The most annoying thing, however, is that some games and our combined load test caused the laptop to crash. Furthermore, the CPU hovered at around just 500 MHz after waking up from sleep mode. We hope that a BIOS update will resolve these issues.
Our review configuration features 8 GB of RAM, 256 GB of SSD storage and a 6-core AMD CPU. You can order it from Campuspoint at a special price of 939 Euro (around US$923) for students and educators (only available in Germany). It originally costs around 1,019 Euro (US$1,002) from the same retailer. If you prefer an Intel-based model instead, there is one with a Core i5-1235U, 8 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD available directly from Lenovo US for about US$1,070.
You can read our full review of the Lenovo ThinkPad L14 G3 AMD for much more information and in-depth analyzes of the laptop.
My fascination with computers began as a preschooler. After Windows 95 and the 486, I quickly got into the Internet, which has now completely taken hold of me – and never quite let go. At the age of 11 I built my own PC, but since 2016 I have completely switched to notebooks: Because it allows me to have my entire PC with me everywhere as a traveling freelancer. Still, I’m not a full-time N3rd and passionately play drums, lift weights and love being in our Finnish log cabin!
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering, I moved from Singapore to Cologne in 2014 and began pursuing a career as a freelance translator. Much of my translation work focuses on science, engineering and technology. My fascination with computers and mobile electronics began when I was young. And I have fond memories of reading countless tech and gaming magazines. Working with Notebookcheck gives me the opportunity to incorporate my personal interests into my professional work.
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