Most powerful AMD 14-inch ThinkPad with Ryzen AI 9 HX: Lenovo ThinkPad P14s Gen 6 AMD laptop review

[Redaktion]

The Lenovo ThinkPad P14s Gen 6 AMD is the first ThinkPad laptop with a Ryzen AI 9 HX Pro CPU. Strix Point is an excellent performance upgrade over earlier AMD CPUs, making this small mobile workstation one of the most powerful 14-inch ThinkPad laptops ever.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Most-powerful-AMD-14-inch-ThinkPad-with-Ryzen-AI-9-HX-Lenovo-ThinkPad-P14s-Gen-6-AMD-laptop-review.1030845.0.html

[Barron]

"mediocre battery life" seems very harsh, when it gets 9 hours, and its only 8% below the segment average. You could say it has below segment average battery life, but by no means its "mediocre".

[Jase]

it has below segment average battery life, but by no means its "mediocre".

Lol, that's exactly what mediocre is, average.

[AlexM]

it gets 9 hours

Previous gen has 6-7 hours battery life, so that's definitely an improvement.

[Dodobird]

Wondering how bad the coil noise is...

[Horst545]

Why do they still put shitty, plastic-surface, mechanical trackpads on their P-line notebooks? A glass-surface, haptic trackpad from Sensel would elevate this machine more than any increase in GHz or TOPS would.

I am glad to see two RAM slots though.

[Worgarthe]

I agree Horst, but how many people actually use a touchpad for serious work, that's what we would need to know here.

I have a glass one in my X1 Carbon, I find that mylar/plastic in my P16 (bigger and more powerful workstation brother of the P14s) disgusting to use in hot summer days  when humidity is higher than usual so there's a hell lot of friction between fingers and that plastic surface, it feels like you are moving through mud.

Glass is superb and amazing and everything, but I will still always pick a mouse or a trackball whenever I need to do anything that's not surfing the web or something similar. It's just faster, easier and more convenient for me and I'm assuming for many other people also, to the point of Lenovo doing these a** cost-cutting measures fully convinced how it's unnecessary to have anything better. It sucks but it would really be interesting to know how much trackpad-only users are out there...

[Adam1]

Where are 16" laptops?

Looking for replacement of my Elitebook 855 but nothing.

[moe69230]

Regarding the limitation of the Ryzen 9 unit in terms of screen availability (with the 2.8K OLED screen only being offered with Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 7), I posted a message on Lenovo's forum:
https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-P-and-W-Series-Mobile-Workstations/P14s-and-p16s-with-HX-370-limited-to-full-HD-screen/m-p/5383331

I also spoke with two business representatives over the phone, but neither could explain why this configuration isn't possible. Representatives are restricted to the configurations available on Lenovo's website.
Our regular representative even attempted to persuade me that a 1200p resolution is superior to FHD (while it is true that it has a 16:10 aspect ratio compared to 16:9, the DPI is nearly identical).
However, I am specifically looking for a P16s Gen 4, which should theoretically have the same motherboard, etc.
Therefore, it is a deal-breaker for me to purchase a 16" screen with a 1920x1200p resolution.

For the P14s, this is less critical, but individuals engaged in creative work might benefit from the 2.8K screen (which offers DCI P3 instead of 100% RGB).
Concerning the screen limitation with Ryzen 9, I believe the response on Lenovo's forum and your test report clarify the current limitations.
Lenovo only offers the P14s with a 65W Power Supply Unit, and your test concludes that the 65W PSU is insufficient (with a consumption of 67.5W), even though your tested configuration had an IPS low-power screen.
With an OLED screen, we can assume the device might consume 70-75W at maximum.

The question is: Can the P14s handle more than 65W of power input?

I would say yes, as the P16s, which should have the same components as the P14s (as this was the case with the previous generation P14s G4/P16s G2, and the hardware maintenance documentation is shared for P14s G6/P16s G4), is sold with an optional 100W PSU.

It might be Lenovo's decision not to further impact battery life with an OLED screen.
Your test indicates that the battery life is mediocre.
Even though it is below the segment average, the previous generation was worse, and the difference in results between Gen5/R7_8840HS/OLED (WiFi test: 371 minutes) and Gen6/R9_HX_370/IPS_low_power (WiFi test: 559 minutes) could result in better battery life with a Gen6/R9_HX_370/OLED configuration.

Another possibility is a commercial decision: Lenovo may be deliberately limiting AMD P14s/P16s configurations to encourage customers to order Intel versions instead of AMD (I feel like Lenovo considers AMD versions for cost-effectiveness and Intel versions for premium offerings).

I was really waiting for the P16s with a >= 10c/20t CPU and a QHD screen at least on this size.
I cannot buy the models they are offering neither their Intel versions that are too expensive for older CPUs.

[lupto]

Has anyone tried using a good quality 240W USB-C cable and a 100W adapter to see if the coil whine has stopped ?