The Lenovo ThinkPad I recommend to most professionals is also one of the most affordable

On the surface, Lenovo’s sixth-generation ThinkPad E14 doesn’t look much different from the previous model; it’s a quintessential ThinkPad with the familiar red TrackPoint button and left/right mouse buttons above the trackpad in a compact, matte black chassis.

The E14 is a budget productivity laptop with a focused use case: the office. It brings many of the ThinkPad’s unique features, but keeps the hardware on the modest end, making it a solid workhorse for most workflows, and a reliable laptop for teams that don’t need high-powered, specialized devices. 

Also: This Lenovo laptop handled my various workflows with grace – and it’s surprisingly affordable

That said, the hardware on board is respectable. It’s armed with an Intel Core Ultra 5 or 7 processor to power multitasking and working in the cloud, while also enabling the device’s thin and light form factor. IT teams will appreciate the device’s generous set of ports, Kensington lock slot, and self-healing BIOS to extend its lifecycle. 

The E14 is best considered in comparison to its more premium siblings, particularly Lenovo’s X1 Carbon series. Where the X1 Carbon features an OLED display and sleeker, more robust form factor, the E14 offers more modest visuals and a slightly plasticky build (but retains many of the features that make ThinkPads what they are). 

Also: Why I pick this ultraportable Lenovo tablet over the iPad Air for mobile entertainment

For example, the keyboard is comfortable and well-optimized with Lenovo’s scissor-lift mechanism for satisfying key travel. Additionally, the function keys are useful and well-telegraphed for their purposes.

My only point of contention is the fact that the Fn and Ctrl keys are swapped, resulting in many false inputs on my end. This is all personal preference, of course. 

The display on the E14 Gen 6 doesn’t stray much from its intended use case: it’s a WUXGA (1920×1200 resolution) screen that maxes out at 300 nits of brightness and 60Hz refresh rate. Under the hood, it’s similarly modest, with an Intel Graphics card (not: Arc) that’s designed to handle video playback and external monitors, but is slower at tasks like video editing or graphics rendering, something a laptop could do but isn’t optimized for. 

The webcam is standard fare for laptop videoconferencing, with a 720p HD and a 1080p FHD configuration. The 720p webcam certainly isn’t going to win any awards for clarity, and I wouldn’t recommend this lower-end camera for someone who spends a lot of time on calls, but the 1080p camera is an acceptable upgrade for employees who don’t need an ultra-polished video suite but still wants to look good.

The E14 Gen 6 is available in a few different configurations, with the 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD with the Intel Core 7 processor going for $989. Bumping up to 32GB of memory shoots the price up to $1,879 — almost double the price — lifting the laptop out of the “budget” price point in the process. 

For that reason, I’d recommend this laptop only if you’re sticking with the sub-$1,000 configuration. You may as well opt for a more premium ThinkPad if you’re looking for higher-end hardware. 

Also: I tried Lenovo’s infamous ‘rollable’ laptop at CES – it’s more practical than I thought

Speaking of, the 47Wh battery on the E14 is about what you’d expect, with enough power to get you through the workday, but not much more beyond that. It does support fast charging, however, getting up to around 60% in 30 minutes and above 80% in an hour. This makes it great for moving around the office with short stints away from the outlet but not necessarily as an extended off-the-grid workstation.  

ZDNET’s buying advice

The ThinkPad E14 Gen 6 is a solid budget productivity laptop from one of the most trusted lines of business-oriented laptops on the market. It’s not the sleekest laptop on the block, but it’s a reliable workhorse with respectable hardware and a design philosophy spanning multiple decades.  

I recommend the E14 Gen 6 if you’re looking for a reliable productivity machine under $1,000. If you want a laptop with 32GB of RAM and 1TB or more of storage, I would suggest springing for one of the more premium business machines like the ThinkPad X1 Carbon, which has an OLED display, better webcam, and more robust form factor.