Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 (2024) Laptop Review

The Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 is only available in black. See the bottom of the laptop here.

The Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7's build quality is excellent. The construction is a mix of aluminum, magnesium, and plastic. It feels very sturdy, exhibiting little to no flex on the lid or keyboard deck. The display doesn't twist when manipulating it either. While the finish doesn't scratch easily, it's a fingerprint magnet, which is typical for most dark color finishes. The feet feel solid and stick firmly to the bottom; they just attract a lot of dust and dirt.

The hinge is outstanding. It feels smooth when opening and closing the lid, and it's very stable, exhibiting almost no wobble when typing heavily or manipulating the display. Its wide range lets you push the screen back to an almost flat position, which is handy when you need to share content with someone sitting opposite you.

The Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7's serviceability is great. Accessing the internals is straightforward; you only need to remove six Philips screws and pull the bottom panel off. A prying tool isn't necessary. The screws are captive, meaning they remain attached to the bottom panel, so you don't have to worry about losing them. The RAM is user-replaceable; however, this laptop uses LPCAMM2 modules, which aren't as easy to find as the more standard SO-DIMM sticks. Both storage lots support M.2 2280 PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSDs.

See the service guide here.

• 170W power adapter and cord
• Documentation

Note: Models with Intel Arc graphics only come with a 135W power adapter.

The Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 is available with the following displays:

• 16" IPS 1920 x 1200 60Hz (matte)
• 16" IPS 2560 x 1600 165Hz (matte)
• 16" OLED 3840 x 2400 60Hz (touchscreen, glossy)

The choice of the display depends on your preference and needs. If you want the best visual experience, get the OLED panel, as it has the highest resolution and will deliver the sharpest image and text. It's also the only option with full DCI P3 coverage and support for touch input. However, keep in mind that OLEDs are susceptible to permanent burn-in. The QHD+ panel also looks very sharp and is a good choice if you care about input responsiveness and motion smoothness since it has a higher refresh rate. As for the FHD+ screen, it's fine for general productivity, but know that you'll likely see individual pixels, even at typical viewing distances, as a FHD+ resolution is low for a 16-inch display.

The Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7's QHD+ display has a high refresh rate and a fast response time, resulting in increased input responsiveness, smoother motion, and minimal ghosting behind fast-moving objects. The FHD+ and 4k+ panels have a standard 60Hz refresh rate, so they won't feel as responsive. None of the available displays support VRR to minimize screen tearing when gaming with an uncapped frame rate.

The QHD+ display’s contrast ratio is good and within the typical range of most IPS panels; however, it’s still low compared to other display technologies like VA and OLED. This contrast level makes blacks look gray in dim settings. The FHD+ panel has the same advertised contrast, while the 4k+ OLED panel has a near-infinite contrast ratio since OLEDs can turn off individual pixels to produce perfect blacks.

The QHD+ display gets bright enough for use in most indoor settings. As for outdoor use, it's doable, but you may have trouble seeing some content in direct sunlight. It gets very dim at the lowest brightness setting, which helps reduce eye strain when viewing content in a dark environment. The FHD+ panel has a lower advertised brightness of 400 cd/m². The 4k+ panel also has an advertised brightness of 400 cd/m² in SDR but can get up to 500 cd/m² in HDR.

The QHD+ display handles reflections well. Its matte finish is very effective in reducing the intensity of bright light sources, like a lamp or open window during the day. There's some haloing around bright reflections, but it's fairly minimal compared to most matte displays. The FHD+ panel has the same finish. The 4k+ panel has a glossy finish, so it'll likely struggle more with direct, mirror-like reflections.

The picture above shows the uniformity of the QHD+ IPS panel. The OLED panel has perfect uniformity since OLEDs can turn off individual pixels to produce perfect blacks.

The IPS display’s horizontal viewing angle is okay. The image dims and washes out fairly quickly when moving to the side, so you need to be close or directly in front of the screen to get perfect accuracy. As for the OLED display, it’s likely better in regards to color washout and brightness loss but will suffer more from color shift.

