The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 Gen 1 really gave us some headaches. On paper, it could be a very good laptop, and in our test, this also turned out to be true. However, we are still unable to give it a “very good” recommendation.
First, we should list all the positive aspects of the ThinkPad laptop: The ThinkPad Z16 G1 offers a very good performance in a relatively compact case. The quality of the case is excellent, and with the combination of a lot of aluminum and the glass palm rest, Lenovo does a lot of things right in this regard. The manufacturer also does a good job with the touchpad, which is significantly better than that of all the other ThinkPads. The keyboard is also good, even if it isn’t as good as that in other ThinkPads. The ThinkPad Z16 includes a matte, bright display and offers a good battery life, even though the battery is relatively small.
The first major problem of the Z16 is its connections. The ThinkPad Z16 is a 16-inch laptop and a business device. The fact that such a device offers no USB-A port, and particularly no HDMI either, is hardly acceptable. The temperature management also creates some difficulties, since the ThinkPad Z16 gets fairly hot. You better not touch the area above the keyboard under load. In a relatively large ThinkPad, we find the soldered RAM an unnecessary limitation. A significantly less important but still relevant point of complaint: The Z16 lacks an option for a 2.5K display, and there is also no display with a higher refresh rate.
It could be a very good laptop if there only weren’t the problems with restarting, since otherwise, we see many positive aspects in the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 Gen 1.
But all these complaints weren’t what caused our headaches – that was the already mentioned problem with the restarts, leading us to ask for a new test unit. Fortunately, the problem was significantly less pronounced in our replacement test unit, but unfortunately, the problem still happened.
This leads to a significantly worse evaluation of the ThinkPad Z16 than it would otherwise have to be. This is unfortunate, since otherwise we really don’t dislike the ThinkPad, even if its lacking connection equipment is less convincing for its target market than that of the compact ThinkPad Z13. In terms of the ports, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme G4 is significantly more flexible. Even the MacBook Pro 16 still offers at least HDMI, but on the other hand, it lacks the WWAN option of the ThinkPad Z16.
Note: Due to the problem with the system stability, the evaluation of the ThinkPad Z16 turned out 3 percentage points lower.
.