I tested Lenovo's budget ThinkPad, and it's a no-frills workhorse ready for the workday

ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• The Lenovo ThinkPad E16 Gen 6 is disposable present starting astatine $901.
• It's a coagulated fund concern laptop with a wide scope of configurations.
• The show and webcam mightiness not beryllium bully capable for astir users, and opting for higher-end hardware tin astir treble the price.

On the surface, Lenovo's sixth-generation ThinkPad E14 doesn't look overmuch antithetic from the erstwhile model; it's a quintessential ThinkPad with the acquainted reddish TrackPoint fastener and left/right rodent buttons supra the trackpad successful a compact, matte achromatic chassis.

The E14 is simply a fund productivity laptop with a focused usage case: the office. It brings galore of the ThinkPad's unsocial features but keeps the hardware connected the humble end, making it a coagulated workhorse for astir workflows and a reliable laptop for teams that don't request high-powered, specialized devices. 

Also: Lenovo ditched contented by redesigning the latest ThinkPad - and I'm gladsome it did

That said, the hardware connected committee is respectable. It's equipped with an Intel Core Ultra 5 oregon 7 processor to powerfulness multitasking and moving successful the unreality portion besides enabling the device's bladed and airy signifier factor. IT teams volition admit the device's generous acceptable of ports, Kensington fastener slot, and self-healing BIOS to widen its lifecycle. 

The E14 is champion considered successful examination to its much premium siblings, peculiarly Lenovo's X1 Carbon series. Where the X1 Carbon features an OLED show and sleeker, much robust signifier factor, the E14 offers much humble visuals and a somewhat plasticky physique (but retains galore of the features that marque ThinkPads what they are). 

Also: The Lenovo ThinkPad I urge to astir distant works has an awesome spec sheet

For example, the keyboard is comfy and well-optimized with Lenovo's scissor-lift mechanics for satisfying cardinal travel. Additionally, the relation keys are utile and well-telegraphed for their purposes.

Kyle Kucharski/ZDNET

My lone constituent of contention is the information that the Fn and Ctrl keys are swapped, resulting successful galore mendacious inputs connected my end. This is each idiosyncratic preference, of course. 

The show connected the E14 Gen 6 doesn't stray overmuch from its intended usage case: it's a WUXGA (1920x1200 resolution) surface that maxes retired astatine 300 nits of brightness and 60Hz refresh rate. Under the hood, it's likewise modest, with an Intel Graphics paper (not: Arc) that's designed to grip video playback and outer monitors, but is slower astatine tasks similar video editing oregon graphics rendering, thing a laptop could bash but isn't optimized for. 

The webcam is modular fare for laptop videoconferencing, with a 720p HD and a 1080p FHD configuration. The 720p webcam surely isn't going to triumph immoderate awards for clarity, and I wouldn't urge this lower-end camera for idiosyncratic who spends a batch of clip connected calls, but the 1080p camera is an acceptable upgrade for employees who don't request an ultra-polished video suite but inactive wants to look good.

Kyle Kucharski/ZDNET

The E14 Gen 6 is disposable successful a fewer antithetic configurations, with the 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, with the Intel Core 7 processor going for $989. Bumping up to 32GB of representation shoots the terms up to $1,879 -- astir treble the terms -- lifting the laptop retired of the "budget" terms constituent successful the process. 

For that reason, I'd urge this laptop lone if you're sticking with the sub-$1,000 configuration. You whitethorn arsenic good opt for a much premium ThinkPad if you're looking for higher-end hardware. 

Also: Why I urge this HP laptop to traveling concern professionals and creatives

Speaking of, the 47Wh artillery connected the E14 is astir what you'd expect, with capable powerfulness to get you done the workday, but not overmuch much beyond that. It does enactment accelerated charging, however, getting up to astir 60% successful 30 minutes and supra 80% successful an hour. This makes it large for moving astir the bureau with abbreviated stints distant from the outlet but not needfully arsenic an extended off-the-grid workstation.  

ZDNET's buying advice

The ThinkPad E14 Gen 6 is simply a coagulated fund productivity laptop from 1 of the astir trusted lines of business-oriented laptops connected the market. It's not the sleekest laptop connected the block, but it's a reliable workhorse with respectable hardware and a plan doctrine spanning aggregate decades.  

I urge the E14 Gen 6 if you're looking for a reliable productivity instrumentality nether $1,000. If you privation a laptop with 32GB of RAM and 1TB oregon much of storage, I would suggest springing for 1 of the much premium concern machines similar the ThinkPad X1 Carbon, which has an OLED display, amended webcam, and much robust signifier factor.