The IPS panel's vertical viewing angle is decent. Again, the image looks dimmer and more washed out from above or below. You need to look at the screen more or less straight on to see an accurate image.

The QHD+ display's out-of-the-box accuracy is sub-par, mainly due to the high white balance dE and overly warm color temperature. The color and gamma inaccuracies are minor and hard to spot.

The FHD+ and QHD+ displays are sRGB panels, meaning they only have full coverage of the commonly used sRGB color space. The 4k+ OLED panel has full DCI P3 coverage, making it a better option for HDR video production.

Both IPS panels are entirely flicker-free. The OLED panel flickers, as it uses PWM dimming; however, we can't confirm the flicker frequency.

The Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 has a great keyboard. Its layout is fairly standard and easy to get used to. The size of the keyboard is fine, though it could be a bit wider, considering the amount of space available on the deck. Typing on this keyboard feels great; the keys have a decent amount of travel, require little force to actuate, and provide good tactile feedback. Another minor complaint is key stability, as the keys wobble a bit.

The Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7's touchpad is outstanding. Though it could be wider, the size is good, providing ample space to perform various actions like dragging and dropping over a long distance. Tracking is outstanding, and there are no issues with palm rejection. This is a haptic touchpad, so you can click anywhere, even at the top, which is handy if you use the Trackpoint (red nub between the letters G and H). The haptic engine simulates the clicks well, giving you clear tactile feedback.

As for the Trackpoint, it's essentially a secondary way of controlling the cursor. It's convenient because you don't have to move your hand as much to move the cursor, but it's a little hard to get used to because it's pressure-sensitive.

The Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 has outstanding speakers. They sound clear and full, with a decent amount of bass. They get very loud but sound a bit harsh at higher volume levels.

The Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 has an excellent webcam. The image looks detailed and well-exposed, with true-to-life colors. There's some noise in darker areas, but it isn't bad enough to affect the overall quality of the image. Voices sound relatively clear, though there's a bit of static background noise.

The privacy cover is only a physical barrier, so it doesn't disable the camera or microphone at the software level. You can disable the microphone using the F4 shortcut.

The Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 has an excellent port selection. The USB-A port supports USB 3.2 Gen 1 data transfer speed of up to 5Gbps, and it’s always on, meaning you can use it to charge a mobile device even when the laptop is in sleep mode. Both USB-Cs on the left side of the laptop support Thunderbolt 4/USB4 (up to 40Gbps data transfer speed) and DisplayPort 2.1, while the USB-C on the right side supports USB 3.2 Gen 2 (up to 10Gbps data transfer speed) and DisplayPort 1.4. All three USB-Cs support Power Delivery 3.0, which lets you fast charge the laptop and other PD-compatible devices connected to the port. However, it can only take up to 135W, so the battery might lose charge if you perform intensive tasks at the same time. Also, you must use a power adapter of at least 65W for the charging to work. The HDMI is a true HDMI 2.1 port with a maximum output resolution of 4k @ 120Hz.

The Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7's wireless adapter is an Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE200. Like Wi-Fi 6e, Wi-Fi 7 gives you access to the 6GHz band but with even faster speeds and lower latency. However, you need a router that supports Wi-Fi 7 to benefit from these features.

The Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 is available with the following CPUs:

• Intel Core Ultra 5 135H (14 cores/18 threads, up to 4.60GHz, 18MB cache)
• Intel Core Ultra 7 155H (16 cores/22 threads, up to 4.80GHz, 24MB cache)
• Intel Core Ultra 7 165H (16 cores/22 threads, up to 5.00GHz, 24MB cache)
• Intel Core Ultra 9 185H  (16 cores/22 threads, up to 5.1GHz, 24MB cache)

All four CPUs are high-performance processors from Intel's Meteor Lake family. Like Intel's 13th Gen CPUs, they have a hybrid architecture comprising performance and efficiency cores. However, they have two additional low-power E-cores (LP-E) to further improve efficiency, as well as an NPU (Neural Processing Units) for AI-based tasks, like background-blurring on video calls and image generation in photo editing apps. These CPUs can handle general productivity tasks and more intensive workloads, like programming and video editing. Regarding core composition, the Core Ultra 5 has four performance cores, eight efficiency cores, and two low-power efficiency cores (4P+8E+2LP-E), while the Core Ultra 7s and 9 have six performance cores, eight efficiency cores, and two low-power efficiency cores (6P+8E+2LP-E). All four CPUs have the same Neural Processing Units (NPU).

