Lenovo ThinkPad P1: The Workstation Version of X1 Extreme

Lenovo is busy launching new professional products this week, and the ThinkPad P1 is the laptop that we like the most.

The Lenovo ThinkPad P1 uses the same 15.6” chassis as the ThinkPad X1 Extreme, which we previously reviewed, but it is built as a workstation, and that includes options such as NVIDIA Quadro GPUs, multiple SSD, Xeon processor, and OLED display.

The carbon-fiber chassis passes manyMIL-STD-810G tests, and the general ruggedness of ThinkPad products often make them a sought-after feature for IT staff maintaining the computers, but also from road-warriors who want a reliable product while away from the HQ office. The spill-proof keyboard alone can be the difference between a successful trip and professional disaster.

The most expensive version of this laptop have a display back-cover showing the carbon fiber weave under a protective layer. It’s beautiful.

Despite the superficial similarities, the difference is, in fact, massive. For example, the new ThinkPad T1 can be purchased with an 8-core 9^th Generation Intel Xeon processor (or a Core i9) along with 64GB of RAM (2x SO-DIMM modules).

For graphics or AI processing, the NVIDIA Quadro T2000 is the fastest option available to this laptop. While it’s not technically the fastest mobile workstation GPU, keep in mind that workstation with a Quadro T5000, like the Lenovo ThinkPad P73, are much bigger and heavier.

For professionals using specific apps, the Quadro drivers have additional features and pass much more tests and certifications than your typical consumer-level graphics driver.

From a storage point of view, the ThinkPad T1 seems to have up to two 2TB SSD modules (4TB total) that can also be configured in RAID-0 or RAID-1 depending on whether you want performance or extra data safety.

Like many 15.6” laptops, the ThinkPad P1 features plenty of ports:

• 2x USB-C Thunderbolt 3
• 2x USB-A 3.1 Gen1
• HDMI 2.0
• Proprietary Gb Ethernet + dongle

Moreover, since it is using Intel’s latest platform, this laptop has advanced WiFi AX and Bluetooth 5.0 support. Users that have deployed WiFi AX on premises can benefit from “faster than wired” (in optimal conditions) speeds when transferring a large quantity of data.

This second generation P1 mobile workstation can be ordered with a 4K OLED (UHD) display with a 400-NIT brightness. We found the image quality to be amazing as it’s very similar to the best OLED tablet you can think of, but with a 15.6” diagonal.

If you don’t need such an impressive display (aka if you can’t afford it), it’s possible to order a (non-touch) 1080p version, but expect the color rendering to be significantly lesser (72% of the NTSC gamut).

The webcam has an integrated privacy shutter and can be one of two options: RGB camera, or RGB+IR camera. The latter lets you unlock Windows using secure facial recognition, which is very convenient when you have an otherwise very long password.

At 3.76 Lbs for dimensions of 361.8×245.7×17.2mm this ThinkPad P1 workstation packs an incredible performance/weight ratio and offers excellent potential for creatives and professionals who need extremely high-performance in a form-factor that remains truly mobile (vs. desktop replacement).

The 80Wh large battery will help keep the laptop up and running for as long as possible. The ThinkPad P1 (gen2) should start shipping this month for $1949+.

Hubert Nguyen
Categories: General
Tags: Laptops, Lenovo, thinkpad, workstations