With the ThinkPad P53, Lenovo offers a traditional 15.6-inch workstation. This expensive laptop, unlike the ThinkPad P1 2019, is not either lightweight or very slim. In return, what customers get from this top rate laptop are faster hardware, excellent expandability, and more ports than predecessors. This expensive PC comes with a hefty price tag starting from 1800 Euros depending upon the configuration with no upper limit. The highest-end configuration costs almost 8 thousand Euros. This laptop, though very expensive, but this powerful laptop’s performance is enough to retake the category crown.
Lenovo ThinkPad P53 at a Glance:
Lenovo equips this powerful laptop with Windows 10 Pro, Intel Octa-Core i9, 128GB RAM, 2TB NVME, 1TB HDD, NVIDIA RTX 4000, an OLED display. Any set of change or more powerful configuration will increase the price of this already costly laptop. The latter section will comprehensively throw light on this super expensive and powerful laptop; its chassis, keyboard, display, performance, etc.
Design:
Coming to its design of this model at a glance, it is heavy and thick, but that is the cost of power. It is thick more than an inch, and the weight is more than five pounds. But it is interesting to note that this is just a starting weight. Moreover, some heavy internals demands a ton of ventilation. Let’s now have a detailed look at the design of this heavy laptop.
• Chassis:
The chassis of this laptop is made of a magnesium-aluminum alloy. The palm rest and lid are glass-fiber reinforced plastic. However, the usual and typical black ThinkPad soft-touch finish is still there. This fancy laptop is a total fingerprint and smudge magnet; if you are irritated by this sort of thing, keep a cleaning cloth. But fingerprints are still evident even after cleaning the lid with a cloth. Except for its fancy look, what this expensive computer offer is the durability of the chassis. It is heavy and rigid and is capable of sustaining use and abuse, and whatever it falls on, this is more vulnerable to get damaged, so you don’t need to be scared in taking this machine into the field.
• Keyboard:
The keyboard comes with is a full keyboard with a number pad and three-stage backlight (off, bright, brighter). In addition to this, a TrackPoint system with redpointing nub is also present in the middle. Where travel distance is concerned, it has been slightly cut down compared to the previous model, P52. But still, typing is comfortable and gives a comfortable feel while typing for a long time. But a slight problem with its keyboard is that the keys feel too resistant. Typing hurts a little bit. But even with this, keys are precise and accurate. There is also a number pad to the right side of the standard keys since the chassis is big enough for this.
• Trackpad:
The trackpad is also a precision. Lying off-centered to the left makes it follow the common trait for big laptops like ours. Physical buttons are both above and below the trackpad since the trackpad is not clickable in itself. Generally, the button above is for use with the TrackPoint, but the lower one is used with the trackpad. With these physical buttons, the drag-and-drop option becomes easy and comfortable. However, except keyboard and trackpad, a fingerprint reader is lying below the keyboard that adds security.
• Ports:
Port is an area that has been updated comparing the previous models of this family. This model is armed with excellent port connectivity. These ports have been moved around a bit too. On the left side, there lie two USB-A ports, an HDMI, space for an optional Smart Card Reader, and an SD card reader. While on the right side, you will find a USB-C port, a 3.5mm audio jack, and space for a SIM slot if you check out with an LTE modem inside. More interestingly, the most usable port slots are reserved in the back edge to keep them out of the way while using a laptop. Furthermore, the charging port is joined by two Thunderbolt 3, ideal for connecting RJ45 Ethernet and a powerful docking station. Such is an attractive set of ports that this high-priced laptop offers.
• Display:
As already said, this large laptop has a 15.6-inch 1080p display with 500-nit brightness. That is pretty bright, which makes outdoor usage tremendous and comfortable. The screen also supports Dobly Vision HDR400 and a 72% color gamut. As far as display is concerned, few changes have been made. Quality is now better than the previous model. The base configuration still includes the same full-HD panel. The matte 4K display is brighter with new OLED panel options. Despite the matte overlay, the bright display content is not grainy. Even the good one has some flaws. There are two negative aspects: one, brightness levels are not linearly distanced, and second, noticeable backlight bleeding can be observed when viewing dark pictures at maximum brightness.
Moreover, the screen is surrounded by pretty large bezels. Above the screen, you will find an IR camera for Windows Hello and a webcam. To cover the camera, Lenovo has placed a ThinkShutter privacy guard, a physical switch, so there is no need to cover the camera with a piece of tape.
Specifications:
Summary of specs and technical detail of this powerful and costly laptop is as follows:
Performance:
After discussing the specs and design, let’s now have a glimpse of this high-end laptop’s performance. Since Lenovo offers a variety of components and configurations, performance does vary depending on the selected configuration. Lenovo offers users the option between different 45-watt processors, including different i7 models (with 6 or 8 cores), a Core i5-9400H with 4 cores, and a mobile Xeon processor (6 cores) that runs and supports ECC-RAM. Using a Core i7-9850H, a powerful 6-core CPU with a base clock of 2.6 GHz and a 4.6 GHz Turbo Boost frequency as a standard, the performance gap is tiny overall as compared to a mobile processor from the previous generation.
Thick workstations such as our model at review tend to benefit over the slimmer competitors, especially in the time of prolonged stress and intensive computing task. The Cinebench loop performed better than the slim ThinkPad P1 that is equipped with the same processor. Although this test puts this heavy laptop ahead of the ThinkPad P52, yet former could not match the Precision 7530. To put it simply, performance is good, but battery life is not. Both things are expected from a laptop with these kinds of specs and configurations.
Battery life:
Battery life is a compromise you have to bear while buying this laptop. Either you can have battery life or power, but not both. But some adjustments can be made. The battery lasts for just two hours at full power. As a solution, you can boot into the UEFI settings and switch to Hybrid Graphics, not to Discrete Graphics. While using both these options to conserve battery, the battery can last for more than two hours but at the cost of power. However, you can use it as the way you need to use it or when you want to.
Decree:
The Lenovo ThinkPad P53 is a mobile workstation that is laden with powerful hardware. Although it is not sexy and slim, this expensive laptop will deliver with ease if you are a developer and a designer.
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