Lenovo announces new ThinkBook and Legion laptops at CES 2021

Lenovo has been on a bit of a tear over the last few weeks, announcing a slew of new laptops and tablets both ahead of and at CES 2021. The company’s third round of announcements is dropping now with new models of its ThinkBook line. Plus, Lenovo unveiled several Legion gaming laptops too.

While Lenovo’s ThinkBook line targets small and medium businesses, I’ve been using a ThinkBook on and off for over a year, and it’s been one of the most reliable and consistent Windows laptops I’ve used in a long time. Some of the new ThinkBooks Lenovo unveiled look pretty exciting, and if they keep that reliability, they’ll definitely be ones to keep an eye on.

Lenovo announced the ThinkBook Plus Gen 2 i, ThinkBook 13x i, ThinkBook 14p Gen 2 and ThinkBook 16p Gen 2 (and yes, those names are kind of awful). The laptops are built with aluminum materials, a new 16:10 aspect ratio Dolby Vision HDR displays and Dolby Atmos on select models, Nvidia graphics on some models and more.

First, the ThinkBook Plus Gen 2 i. Perhaps one of the weirder models, this ThinkBook sports two displays. The laptop’s lid is a 12-inch e-ink display and matches the 2560 x 1600 pixel resolution of the main internal display. Lenovo says it improved performance on the Gen 2 i, increased the refresh rate and rethought the user interface (UI) on the e-ink display.

The ThinkBook Plus Gen 2 i also measures in at a thinner 13.9mm, is lighter at 1.3kg (about 2.87lbs) and sports a 16:10 aspect ratio display with a nearly 90 percent screen-to-body ratio. Finally, Lenovo improved touch integration, the laptop features a ‘garaged’ pen, and there are now Thunderbolt 4 ports, support for Wi-Fi 6 and an optional ThinkBook Charging Mat.

ThinkBook 13x i, 14p and 16p

Lenovo’s new ThinkBook 13x i looks like it could be the ideal replacement for the ThinkBook 13s I started using back in 2019. It sports a similar compact size in either ‘Storm Gray’ or ‘Cloud Gray’ colours. Lenovo touts it as one of the slimmest 13-inch business laptops available at only 12.9mm thick.

The ThinkBook 13x i weighs less than 1.2kg (about 2.65lbs) and sports all the same attributes as the ThinkBook Plus Gen 2 i, save the e-ink display. Lenovo says it designed the 13x i on Intel’s Evo platform, and the laptop runs on Intel’s 11th Gen Core processors. Finally, the 13x i has a 53-watt hour battery.

The new ThinkBook 14p and 16p take a different approach. Powered by AMD’s latest Ryzen Mobile processors, the 14p and 16p offer top-of-the-line performance. The 14p measures in at 16.9mm thick and 1.4kg (about 3.09lbs) and can have up to a 14-inch 2,8K OLED display with VESA DisplayHDR. On the other hand, the 16p can include optional Nvidia GeForce RTX graphics and a 16-inch 2560 x 1600 pixel resolution display.

Lenovo detailed U.S. pricing and availability, which is included below, and MobileSyrup is working on getting Canadian pricing as well.

• ThinkBook Plus Gen 2 i: Available starting Q1 2021 at $1,549 USD (about $1,977.92 CAD)
• ThinkBook 13x i: Available starting Q1 2021 at $1,199 USD (about $1,531 CAD)
• ThinkBook 14p: Available starting Q1 2021 at $849 USD (about $1,084.09 CAD)
• ThinkBook 16p: Available starting Q1 2021 at $1,299 USD (about $1,658.69 CAD)

Legion gaming goes all out

Along with the new ThinkBook models, Lenovo detailed several new Legion gaming laptops, including the Lenovo Legion 7, Legion 5 Pro, Legion Slim 7 and Legion 5.

The Legion 7 sports a 16-inch, 16:10 aspect ratio 2560 x 1600 pixel resolution IPS display with 100 percent sRGB coverage, up to 500 nits of brightness and option VESA DisplayHDR 400 certification. Additionally, the screen features a 165Hz refresh rate. The sides of the laptop feature customizable Corsair iCUE RGB lighting.

Lenovo equipped the Legion 7 with the latest AMD Ryzen Mobile processors, Nvidia GeForce RTX Series Laptop GPUs, Wi-Fi 6 and more.

The sleeker Legion Slim 7 sports a 15.6-inch 3840 x 2160 pixel 4K IPS display with a 60Hz refresh rate (or those who want a 165Hz rate can swap to a Full HD 1920 x 1080 panel), Nvidia graphics, AMD CPUs and more.

The Legion 5 Pro sports a large 16-inch QHD 2560 x 1600 pixel IPS display with a 165Hz refresh rate and large ‘quad ventilation’ thermal system to help keep the AMD Ryzen CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX graphics cool while gaming.

Finally, the Legion 5, available in 15- or 17-inch models, sports an FHD 1080p display with a 144Hz refresh rate, RGB lighting and more. U.S. pricing and availability can be found below (MobileSyrup is working on getting Canadian pricing as well):

• Lenovo Legion 7: Available starting June 2021 at $1,669.99 USD (about $2,132.41 CAD)
• Lenovo Legion Slim 7: Available starting May 2021, pricing not available yet.
• Lenovo Legion 5 Pro: Available starting March 2021 at $999.99 USD (about $1,276.89 CAD)
• Lenovo Legion 5: Available starting March 2021 at $769.99 (about $983.20 CAD)