Lenovo ThinkPad L480 Review

The ThinkPad L480 offers generous connectivity, and decent performance and battery life. Underneath, Lenovo’s Think Vantage software keeps everything humming. But this entry-level business laptop doesn’t offer that much more, and you may start to wonder if Lenovo cut one corner too many on the display.

Lenovo ThinkPad L480: Basic Specifications

Display: 14-inch (1920x1080) IPS technology without touch; optional 14-inch (1920x1080) touch and 14-inch (1366x768) non-touch

Processor: 1.6GHz Intel Core i5-8250U (tested) (Kaby Lake R); i5-8350U, i5-7200U

Graphics: Intel HD 620

Memory: 4GB-32GB DDR4 (2,400 MHz) (8GB tested)

Storage: 256-512GB NVMe PCIe SSD (tested 256GB); 500GB 7,200rpm hard drive

Security: dTPM 2.0, fingerprint reader

Port: USB 3.1 (2, 1 always connected), USB-C (2, power / display port / data), 4 in 1 microSD, HDMI, Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45), headphone / microphone, lock slot

Wireless: Intel 8265 802.11ac (2x2), Bluetooth 4.1

Camera: 720p HD (front); optional infrared camera (with Windows Hello); no rear camera

Battery: 45Wh

Operating System: Windows 10 Pro

Size: 13.9 x 9.3 x 0.87 inches (22.5 mm)

Weight: 3.6 lbs (laptop), 4.22 lbs (laptop + charger), measurement

Optional accessories: ThinkPad USB 3.0 Ultra Dock ($199.99)

Price: 1,119.00 USD

In terms of pricing, the ThinkPad L480 we reviewed is a floating target. When we started testing, Lenovo ran a $895 "net discount" for the L480, but when the comment was released, the price rose to more than $1,000.

A generous port is worth noting because it may save you from hauling extra dongles - it's worth it. But Lenovo is still in a few places: an Ethernet Gen 2 jack is blocked to prevent it from being used with Lenovo's 90W Pro Dock. Similarly, Lenovo includes a WWAN slot for the SIM chip, but it is blocked.

Port:

Although the thickness of the L480 allows for space on all these ports, it also makes the laptop feel a bit outdated. The laptop and charger weigh 4.22 pounds, and the extra weight is obvious, although not uncomfortable; that and the shape may require backpack. On the plus side, the L480 is sturdy and no swing is found. It is MIL-STD 810G compliant and rugged. The center of the keyboard is slightly curved, showing a noticeable push, but it does not affect typing. Lenovo offers a one-year warranty for the L480; Drop/Overflow/Electrical Protection is an additional charge of $33.15.

As a cheap business laptop, the L480's two bottom-emitting speakers don't have much to use. The low end is very muddy and the high point is not much to say. Plugging in the headphones eased this, although I didn't impress me with the difference in audio quality. However, you can enable Dolby Audio to alleviate some of the pitfalls.

Fingerprint Reader

Our evaluation unit comes with Lenovo's fingerprint reader, which allows you to quickly enable Windows Hello login. Lenovo said that your prints are stored in the reader chip itself, not on the PC, making it more secure. Readers usually don't recognize my fingers right away, but the second hit usually does. The fingerprint reader replaces the depth camera available on the more expensive ThinkPad. (The L480 is also available with a depth camera.)

Camera:

The L480 offers a decent HD front-facing camera without the privacy of ThinkShutter on the X1 Carbon. (This allows you to manually slide the shutter on the camera to prevent suspicious hackers from monitoring you through your webcam.) The front camera does not have a Windows Hello option and no rear camera.

The included Vantage software is a great way to manage L480 upgrades and can be configured with L480 as needed. A seemingly permanent ThinkPad quirk involves swapping the functions and controls on the bottom left, which you can exchange using Vantage software.

Like many other ThinkPad, the L480 supports USB-C charging, using the same 65-watt charger as the other ThinkPad sold by Lenovo.

Lenovo ThinkPad L480: Performance:

In terms of performance, you may not have to worry about whether the 8th generation chip (such as the Kaby Lake-R processor powered by L480) can supply basic tasks. As a business notebook, the L480 can handle typical office tasks, web browsing and more. The basic allocation of 8GB memory is more than enough.

The only performance issue I noticed was that when I first logged into multiple cloud services (such as OneDrive and OneNote), I didn't respond to features like search, which tried to sync gigabytes of accumulated data at the same time.

With a basic business notebook like the ThinkPad L480, we can solve performance problems very simply. CPU performance is a top priority, and many laptops (including the L480) integrate graphics instead of standalone GPUs. We compared it to a set of 13-inch and 14-inch laptops with similar CPU, GPU or price.

Should you buy Lenovo ThinkPad L480?

Lenovo's L480 provides basic capabilities for business users without any inherent errors. But the trade-offs that Lenovo has made are tough. The screen is mediocre, even before you consider a lack of touch - if you want this feature, Lenovo will charge a high fee. Medium battery life and multimedia features don't make much difference to redeem it, although the usual keyboard makes typing very enjoyable.

In general, Lenovo's ThinkPad L480 is like a business notebook that your IT department is bothered by at work, and what you are grateful for at night to get a more comfortable computing experience. Although it is very competitive, other laptops may be better by comparison.