See more information about the Meteor Lake CPUs here.

The Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 is available with the following GPUs:

• Intel Arc Graphics (integrated)
• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU (discrete, 8GB GDDR6, 60W TGP)
• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU (discrete, 8GB GDDR6, 60W TGP)
• NVIDIA RTX 1000 Ada Generation Laptop GPU (discrete, 6GB GDDR6, 60W TGP)
• NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation Laptop GPU (discrete, 8GB GDDR6, 60W TGP)
• NVIDIA RTX 3000 Ada Generation Laptop GPU (discrete, 8GB GDDR6, 60W TGP)

Although the NVIDIA discrete GPUs are all based on the Ada Lovelace architecture and can handle demanding tasks, some differences exist between the GeForce and the RTX Ada Generation models. The GeForce GPUs are more mainstream processors typically found in gaming and content creation laptops, while the RTX Ada Generation GPUs are designed mainly for professional workloads, with better optimization for tasks like design and simulation. These GPUs range from entry-level to mid-range. Considering only the number of CUDA cores, the RTX 1000 is the weakest, with 2,560 CUDA cores, the same number as the entry-level, gaming-oriented GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU. The RTX 4060 and RTX 2000 have 3,072, while the RTX 4070 and RTX 3000 have 4,608. Ultimately, the choice of the GPU depends on your workload, its complexity, and the speed at which you expect to complete tasks. You can play games on models with an RTX Ada Generation GPU; just know that the performance won't be as good as on models with a GeForce GPU, as they don't always get the best drivers. You can also get this laptop with Intel-integrated graphics only if you don't need a lot of GPU processing power. If you need higher-end GPUs for your workflow, consider the Dell Precision 5690 (2024).

See here for more information about the GeForce GPUs, and here for more information about the RTX Ada Generation GPUs.

You can configure the Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 with 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB of RAM. The memory is user-replaceable.

You can configure the Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 with 256GB, 512, 1TB, 2TB, or 8TB of storage. The 2TB option can be either with a single SSD or with two SSDs in a RAID configuration (0 or 1), and the 8TB option is only available with two 4TB SSDs, also in RAID 0 or 1. Lenovo labels some SSDs as ‘Performance’ drives, but it’s unclear what that means, as there’s no mention of the exact SSD model or the expected speeds. The storage is user-replaceable; both slots support M.2 2280 PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSDs.

The Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7's overall score in Geekbench 5 is outstanding. Its Intel Core Ultra 7 165H has strong single- and multi-thread performance, making it suitable for a variety of productivity tasks, including demanding workloads like programming and simulations. The Core Ultra 5 135H is slower, particularly in multi-threaded workloads, since it has two fewer performance cores. As for the Core Ultra 7 155H and Core Ultra 9 185H, the former is also a tad slower, while the latter is a little faster, but the difference isn't significant, as they only differ in clock speeds.

The GPU compute score is outstanding and in the expected range for an NVIDIA RTX 3000 Ada Generation Laptop GPU. The GeForce RTX 4070's performance is likely in the same ballpark, while the other GPUs will be slower, with the RTX 1000 being the slowest. Intel's integrated Arc graphics perform poorly and aren't suitable for heavy computing tasks.

Here are some additional benchmarks in Geekbench 6:

• CPU Single-thread: 2,368
• CPU Multi-thread: 12,690
• GPU Compute: 103,310

The Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 scores well in the Cinebench R23 benchmark. Its Intel Core Ultra 7 165H CPU's performance is suitable for heavily multi-threaded, sustained workloads. That said, there are significantly faster CPUs on the market, like the Dell Alienware m18 R2 (2024)'s Intel 14th Gen CPUs and the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M3, 2023)'s M3 Max SoC.

We've also performed additional benchmarks in Cinebench 2024 in case you're more familiar with those numbers. Here are the results:

• Single-thread: 106
• Multi-thread: 957

The Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 is outstanding for Blender work. It's best to get a model with a discrete GPU, as even the lowest-end NVIDIA RTX 1000 GPU can render images faster than the CPU or Intel's Arc-integrated graphics.

The Basemark GPU score is outstanding and in the expected range for an NVIDIA RTX 3000 Ada Generation Laptop GPU. All models with a discrete GPU can handle gaming; you just have to tweak the settings a bit, depending on the GPU model. Intel Arc is an integrated GPU designed for light productivity, so don't expect to play anything intensive.

Models with two SSDs in a RAID 0 configuration will give you significantly faster speeds; however, the failure of one drive can cause data loss across all drives.

Models with integrated graphics only will likely have longer battery life. On the other hand, models with an OLED panel will have shorter battery life. If you want even better battery performance, consider the HP ZBook Power G11 A (2024).

The Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 with an Intel Core Ultra 7 165H CPU and an NVIDIA RTX 3000 GPU runs Borderlands 3 pretty smoothly. That said, if you want the best gaming experience in this or other similarly demanding titles, it's best to get a model with a GeForce GPU. The Intel Arc integrated graphics can't handle such a graphically intensive game.

Every configuration with a discrete GPU can run Civilization VI and other similarly demanding games smoothly with no issues. Intel’s Arc integrated graphics can handle this game, but you’ll have to dial down the settings a bit to get playable frame rates.

Every configuration of the Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 with a discrete GPU can easily handle Counter-Strike 2 and other similarly demanding games. Intel's integrated Arc graphics can push over 30 fps with low settings, but the gameplay will likely be too choppy to be playable.

Every configuration with a discrete GPU can run Shadow of the Tomb Raider and other similarly demanding games smoothly at 1080p or 1440p. You can likely get above 30 fps using the integrated Intel Arc GPU, but the gameplay will be very choppy due to frame drops. The large frametime spikes are scene changes and aren't representative of the performance.

See the thermal image of the bottom here.

The Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 has many pre-installed applications, including:

• Dolby Access: Adds Dolby Atmos support and allows you to change the speakers' sound profile.
• Glance by Mirametrix: A software application that adds attention-sensing capability. When enabled, it can automatically lock your computer when you walk away, pause a video, blur the content when you aren't directly looking at the screen, or move windows from one screen to another.
• Intel Management and Security Status: Lets you view the status and change settings for Intel's Active Management Technology, which allows for remote out-of-band management of business computers.
• Intel Connectivity Performance Suite: Settings to improve network performance.
• Intel Graphics Command Center: Lets you adjust the display's contrast, color, saturation, power management, and video enhancement settings.
• Intel Unison: Lets you connect your smartphone to the laptop, allowing you to send and receive messages, view photos on your smartphone, and transfer files, similar to the MyPhone app.
• Lenovo Commercial Vantage: Lets you view system status, change various settings, and give access to IT admins to troubleshoot and fix issues.
• Solitaire & Casual Games: Solitaire, FreeCell, Spider, Mahjong, Sudoku, and other casual games.
• Synaptics Fingerprint Reader Preboot Manager: Lets you access settings for the fingerprint sensor.
• Trackpoint Quick Menu: Lets you access Trackpoint settings.

You can get the Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 with Windows 11 Home or Pro, Windows 10 Government Edition 64, Fedora Linux, Ubuntu Linux LTS, or Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.2. You can also get it with no pre-installed operating system if you want to install a custom OS.

The Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 has a fingerprint sensor (integrated into the power button) and a Windows Hello facial recognition IR camera. You can use either to log in quickly, authorize purchases in the Windows Store, and auto-fill saved passwords on supported websites.